Episode 5205: Iran Lays Mines IOn The Strait Of Hormuz; Warmongering Graham Wants To Send Your Family To Iran

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bannon’s War Room, Episode 5205

Date: March 10, 2026
Host: Stephen K. Bannon
Main Guests: Caroline Wren, Jack Posobiec
Key Topics: Iran crisis escalation, US political infighting, Strait of Hormuz, military interventions, “Save America Act”, deep state accountability

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the rapidly escalating crisis with Iran, specifically Iran’s mining of the Strait of Hormuz and US military operations in the region, alongside fierce debate over deploying American troops and the political divides in Washington. The show also critiques leading politicians (notably Lindsey Graham), discusses “deep state” influence, and dives into procedural battles in the US Senate related to the "Save America Act". The tone is intense, urgent, and skeptical of mainstream narratives and establishment figures.

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1. Crisis in the Persian Gulf: Iran Mines the Strait of Hormuz

Key Insights:

• Iran has reportedly begun laying sea mines in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, threatening the bulk of global oil shipments.
• US is responding with increased naval presence and promises of government-backed shipping insurance, but shipping companies remain unconvinced.
• The episode frames this escalation as a game of high-stakes brinkmanship and asymmetric warfare.

Memorable Quotes & Discussion:

• Jack Posobiec explains, “What it shows clearly is how relatively, note I use that word, easy it is for Iran to cause absolute mayhem, havoc and chaos with the global shipping.” (24:29)
• “You can give me all the insurance you like, but if it’s not safe, I ain’t sending my ships through the Strait.” — Posobiec relaying the Maersk CEO’s view (24:50)

Timestamps:

• [23:41] – Host/Interviewer introduces breaking news: Iran has started laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
• [24:29] – Jack Posobiec analyzes the strategic implications and practical difficulties.
• [26:04] – Caroline Wren details how easy it is for Iran to mine the Strait and how difficult it is for the West to counter this tactic.

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2. US Military Response & Political Debate Over Intervention

Key Insights:

• US deployments in the region are escalating with an extended carrier presence and possible ground operations on Iranian territory, particularly Kharg Island—a critical oil infrastructure point.
• Heated discussions surround possible “boots on the ground” and the risks to American service members.

Memorable Quotes & Moments:

• General Kaine emphasizes the heroics of young sailors on aircraft carriers: “With an average age of the early 20s, these are the unsung heroes of naval aviation… a beautiful symphony of American spirit.” (00:37)
• Caroline Wren warns about US ground action: “You are within artillery range of the Iranian army... If we are going to do something like this, we cannot be glib about it and we have to be serious, unlike the unserious Senator [Graham] here.” (18:23)
• Senator Tim Kaine (not a guest, via recorded remarks): "The American people deserve to know much more than this administration has told them about the cost of the war, the danger to our sons and daughters in uniform..." (03:22)

Timestamps:

• [00:00] – General Kaine’s tribute to carrier strike groups and front-line military risks.
• [11:02] – Senator Lindsey Graham calls for removing US air bases from Spain and challenges Arab allies to join the fight.
• [18:23] – Caroline Wren and Bannon dig into the potential consequences of a Kharg Island assault.

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3. Political Infighting: The Role of Lindsey Graham & “Jester Gooning”

Key Insights:

• Lindsey Graham is sharply criticized for advocating aggressive military involvement and for, in Bannon’s and Wren’s words, essentially acting more as a foreign agent or provocateur than as a US senator.
• The term “Jester Gooning” is introduced—a neologism for performative, attention-seeking hawkishness.

Memorable Quotes:

• Caroline Wren: “…what you are seeing is an example of Jester Gooning for the war. He gets out there and gesture goons for a wider war... That’s just his role. He’s the jester goon for the war.” (16:44)
• Bannon: “Lindsey Graham should be pulled off of television. I don’t know who he thinks he is. He thinks he’s President of the United States.” (12:05)

Timestamps:

• [16:28–18:23] – Conversation between Bannon, Wren, and Posobiec about the dangers of “jester gooning” in US war policy.

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4. Deep State, “America First” & Demands for Accountability

Key Insights:

• The panelists assert that “deep state” actors continue to sabotage “America First” priorities.
• There are calls to release files and investigations targeting Trump and his allies, and to pursue “mass deportations” and aggressive policy changes once political processes are secured.

Memorable Quotes:

• Caroline Wren: “If we don’t achieve accountability now, we say, what, sir? If we don’t achieve accountability now, we never will. They will kick this can down the road every single time.” (35:13)
• “This is the main fight and it needs to be the main fight because … the interests of the American people [are] being put front and center... That means mass deportations.” (33:03)

Timestamps:

• [33:03] – Wren and Bannon discuss the ongoing influence of the deep state and need for full file releases.
• [34:52] – Accountability: Pressure for immediate transparency about all investigations.

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5. Congress, Senate Stalemate, & the “Save America Act”

Key Insights:

• There’s deep frustration with Senate Republicans (especially Cornyn and Thune), whom the panel deems insufficiently combative on Trump’s signature legislative priority, the “Save America Act” (voter integrity).
• The discussion includes Senate procedural arcana—the filibuster, talking filibuster, and performative votes—and how Democrats historically forced votes even without guaranteed passage.

Memorable Quotes:

• “It’s not about getting to 51 on the save America act itself. It’s about actually doing some hard work…” (39:54)
• Interviewer: “We don’t need a performative bill. We know who’s voting on it. There are 51… There are two holdouts, Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis. There we go, mystery solved.” (48:43)
• “President Trump’s endorsement is the most powerful endorsement in the country. It is a privilege to get that endorsement. It’s something that you should earn…” (41:28)

Timestamps:

• [39:54] – Bannon and Wren criticize the Senate for performative gestures and evasion.
• [44:58–48:43] – Clip and commentary on Chuck Schumer’s historic speech about breaking the filibuster for voting rights; panel presses GOP leaders to take similar risks for the America First agenda.
• [52:22] – Wren points listeners to her social channels for updates on the Paxton vs. Cornyn fight.

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Additional Notable Segments

• Risk to US Troops: Multiple guests and soundbites underscore the real risk to American service members, referencing escalating hostilities and the possibility of many more casualties if ground operations occur.
• International Implications: The mining of the strait and military brinksmanship is presented as not only a military problem but as a grave economic and geopolitical crisis, with possible global oil market shocks.

