Podcast Summary: Bannon's War Room

Episode 4718: Crying Comey; Ending Mail in Ballots; Cleaning Of The Deep State
Date: August 20, 2025
Host: Natalie Winters (for Stephen K. Bannon), with guests including Scott Pressler, Sam Faddis, Julie Kelly

Episode Overview

This episode unpacks three central themes:

• President Trump’s new push to end mail-in ballots and impose stricter election integrity measures,
• Efforts to “clean the Deep State,” with an emphasis on personnel and structural changes at the FBI and DOJ,
• The ongoing “meltdown” among former establishment figures, exemplified by ex-FBI director James Comey.

The War Room brings frontline activists, intelligence veterans, legal experts, and live field reports, aiming to energize grassroots action and expose what they see as hypocrisy and failure in Washington D.C. institutions.

1. Ballot Warfare: Trump’s Push to End Mail-in Voting

Key Segment: [00:55]–[13:46]

Host: Natalie Winters | Guest: Scott Pressler

• Trump’s Announcement: President Trump used Truth Social to declare a campaign to end the use of mail-in ballots, casting it as an issue of election integrity.
• Grassroots Insight: Scott Pressler, live from a voter registration drive, argues that “election integrity is one of the most important issues that the Trump voter base cares about” [02:40].
• The Plan: Pressler outlines a three-pronged strategy in response to legislative gridlock:
  • Plan A: Pass the SAVE Act (requiring proof of citizenship to vote)—stalled in the U.S. Senate.
  • Plan B: Citizen-initiated petitions to end automatic mail-in voting in liberal states like Oregon, California, and Washington.
  • Plan C: Trump could declare a “national security emergency” over election integrity to issue executive orders ending automatic mail-in ballots at the federal level.
• Distinction Highlighted: Differentiates legitimate absentee voting (military, elderly) from states where every registered voter automatically receives a ballot, regardless of request.
• Notable Quote:
  • “If we don’t peacefully fight fire with a flamethrower and make sure that we are enacting every level of election security...every option is on the table.” – Scott Pressler [07:41]

Mobilizing the Base

• Pressler issues a call to action for Republican voters to pressure their state legislators for aggressive redistricting, mirroring Democrat tactics in blue states.
• Quote: “Every tool that the Democrats have done for the last 50 years, dare I say 100 years, you use their playbook against them.” [08:30]
• Callout to Pennsylvania & New Jersey: Pressler details on-the-ground organizing, calling out specific judicial retention votes in Pennsylvania and promoting NJ gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli.

2. Geopolitics, Oil, & US National Security

Key Segment: [16:54]–[24:55]

Host: Natalie Winters | Guest: Sam Faddis

• Ukraine & Russia Update: Sam Faddis credits Trump for forcing hard concessions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, noting that both Putin and Zelenskyy must accept reality: neither side gets everything.
  • Quote: “Both sides, you know, reality check. But the president is doing a superb job and there is definitely reason to be cautiously optimistic.” – Sam Faddis [18:08]
• Genius of Trump’s Oil Tariffs: Faddis explains how Trump’s threats of tariffs on India’s imports from Russia leverage geopolitics to undercut Putin’s war funding.
  • “If the Indians stop buying that oil and The Russians lose 50, 60 billion, Putin can't fund a war in Ukraine.” [20:06]
• Rare Earths & China: China is maneuvering to counteract Trump administration policies, deepening ties with India and Russia as US tariffs and market pressure increase.

3. Deep State Reckoning & Surveillance State

Key Segment: [22:06]–[51:18]

The Surveillance Fight

• Privacy Win: The UK backs off forcing Apple to put a “backdoor” in iPhones after US diplomatic pressure.
  • Faddis: “It's a big win for liberty and privacy...The CIA and these other agencies have no charter to spy on American citizens.” [23:19]
• Pushback against the Deep State: Faddis notes the ongoing challenge: many agency officials remain entrenched and opposed to Trump’s agenda.
  • “You've got lots of people still in these agencies who are completely hostile to Donald Trump and his agenda...” [25:51]

FBI Overhaul

• Leadership Shakeup: Appointment of Andrew Bailey (former Missouri AG) as co-deputy director of the FBI alongside Dan Bongino.

