"Trump presided over catastrophic mismanagement of a global pandemic. Then he led an insurrection. And then we put him back in power again...that's damning." On the pod, @aselrod.bsky.social is great on what Trump's colossal unfitness says about our country: newrepublic.com/article/2089...

Orwell: "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."

Another happy new paid subscriber to @seandnaylor.bsky.social's and @jackmurphyrgr.bsky.social's TheHighSide.substack.com and a nice hat-tip to Sean's book "Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda." (Amazon Associates link: amzn.to/4clGoAK).

Premiering on @theteamhouse.bsky.social now youtu.be/lAGPSmJASxs?...

Happy for the long-time readers. My "career" has been an irregular one to say the least. No regrets though, I've been pretty lucky all told.

In her book "Beijing Rules," @bethanyallen.bsky.social would do further reporting confirming a romantic relationship between the Chinese intelligence operative and Swalwell.

I really enjoyed talking about JSOC etc. w/ Nick Smith on The NDS Show. The episode just premiered on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=sEfb.... The show's website (with links to other platforms where you can catch my appearance and all the other episodes) is here:

Former CENTCOM Commander Advises Military Commanders to Refuse “Illegal” Orders open.substack.com/pub/spytalk/...

Another happy new paid subscriber to The High Side with a message apparently intended for @jackmurphyrgr.bsky.social (SOFREP reference is the giveaway). Thank you! We couldn't do any of this work without our paid subscribers.

State Department says that Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite militiamen launched an “ambush on U.S. diplomats in Baghdad” yesterday www.state.gov/releases/off...

All military objectives achieved. Zero political and strategic objectives achieved. = defeat

Here’s my brief take on how and why the Trump regime is trying to manufacture an international “antifa” bogeyman - as quoted in the @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/u...

EXCLUSIVE at the newly relaunched @informant.news: We've obtained secret documents showing that a former Navy SEAL whose testimony helped overturn a war crimes case against his platoon leader has recently joined the white supremacist group Patriot Front. www.informant.news/patriot-fron...

Hard-hitting national security and intelligence reporting of the sort @jackmurphyrgr.bsky.social and @seandnaylor.bsky.social do is exceedingly rare these days. Support their work and subscribe to @thehighside.bsky.social.

The High Side covers the dark side. Great reporting. Well-deserved recognition for @jackmurphyrgr.bsky.social and @seandnaylor.bsky.social

We (@jackmurphyrgr.bsky.social and @seandnaylor.bsky.social) are thrilled to be announced as finalists for a 2026 Deadline Club award: www.deadlineclub.org/2026-awards-.... Our entry, "Investigative Reporting on the CIA," included three articles, links to which follow:

I recently looked at an old Snowden-era document. There‘s a section about “key targets” for counterintelligence, which include ”China, Russia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and Cuba.” Israel’s spying on the US is an open secret inside the IC, but it’s still striking to see what company they’re in.

New article on @thehighside.bsky.social about the rescue mission, including new information about how it went down, the extraction, and the CIA deception plan around it. thehighside.substack.com/p/downed-f-1...

The worst people of miltwitter are big mad because @jackmurphyrgr.bsky.social was right. They also are desperately searching twitter for examples of “leftists” rooting against America and the recovery mission Let me repeat, they are mad that Jack was right and hoping he wasn’t but mad at…

Untranslated headlines in German are much clearer than New York Times headlines in English

Revealed some new details on the Ward Carroll Livestream. www.youtube.com/live/UIfu0oI...

Latest Eyes On is up: @theteamhouse.bsky.social @jackmurphyrgr.bsky.social @mickmulroy.bsky.social @mpolymer1.bsky.social youtu.be/Jw9OacECjKc?...

Just had this from Planet Labs, the US government have asked satellite imagery providers for "voluntarily" restrictions on access to satellite imagery. Given a lot of them provide satellite imagery to the USG we can probably guess the outcome of not acquiescing to that request.

Fantastic, timely read from @atrupar.com & @thorbenson.bsky.social. Mark Jacob on the press: “They don’t know how to react when Donald Trump says or does something that’s mentally deranged. Too often, they try to fit it into a rational frame of reference even though it’s irrational.” 🧾 is.gd/tf7IML

Agree 100% . (Ron Fournier longtime AP bureau chief in DC.)

“Investing in the president’s personal grievances has been a requirement for those who want to join his administration.” Obviously true to the point of banality and an incredible indictment. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/u...

@jackmurphyrgr.bsky.social's appearance on today's Ward Carroll podcast: www.youtube.com/live/UIfu0oI...

The Vice President’s parents-in-law came to the United States as foreign students, at the University of California.

Yes @seandnaylor.bsky.social doesn't let me write like this 😆

Subscribe to @thehighside.bsky.social I'll write more there.

textbook sanewashing

It will be on page A14 regardless

Can you imagine how many people approved it before publishing? Shameful.

Wonder how many other people answered yes to her orgy question, and where they are now. The book is good btw, we'll have Sean on the show this coming Wednesday.

Reading for a future @theteamhouse.bsky.social episode. A bit reticent to share my own story, but if nothing else it makes me laugh whenever I think about it. When I jumped back into the dating scene I went on a date with a "Ukrainian" girl who tried to recruit me into orgies in Manhattan.

Covert action can be a prelude to war, but also an alternative to it. I once mused to a former CIA officer about how long CIA had been engaged in Iran counterproliferation operations. Well, there‘s a reason Iran still doesn’t have the bomb, he said. Diplomacy and CA are also complementary, he noted.

I found CBP's anti-protest weaponry shopping list: Hundreds of thousands of rounds over over 100 different kinds of tear gas, grenades, flashbangs, tear gas-infused bullets that can shoot through walls, and more theintercept.com/2026/04/03/l...

NEW: The Pentagon today invited more than 3,500 employees to attend a Good Friday service at its in-house chapel. Except it’s only for Protestants, not Catholics. www.huffpost.com/entry/news-l...

As @jackmurphyrgr.bsky.social and I reported here: thehighside.substack.com/p/hunting-bi...

So what this describes is ethnic cleansing www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/w...

There are reports that Iran has downed what is likely an American F-15 in Southern Iran, possibly in the region of Hengam Island or Qeshm Island. I think it's worth pointing out that American fighter aircraft have had several close calls in recent weeks... (source: t.me/farsna/)

HC-130 going low and fast over Iran.

Trump: “We’re not supposed to be seduced that way, right? But I am. When somebody’s nice to me, I love that person. Even if they’re bad people. I couldn’t care less, I’ll fight to the end for them.”

US military JAGs have looked at this issue regarding data centers in the United States and concluded that if they are dual use (commercial data centers in which DOD contracts storage) than they are lawful targets in a war.

Hodne is a longtime 75th Ranger Regiment guy—as 2/75’s XO, he was the senior Ranger on the ground during the Operation Red Wings recovery in 2005, and he commanded 2/75 and JSOC’s TF South during the Afghan surge.

The radically different narratives are kind of funny. Daniel Corbett says all the merc ops got cancelled. Dale is out front saying yeah we were doing assassination ops. We've got @theteamhouse.bsky.social with both of them. Will link below.

If anyone wants to talk to me about this, I'm available and tracking developments.

The ultimate accolade for @seandnaylor.bsky.social.

Purported to be the E-3 AWACS destroyed in Saudi Arabia by an Iranian attack. Photos from Air Force amn/NCO/snco FB