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Most Memorable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• General Kaine: “This beautiful symphony of American spirit is the definition of perfectly organized chaos.” (00:37)
• Sen. Tim Kaine: “I am most concerned about the threat to American lives of potentially deploying our sons and daughters on the ground in Iran.” (03:22)
• Jack Posobiec: “You can give me all the insurance you like, but if it’s not safe, I ain’t sending my ships through the Strait.” (24:50)
• Caroline Wren: “Jester Gooning is a good example of what [Graham]'s doing.” (17:50)
• Bannon: “Lindsey Graham should be pulled off of television. I don’t know who he thinks he is.” (12:05)
• Caroline Wren: “If we don’t achieve accountability now, we never will.” (35:13)
• Stephen K. Bannon: “These people are on fire. And they’re President Trump’s most ardent supporters.” (38:33)

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Where to Follow/Find Guests

• Jack Posobiec: “Go to my Twitter feed for the latest—like the Associated Press for this war right now. Human Events Daily podcast, Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts.” (36:23)
• Caroline Wren: “It’s at Caroline Wren on Twitter, Getter, and Truth Social.” (52:31)

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Conclusion

This episode captures the gravity and unpredictability of the Iran conflict, exposes deep rifts within US leadership, and projects urgency for both military caution and radical political action. The hosts and guests blend news analysis, political strategy, and populist advocacy, urging transparency, accountability, and authenticity from those representing the America First movement—and expressing deep skepticism toward those perceived as establishment or performative politicians.

Listeners can expect:

• Detailed breakdowns of strategic risks in Iran.
• Intramural political feuding explained.
• Repeated emphases on the cost and consequences for US families and service members should escalation continue.
• Calls to action for GOP grassroots and MAGA-aligned voters, urging pressure on Senate Republicans and demanding boldness in facing both foreign and domestic threats.

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Note: This summary omits advertisements and promotional reads to focus strictly on the substantive content and discussion.

Transcript

[General Kaine]

I want to thank the men and women of the Ford carrier strike group and their families and let all of them know how grateful I am for their leadership and service. The crews on board this strike group have already been endured months at sea only to get their deployment extended. These exceptional Americans rogered up, all supported by their families, continue to stand the watch, taking the fight to the enemy over and over again, night after night. Aboard ships like the USS Ford and the Abraham Lincoln are a special group of sailors I want to highlight today. These are the men and women, the sailors up on the roof running operations on the flight deck. With an average age of the early 20s, these are the unsung heroes of naval aviation. These young sailors known for wearing yellow shirts are in charge of the catapults, tank taxiing jets around on the flight deck, shooting jets off the front end and recovering jets off the back end. They are literally involved with every single movement on the roof on an aircraft carrier. They are the last ones that a naval aviator sees before getting shot off the front end and the first one that a naval aviator sees after safely trapping on the back end. And just for a minute, imagine you're standing on that aircraft carrier flight deck. There's 30 knots of wind in your face. The deck is slippery, covered in grease, it's noisy, there are propellers spinning, there's jet blasts everywhere, helicopters are running, your head is on a swivel and you're trying to direct a multimillion dollar fighter into a one foot square box so that those naval aviators can be shot off into the black of night to go do America's work. Those jets are fully loaded with missiles and bombs and they are a world class team. Combined with the naval aviation and the aviators in those jets, this beautiful symphony of American spirit is the definition of perfectly organized chaos. And these crews do it every single time the carrier is at work, oh, by the way, in the middle of the night and oftentimes in the pouring rain.

[White House Press Secretary]

Let me be clear, it is a good thing to wipe out terrorists who indiscriminately target civilians and attempt to hold the global economy hostage. And President Trump could be commend, should be commended for doing so. But ultimately the operations will end when the commander in chief determines the military objectives have been met, fully realized, and that Iran is in a position of complete and unconditional surrender, whether they say it or not.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

And does the president still want Iran's unconditional surrender?

[White House Press Secretary]

Ms. Well, when President Trump says that Iran is in a place of unconditional surrender he's not claiming the Iranian regime is going to come out and say that themselves. What the president means is that Iran's threats will no longer be backed by a ballistic missile arsenal that protects them from building a nuclear bomb in their country. I could make an empty threat, but if I have no actions to back it up, then it's an empty threat. And so President Trump will determine when Iran is in a place of unconditional surrender, when they no longer pose a credible and direct threat to the United States of America and our allies.

[Senator Tim Kaine]

I emerge from this briefing as dissatisfied and angry, frankly, as I have from any past briefing in my 15 years in the Senate. I am left with more questions than answers, especially about the cost of the war. My questions have been unanswered and I will demand answers because the American people deserve to know, and I guess I am most concerned about the threat to American lives of potentially deploying our sons and daughters on the ground in Iran. We seem to be on a path toward deploying American troops on the ground in Iran to accomplish any of the potential objectives here. And there is also, as disturbingly as anything else, the specter of active Russian aid to Iran putting in danger American lives, literally. Russia seems to be aiding our enemy actively and intensively with intelligence and perhaps with other means of and China also may be assisting Iran. So the American people deserve to know much more than this administration has told them about the cost of the war, the danger to our sons and daughters in uniform and the potential for further escalation and widening of this war, a war of choice made by this president, not chosen by the American people, with potentially huge consequences to American lives.

[White House Press Secretary]

Attack the United States of America any longer. But there are no US Leaders or Israeli leaders who are making those same claims. So is he making this up to justify his decision to go to war now? Ms. The President is not making anything up, Nancy. He is looking at this every single day based on intelligence, based on facts, and based on intelligence that he himself and his negotiators have consumed based on their again, negotiations with the rogue Iranian regime over the past year. And the president and his team tried in a good faith way to reach a diplomatic deal through peaceful means with the Iranian regime. And Iran chose this path to death and destruction. Iran wanted to attack the United States of America, and the President was not going to sit back and allow that to happen. He was not going to sit back and allow that to happen, and everyone in this room should be grateful for it.

[Caroline Wren]

There was a briefing on the Capitol Hill today and Some senators came out and said they were more convinced than ever that there would be US Boots on the ground.

