Rep adam smith dem w a
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an 5 26
As President Donald Trump's war withIranhas dragged on for the last two months, a new NOTUS reportrevealed that defense contractors have been flooding congressional candidates with their hands on major regulatory powers with campaign money.
In a report published Friday, NOTUS revealed several telling findings from campaign contribution data pulled from Jan. 1 through March 31, revealing that "the defense industry spent millions" to boost the funding for candidates likely to play a role in regulatory decisions surrounding them, as well as other "competitive races" in general.
"Some of the lawmakers who have received the most contributions from defense interests sit on key congressional committees that routinely make decisions that profoundly affect the financial fortunes of military contractors," NOTUS explained. "For example, Congress is tasked with scrutinizing the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget request for 2027 — a nearly $500 billion increase."
Political action committees connected to "11 defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Leidos, RTX, Anduril," poured a total of $4.7 million into congressional campaigns during the first quarter of 2026, NOTUS found.
The report further dug into the specific lawmakers being wooed with big money donations and how much they have been taking in.
"Rep. Ken Calvert [a California Republican] chairs the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which is charged with drafting the Defense Department’s budget," the report continued. "The Republican is running in a competitive race after California Democrats gerrymandered his district, and his campaign committee received more than $200,000 during the first three months of 2026 from defense contractor PACs and direct contributions from top defense executives, according to FEC records."
Across two days in early March, Calvert took in two separate payments from "from leaders at military vehicle manufacturer AM General: Darrell Duckworth, an executive director, and Chief Financial Officer Ryan DuRussel." A week and change later, "the political action committees of Lockheed Martin and RTX, Raytheon’s parent company," also made two separate donations of $5,000 to the lawmaker. A senior congressional adviser for Calvert insisted to NOTUS that "His votes and actions are always based on what he believes is in the best interest of the constituents he represents and all Americans."
"House Armed Services Committee Chair Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama received $68,000 last quarter through his campaign," the report added. "Rogers, a Republican who oversees the National Defense Authorization Act, has said he’s focused on making it easier for new defense firms such as Anduril and ShieldAI to secure defense contracts. Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Anduril, donated $7,000 to Rogers’ campaign in March."
It has not just been Republicans getting this money, either, with NOTUS reporting that most Democrats continue to accept defense PAC money, despite some swearing it off. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, received "about $130,000 from industry PACs and executives." This included "$7,000 from Anduril co-founder and CEO Brian Schimpf, $1,000 from RTX Vice President of State and Local Government Relations Peter Holland and $1,000 from BAE Systems Vice President of Strategy Chris Rappa," as well as, "$5,000 contributions from PACs tied to defense contractors Northrop Grumman, SpaceX and Leonardo DRS."
In an email to the outlet, Smith also asserted that these extensive contrbituons would not have any sway over his voting decisions.
"I have opposed the Iran War since before it started and I oppose the $1.5 trillion defense budget increase," Smith said. "No contribution changes that. I’ve spent decades pushing back on wasteful defense spending and challenging entrenched interests in the Pentagon."
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nunes re-elected and 2 guys in coup setup?!
ringo only a little worried 11/12/20
1120 holland
...Meanwhile, Trump has decapitated the senior civilian leadership of the Pentagon and much of the intelligence community and replaced them with Trump loyalists, many of whom are conspiratorial nutjobs. We don't know towards what end, but it is a brazenly authoritarian move that's inconsistent with the idea that he's just trying to keep donors' dollars flowing....
ref
'These are dictator moves': Defense officials alarmed as Trump installs more loyalists at the Pentagon
Adam Payne Nov 11, 2020,
President Donald Trump has filled a series of senior defense positions with loyalists, causing alarm among Pentagon officials.
Four defense officials, including Mark Esper, the defense secretary, and James Anderson, the acting undersecretary of defense for policy, have either resigned or been sacked since Trump lost the presidential election.
Anderson was replaced by Anthony Tata, a retired US Army brigadier general who made false claims about President Barack Obama including that he was a "terrorist leader," CNN reported.
"This is scary. It's very unsettling," one defense official told CNN, adding, "These are dictator moves."
Rep. Adam Smith, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the next few months could be "downright dangerous."
President Donald Trump is continuing to replace senior defense officials with loyalists, creating alarm in the Pentagon that his rapid overhaul of key staffers could undermine national security.
Since Trump fired Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on Monday, three other Defense Department officials have either resigned or been sacked. James Anderson, the acting undersecretary of defense for policy, quit on Tuesday after clashing with the White House over its attempts to insert allies and controversial figures into top Pentagon positions, Politico reported.
Anderson was replaced by retired US Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, an ally of Trump and a regular guest on Fox News. Tata has made several false and Islamophobic claims about former President Barack Obama in tweets unearthed by CNN, calling him a Muslim and a "terrorist leader" who "normalized Islam for America."
