Sooner or later – at dinner, the gym, or a PTA meeting – someone will ask you: “What do you think of Elon Musk wanting to buy Twitter?” Here’s what to tell them.

Like most people, you probably haven’t given it much thought, or your thought pattern may go something like this: if the man who made affordable space exploration possible and made the electric vehicle a reality – all while finding time to host SNL, fathering eight kids, and sleeping with the hottest women alive still has the energy and the money to buy Twitter, why shouldn’t he?

As for the truth about Elon Musk, the answer to that question is far more complicated than it seems – as Keri Kukral and I recently began to expose in part one of the “Secret Life of Elon Musk” series on NarativTV. 

Firstly, you should know that the Elon Musk story is a well-constructed fabrication. Of course, he’s an actual human, but the narrative he tells the world is inconsistent, suggesting it is part obfuscation, if not complete fiction.

Chief among the obfuscations is his wealth. Musk may be the world’s richest man (worth, on paper, $264 Billion), but in reality, he’s cash-poor. He’s only worth the amount of money a bank will loan him against a portion of his current stock in Tesla. We found out last week a bank would loan him $25 Billion to fund the purchase of Twitter, but we don’t know much more about the origins of those funds.

Musk is a creation of a large conglomerate of wealth made up of foreign and domestic interests. That’s not to say Musk is not intelligent or capable. Of course, he is, but he hasn’t ever really created anything himself – except for maybe a program called “zip2it”. Musk acquired everything else from PayPal to Tesla. And he’s failed more times than he cares to admit. 

Musk’s unorthodox approach to management is viewed as inherently risky and could present risks to his future holdings. TESLA and SpaceX are financially intertwined, which is unusual for two publicly traded companies – each borrowing from the other to avoid public collapse. If the stock falters or the technology fails in one company, both companies could come crashing down. If Musk succeeds in buying Twitter, the social network’s fate will also lie with Tesla and SpaceX.

We’ll have astronauts stranded in orbit, cars careening off the roads, and the virtual town square inexplicably grinding to a halt. Musk’s track record on democratic values is dodgy at best, and the SEC is investigating his businesses. Twitter is too essential to democracy to entrust it to him. Someone as cavalier and reckless as Musk is pursuing profit should not be in charge of regulating free speech in the town square.

Musk says he wants to buy Twitter to “save civilization”.

I agree with his underlying premise that Twitter is essential for civil discourse. Twitter is the virtual town square in an epic battle between autocracy and democracy.

If you have something to say and a box to stand on and are willing to endure the hecklers and trolls, you can say it on Twitter.  Viewed this way, Twitter has become the last remaining vestige of unfettered free speech.

Musk may be right that Twitter is essential for saving civilization, but what does he mean? People who use the word “civilization” — people like Putin, Xi, Trump, monarchists, and actual monarchs like soon-to-be King Charles use it in a particular way. 

They have a hankering for the good old days – where the elite held sway and lorded over their subjects, governed by a sense of entitlement by birthright that they alone should chart the course of human development. They bestow favor and wealth on the loyal and dispatch zealots, disease, war, and famine on those who are not. Anything and everything to strike fear into our hearts. A modern-day equivalent of the plagues of Passover at the end of another civilization from a long-forgotten time. 

These so-called kings and dictators sell us religion as an opiate and deal opiates as religion – anything to tame the unruly masses – in the name of wealth and power.

Zev Shalev and Keri Kukral recently exposed Elon Musk in part one of the “Secret Life of Elon Musk” series on NarativTV. 

A few years ago, it became apparent to these masters of the universe that we were approaching a tipping point. The disparity between rich and poor had crossed over a significant milestone and suggested the conditions were ripe for a global revolution against the wealthy. 

When a black man named Barrack Obama walked into the White House in January 2009 and became one of the greatest American presidents in history, as he ushered in the Arab spring, you could sense the enemies of democracy recoil. 

The enemies of democracy responded with a hybrid offensive which included installing Donald Trump as president and a psy-op called Q-Anon. On MSNBC last week, a pundit described Q as an assault on the media. A conspiracy theory so pervasive and filled with inaccuracies it raised doubt over the source of truth – the media.

The same people who created Q spawned amplification networks like OAN and Newsmax and turned Fox News into a parade of idiocy – and gave us Facebook, a social network capable of burrowing under our skins and mainlining designer fear into every citizen. The perfect accompaniment to a president who decried everything as fake news.