[Senator John Thune]

Senator Blumenthal said that.

[Caroline Wren]

In fact, your reaction to that and any update on President Trump's thinking about it?

[White House Press Secretary]

Look, I would say that Democrats on Capitol Hill are clearly being quite disingenuous. Three years ago, not a single Democrat voted for the against the resolution condemning Iran as the world's leading state sponsor of terror. Yet now, with President Trump as commander in chief finally taking the action that so many Democrats have called on the commander in chief to do for many, many years, to wipe out the threat of a rogue Iranian terrorist regime, now all of a sudden, Democrats are playing politics with this long standing bipartisan policy of the United states and they 53 of them in the House recently voted against the resolution condemning Iran as the world's state sponsor of terror. So I wouldn't take Democrats at their word. As for boots on the ground, the president has talked about this repeatedly, wisely. He does not rule options out as commander in chief. So again, I would hesitate to confirm anything that a Democrat on Capitol Hill says right now about the president's thinking. Where would you be if they sent up a supplemental and did they give you any indication this morning that a

[Interviewer/Host]

supplemental is on its way to Capitol Hill?

[Senator Elizabeth Warren]

At this point, I am a hard no on a supplemental. This is not a war the American people want us to engage in. This is not a war supported by this country, and this is not a war that makes us safer for the Trump administration. Just say over and over, there's no money for health care. There's no money for child care. There's no time to pay attention to how families are paying more. But there's $1 billion a day to go to the Middle east and drop bombs on Iran for military purposes that no one can describe and that no one can explain how merely from dropping bombs from the air, we will accomplish those ends.

[Senator John Thune]

No.

[Senator Elizabeth Warren]

No more money. The one thing Congress has the power to do is to stop actions like this through the power of the purse. The military already has a trillion dollars. The military already cannot pass a simple audit on where that money is. And for the Trump administration to come back and say, shovel billions more into a war in Iran that is not supporting by the American people and does not make us safer makes no sense at all. So I will be a no.

[Interviewer/Host]

Thank you, Caroline.

[White House Press Secretary]

The president said yesterday for the first time that he had to strike Iran because he believes that Iran was going to strike U.S. targets within seven days. And then he then bumped that down later to three days. Where is he getting that? Well, that's not the first time the president has said that he chose to launch Operation Epic Fury because he felt as though Iran was going to strike the United States and our assets in the region first. Again, I addressed this in the last briefing. This was a feeling the president had based on facts, facts provided to him by his top negotiators who had been engaged with the Iranian regime in a good faith effort. The Iranian regime was lying, deceiving the United States of America, clearly trying to continue their nuclear program to create a bomb that would, of course, throw, threatened the United States of America. Again, their ballistic missile arsenal, they were rapidly and aggressively increasing that by the month to a place where they would essentially build immunity for themselves, where a future president or President Trump would not be able to launch this incredibly successful operation. And so the president, again, as I have reiterated and he has said, was not going to sit back and allow the Iranian regime to threaten or to attack the United States of America any longer. But there are no US US Leaders or Israeli leaders who are making those same claims. So is he making this up to justify his decision to go to war now?

[Senator John Thune]

Ms.

[White House Press Secretary]

The President is not making anything up, Nancy. He is looking at this every single day based on intelligence, based on facts, and based on intelligence that he himself and his negotiators have consumed based on their again, negotiations with the rogue Iranian regime over the past year. And the president and his team tried in a good faith way, way to reach a diplomatic deal through peaceful means with the Iranian regime. And Iran chose this path to death and destruction. Iran wanted to attack the United States of America, and the president was not going to sit back and allow that to happen. He was not going to sit back and allow that to happen. And everyone in this room should be grateful for it.

[Senator Lindsey Graham]

To our allies step up. Get our air bases out of Spain. They're not reliable. Move all those airplanes to a country that that would let us use them when we're threatened by a regime like Iran. To our friends in Spain, man, you have lost your way. I don't want to do business with you anymore. I want our bases, our air bases out of Spain into a country that will let us use them to our Arab friends. I've tried to help you construct a new Mideast. You need to up your game here. I can't go to South Carolina and say we're fighting and you won't publicly fight. What you're doing behind the scenes is that has to Stop the double dealing of the Arab world when it comes to this stuff needs to end. I go back to South Carolina, I'm asking them to send their sons and daughters over to the Mideast. What I want you to do in the Mideast, our friends in Saudi Arabia and other places step forward and say this is my fight too. I join America. I'm publicly involved in bringing this regime down. If you don't, you're making a great mistake and you're going to cut off the ability to have a better relationship with the United States. I say this as a friend.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Tuesday 10th March in the year of our Lord 2026. I'm not even sure I can comprehend what he's saying right there in the middle of a gunfight. Now you're having a conversation who's supposed to be your ally that you've poured billions of dollars into protecting. And now we know they're double dealing us behind the scenes. And you're talking, you're even the concept that the sons and daughters of South Carolina and you saw the General Kane at the beginning praising the daily evolutions for carrier ops on a deck of an aircraft carrier. What these kids, these young men and women do every day, what they do absolutely every day, all day long at night, during day ops, et cetera. I mean, it's the messing. I mean, Lindsey Graham should be pulled off of television. I don't know who he thinks he is. He thinks he's President of the United States. With the Arab world I'm trying to shape. This is the problem that's actually a fact. You got Lindsey Graham over there should be a registered as a foreign agent for the Netanyahu government. And now he's letting you know because spent all the time the Arab world that I've been trying to, that I'm trying to reorder, this is where we are. And this is dangerous because you have mixed messages because you have guys like Lindsey Graham and dozens more that are doing their own thing. Okay, we are packed this evening. Jack Bosobik's going to join us because there's just a report out that the, that the Iranians are now mining the Straits of Hormuz. We're going to get Jack and talk about that. Also. The Koreans are sitting there going, yo, you took our Thads and they're stripped them out of Indo Paycom. We may have a problem getting back in here because the Chinese Communist party wasn't that thrilled when we first put them in, I think in 16 or 17 anyway. We got a lot of the what's actually happening. The geostrategic Caroline Wren is going to be here because the fight on Paxton vs Cornyn is heating up. We're slammed for both hours, so stick around. Buckle up. You're in the war room. Birch Gold. Gold. Kind of want to tear this afternoon. It's not the price, it's the process. What causes that? I think folks are looking for a safe harbor in the US Dollar and in gold, physical gold, like they have for 5,000 years of man's recorded history. It's called a hedge. We use a fancy term, geopolitical. That just means war and the rumors of war, all in the war. Birchgold.com Go check it out. Today I talked to Philip Packrington. Promo code Bannon into the dollar empire. Short break post on the other side. Carolyn ran on deck. A new year means new financial goals, like making sure your savings are secure and diversified. Will this be the year you finally listen to me and talk to someone from Birch Gold Group? Honestly, they're great people. I appreciate their educational approach and their understanding of macroeconomics. There are forces pushing the dollar lower and gold higher, which is why they believe every American should own physical gold. So until February, if you are a first time gold buyer, Birch Gold is offering a rebate of up to $10,000 on qualifying purchases. To claim eligibility and start the process, just text Bannon at 989-898. Birchgold can help you. Roll an existing IRA or 401K into an IRA in gold and you're still eligible for a rebate of up to $10,000. Make right now your first time to buy gold and take advantage of a rebate of up to $10,000. You buy by by February 27th. Text my name, Bannon 989898 and claim your eligibility today. Remember, text Bannon B A N N o N to 989-898. You've got to the end of February, the 27th of February, to qualify up to a $10,000 rebate.

