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▲ Top Pentagon Official Contracted Personal Lawyer to Handle Minerals Deal(prospect.org)
160 points by h2si 2 days ago | 85 comments
▲mandeepj 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

They are all in this with one and only one purpose - to enrich themselves and weaken America.

▲thunky 2 days ago | parent [-]

That's two purposes.

I think the first one is the whole story anyway.

▲nielsbot a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think there’s a similar deal going on with Venezuelan oil now

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/29/whats-behind-the-us...

▲josefritzishere 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is a strange and probably illegal use of the military.

▲Cthulhu_ 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

It's only illegal if you get caught. If this administration ever ends, the next one will be focused on the fallout of this one. (as is usually the case)

▲0xWTF 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

That has only been the case since 2008. Obama had no choice but manage the fallout of the Bush admin's record-setting-for-the-time fuck-ups.

Reagan followed a fairly positively stated agenda. Clinton pursued a fairly positive agenda. George the 2nd followed a fairly positive, if misguided, agenda. And then it became a reactive shitshow.

▲felixgallo 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Reagan did what exactly? Are you thinking of the secret deal he struck with Iran for them to not release the hostages, in exchange for him giving them weapons illicitly, or are you referring to the disastrous trickle-down Reaganomics system that hollowed out the middle class to enrich the wealthy, or his handling of the AIDS crisis, or his crushing of the air traffic controllers, or the war on drugs, or something else?

▲mmooss 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

The GP said "stated agenda", which is true and important. Reagan openly talked about 'Morning in America', freedom around the world ('Mr. Gorbechev, tear down this wall.'), etc.

You're right that Reagan did a lot that was negative, but it's a significant difference from current leaders who openly disdain positive things and encourage people to embrace hatred, violence, warfare, corruption, oppression, etc.

▲felixgallo 2 days ago | parent [-]

no GP definitely did not. The GP said and I quote, "positively stated agenda". The 'positively' which you intentionally left off carries the weight.

▲JKCalhoun 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You forgot turning the mentally ill out into the streets (literally).

▲chews 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

careful, boomers have selective memory... the 80's was some sort of fever dream

▲mmooss 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Wasn't it reactive from the start? From (mostly journalistic) history I've read, GBII started their administration by refusing to do all sorts of things because the adminstration associated them with Clinton, including listening to Richard Clarke's, a carryover advisor's, warnings about terrorist threats.

▲lenerdenator 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It needs to be far more focused than the last one.

We can come back from this, but some people need to spend a significant amount of their lives in prison.

▲ezst 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

As a non American, I don't think you can get back from this unless you get rid of the 2-parties system. Identity politics is a big component to what compelled individuals to operate against their own interests and those of their country. Good luck, though.

▲nickff 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

I am not an American either, but there is a great deal of work on this subject, and the two-party system is actually one of the most resistant to single-individual or single-party takeover. The reason is that multi-party systems are vulnerable to having a party in power 'promoting diversity' (or something similar), in order to disempower all their opponents, while making it look like they're allowing for more views. Examples of this include quotas for minority representation, and (strategically designed) multi-member voting districts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Logic_of_Political_Surviva...

▲anigbrowl 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

I have that book and am a big fan of it, but I think it needs some expansion in the light of the last few decades - not just in the US, but considering Brexit and both major parties subsequently burning through strings of short-lived leaders, coalition politics in places like Europe and Japan etc.

▲vincnetas 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

well this book was written in 2003 and current day events in USA clearly contradict this statement : "two-party system is actually one of the most resistant to single-individual or single-party takeover."

With lots of examples of contrary , where multi party system has not devolved in one man shit show.

▲nickff 2 days ago | parent [-]

North Korea, China, Russia, Uganda, etc. are examples of one party taking over; the USA is just a country that has one party (you don't seem to like) with most (but not all) of the political power at the moment.