Truth is an effective weapon against tyranny.

Challenge even the most potent liars with a fundamental truth, and they shrink in size. The battle over democracy is not about weapons and land – it’s about the hearts and minds of men and women who inhabit that land.

You see it in the courage of the Ukrainian armed forces. They know firsthand what authoritarianism looks like and refuse to go back. They are not just fighting for their survival – they are fighting for generations of people oppressed by mad kings and cold-blooded dictators.  

Elon musk may present himself as a modern-day liberal, but he is not that. He, like me, is a product of Apartheid South Africa – he comes from the capital Pretoria – an oppressive place where only the most ardent white nationalists resided. I grew up in the white liberal suburbs surrounding the metropolis of Johannesburg, or what is today Jo’burg. I had a healthy distaste for the apartheid regime – notoriously racist and homophobic. My first job as a rookie journalist was at a radio station that helped eradicate apartheid. Radio 702 was the equivalent of Twitter in South Africa – a town square where listeners could discuss all topics out of the reach of government censors. 

Musk is a libertarian with autocratic tendencies and a supporter – at least in the 2016 election – of Donald Trump. His recent transformation into a free speech activist isn’t about giving the oppressed unfettered access to the public airwaves. Instead, it appears centered around returning Donald Trump to a platform that banned him after leading an insurrection.

And there seems to be an uncanny coincidence between Musk’s Twitter crusade and the collapse of Trump’s Truth Social (despite what the Musk media machine says).

Musk is a free speech “absolutist” when it comes to allowing Vladimir Putin’s propagandists access to Ukrainian minds, but not when it comes to media criticism of him or even his interactions with “those bastards” at the SEC. You never hear him decry the censorship inside Russia or economic “discrepancies” of South Africa, but you will see him tweet about woke culture.

This website and podcast are an excellent example of the type of content Musk, and his backers may find problematic about Twitter. Narativ was all about truth before it was fashionable – and well before Donald Trump launched Truth Social.

Narativ began live streaming over Twitter in 2019, taking advantage of a tech advancement that allowed for live independent broadcasting – television out of the proverbial reach of the masters who run American television.

We do the same show over on YouTube and Facebook, but algorithms being what they are, only a fraction of our Twitter audience shows up on YouTube, and barely anyone shows up on Facebook. 

We’re not alone, but we are among the genuine few who do it for the reasons we say. 

If Truth is an effective weapon against the forces of tyranny, and Twitter is the one place people can express that truth, wouldn’t that explain why Elon Musk wants to own the social network? 

Say you were cash poor, and the only money you could access was to borrow against your stock – would a barely profitable third-tier social network be what you buy? Wouldn’t you buy Facebook or Instagram – not Twitter?

Elon Musk isn’t just interested in a social media network. He wants to buy the only social network that hasn’t bolstered Donald Trump, and Q. Musk says he wants to save civilization, but what he’s doing is removing a significant roadblock to imposing authoritarian rule.  

Musk’s plan involves taking Twitter private – away from the scrutinizing eyes of the stock market and the SEC. 

He openly admits he wants to change Twitter’s algorithm so that GOP views would carry equal weight to Democrats (or vice versa) regardless of the accuracy of a position. By doing that, Musk would permanently entrench our current state of national polarization and elevate opinion over fact.

Like the Reagan Doctrine decreed that all news should cover both sides of an issue regardless of accuracy, Musk’s plan turns political discourse into popular sports and further away from fact and truth.

You might call it progress, but it’s retrograde. As Joni Mitchell lamented in Big Yellow Taxi (and later covered by the Counting Crows):

“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot 
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swinging hot spot 
Don’t it always seem to go 
That you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone”

Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell

Twitter is not perfect by any stretch, but it is the one place you can still find truth and reason if you seek it.

If Elon Musk buys Twitter, he won’t improve it. He’ll kill it.

The post Elon Musk: The Twitter Killer appeared first on Narativ.

by Zev Shalev and Heidi Cuda

A suspected Russian asset was involved in organizing the January 6 attempted coup, including supplying accommodation and a gathering place for protest leaders in the weeks and days leading up to the storming of the Capitol.

Charles Bausman’s father was the Moscow Bureau Chief for Associated Press between 1968 and 1972, just the type of role Soviet officials would have targeted for recruitment to their intelligence services. It’s unclear if the elder Bausman was ever recruited, but Charles who has spent most of his adult life in Moscow, bears all the hallmarks of a man working for the Kremlin.