[Caroline Wren]

Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Jack Posobic, a naval intelligence officer, joins us. Jack, first I'm gonna start with Lindsey Graham. What is going on? I mean, shouldn't the White House tap him on the shoulder and say, hey, look, no more drinking when you're going on tv? And by the way, we don't want you on TV as a surrogate, sir.

[Caroline Wren]

Well, Steve, it's. It's not. It may be drinking. I don't know. I couldn't. Couldn't say I don't know the good senator very well, but what I can tell you is what you are seeing is an example of Jester Gooning for the war. See, what that's, what this is, is that he gets out there and he gesture goons for a wider war. No matter really where it is, whether it's in Ukraine, whether it's in the Middle east, whether it's in Latin America. There's no point in, in trying to understand whether you know, the strategy, whether U.S. interests or walking through the difference of it. That's just his role. That's just his job. He's the jester goon for the war.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Can you help out? There's a couple of three boomers in the audience, including me. Can you help me out with my, my youngest guys?

[Caroline Wren]

The kids.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

What is Jester going.

[Caroline Wren]

The kids to this as Jester Gooning. So it's, it's when you, when you sort of, you know, you, you kind of, you kind of act, you know, in a, in a. Clowning around, you're trying to impress people, you're trying to, you're trying to, you know, dance around a little bit, you know, open up a bag of tricks for enough to get what you want.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Yes. So Jester Gooning. Jester Gooning is a good example of what he's doing. But this is my point. Nothing here more serious. We got 150. I think we got seven or eight. I think we have eight now official Kias. People are in harm's way. We're sending another carrier. We are flooding the zone now with more and more equipment and more and more assets. And I'm going to get to the mining in a second. But the Iranians not only am not backing down, they're doubling down, sir.

[Caroline Wren]

Well, this is deadly serious. And there's no question that when American troops are on the line and when America's best of the best are on the line, if we are going to send anyone anywhere, we have to do so with the full force and backing of the United States military. Not just, you know, not just some, some clown show on tv. I mean some, I mean the real muscle, the real might. And to do so, to only use that sacred responsibility when it is absolutely necessary. Now, the President has said that this operation is necessary, but if he's talking about boots on the ground, if he. Because we keep talking about this Carg island operation over and over, they say, oh, we're going to go to Carg Island. We're going to. You are within artillery range of the Iranian army. At that point that is so close to you, you've got long range artillery that could strike you certainly within range of missile batteries. You're within range of everything that Iran has to come to bear. So you drop a couple, three units or divisions on Carg island, you're looking at, you're looking at another case on and you're going to see Khe San all across TikTok. Now I'm sure, by the way, United States military, whether you're talking about the 7 5th Rangers, you're talking about Tier 1 assets, you're talking about 82nd Airborne, they could do it and they will do it. U.S. marines, they will do it. But if we are going to do something like this, we cannot be glib about it and we have to be serious, unlike the unserious Senator here, you need to take it seriously and understand that that is going to spark a wider and longer conflagration. And I heard the, my President, the President, United States yesterday say this is a short term conflict, a short term pain for long term gain. That's what we heard from the UN Ambassador, that's what we heard from Caroline Levitt and that's what we heard from the President as well. So you know, I would just, I'd ask the Senator to check with them.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

You, when you're talking about Kharg island, we're talking about the Straits of Hormuz, we're talking about oil and gas, that's the, that's the, the island that has a lot of the Iranian infrastructure and facilities on it for holding, storage and all.

[Caroline Wren]

Their entire port structure is there 90%. Their, their onload offload flows right through

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Kharg island, right through Carg Island. And there's talk about the 82nd Airborne, a combat team or a combat Brigade from the 82nd Airborne doing maybe an airdrop in there or others delivery systems. They will definitely be sons and daughters of South Carolinians when, when the 82nd goes from Fort Bragg. That's why he's also saying something disturbing that ought to be out in the open. The Arab quote unquote. Our great Arab allies in the region are all running for cover and telling people hey, we gotta stop this or double dealing us. We now know that the, all the financial assets of the Iranians are in the Pirate Cove of Dubai, yet they haven't been frozen yet. Or so it's like America's fighting and protecting these monarchies and I'm not so sure they're in the fight, sir.

