ICYMI: The MAGA Crack‑Up: David Corn on Schisms, Spies, and the Burning of the FBI
Unpacking this week’s Sentinel podcast: Here’s what you need to know from a conversation that ranges from the battlefields of the MAGA media wars to the paralyzed hallways of the FBI.
In the latest episode of The Steady State Sentinel, John Sipher welcomes David Corn, Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones, MSNBC analyst, and one of the country’s most respected political reporters.
The MAGA Civil War Has Gone Nuclear
David Corn has been tracking the schisms inside Trump world for months, but the Iran war blew everything open. The old fault line between “America First” isolationists and pro‑Israel hawks has become a blood feud.
Tucker Carlson now suggests Trump is the anti‑Christ. Candace Owens is feuding with Charlie Kirk’s widow while pushing conspiracy theories about Macron’s wife being a man. Laura Loomer and Roger Stone are at war. Even Steve Bannon is fighting with everyone.
“Movements often end up with circular firing squads,” Corn says. “This has turned into a Mobius strip of firing squad incoming and outgoing from all across different directions.”
Corn predicts these fractures will not heal. They will only deepen as polls turn against the president and the 2028 succession fight begins.
What Is MAGA Without Trump?
Corn’s answer is blunt. MAGA is a “personality cult” built around a demagogue. Polls show that self‑identified “MAGA Republicans” remain 70‑80% supportive of the Iran war, even though it contradicts every “America First” promise. Traditional Republicans are peeling off faster.
That makes the inheritance problem for J.D. Vance almost impossible.
“The idea that J.D. Vance could just inherit this was always problematic,” Corn says. “Now it’s even more difficult because what there is to inherit is going to be divided and split up.”
Vance started laying down markers, leaking his skeptical internal memos before the war – but he hasn’t broken with Trump. And without a true break, Corn argues, he cannot claim the anti‑war, America First lane. That lane may belong to someone else entirely.
Kash Patel and the Neutering of the FBI
The FBI under Director Kash Patel is not just demoralized – it has been functionally crippled. Agents have been pulled from counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and cybercrime and reassigned to immigration and street crime.
One unit, CI‑12, which handles Iran‑related counterterrorism, lost half its people just as the U.S. entered a war with Iran.
“If you’re an FBI agent and someone comes to you with a great insider trading case, the first thing you’re going to do is Google the person’s name. And if you see they attended an event at Mar‑a‑Lago, you won’t even tell your supervisor.”
Corn calls it a “get out of jail free card” for Trump’s cronies, Republican donors, and even members of Trump’s own family. The SEC, DOJ, ATF, DEA – every agency now knows that pursuing a case with any Trump connection means losing your career.
The Kremlin‑Connected FBI Director
Corn and his Mother Jones colleague Dan Friedman broke a story that should have been front‑page news: Kash Patel received a $25,000 payment from Igor Lopatonnik, a Russian‑Ukrainian‑American filmmaker who produces Kremlin propaganda and served as honorary chairman of a contest funded by Vladimir Putin’s office to encourage Westerners to move to Russia.
“A Kremlin‑connected propagandist gave the FBI director $25,000,” Corn says. “And yet I’m sure this is the first time you’re hearing about it.”
Tulsi Gabbard’s Intelligence Gaslighting
As Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard has done something Corn calls “one of the biggest acts of intelligence gaslighting and politicization of intelligence in the history of the U.S. national security community.”
She declassified old, non‑disseminated intelligence reports, raw information that had been rejected by analysts years ago – and presented them as proof that the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment about Russian interference was a “hoax” and an act of “treason” by Obama, Biden, and Clinton.
The problem? Those reports only addressed whether Russia hacked voting machines (they didn’t). They said nothing about the influence operation – the hacking and leaking of emails, the social media disinformation campaign – that the ICA actually documented.
“It takes about ten seconds to say this doesn’t make sense,” Corn says. “They get away with a pretty lousy con job.”
The Chilling Effect on National Security Reporting
Corn is finishing a book called How Russia Won about the fight over the 2016 narrative and Russia’s ongoing interference. But when he tries to talk to former CIA, FBI, and State Department officials, he finds a new wall of fear.
People who left the government years ago are afraid to speak – even off the record – because Trump has shown he will go after individuals by name, subpoena them, and pressure their employers. Other national security reporters tell Corn the same thing: sourcing has dried up.
“When subpoenas are flying, people duck. They keep their heads down. Trump is so vindictive. It used to be, when you’re out, you’re out. Now your boss calls you in and says, ‘You’re in the news. We don’t want people in the news.’”
About David Corn
David Corn is one of the few reporters who has been inside every major political scandal of the last three decades – and he is not slowing down. His newsletter, @our-land Our Land, is a must‑read for anyone trying to track the daily convulsions of the right. His upcoming book, How Russia Won, promises to be the definitive account of how Trump and his allies successfully buried the truth about 2016.
Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 400 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.
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