  • “The task of actually transforming an agency which is tens of thousands of men and women strong is mammoth....putting two guys at the top and thinking you now have transformed the agency...that's wishful thinking.” – Faddis [26:30]
  • There’s more chaos at lower levels; senior staff digging in, awaiting potential change in administration.

• Crime and Policing in DC:

  • Crackdown in DC led to dramatic drops in carjackings and street crime.
  • DC “has been cooking the books” to manipulate crime statistics; new federal tactics have “temporarily” restored order.
  • “It says something really bad about the Democratic Party...that instead of celebrating that...they're attacking the President.” – Faddis [32:10]

Local Color

• Host Natalie Winters shares a personal story of package theft in DC, using it to highlight law enforcement dysfunction and the effects of the new security presence. The “vibe in the city” has changed: quieter, fewer homeless individuals, and upper-class liberal residents expressing discomfort with increased law enforcement.

4. Double Standards & Establishment Meltdown: The Comey Segment

Key Segment: [35:57]–[51:18]

Host: Natalie Winters | Guest: Julie Kelly | Clip: James Comey

DC Residents' Hypocrisy

• Julie Kelly compares local outrage over January 6th to current opposition to federal law enforcement in DC:
  • “Cannot even reconcile in their own heads the hypocrisy of how they approach different things based on where Donald Trump is in the equation.” [35:57]
• DOJ & FBI are ramping up grand jury probes into the perpetrators of Russiagate, with new appointments signaling a focus on prosecutions.

FBI Internal Chaos

• Ongoing distrust within the FBI, with firings of key interim leaders (Brian Driscoll and Steven Jensen).
• Kelly sees new appointments as a positive sign for reform but acknowledges chaos at the “rank and file” level, as loyalists to the old regime resist.

Comey "Meltdown": Viral Substack Clip

• James Comey posts a confessional video to Substack, intertwining personal anxieties about Trump with his love of Taylor Swift.
  • Quote: "I've been thinking a lot this week about Donald Trump's tendency to radicalize me...His behavior has earned him in my life a presumption of badness…and in a way, it's also his superpower to prevent me from being what I really want to be, which is a thoughtful person." – James Comey [45:02]
• Host and guest ridicule the video as evidence of establishment meltdown.
  • Winter’s reaction: “James Comey, you sir, are a certified freak. I've never seen a weirder video from a self professed or avowedly straight man, alpha male? No, you are a beta male.” [46:43]
• Kelly analyzes Comey’s motives, suggesting the video is an attempt to deflect from his growing legal jeopardy:
  • “It’s really a window into a very disturbed man who hopefully is on the verge of getting his overdue comeuppance...” [47:52]
  • More highlights of the video, and Kelly’s deeper analysis, are available on her Substack.

Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• [02:40] Scott Pressler: “Election integrity is one of the most important issues that the Trump voter base cares about.”
• [07:41] Scott Pressler: “If we don't peacefully fight fire with a flamethrower...every option is on the table.”
• [18:08] Sam Faddis: “Both sides, you know, reality check. But the president is doing a superb job and there is definitely reason to be cautiously optimistic.”
• [26:30] Sam Faddis: “The task of actually transforming an agency...is mammoth.”
• [32:10] Sam Faddis: “Instead of celebrating...they're attacking the President.”
• [45:02] James Comey: “His behavior has earned him in my life a presumption of badness…and in a way, it's also his superpower to prevent me from being what I really want to be, which is a thoughtful person.”
• [47:52] Julie Kelly: “It’s really a window into a very disturbed man who hopefully is on the verge of getting his overdue comeuppance...”

Takeaways for Listeners

• For Activists: The episode is a rallying cry—pressure state legislators, organize locally, and embrace aggressive political tactics.
• On National Security: Listeners are reminded there’s a larger chessboard in play, where oil tariffs and the confrontation with China underpin US advances.
• On Government Reform: Even with bold political appointments, dismantling entrenched “Deep State” bureaucracies is portrayed as a long, complex struggle.
• Establishment Fracture: High-profile critics like James Comey are mocked as symbols of a “dying regime,” revealing supposed psychological unraveling under the pressure of MAGA ascendancy.

Additional Resources and Socials

• Scott Pressler: earlyvoteaction.com | Social: @ScottPresler (on X, Gettr, Truth Social)
• Sam Faddis: Substack: andmagazine.substack.com
• Julie Kelly: Substack: "Declassified with Julie Kelly" | X: @Julie_Kelly2

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