Bausman lived in Russia for 30 years before moving to Lancaster, PA in 2018 with enough money to buy three properties. On his arrival, he immediately launched US versions of his three Russian web sites pushing disinformation and propaganda, most notably Russia Insider, which included rabidly anti-semitic sentiment and Holocaust denialism. One of Bausman’s common themes is that America is “fractured.”

His websites were pro-Russian but the content decidedly focused on divisive U.S. domestic issues. Bausman promoted “Stop the Steal”— including appearing in and organizing anti-lockdown election protests in December and January outside the office and home of the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He was spotted at protests outside Speaker Brian Cutler’s home and office in December. 

On the season premiere of Narativ, we broke the story about Bausman’s barn being used as a venue to plan for the insurrection and also discussed Bausman’s relationship with Sean Moon. Our guests were “Cult of Trump” author Dr. Steven Hassan, a former “Moonies Rev” himself and Michael Edison Hayden of the Southern Poverty Law Center, who wrote the first expose of Bausman. Heidi Cuda co-produced the show. Scroll down for Part 2.

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

In psychological warfare, there are no strange bedfellows, and the purported Russian sleeper agent Bausman and gun crazy Pastor Sean Moon, of the Rod Iron Ministries, also known as the World Peace Unification Sanctuary, have been linked together during the lead up to the January 6 insurrection.

Turns out the next-gen Moonies and the alleged Russian spy Bausman reportedly played a much bigger role in the January 6 Insurrection than previously known.

And on Jan. 3, Bausman allowed out of town groups to stay over at his Pennsylvania property, specifically Sean Moon’s Rod of Iron group from Warren County. In fiery speeches, Moon invoked God’s name and fear of a Chi Com planet to whip people into a Trump-defending frenzy. Moon’s brother owns a tommy gun warehouse, whose 2016 grand opening was attended by Eric and Lara Trump. Eric was the guest speaker at the event. Donald Trump is scheduled to spend the 20th anniversary of 9/11 with Moon’s mother, Hak Ja Han Moon, the widow of Moonies founder Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Trump is listed as the featured speaker at the billionaire widow’s conference.

MEET THE MOONIES

According to multiple media reports and its own website, Sean Moon’s “Moonies” splinter group, Rod of Iron Ministries, worships at the altar of the AR-15, and Moon recently purchased a Waco-style compound about 40 miles from Waco, Texas, to prep for a war with the “deep state,” he said. Political provocateur Steve Bannon has spoken at Rod of Iron events, and both Moon and Bausman were present at the Insurrection. Moon was seen at the Capitol leading members into scaffolding. Bausman advanced to the Capitol, according to news reports, and then fled the country for Moscow.  

The Moonies weren’t the only Russian friendly assets at the Insurrection. Putin’s favorite former Congressman Dana Rohrabacher was at the Capitol; Russian chants can be heard as windows are being smashed; a Russian expat now living in Florida, Stanislauv Doudnik, broadcast live to Russian news outlets blaming Antifa and BLM for the violence. Two Russian women–a mother and daughter, originally from Moldova–were arrested for illegal entry. The daughter, Kristina Malimon, is a GOP activist living in Portland, according to a McClatchy report. In addition, a Ukrainian infowars host who appears on a network with ties to oligarch Dmitry Firtash posed with the QAnon shaman, Jake Angeli, on January 6.

Bausman left Russia where he had been living for decades and arrived in the US in 2018, quickly establishing his pro-Russian pop-up blogs and acquiring three properties. He left the US on Jan 7 in such a hurry, he didn’t have time to take down the Christmas lights at his home. Neighbors a say a friend took down the decorations weeks later.

One of Bausman’s Lancaster properties is a barn not far from his family home in Lancaster, PA, which he acquired under an LLC. The barn has been used to host white nationalist events like the launch of the National Justice Party, which is virulently anti-Zionist.

The following year he and Bausman’s family traveled to Verona for the 2019 anti-LGBT World Congress of Families conference.

Handler? Leaked emails from Charles Bausman reveal he sought funding from Konstantin Malofeev through an intermediary Alesksei Komov.

RENDEZVOUZ IN VERONA

In Verona, Bausman would likely have met up with another delegate at the WCF that year – the organization’s Russian representative, Aleksei Komov. One of Komov’s many job titles was journalist for Bausman’s Russia Insider.

Bausman’s emails also revealed Komov often arranged financing for Bausman’s projects through the St. Basil the Great Charitable Foundation. Komov served as head of foreign charities at the Foundation.