[Caroline Wren]

Well, Steve and I've said this from the beginning that Iran made a strategic move and certainly rolled the dice the same way the President made a strategic move in ordering the operation. Their counter move was not to only go directly against US Bases, when you look in terms of Saudi, when you look in terms of Al Adid, when you look in terms of Kuwait, but also to go against the US Allies that make up the gcc, the Gulf Cooperation Council. These are the Arab nations, the Sunni Arab nations around the rim of the Gulf, the Persian Gulf. And so, in doing so, they make them have to choose. Will you choose your alliance with the United States and, and potential regional hegemony over all of your economic gains? And by the way, when it comes to Dubai, think about the past 15 years that Dubai specifically has invested in their reputation, management and their ability to say that we are the jewel of the Middle east, that we are a place where people can come and it's a, it's a, it's a pleasure palace. It's, it's, it's the Las Vegas of the Gulf, where people can come from all over the, the elite of the world, the rich of the world can come and have a playground that is shattered the minute the Shaheed drones begin flying in unimpeded through the airspace or making short work of air, enemy air saturation and going directly through your air defenses, start slamming into these towers. Like, you know, obviously they've been targeting the Burj Khalifa, but, you know, you look at some of these other incredible and impressive skyscrapers which Dubai has the. That is the challenge that Iran is putting up against to say, hey, you want to go one on one? We're going to go asymmetric. We're going to hit you in the purse.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Let's play the. Now they're talking about mining. The President would say, hey, don't hit the Arab allies. They hit them. The President says, I'm going to have Navy combatants escort people and put up $20 billion to make sure this free flow in and out of straits or Hormuz. They come out and say, we're going to mine it, we're going to shell it. The President says, you better watch out. Your new son, that's the Ayatollah. And they come back and say, you better watch out. I mean, they're going tit for tat. Let's play right now, the Straits of Hormuz.

[Interviewer/Host]

I'll bring Jack in some important breaking news, and that is that CNN is learning Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. This is according to two People familiar with the matter. It's another major complication as the world's top oil exporter warns there could be, quote, catastrophic consequences for oil markets if the conflict keeps disrupting ship and oil tanker traffic through the strait. He says beyond upending shipping and insurance, the ongoing disruption could snowball, threatening aviation, agriculture and other industries. A short time ago, the White House repeated President Trump's promise to provide government backed insurance as well as naval escorts to keep tankers moving. So far, those shipping companies are resisting traveling through the region while the fighting goes on.

[Jack Posobiec]

What it shows clearly is how relatively, note I use that word, easy it is for Iran to cause absolute mayhem, havoc and chaos with the, with the global shipping. You see, they threaten whether they actually lay the mines or not. We'll only have to wait and see. You've got the perspective of the drones and, or missiles. You've got an entire choke point that you're looking at. And all that the west can do, all that President Trump and others can do is offer these rather poor substitutes insurance and escorting of vessels. I spoke to the CEO earlier of Maersk Shipping, the largest in the world, and he basically said, look, you can give me all the insurance you like, but if it's not safe, I ain't sending my ships, my container ships through the strait. And he said, and as for escorting, it's just too difficult. Now they've got 10 ships stuck in the Northern Gulf, they've got many more on the way. It gives you an idea of why what the President said yesterday might sound good in sound bites, but is very difficult to actually put into play and terribly easy to overturn.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Jack. So we've got a couple of minutes on this side and I want to hold you over just your thoughts of what you've heard in the difficult, the complexity of mining the Straits of Hormuz.

[Caroline Wren]

Well, see that I would, I would put it this way. It's the complexity. Isn't mining the straight the mind. This trade is very easy to mine, specifically those shipping channels when you're only looking at a, a deep sea channel of about two nautical miles each, the eastbound, the westbound, and then there's a buffer zone of about 2 nautical miles in between. So you're talking a very short, very narrow distance whereby in these, these deep hold vessels can transit and at the same time Iran has the ability to put, or by the way, create the perception of having put these asymmetric sea mines into, into the Strait itself by running their small boats out, by using freighters, by using Dallas, by using, I mean, you could use a dinghy to be able to put one of these mines out. You know, that's actually what we saw in the USS Cole situation over in Aden. I was just a small boat. And so they have the ability to shut down so much of the world's trade, which, by the way, shuts themselves down as well. But it's always been the ultimate card that Iran can play. And then, of course, there's no ship captain that's going to drive through there. John Conrad says that he would do so, but even he might have might want to pump the brakes if he saw some Iranian miners out there.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Jackie, hold on for one second. We'll just take a short break. I just want I got some other items. Pete Hegseth committed to having a massive bombing today. Looks like that's happening inside of inside of Iran. So they're getting lit up even as we speak. Short commercial break Jack Paso to the side. Birch Gold Take your phone at and text Bannon B A N N O N at 989-898. This is the easiest way to get started. It's a free instruction manual. It's totally free. No obligation. Investing in gold and precious metals in the age of Trump. You can also get access to Philip Patrick and his team. They will tell you it's not the price, it's the process of what drives the value during certain times of world history. These are one of these times that they're decades in which nothing happens in weeks in which decades happen. Short break Post on the other side. Imagine having the world's most connected financial insider feeding you vital information, the kind of information only a handful of people have access to and that could create a fortune for those who know what to do with it. That's exactly what you get when you join our frequent guest and contributor Jim Rickards in his elite research service, Strategic Intelligence. Inside Strategic Intelligence. You'll hear directly from Jim and receive critical updates on major financial and political events before they hit the mainstream news. He'll put you in front of the story and tell you exactly what moves to make for your best chance to profit. As a proud American, you do not want to be caught off guard. Sign up for Strategic Intelligence right now at your our exclusive website. That's Rickards War Room.com Rickards War Room.com you go there, you get strategic intelligence based upon predictive analytics. Do it today, right now. Rickards war room.com war room here's your

[Caroline Wren]

host, Stephen K. Band.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

JACK the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth laid out the Military objectives this morning. Today, more bombing going through those objectives, particularly the degradation of their military capabilities, either nuclear weapons capabilities, air defense capabilities, missile ballistic missile building capabilities. Pretty concise, but going to take a while to do it. I don't see what Pete was saying. And then what our actions have been today in the, in the counteractions by the Iranians to potentially mine the, the Straits of Hormuz. I don't see, I'm not feeling an off ramp, sir.

