Guests - Ava Chen, Maureen Steele, Betsy Smith
Ava Chen Discusses US Intelligence Failures and CCP Threats
The latest U.S. intelligence communities' annual threat assessment has drawn significant criticism for downplaying the imminent threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). According to Ava Chen from the New Federal State of China, this 31-page report uses deliberately vague language and misleading timelines to minimize the true danger facing America.
"This report was issued under the current administration, but the content was basically authored by people from the previous administration," Chen explained. "It uses a lot of abysmal wording with uncertainties, lack of context, and sometimes incorrect timelines."
The report acknowledges that the CCP represents the top military and political threat to the United States but frames these challenges as distant concerns for 2027, 2035, or 2049. "They don't tell you this is already on your doorstep, already on U.S. soil, and they have been winning," Chen said.
This assessment follows a pattern of intelligence failures. In December, the Department of Defense released a similar assessment of PLA military preparedness that also failed to sound proper alarms. When CIA Director Jose Gabal, DNI, and others testified before Senate and House committees in March, they faced questioning about why the intelligence community was focusing on relatively minor issues while downplaying existential threats from China.
Sam Fatis, a 20-year veteran of the CIA and clandestine service, has suggested that many decision-makers in key positions within the U.S. intelligence community are compromised. "A massive proportion of people are caught in financial entanglement with the CCP," Chen noted, explaining why threats might be intentionally minimized. "If they expose the CCP's dirty deeds, they will also pay the price because their dirty dealings and collusions with the CCP will be exposed."
The report's treatment of the fentanyl crisis serves as one clear example of this downplaying strategy. While acknowledging that fentanyl precursors come from China, it deflects by emphasizing Mexican cartels and organized crime without addressing China's central role in providing infrastructure, money laundering, logistics, ports, and shipping.
In response to these intelligence failures, a "Team B approach" is being considered. This method, used during the Cold War under Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, involves gathering a group of independent experts to analyze information and provide fresh intelligence outside the compromised intelligence community.
"Stephen K. Bannon shared with us that the United States will work with the New Federal State of China," Chen revealed. "This Team B approach is going to address the inefficiency or deficiency in the current intel community and buy time for the American government to clean out the CCP's assets or compromised individuals within your system."
Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Pete Hagusteth has been visiting key locations in the Indo-Pacific region, including Hawaii, Guam, and reportedly Taiwan, delivering speeches about deterring China and addressing the CCP threat. Chen noted that these activities and military preparations haven't been widely reported in U.S. media.
Chen emphasized that this struggle is comparable to America's Revolutionary War rather than a civil war. "This is not just American. All peoples of all nations are fighting this war of independence against Communist tyranny," she stated. "These tyrants want to choke us, control us forever, and take all liberty and freedom away."
In her recent visit with Miles Guo, who remains in prison in what she describes as political persecution, Chen discussed Taiwan's vulnerability. According to Guo, the CCP believes it can easily take over Taiwan due to its successful political warfare strategy, which has compromised leadership in both Taiwanese political parties, business communities, and media.
Chen drew parallels to America's situation: "How bad has the CCP infiltrated and compromised your leadership in both parties? How bad has the CCP compromised your business communities? How bad has the CCP compromised your media?"
This penetration has emboldened the CCP to operate brazenly on American soil, using non-violent revolutionary tactics rather than direct military confrontation. Chen described their "Three F Plan" as "Foment weaknesses, foment chaos, and foment ultimate destruction of the United States" through gradual political warfare tactics, compromising infiltration, deception, and destroying relationships.
"Communists understand taking over America - the best way is not shooting war because militarily they can't beat you," Chen explained. "The best way is non-violent revolution: killing with fentanyl, creating chaos, compromising infiltration, feeding lies and deception, and destroying relationships."
This strategy aims to distract Americans with secondary issues while the CCP's influence expands. "They want you to put your attention on something completely erroneous or irrelevant to your life, well-being, and prosperity," Chen concluded.
Maureen Steele Discusses Judicial Reform and Child Protective Services
Maureen Steele, co-founder of the American Made Foundation with Anne Vanderstiel, is leading efforts to address corruption in the judicial system and child protective services. The foundation, formerly known as the Zelenko Foundation, has been repurposed into an educational organization focused on exposing and reforming systemic problems.
The American Made Foundation recently produced a documentary about issues in North Carolina, including CPS taking children and land grabs. Their sister organization, American Made Action, a 501(c)(4), is bringing "counter lawfare" against corrupt judges and agencies.
"We have the United Law Coalition comprised of over 100 lawyers across the country. Some have even come out of retirement to help—constitutionalists. And we have common law experts and paralegals," Steele explained. "We're hoping to launch three to four lawsuits a month, giving major pushback on these people going after the corrupt AGs that don't pursue criminal charges and conduct proper investigations."