The charitable foundation is a philanthropic effort Russian oligarch, Konstantin Malofeev. Malofeev also funds the WCF and is a staunch supporter of Russia’s Orthodox Church. He is also said to have been the architect of Putin’s invasion of Crimea. Komov is considered one of Malofeev’s right-hand men. Malofeev was sanctioned by the U.S., EU, and Canada for his alleged role in financing financing Russian military operatives in Ukraine.

After a couple of surprisingly successful financial years, Bausman encountered some financial trouble at his publications and shuttered them in late 2020, soon after the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Michael E. Hayden published an expose about him.

Part 2 of our podcast about Bausman and Moon: ‘A Bear in our House’

PLANNING PROTESTS

He may have quit his online news business, but Bausman kept engaged in politics, hosting Sean Moon and delegation from his “Rod Of Iron” Church overnight on Jan 2. The next day the heads of many insurrectionist groups were attending a secret closed-door meeting in an unknown location in the same PA town. It’s unclear if Bausman’s barn was used for the meeting or if he attended.

Bausman’s trail of strange associations with extremist groups, Russia’s Orthodox Church, and a continuing association with Konstantin Malofeev’s right hand-man, suggest Bausman’s pro-Russia agenda may have been operational in an espionage sense, or as we like to say on Narativ, he is likely a spy.

Bausman is now back in Moscow full-time and denies any link to the Russian state. His funder Aleksei Komov denies Malofeev funds Bausman or his publications.

If Bausman is an agent for the Kremlin, it would be standard operating procedure to wire up a meeting room like the barn for surveillance. Extremist leaders like Mike Peinovich of the National Justice Party and Sean Moon may have believed they were meeting in secret, when in reality they could have been meeting at a SVR-owned and monitored venue.

This is the first time we’ve been able to link a suspected Russian asset to the insurrection.

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The post A Bear in Our House appeared first on Narativ.

Narativ’s new investigation into the British monarchy and the man who may be its next King.

It’s been almost 70 years since Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the British throne in 1952. After the passing of her husband, Prince Philip, Narativ opens a new investigation into the power of the British monarchy and the man who may be its next King, Prince Charles. Zev Shalev is joined by Noel Casler and violinist David Klinkenberg.

PART 1: ROOTS

Narativ is made possible by viewers like you. Support our independent journalism at Patreon.com/Narativ

PART 2: TRUMP

STAY TUNED FOR EXCITING NEW NARATIV ROYAL NEWS

The post Cracks in the Crown appeared first on Narativ.

Narativ was live in the hours after the historic verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd.  

In this podcast, Zev Shalev was joined by attorney Andrew Laufer, former Federal Prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, Journalist and author Nina Burleigh and guest co-host comedian and activist Noel Casler. Parts 1 & 2 below.

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WHERE TO WATCH:Live @NarativTV on Twitter and YouTube or on-demand at Apple podcasts.

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The post I Can Breathe Now appeared first on Narativ.

This week’s Narativ After Show took on Andrew Cuomo’s relations, the failed Trump coup, GOP whining and Brett Kavanaugh.

Authors Nina Burleigh and Greg Olear, and journalist Sandi Bachom joined Zev Shalev on the After Show.

PART 1: Cuomo and the Coup

Sandi began the show by revealing she had just had an unexpected Twitter spat with one of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s accusers.

PART 2: Pantheon and Kavanaugh

Followers of Greg Olear’s Prevail site will have read Greg and L.B.’s 5-part investigation into Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s questionable path to the SCOTUS bench, which sets you up perfectly for Greg’s Friday night rant.

You can watch a live taping of Narativ’s After Show every Friday at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET on @ZEVSHALEV‘S Twitter feed.

The post Cuomo and the Coup appeared first on Narativ.

Donald Trump was first spotted as a potential KGB asset in 1980 by the owner of Joy Lud Electronics, Sam Kislin, and cultivated as a Russian intelligence asset over the next 40 years.

For the first time, a former KGB officer has gone on the record to confirm that Donald Trump was an asset for Russian intelligence. The detailed claim is laid bare in Craig Unger’s new book, American Kompromat. Unger and the former KGB officer Yuri Shvets join L.B. and Zev Shalev on the latest Narativ and described the cultivation process in breathtaking detail.  

The Cultivation Of Donald Trump 1

From Joy Lud Electronics to the White House, the grooming of a Russian asset.