▲anigbrowl 2 days ago | parent [-]

Japan occupied Korea from 1910 until 1945, at which point administration of the country was split between the USA in the South and the USSR in the north. Following an indecisive war lasted from 1950-53, the Korean peninsula ended up witht he situation we see today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_North_Korea

China's history is more complicated, but is also the product of military conflict following colonial imposition by Japan. To suggest that either country's political system is the outcome of inherent structural weaknesses in multi-party democracy is absurd.

▲nickff 2 days ago | parent [-]

I didn’t say that either of those two were the result of multi-party democracy; I was trying to give the GP a variety of examples of single-party government, with different origins.

Please note that the comment I replied to has been substantially modified since I posted.

▲anigbrowl a day ago | parent [-]

I'm sure I'm missing something from the GGP being edited, but when you said 'are examples of one party taking over' it's hard to read that outside of a parliamentary/electoral context.

▲mandeepj 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

In multi-party systems, the parties focus more on weakening their opponents and horse trading, as voters are divided and winning elections is dependent on an already razor-thin voting share. Look what's going on in India, for instance.

▲burnt-resistor 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Parliamentary systems of other countries usually have the advantages of lessons learned since the American revolution. The necessary feature of the American system is countervailing powers, but as a uniparty for corporations or one weakened, it ceases to function and cannot be easily reformed or competed against with a new party. These are flaws addressed to some degree by parliamentary systems where new party(ies) can challenge incumbents more easily.

▲nickff 2 days ago | parent [-]

There are plenty of examples of democracies which began after the American Revolution, and subsequently devolved to single-party states.

▲burnt-resistor 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Secondary to the extreme corruption. Corruption is the issue that must be resolved before everything else. The fashions of political parties or their structures are superficial by comparison.

▲JKCalhoun 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Two-parties system naturally evolve.

Get rid of money, punish lying, decrease the power of the Executive branch…

Lots to do, but getting rid of the two party system is a pipe dream.

▲AngryData a day ago | parent | next [-]

They naturally evolve because we put them in an enviroment where they thrive. Changing voting systems to proportional representation instead of winner-takes-all would be a huge start.

▲mmooss 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

> naturally

It's not nature, it's the strategic actions of members of those parties to create and protect that system. For example, look at laws in states that make it very difficult for 3rd parties to get on ballots, participate in debates, and then the expensive lawfare against them if they show any signs of life.

> getting rid of the two party system is a pipe dream

It certainly won't happen tomorrow, but the best time to start such things is today.

▲JKCalhoun 2 days ago | parent [-]

The U.S. has a Green Party, a Libertarian Party. If they ever had a chance to take any serious votes from the other two, one of the two major parties would co-opt enough of their platform to make the threat go away.

As we seem to be seeing, the Democratic Party in the U.S. is in fact, internally, two parties. As populations age out, we'll likely see the party itself evolve.

▲lenerdenator 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Eh. People have come back from worse. You can walk over the border between France and Germany.

▲ezst a day ago | parent | next [-]

Sure, and all it took was a systematic dismantling and building anew the whole government and a bunch of institutions, not exactly a "oh, the other party will figure something out over the course of the next term"

▲TitaRusell 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Very true. Daily reminder that by 1950 Germany was allowed an army again. Just don't mention the war.

▲dripdry45 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You have Jared Kushner pulling a lot of strings on one side, and you have his brother, Josh Kushner, giving enormous amounts of money to the other side. They’re both incredibly evil. And it’s obvious that both sides completely disdain their civilian constituents, because their real constituents are corporations and oligarchs.

It’s not just the two party system. You have to get the money out out of politics before anything else can positively move back toward democracy.

▲jst1fthsdys 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[flagged]

▲mrtesthah 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

What are you personally doing to prepare for "collapse" then?

▲jst1fthsdys 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Trying to establish ties with decent people in my community, physically staying in shape, training and learning. Ultimately, you have very little control over things when something large like government/societal collapse happens. All you can do is put yourself in a position where you can try to adapt to whatever may come.

▲ 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]
[deleted]
▲ 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]
[deleted]
▲2OEH8eoCRo0 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Thanks 6 month old doom-and-gloom account!

▲krapp 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>but some people need to spend a significant amount of their lives in prison.

