Bannon’s War Room — Episode 5040

Title: The Lies of Jack Smith: Behind the Protest in Iran
Date: January 3, 2026
Host: Natalie Winters (subbing for Steve Bannon), with guests Curt Mills and Julie Kelly

Episode Overview

This episode focuses on two explosive topics:

1. Escalating U.S. involvement in Iran—the saber-rattling over Iranian protests, foreign lobbies, and analogies to neoconservatism.
2. Jack Smith’s role as special counsel—analysis of his recent Congressional deposition and alleged prosecutorial misconduct regarding Trump, plus a related discussion of DOJ overreach and political weaponization.

Additional segments examine the issue of political and financial fraud tied to Minnesota’s Somali community and ActBlue. The tone throughout is combative, conspiratorial, and direct, consistent with War Room’s “MAGA first” perspective.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. U.S. Escalation Toward Iran: The “Regime Change” Playbook

[00:52–13:35]

• Human Rights as Pretext for Intervention

• Curt Mills describes the shift in official rationale for possible U.S. military action against Iran:
  • June’s bombing was justified by the nuclear program; today, “the new line is... to eliminate the basically the ballistic missile arsenal of the Iranians” ([02:25]).
  • Mills draws direct historical parallels to Bush-era neoconservatism:

    “It is 2005 Bush second inaugural stuff. It’s straight out of the Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz playbook.” ([03:55])

• Israel’s Role in Shaping U.S. Policy

• Netanyahu was in Florida with U.S. defense officials for New Year’s, described as “prepping round two” with Iran ([02:25]).
• Mills criticizes what he calls “tail-wagging-the-dog” attempts by Israel to spark broader U.S. intervention:

  “They’ve created... at warp speed over the holiday season a new causus belli.” ([02:54])

• MAGA and Regime Change

• Natalie Winters and Curt Mills address the internal contradiction in claiming this isn’t about regime change:
  • Winters: “All of a sudden, you know, a few weeks later, Israel’s like, actually no, we’ve just been going for regime change the whole time.” ([05:23])
  • Mills: “The idea that the President or elements within the President’s midst are not actually flirting with regime change, they’re not actually flirting with doing Israel’s foreign policy for it, I think is a laughable contention.” ([06:14])
  • Points out President used “Make Iran Great Again”—a gaffe that incited backlash within MAGA.

• Iranian Response and Military Calculus

• Hardliners in Iran threaten to target U.S. soldiers if the U.S. intervenes ([07:35]).
• Historical context: Iran’s prior retaliations (2020, 2025) notably minimized U.S. casualties, but rhetoric is escalating.
• Mills warns: “It’s not that the US couldn’t defeat them. It’s just the question of why is this the use of resources and what is the plan for after.” ([08:40])

• Foreign Lobbies Driving Policy

• Mills bluntly attributes this policy focus to the power of “foreign lobbies”:

  “There’s not a major Taiwanese lobby... there IS a hardline Persian diaspora... and a hardline Israeli diaspora... That is the background... why this is so loud.” ([10:40])

• Memorable Quote

• Curt Mills:

  “The baseline of our prioritization shouldn't be foreign lobbies. I think this is deeply unhealthy and basically ahistorical in the history of the American republic.” ([11:00])

2. Domestic Fraud, Immigration, and the Uniparty “Racket”

[17:02–27:39]

• Minnesota Somali Community as Political and Financial “Racket”

• Natalie Winters launches into a detailed monologue on alleged fraud tied to Somali immigrants in Minnesota:
  • Connects Somali-run nonprofits to both federal grant money and the Democratic Party’s ActBlue platform.
• Criticizes “Countering Violent Extremism” programs:

  “That’s how sick our elites are. They will import people from countries where they have to create programs to combat terrorism and then lie to you that you’re a bigoted, xenophobic racist if you won’t accept them.” ([19:32])

• Links government funding of Somali organizations to campaign support for Democrats such as Keith Ellison and the construction of political machines.
• Memorable moment:

  “If they're so great, then maybe they should stay in Somalia.” ([23:35])

• Immigration, Assimilation, and Cultural Critique

• Winters questions what, if anything, Somali immigrants contribute:

  “If everyone can just be an American, then maybe these Somalis could just be Americans in Somalia and then turn their country into America. Except it doesn't work like that...” ([24:56])

• Asserts “importing hordes of foreigners from countries—though I guess that's maybe too nice a term. It's [from] failed states into this country” is a deliberate policy to undermine U.S. identity and politics.