Joseph Kernan, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, and Jen Stewart, Esper's chief of staff, also left their posts and werereplaced by Ezra Cohen-Watnick and Kash Patel.Patel will serve as chief of staff to Christopher Miller, now the acting secretary of defense, CNN reported.
Both Cohen-Watnick and Patel are considered fiercely loyal to the outgoing president, The Associated Press reported.
There is reportedly a growing concern in the Pentagon that the flurry of personnel changes could just the beginning and that Trump's decision-making could become more volatile as he continues to refuse to concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden.
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"This is scary. It's very unsettling," a defense official told CNN, adding, "These are dictator moves."
Officials told The Washington Post that Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist could be the next to be dismissed.
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Rep. Adam Smith, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement on Tuesday that the "gutting" of the department ought to "alarm" Americans.
"It is hard to overstate just how dangerous high-level turnover at the Department of Defense is during a period of presidential transition," he said. "The top policy professional in the Department resigning the day after the Secretary of Defense was fired could mark the beginning of a process of gutting the DoD — something that should alarm all Americans."
Smith added that "if this is the beginning of a trend — the President either firing or forcing out national security professionals in order to replace them with people perceived as more loyal to him — then the next 70 days will be precarious at best and downright dangerous at worst."
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal echoed Smith's national-security concerns.
"Trump's Defense Department purge is deeply dangerous to our national security," Blumenthal tweeted, adding that the outgoing president's "personal vendettas & temper tantrums supersede our national security."
https://www.alternet.org/2019/12/calls-intensify-for-hearings-on-us-officials-who-lied-to-american-people-about-endless-afghan-war-lets-bring-rumsfeld-in
no lnx
Calls intensify for hearings on US officials who lied to American people about endless Afghan War: ‘Let’s bring Rumsfeld in’
Written by Andrea Germanos / Common Dreams December 12, 2019
Rep. Ro Khanna on Wednesday said that The Washington Post‘s explosive investigation the “Afghanistan Papers” showed the need for a congressional hearing and that former Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld should be among the current and former top officials called in for a reckoning before the American public.
Khanna (D-Calif.) made the comments at a House Armed Services Committee hearing. Hebegan addressing Secretary of Defense Mark Esper by summing up the Post‘s report from Monday.
“The bottom line is that top military officials and civilian officials have known that the Afghan war has been has been unwinnable and have been misleading the American public for 20 years,” Khanna said. “Your predecessor Secretary Rumsfeld was quoted there as saying, ‘I have no visibility into who the bad guys are.'”
“Are you embarrassed by Secretary Rumsfeld comment and the other people quoted, and do you believe they owe the American public an explanation and an apology?” Khanna asked Esper.
Esper said it was up to the committee on whether or not to call a hearing. “But I do know this much. The story spanned multiple administrations, multiple uniformed and civilian officials, and I think it’s good to look back.”
Yet, Esper said, “I think at this point where I’m looking is forward. And forward tells me… the path to success, the win, is a political agreement between the parties on the ground.”
“But don’t you think we have to have some accountability so we don’t make the same mistake again?” asked Khanna. “Would you support this committee holding hearings on the Afghan Papers and calling in front of Congress every official who has misled the American public about whether this war was winnable in all or not? With 2,400 American soldiers dead, 775,000 Americans deployed, dont you think people owe this country an explanation?”
Khanna then said to committee chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), “I would request that this committee hold hearing on the Afghan Papers and call before Congress with subpoena every person who has misled this country.”
“And just like in the Pentagon Papers,” Khanna continued, “I think that should be one of our highest priorities… examining what has come out in that bombshell report.”
Smith responded by saying he believes “it’s appropriate to have hearing,” but said that calling “every single witness… would not be a productive of this committee’s time.”
Khanna shared a portion of the exchange on Twitter, adding, “Let’s bring Rumsfeld in.”
Senior military & civil officials knew the Afghanistan war was not winnable, but misled Americans. Today, @RepAdamSmith agreed with my call to hold hearings on the bombshell Afghan papers.
Let’s bring Rumsfeld in. pic.twitter.com/KSouR4GBHY
— Rep. Ro Khanna (@RepRoKhanna) December 11, 2019
The California Democrat’s remarks at the hearing echo comments he made earlier to The Hill.
“Subpoena all of the people who were mentioned and have them account and explain to the American people in some cases why they lied and in other cases why they were utterly incompetent,” Khanna told the outlet Wednesday.
The Post investigation had already motivated Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, to call for a public hearing “to address these deeply concerning revelations about the Afghan war.”
In a letter sent Monday to Senate Armed Services Committee chair Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and ranking member Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Gillibrand wrote, “it is deeply troubling to read a report of interviews with U.S. government officials that appear to contradict the many assurances we have heard at committee hearings that the continuing war in Afghanistan has a coherent strategy and an end in sight.”