Short of rewriting the constitution, that just isn't going to happen. The president is immune to prosecution for any crime committed in office and has unlimited power to pardon anyone else of any federal crimes.

And if the Democrats even attempt to do anything of the sort, people will just consider it a partisan witchhunt. It will be litigated all the way to a SCOTUS that's stacked with Trumpist ideologues.

▲pjc50 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

People will correctly consider it a partisan witchhunt, but that is ultimately the only way back to "normal". Pack the court and start the prosecutions. Look at Hungary and Poland.

(The UK has the opportunity to do this before the fash get into power, but we can watch it being fumbled in real time)

▲pasquinelli 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Short of rewriting the constitution, that just isn't going to happen

then a new constitution it is!

▲anigbrowl 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Realistically this is what the Constitutional convention mechanism is for, but for the last several decades the Democrats have viewed any suggestion of employing it as a Republican plot and have opted instead for not having a plan and trying to prop up a creaky status quo.

▲bugbull 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

[dead]

▲mistrial9 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

no this is false and a superficial search confirms it. No need to make extensive citations because this level of talk does not warrant it.

▲krapp 2 days ago | parent [-]

provide one citation, then.

▲Jtsummers 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-939_e2pg.pdf

> The president is immune to prosecution for any crime committed in office

That's a misreading of the SC decision. If he walks down the street and murders someone, unless he can make a case that it was an official act, then he wouldn't have immunity. He'd need to demonstrate that he has the Constitutional authority to murder people on the street, and he doesn't, so it wouldn't be an official act and he wouldn't have any immunity.

▲convolvatron 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

ok, so we managed to get a decision that the president wan't immune from having to pay out in a civil suit related to the molestation of a woman from before he even became a politician. but part of the problem here is the blurring of the personal and the official. should the president be liable for overtly violating the constitution 'while performing official acts'. Is interfering in the state's right to hold their own elections an official act? is instructing the military to order someone in cold blood an official act? does pursuing a series of novel legal interpretations imply that he was violating the law or not? is accepting money in exchange for a presidential pardon an official act?

whether or not you believe this is a pass from the Supreme Court, it opens up a whole new unexplored space of lack of culpability.

▲ 2 days ago | parent [-]
[deleted]
▲LadyCailin 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

How about not on the street, but in a boat in international waters? Or, how about on the street, but they were believed to be carrying drugs?

▲muddi900 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

But the state can manufacture any excuse to formulate an "official act"

▲cco 2 days ago | parent [-]

The point is that the state needs to flip enough that Trump would not be in a position to control what the state (the court actually) views as an official act.

If Trump continues to have enough influence in the SCOTUS after he's done being president, then yes, you could imagine they contort any action into an official act. But that'd be a failure of the next government to first establish a less biased SCOTUS (either by packing it or removing existing justices).

▲muddi900 17 hours ago | parent [-]

The next governement can't by itself make anything unofficial, if the SC would just deem it unconstitutional.

▲mistrial9 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

“Aye, scallywag, yer SCOTUS rulings reading ain’t fit for kindergarten; read the chart again: official acts may be immune, but private crimes still face prosecution.”

▲RRWagner 2 days ago | parent [-]

For a king, and one that presumes themselves king, every act is official. The theory is that Congress can always impeach but we have seen and still see that they have no interest in doing so for any reason, no matter how egregious.

▲badc0ffee 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

> a SCOTUS that's stacked with Trumpist ideologues.

It's majority conservative, but that's not the same thing as what you're claiming here.

It has 3 members appointed by Trump, but even that doesn't make them Trumpist ideologues.

▲hiddencost 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

I really can't find any other possible interpretation of their wall to wall decisions on anything election related. They are a knowing and enthusiastic participant in the coup.

▲estearum 2 days ago | parent [-]

Thomas is a born and bred loser, but otherwise they're afraid of being assassinated. Judges are under massive, massive amounts of threat whenever they think to hold Trump to literally any scrutiny whatsoever.

Not a conspiracy theory, this is an open discussion topic among federal judges within their own conferences.