A primary goal of the foundation is to abolish CPS and administrative courts. "We want to abolish the lower courts. These administrative courts are unconstitutional," Steele asserted. She pointed to a February 20, 2025 notice from the Solicitor General stating that the DOJ would not defend these judges and acknowledging that these courts are unconstitutional because people don't receive due process.
"If you robbed a bank or murdered somebody, you'd have more rights in criminal court than you do in family court," Steele noted. "You're just completely stripped. It's the Wild West."
According to Steele, the corruption in the child welfare system intensified after the 1997 Adoption and Safe Family Act, signed by Bill Clinton and written by Hillary Clinton, "put a price tag on kids' heads." This legislation created financial incentives for removing children from their families, with the federal government offering $10,000 bonuses for adopting out children within 12-15 months of their removal.
This system has created what Steele describes as "parasitic organizations" surrounding CPS, including parenting classes, anger management classes, county mental health facilities, and supervised visitation centers. "These people are all parasites off that system. And they're the ones you're depending on to free you from the courts with their quote-unquote 'expert opinion.' But they're not incentivized to do that because they don't get paid anymore."
The consequences have been devastating. "Over 400,000 children have gone missing in our foster care program," Steele claimed. "And when I say missing, I mean these kids have vanished. They're gone without a trace." This is in addition to an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 children missing after crossing the border.
National statistics indicate that 85% of children in foster care are physically or sexually abused by their foster parents or in their foster homes. "These kids are going from the fire to the frying pan, or they're going from a nice home where they never should have been torn out of in the first place to get abused," Steele stated.
Steele believes the system is so corrupt that the only solution is to abolish these agencies entirely. "It's we the people that are going to need to do it," she emphasized. "Even with these impeachment of judges, bringing it before Congress—are you kidding? Congress is as corrupt as the judicial system."
The American Made Foundation and Action can be found at AmericanMadeFoundation.org and AmericanMadeAction.org. Steele mentioned that they will be announcing Doja (Department of Government Accountability) on the front steps of the DOJ at the end of April.
Betsy Brantner Smith Reports on School Bus Crash and Nashville Shooter Investigation
A major school bus accident occurred on I-10 near Tangerine Road in Tucson, involving 35 high school students and four staff members from Kingman United School District. The crash shut down the freeway for six to seven hours and resulted in 25 hospitalizations, with three high schoolers and one adult seriously injured.
According to Betsy Brantner Smith, spokesperson for the National Police Association, there were no life-threatening injuries, although four people remain hospitalized with serious injuries. An SUV driver was arrested at the scene, though charges have not yet been released. The Arizona Department of Public Safety is handling the investigation.
Smith noted that blowing dust may have been a factor in the crash. "We saw it coming off the Catalinas," she said, referring to the dust conditions that day. She praised the community response: "So many people stopped to help... Yay us in Pima County for jumping in to help these kids from Kingman, and yay for our law enforcement up here in the Northwest for doing their job."
For drivers caught in dust storms, Smith offered safety advice based on what she's learned from Arizona law enforcement: "If it's too difficult to see, you want to pull over as far as you can until the dust storm is over. And you want to turn off your lights and get your foot off the brakes."
This counterintuitive approach is necessary because "what people do in a dust storm, they're kind of like flies. They go toward the lights. And then when they go toward you and you're lit up, but you're not moving, that is what creates those pile-up crashes."
In other news, Smith discussed the recently released information about the Nashville Covenant School shooter. The Nashville Metro Police Department has concluded its investigation of the 2023 shooting by Audrey Hale, who killed three children and three staff members.
"The National Police Association was the first organization of any kind to sue to put in a FOIA lawsuit against the Biden administration to try to get the communications with the FBI to get the shooter manifestos released," Smith explained.
The investigation revealed that Hale, described by Smith as "a terribly mentally ill young woman," had been planning the attack since at least 2017. She left behind approximately 30 notebooks documenting her mental illness and delusions.
"She wanted to kill her parents," Smith reported. "She wanted to go out in a blaze of glory and be famous like the Columbine shooters." Smith emphasized that many news organizations have stopped naming mass shooters because they seek notoriety.
Smith also mentioned that actor Val Kilmer passed away at age 65. Known for his roles in "Top Gun," "Tombstone," and "The Doors," Kilmer died of pneumonia after previously battling throat cancer.
On a lighter note, Smith promoted the upcoming Pima County Fair, running from April 17-27. The Pima County Republican Party will have a booth at the fair to register voters and engage with the community. "Even Democrats come up and we have fun, lively discussions," Smith noted.
The fair offers special pricing for seniors ($8), free admission for children under 5, and discounts for military members and veterans. Smith encouraged volunteers to sign up to help at the Republican booth by visiting PimaGOP.org or emailing HQ@PimaGOP.org.