[Caroline Wren]

Well, Steve, you know, if we're talking about actual mining of the Strait of Hormuz, and keep in mind that this was not stated by the Iranians, this was stated by American media reporting based on intelligence. And if Iran were going to mine the Strait of Hormuz, they would be doing so at great harm to themselves as well as to their customers, their chief customers, the Chinese Communist Party, because that is who receives the bulk of Iran's oil when it is removed. Now, they are already feeling the hurt because of the current de facto closing of the straight Hormuz that we've seen. But mining, I mean, you're talking about a shock to the oil system that is a game of essentially brinksmanship. It's, it's petrol brinksmanship, whereby in they're trying to see if China can hold out longer than the United States, the Gulf allies and everyone else. And look, Steve, as they say, as, as we like to say in the Navy, any ship could be a minesweeper once. So it only take a few to, to head out there. And certainly there are, there are unmanned options that are available. But at the same time, when you're talking about the sheer quantity of these supertankers, the amount of oil with the cost going up already as it is, what insurance company, what reinsurance company, what shipping, you know, what shipping firm is going to go out and take that risk if you know you could lose your entire cargo with oil prices the way they are. And this, of course, is the ultimate asymmetric effect that the Iranians are looking for.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Before I go, it seems like President Trump with the Secretary of War and General Kaine and Admiral Cooper, they're going through, as we say, targeting packages very methodically, very professionally, and they're relentless. It seems like Netanyahu maybe has another strategy, another set of objectives. But I want to go back to Lindsey Graham when he say jester grooning. Is he jester grooning for the deep state? I mean, is the deep state gets a vote here too? Because as we know from John Solomon's reporting, we're going through a 10 year, 10 year counterintelligence investigation of President Trump on four separate, on four separate times. And these were named operations treating Donald John Trump as a national security issue against the United States of America four times from 2016 all the way up to the day before he took the oath of office for the second time on his third victory. I mean, Lindsey Graham is gesture gooning for the Deep State. The Deep State thinks they've got to say so here too. And they're kind of running this thing the way they want to run it. At least part of it, sir. Thoughts? Steve?

[Caroline Wren]

I read that report from just the News this morning as well. John actually sent it to me. This is, this is the main fight and it needs to be the main fight because there's all this talk about right now, 2028, Rubio, JD Vance, etc. All the different, but it's all going to be for not if this project was for anything, then what has it been for? It's been for the restoration of America first policies on the board. It's been for the interests of the American people being put front and center with the, with the American public. That means the forgotten man and woman that Donald J. Trump talked about every single day for the last 10 years. That means mass deportations. And yes, I said mass deportations. Not some, not partial, not just the worst of the worst, not the violent mass deportations. That was the Slogan all throughout 2016, 2020 and 2024. And of course it involves shutting down the deep State rod at rod and stern, root and stem. That is the goal. That has always been the goal. And anyone standing in front of that, whether they're jester gooning for the Deep State, whether Lindsey Graham is doing that or anyone else, you are in fact this, by the way, Steve, this is why Jeffrey Epstein became such an issue for Donald Trump and, and, and for Pam Bondi. This is why it became such an issue because the files just should have come out. That's why they should have dropped the files. That's why they should have come out early on when we went in and we said back February last year, he said just put them all out. Just put them all out. And then it was this and this, it was stop and come up because it was a proxy for the broader issue of deep State secret corruption and secret control of the United States. That has been the issue and that has always been the issue.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Should we now release all of these investigations on President Trump and name who because there's hundreds of people that John Solomon is saying we're also investigating at the same time. Are we in the same situation? Should we just dump all these immediately and get on with it? Because we got election in the midterms and the Deep state has got their own ideas of what's happening in this war.

[Caroline Wren]

If we don't achieve accountability now, we say, what, sir? If we don't achieve accountability now, we never will. They will kick this can down the road every single time. And then they'll say, vote for me, because will we the one to release the files? And then the files never actually came out. No. They eventually got where they needed to with the doj, and I applaud that. I think everyone has seen the, the, the fruit of that. But at the same time, we need to be honest about what the Deep state has done to this country.

[Jack Posobiec]

We.

[Caroline Wren]

What they've done to the maga movement, what they've done to so many great patriots, people who were thrown in jail like yourself, Steve and Dr. Peter Navaro, people who were indicted four times like Donald Trump, and people who had investigations against them like General Flynn, who ended up spending millions upon millions of their own personal wealth, all because they wanted to stand up to the American people. Yeah, Rudy J. Bani, Mike Lindell,

[Stephen K. Bannon]

everybody. Yep, everybody. Thousand hundreds and then all the J6 guys. Jack, where your. Your, your Twitter feed is like the Associated Press for this war right now. Everybody's got to go to it. Where they go.

[Caroline Wren]

All right, so if you want to continue, if you want more gesture gooning, go check out Lindsey Graham. But if you want more of the analysis, we wanted more about what the latest is. Head over to Ack Posobic and then of course, follow us. Human Events Daily podcast, Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. We're doing the daily sit reps right there.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Fantastic.

[Caroline Wren]

Great.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

And thank you for changing your schedule to join us. I really appreciate it.

[Caroline Wren]

Thank you. God bless the posi.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Caroline Ren and by and just say. And just so Jack teed up. Mike Howell is coming. He was there this morning. He's coming back because the White House, a huge story in Axios and Caputo's name's on it, and they're totally dialed into the White House. The White House. They're saying now they don't want any discussion. No mention of mass deportations. Hal's going to join us at 6 to get that. But Caroline, I've got you on. Because this whole thing is like proxy wars in the cornyn Paxton Grassroots versus not just the D.C. establishment, but a Guy who was basically the legal brain to help the deep state. I mean, Cornyn, Lisa Monaco, was it, Rosenstein, all of them, right? And we're gonna have some. But we're not even the Save America Act. Like, who knows? This thing's kind of in limbo. And one of the reasons in limbo, it's not taking some symbolic vote of 51. You gotta roll your sleeves up and you've got. If you're gonna be leader like John Thune, you gotta go find the votes to make sure that we can get to the standing or talking filibuster. It's not going to work otherwise. People actually want it passed. They just don't want some symbolic effort. Ma'. Am, it seems like we're hung up now because to save Cornyn politically, right, and try to thwart Paxton, and really, in thwarting Paxton is the MAGA grassroots. They're looking like they want to have some symbolic votes. MAGA doesn't want symbolic votes. The grassroots, the folks in Virginia there all day, we talked about them this morning. I got tremendous feedback from the chairman of the GOP about how enthusiastic the grassroots are going to work. The same thing in Texas. These people are on fire. And they're President Trump's most ardent supporters, ma'. Am.