▲pjc50 2 days ago | parent [-]

Ah yes, rule of law is when judges get their decisions overruled by invisible terrorists.

▲estearum 2 days ago | parent [-]

Yeah it's awful

▲krapp 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I don't believe for a second that Trump, being the narcissist that he is, would appoint anyone but ideologues.

▲edmundsauto 2 days ago | parent [-]

Probably more loyalists than ideologues. It’s the Project 2025 influence that has the ideologues. And the Thiel/Vance sector has the traditional influence-focused corruption, while the Trump family is more low-trust-society personal enrichment grift.

Quite a perfect storm.

▲azinman2 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

And doing so risks societal fractions against the idea of lawfare. It’s a lose lose situation.

▲dam_jackalopes 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

That may be, but the consequences for not taking these bad actors to task would have worse and longer lasting consequences. The portion of society that will fracture the most loudly has already attempted to storm the seat of government after a national election. We've seen what they're capable of and I'm much less afraid of that than permanently mafiatizing basically every level of the Federal government.

▲Phemist 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yes, but expect those prison sentences will be more popular than you might expect. The current admin expends an insane amount of energy pumping the size of their supposed fanbase.

▲hardbass 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Forgiving the south after the civil war led to Jim Crow. Forgiving most of the nazis after WW2 seems to be the reason nazis are rising again so quickly. Forgiveness has been given enough chances already. I think we should try giving the full punishment a try.

▲defen 2 days ago | parent [-]

The British attempted “full punishment” against the American colonies and look where that got them. There are no easy solutions.

▲hardbass 2 days ago | parent [-]

The British lacking the military strength and will is different from how the tactic would have been had it been executed fully. Ignoring one's views about the founding of America, suppose Britain had executed this war with complete merciless brutality and fielded its entire Imperial might and militarily crushed the rebels thoroughly. Do you think America would have existed then?

▲lenerdenator 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Not really. They'll get over it. Just gotta make the hole the perpetrators are in deep enough.

▲blooalien 2 days ago | parent [-]

> Just gotta make the hole the perpetrators are in deep enough.

Oubliette [1^]: The dungeon you throw people in that you want to forget.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dungeon#/media/Fi...

▲techlover14159 a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Supreme court is the ultimate layer of protection and these criminals know it.

▲shimman 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Illegal? This is like the number one purpose of the US military, it's always to help the elite interests in resource extraction and forcing weaker countries into US trade policy.

▲paxys 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Why are people surprised? Trump promoted his personal lawyer to Attorney General. This is how the administration works.

▲sgnelson 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

"Asked about the potential for conflicts of interest to arise due to his simultaneous role as attorney for Cerberus, Feinberg, and the DOD, he said “you’ve got to be kidding me” and insisted that the interests of the three clients have been kept separate."

Oof. This guy is a top lawyer, and this is how he responds to a journalist asking about conflict of interests?

Obviously a very smart man and very trustworthy. /s

We are truly living in a kleptocracy.

Edited: Two seconds of google: https://www.cerberus.com/media/cerberus-acquires-controlling... Yep, no possibility of conflicts of interest here.

I don't know what bothers me more, the corruption, or the fact that they're both so stupid and open about it.

▲mrguyorama 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

The thing that bothers me most is the tens of millions of Americans who are doing everything they can to ignore the most blatant and corrosive corruption our country has seen in at least a century.

After spending the past 20 years screaming as loud as they can about how corrupt everything supposedly was. Seems their only actual complaint was which rich person was getting richer.

▲dripdry45 2 days ago | parent [-]

The truth of matter is that there’s very little screaming.

Americans were conditioned decades ago to be a quite docile. they work in their cubicles and have their families and their little house in the suburbs… America has been a beige, thoughtless landscape for the majority of people for decades.

The only thing needed was to consolidate the media to create enough fear and control to drive enough people to give away their rights, which I’m sure the rich and powerful will point out that the people aren’t even using!

Obama himself has repeatedly come out and said that if people want change then they need to go out and vote. Vote? It’s crickets instead.