3. Jack Smith’s Congressional Deposition: Alleged Lies and Weaponization of Justice

[29:53–48:56]

• Overview of the Deposition

• Julie Kelly recaps Jack Smith’s 8-hour Judiciary Committee deposition, accusing him of:

  • Misrepresenting the strength of his cases
  • Lying about Trump’s lack of First Amendment protection
  • Omitting the collapse of the Florida classified documents case under Judge Cannon, who ruled Smith’s appointment unconstitutional

• Kelly:

  “Jack Smith defiantly telling the House Judiciary Committee last month that [Trump] was not protected by the First Amendment in talking about election fraud because he was lying about it. That’s what Jack Smith said. So that was, of course, galling.” ([30:53])

• Specific Allegations Against Smith

• Smith and his team allegedly:

  • Relied on rarely-used statutes (“Conspiracy against Rights”)
  • Misrepresented facts about Trump’s cooperation with NARA and DOJ
  • Engaged in evidence tampering or mishandling in the documents case

• Kelly contends prosecutorial overreach is part of a recurring DOJ pattern:

  “The reason why we got a Jack Smith and... two unprecedented criminal federal indictments... was because no one was held accountable from Russiagate... If we don’t hold Jack Smith... we are going to get this all over again on steroids.” ([37:52])

• Smith’s Motives and Future Accountability

• Kelly suggests Smith is “smug” because he thinks he’ll get away with it—yet has “lawyered up” post-2024 Trump victory ([36:02]).
• Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Ron Johnson, plan further investigations and public hearings.

• New Revelations

• Notably, Smith himself sought out participation in Trump investigations as early as 2022, contradicting the official story that Merrick Garland simply “plucked him out of The Hague” ([40:13]).

4. January 6 Pipe Bomber Case Update

[42:37–47:34]

• Julie Kelly analyzes the assignment of the J6 “pipe bomber” case to Judge Amir Ali, potentially problematic due to perceived bias.
• Discusses procedural irregularities: indictment obtained from D.C. Superior Court rather than a usual grand jury, possibly reflecting resistance to DOJ prosecutions within D.C.
• Notes a Soros-funded activist group teaching D.C. residents how to block DOJ cases—implying political resistance even among jurors ([46:32]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Steve Bannon [00:02]:

  “This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people.”

• Curt Mills [11:00]:

  “The baseline of our prioritization shouldn't be foreign lobbies. I think this is deeply unhealthy and basically ahistorical in the history of the American republic.”

• Natalie Winters [23:35]:

  “If they're so great, then maybe they should stay in Somalia. Maybe that's where they're undergoing a civil war.”

• Julie Kelly [30:53]:

  “Jack Smith defiantly telling the House Judiciary Committee last month that he was not protected. The President was not protected by the First Amendment in talking about election fraud because he was lying about it. That’s what Jack Smith said.”

• Julie Kelly [37:52]:

  “If we don't hold Jack Smith [and his team]... we are going to get this all over again on steroids. Even worse, because this is how we got to this point. No one being held accountable for Russiagate...”

• Curt Mills [12:57]:

  “The Israeli lobby wants to radicalize people on [Somalia] to distract from the larger macro issue... they're going to widen it... Turkey... Saudi... it will never really stop... The idea that this is separate [from post-9/11 neocon wars] is laughable.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:52–13:35: U.S.–Iran escalation, regime change, foreign lobbies, MAGA/media narratives (Winters, Mills)
• 17:02–27:39: Minnesota Somali fraud, ActBlue, domestic political “regime change” (Winters)
• 29:53–39:45: Julie Kelly dissects Jack Smith’s deposition and prosecution strategy
• 42:37–47:34: Breaking news: January 6 “pipe bomber” case assigned to Judge Amir Ali, issues with D.C. courts (Kelly)
• 47:45–48:56: Final thoughts and where to follow Julie Kelly and Natalie Winters

Conclusion

This episode weaves together foreign policy critique (U.S.–Iran brinkmanship and Israel influence), domestic scandals around immigration and NGO fraud, and deep skepticism toward the DOJ’s prosecution of Trump and his allies. The driving tone is one of populist outrage, suspicion of official narratives, and warnings of escalating “regime change” both abroad and at home.

Follow the Guests:

• Curt Mills: @CurtMills on X; The American Conservative
• Julie Kelly: @julie_kelly2 on X; Declassified with Julie Kelly on Substack
• Natalie Winters: nataliegwinters.substack.com

Recommended for those interested in populist criticism of U.S. foreign policy, immigration, and DOJ actions.