[Interviewer/Host]

Yes, well, President Trump is on fire about this. He's been on fire about it for two or three months. He has been yelling at everyone, pass the same America Act. Use whatever means necessary, nuke the filibuster, use the talking filibuster. And it's just while apparently, who doesn't read Truth Social is US Senators and their staff, which no surprise here, because they seem to be blindsided by this. President Trump is not an overly mysterious guy. He tells you what he wants, and he has been not just telling it, he's been demanding it for months. And the Senate has been ignoring it and kicking it down the can. And it is all coming to a head right now. And, you know, it really exploded to a head thanks to Ken Paxton. And Ken Paxton taking his own political future and throwing it to the side and saying, I'm willing to follow the sword here, but let's call these people people out. And he gave Trump the leverage that Trump needed to go to these senators. And, you know, right now, food is saying, well, we don't have the votes. And then today he says that he's going to bring it to a vote next week. I think that's just performative theater. They're bringing it to a vote next week knowing they don't have the 60 votes and knowing they're not going to use the filibuster and instead they're going to bring it to a vote just so that John Cornyn can vote yes and then they can go run to the White House and say, oh, Mr. President, Cornyn voted yes. Let's go get that endorsement. And I think President Trump is much smarter than that and he should and will, I think, see right through a perform a performative vote, like.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

But explain to this, because this is what they say, well, Cornyn's great because he votes for President Trump 99.3% time. That's not relevant. It's all process like this. This is just performative. It's not about getting to 51 on the save America act itself. It's about actually doing some hard work and thinking through. And we're gonna play a clip here in a minute. I'll do it after the break. We're gonna play a clip here in the minute the Democrats thought it through. And we got bigger brains on the Constitution and the customs, traditions and procedures of the Senate to make this work. All Thune comes to the microphone. It's so hard. You gotta do, you know, you have to have everybody in the room, they're gonna do amendments. I don't give a damn. The American people don't give a damn. Your job's supposed to be hard. You're in the most exclusive club in the world. Only 100 people in the United States Senate and all they do is whine about so they can get their Thursday fly out. Yes, the standing filibuster is hard. Somebody's going to have to stay, ground the stamp there, fight it. And we got them to basically make the pitch, as you saw Tim McCain. McCain in excuse me, the senator from Virginia today says, no, this is a repressive. Tim Kaine says this is repressing the vote in the United States. If that's the argument we wanna make, why wouldn't we wanna make it in the Senate for two or three weeks on national tv? And all thune and these guys is whine about and they wanna do these performative process things to go to the president, say, well, Cornyn supports us, he voted for it, ma', am.

[Interviewer/Host]

I know President Trump came out, said that he will not sign any bill, any bill until this passes the U.S. senate. This is why I love Donald Trump. He's not messing around. And so good. You know what then? You know what, President Trump, you should not endorse any GOP senator until this bill passes. What type of message would that send? If you're saying that you will not sign a single bill until this bill passes, yet you're endorsing the same senators that are obstructing this process for a decade and been trashing you, he cannot endorse corn. And how would doesn't even make sense to do that. And frankly, if I were President Trump, I would rescind my endorsement of every GOP senator until this bill passes. I'm sorry, but President Trump's endorsement is the most powerful endorsement in the country. It is a privilege to get that endorsement. It's something that you should earn and it's not something that should be just handed to you because you are an incumbent. And these senators right now are not endorsed not earning Donald Trump's endorsement. And they need to work for it right now. And I hope that President Trump, he is clearly putting the pressure down, throwing the gauntlet down here and he should not, not, not let up.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Okay? We've got smarter minds on our side about all these, about procedures, about customs, tradition, the Constitution. You got Mike Lee and you' another dozen that understand this backwards and forward. We're taking a short commercial breaker and place Schumer on the other side. Tax Network USA, they're offering the Warren Posse a one time good deal. Call 866-513-5516. Talk to the professionals at Tax Network USA. Walk them through your tale of woe about your problem with the irs. They will have a free discovery call. This takes this normally is hundreds or thousands of dollars. It's free for you. Tnusa.combannon or 56, excuse me, 866-513-5516. That's 866-513-5516. A free discovery call. If you could make one holiday wish, would you wish to be free from your credit card and other debt? Let's see if we can help you with that. If we could give yourself one gift this holiday season, would it be finally to get some relief from your credit card and other debt? I might have a solution. Here's why. Now's the time to make a move. This time of year, credit card and loan companies close out their books. They clean up past due accounts. They sell or write off the debt to clear their books. That means if you have credit card debt and unpaid bills and lenders may be more open to negotiating and settling your account before you're in. That means right now, and I mean right now, you may actually have leverage and done with debt, knows how to use this to your advantage. They monitor lender trends and understand the year end pressure on creditors. They use that timing to negotiate hard on your behalf. Now's the time to get out from under crushing debt and interest payments without bankruptcy or taking on new loans. Done with Debt goes to work for you Month one with one clear goal to reduce your total debt and leave you with more money every month. Get started now because your leverage may disappear at the end of the year. Chat with a done with debt specialist at donewithdbcom. That's donewithdet.com donewithdebt.com, do it today Senate

[Senator John Thune]