If you actually go out and meet enough people, you begin to realize that the real reality of America is far different than this Internet supposition. People have wanted a strong man authoritarian for a very long time. They are exhausted. They don’t care about their country , their community, their culture… capitalism has worn them down so much that all they really care about is getting to each weekend and having enough to pay for housing and some food. Subtle propaganda helps take care of the rest.

America hasn’t been able to think for itself in decades. The people at the top know this, and they have a lot of disdain for the fact that the majority of people just go home and watch sportsball on Sundays. So they finally decided to see how much they could get away with, and it looks like it’s going to be the entire pie!

▲totetsu 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Immediately and coarsely calling into question the intelligence of any-one who questions the corruption, seems to be par-for-the-course for these anti-socialites.

▲Cipater 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

The fact that there will be no consequences for any of this.

▲erulabs 2 days ago | parent [-]

If there are consequences they will be naturally arising, as there is no violation (that I'm aware of) here. It's _stupid_, and it _looks bad_, and it's _not a good idea_, and it _ended badly for Nixon_, but it's not illegal.

▲thataccount 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There are a couple of ways of seeing this. One is that there is a conflict of interest. The other is that there has been a conflict of interest in the military for years, and this guy has proven himself to be useful in fighting it such that he has been given an unusual amount of power. Obviously, number 1 would be bad. Number 2, though, would be laudable. I'd be careful about jumping to a conclusion until more evidence comes to light in either direction.

▲hiddencost 2 days ago | parent [-]

Are you saying that senior military leadership has earned the right to a little light graft?

▲thataccount 2 days ago | parent [-]

>Are you saying that senior military leadership has earned the right to a little light graft?

I'm saying graft isn't the only explanation at this point.

▲OrvalWintermute 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

There is nothing illegal about using a contractor lawyer for both commercial work and your own business provided you get it reviewed by Ethics & Govt General Counsel. As this was done then I see no issue in it.

There is a potential COI mentioned below, for which Feinberg agreed to donate the profits to charity, if such a settlement happens. The guy is from a Whiteshoe law firm anyways, the allocated funds are tiny, and this seems pretty above board.

Much ado about nothing!

> In a statement to the Prospect, the Department of Defense wrote that the arrangement was aboveboard. “OSC [DOD’s Office of Strategic Capital, which leads the Pentagon’s rare earths investments] maintains a rigorous, multi-layered ethics framework that includes a detailed screening process and operates in full compliance with all federal ethics laws and regulations,” the statement said. The DOD did not comment on whether Waldenberg is involved in other Pentagon activities, or specify its ethics protocols. Waldenberg’s firm, according to the federal government’s public contracting database, has a contract with the DOD worth $1.5 million that runs through August 31, 2026.

> The DOD has said that “any profit [Feinberg] may receive from a potential Ligado settlement will go to a charity to support America’s veterans,” though a spokesperson declined to say which charity would receive the prospective donation. The Capitol Forum recently reported that Ligado is hoping to receive $5 billion from the feds, citing sources familiar with the case. That would surpass the federal government’s 2010 $3.4 billion settlement with Native American tribes, compensating them for the centuries-old confiscation of tribal lands.

▲fra 2 days ago | parent [-]

I agree that from the perspective of a business owner this would seem very normal. "I need legal services for X, and I happen to know and trust a very good outside counsel for this" is very normal. Additionally, law firms have super robust conflict of interest policies so you can expect this would have been reviewed in details.

However, I think this story brings up two important topics:

1. It is important that high level government officials avoid not just actual conflicts of interest but also the APPEARANCE of a conflict of interest.

2. The Trump administration has taken a much more liberal approach to conflicts of interest than most admins, and this has undermined trust in government. The fact that this story got people so riled up is a great illustration of it. This is not good for the country!

▲enaaem 2 days ago | parent [-]

This is just third world level of open corruption. If nothing is done against it, things will just get worse and not better.

First it will signal to all the lower level officials that corruption is ok. The next step isn't just corruption is ok, but it is expected. No corruption means you won't get far in your career.