cannot protect the right to vote, which is the cornerstone of our democracy, Then the Senate rules must be reformed. Must be reformed. If the Republicans block cloture on the legislation before us, I will put forward a proposal to change the rules to allow for a talking filibuster on this legislation as recommended by a number of our colleagues who have been working on this reform for a long time. Historically, changes to the Senate rules have been necessary to adapt to changed circumstances. Even Senator Byrd, a traditionalist, said just that to address voting rights in a timely fashion. There's an opportunity to do exactly that, to change the Senate rules to promote a public debate that is restorative of the Senate's longstanding two speech limit. We feel very on something as important as voting rights. If Senate Republicans are going to oppose it, they should not be allowed to sit in their office. They got to come down on the floor and defend their opposition to voting rights, the wellspring of our democracy. And there's broad, strong feeling in our caucus about that. Once members of the minority party have exhausted all of their speaking rights and defended their position on the Senate floor, the debate will have run its course and the Senate will move to vote on final passage at a majority threshold, which has always been the threshold for final passage. I hope every senator will embrace this practical reform. Dr. King said to us, keep fighting. They tried to pass voting rights bills year after year after year. 1964, they couldn't get it. They kept fighting and they Got it in 65. This process today is another step forward in the march to voting rights. We ain't giving up. You're going to hear from us plenty of as we continue on this issue. And again, to anyone who says, oh well, you may not win, don't do it. Look at history. Look at history. If you keep fighting, the cause of justice, as Dr. King has said, will be renewed. He used to quote Amos, let justice flow down like the mighty Waters, the mighty waters will flow down. You can't stop them. They can be diverted. They can be delayed. But if you keep fighting, they can't be stopped. And we are not stopping. We are not stopping. This is too important. This is sacred. This is vital. This is not just a political fight, which some people like to just talk about, is a fight for the soul and the future of America. And we are strong, dedicated, and enthusiastic to continue that fight.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Okay, well, I don't hear that at a thune right now. I mean, that's from them. A couple years ago, they passed their radical. Their radical voting bill. The President of the United States is on record is that the Save America act will essentially save America's Voting Rights act about who can actually vote in this country because you don't want illegal aliens and others that shouldn't be able to vote. Caroline Wren. Why are we not seeing the if. If. And they were stopped, I guess, by Manchin and Sinema.

[Senator Tim Kaine]

Right?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Why. Why can't we do it on the Republican side? Of course it's complicated, but big deal. They're United States senators, ma'. Am.

[Interviewer/Host]

Well, I was confused because yesterday Senator Thune came out and said, basically, we don't even know what the talking filibuster is. We're not really sure where Mike Lee came up with this thing. We. We have no example in history of it ever passing. And so this is kind of too far out there. And so that made me think, like, is that true? I mean, I've barely heard of the talking filibuster. Maybe this is accurate. And so I just went and looked up, has Schumer ever said something about the talking filibuster? And then I found that video, and it actually goes for. It's 10 minutes of Chuck Schumer as the majority leader talking about the exact same thing that we are talking about here. They have a very different version of their voting rights bill. Right. But I remembered it was in 2021, and when they had all the. All three chambers of government, their number one thing was HR1. That was their voting rights bill. That it passed out of the House. And Nancy Pelosi was putting a ton of pressure on the Senate saying, get rid of the filibuster. People couldn't believe she was saying that. The base of the Democratic Party got unbelievably spun up. I mean, they were, if you remember how angry they were about this, and sort of pressuring and pressuring the Democrats. They started calling out by name, everyone until Schumer decided, you know, what this is like, not only what my base wants, it's what my president wants. It's what the House wants and sent me. And so screw the institutions. I'm gonna go out here and do it. And I may fail. This vote's probably gonna fail because he knew he didn't have the votes. There were two holdouts, Manchin and Sinema, but he still went out and he gave that speech. And they forced what they did. They smoked out all the Democrats, forced them to take a position on this. Two senators voted against them. They are no longer senators because of it. And you know, Manchin, you could argue maybe like that vote wouldn't have affected it. Sinema could not even run for reelection because of that vote. She couldn't even attend a wedding in her own home state without being run out by people screaming at her about it. The country does not care about this filibuster like these dinosaur Senate procedural rules. The Democrats already had this battle. They came out of it firmly on the side of the next time we take power and we get these two problematic senators out, we are lifting the filibuster to pass every single thing that we want done in our agenda. And so that speech right there to me is critical because then we have Senator. What? All I'm now asking with Senator Thune is, you know what you're telling me you don't have the votes. I want to know who they are. I want you to name names because then maybe they should not be in office again. Maybe Republic, you should put your name next to, to a position like that and stop saying that. The same America act has 51 co sponsors. We don't need a performative bill. We know who's voting on it. There are 51. There are two holdouts, and that is Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis. There we go, mystery solved. So, but like there are obstruction. I mean, there are others that will say, oh, I will co sponsor, vote for this bill, but I'm not going to change the procedural rules in order to get it done. And I think it's time we say enough is enough. Bring the vote on the talking filibuster to the floor, Senator Thune, and then let's find out who. And is it, I don't know, is it 10, is it 20 senators? I would like to know because I don't think that they deserve Donald Trump's endorsement ever again. I think they deserve probably a primary challenger. That'll be up to the voters in their state. But I know if I were living in that state. I would work for a primary challenger of someone who is not willing to vote and pass all. What is Donald Trump's number one priority? He won the popular vote and won the presidency saying that we are no longer going to allow cheating to happen in our elections. You have to be a US Citizen to vote and if we cannot lift the filibuster to at least have that one vote on record of we want US Citizens to vote for our representatives, then what are we even all doing here?

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Caroline where do people go? Your Twitter feed has been on fire about this fight of Paxton versus Cornyn. Where do people go?

[Interviewer/Host]

It's at Caroline Wren on Twitter Getter and Truth Social.

[Stephen K. Bannon]

Amazing. Let's see what happens overnight and we'll see you tomorrow. Caroline Wren, Incredible warrior right there. Second hour is going to be on fire. White House says no more mass deportation. Don't even want to talk about it. Mike Howell's got a different idea. Next in the war room, do you owe back taxes or you haven't filed your taxes in years? Now is the time to resolve your tax matters. With the national conversation around abolishing the income tax, the IRS is fighting back, improving. It's here to stay by becoming more aggressive than ever before. For they're sending out more collection notices, filing more tax liens, and collecting billions more in recent years. If you owe, the IRS can garnish your wages, levy your bank accounts, seize your retirement and even your home if you owe or haven't filed. It's not a question of if the IRS will act, it's a question of when it will act. Right now, Tax Network USA is offering a completely free IRS Research and Discovery call to show you exactly where you stand and what they can stop before it's too late. Their powerful programs and strategies can save you thousands or even eliminate your debt entirely if you qualify. Don't make a costly mistake representing yourself or calling the IRS on your own waives your rights and cost you more money. They are not, and let me repeat, the IRS is not on your side. Get protected the right way with Tax Network USA and start the process of settling your tax matters once and for all today. Call 1-800-958-1000, that's 1-800-958-10000 or visit tnusa.com Bannon for your free discovery call with Tax Network USA. Let me repeat, 800-958-100. Tell them Bannon sent you. Don't let the IRS be the first to act. Take advantage of First Mover Advantage you move.