THE CULTIVATION OF DONALD TRUMP 2

Trump’s puppet presidency was a money making operation, just like his business was a money laundering vehicle for Russian intelligence.

The post The Russian Asset appeared first on Narativ.

Narativ’s newest podcast tackles China, Trump and Covid-19 with @LincolnsBible @EricGarland.

In Part 1, we tackle China’s role in enabling Donald Trump and as the originating point of the virus.

In Part 2, Trump is stonewalling the transition and that has severe implications.

You can listen to Hard Truths your favorite podcast player or here:

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Many of you were asking about the closing video. Here it is and definitely worth playing with the sound turned up. @narativ_live #StandUpForFreedom

Originally tweeted by Zev Shalev (@ZevShalev) on November 19, 2020.

The post appeared first on Narativ.

By attempting to construct an elaborate narrative, Donald Trump has exposed his own cover-up.

Donald Trump’s coronavirus infection has spread to more than 100 people in and outside the administration.

Zev Shalev continues to make the case for an independent investigation into the Trump’s administration’s Covid-19 contagion. The White House has repeatedly refused to reveal when Trump last had a negative coronavirus test, citing HIPAA privacy laws.

In part 2, Zev and his guests explore Trump’s attempt to shape the narrative of this explosive scandal, which has unwittingly revealed a clumsy cover-up.

@Lincoln’sBible and Dr. Bandy X. Lee, author of the upcoming “Trump’s Mind, America’s Soul” join Zev.    

Watch Part 2 above; Listen to Part 2 below.

Watch Part 1 here.

The post Covidgate Cover-Up appeared first on Narativ.

Donald Trump and the First Lady now have Covid-19, or so we are led to believe.

Truth has become so disposable for the Trump administration, we no longer believe anything that comes from the White House. Special guests Jean Guerrero, author of “Hatemonger” and Greg Olear, Eric Garland and Lincoln’s Bible.

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The post Covid, Lies and Audiotape appeared first on Narativ.

The first presidential debate of the 2020 elections was an unwatchable, debasing affair that still delivered political blows. Our live special aired directly afterwards.

Immediate post-debate analysis from an all-star panel: Former Republican strategist and host of ‘Politics with Cheri Jacobus’ podcast, Cheri Jacobus,  Former ‘Apprentice’ talent executive and comedian Noel Casler and ‘Dirty Rubles’ and ‘Prevail’ founder author Greg Olear. 

Narativ’s content is provided free of charge to everyone thanks to the support of Narativ’s patrons. Video podcast are available on Apple IOS devices, Audio podcasts are available everywhere. and on player like Spotify.

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This week: Jared Kushner’s coronavirus cash grab, Peter Thiel is selling everything about you for $22 Billion and should you watch the Comey Rule on Showtime?

Narativ Live has two podcasts: Our Tuesday shows delves more deeply into a single topic.  Fridays is really ‘anything goes’ night.  We call it the After Show but it’s regularly our best,  as was the case with this week’s episode with @LincolnsBible @GregOlear @ZevShalev. Watch it above or listen below.

The post After Show: New Hope appeared first on Narativ.

Zev Shalev talks to investigative journalist Jean Guerrero whose new book ‘Hatemonger’ profiles Donald Trump’s key advisor Stephen Miller, and traces his ‘radicalization’ from a young age. 

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The post The Most Dangerous Man In America appeared first on Narativ.

We were live on the air, when Greg Olear spotted the news: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died at 87.

The reactions in the pod below are as raw as they come and generated an outpouring from our viewers and listeners. Watch the full pod below and join in the conversation in the replies to this tweet.

Here’s the full Narativ podcast about RBG with @LincolnsBible @Ericgarland @GregOlear and @ZevShalev

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The post Remembering Ruth appeared first on Narativ.

For ten years, The Apprentice made Donald Trump a household name while creating a wholly fictional narrative that hid Trump’s criminal activity.

The Apprentice was much more than just a hit shows for Donald Trump, it was a calling card that gave him access to the world’s organized crime syndicates and helped him foster a cover story for a lifetime of crime.

As a talent handler on The Celebrity Apprentice, Noel Casler was an eyewitness to Donald Trump’s behind-the-scenes behavior. He joins Zev Shalev on the podcast to reveal secrets of the Apprentice: sex, drugs and Donald Trump. With panelists @LincolnsBible and @GregOlear.

In Part 2, The panel discusses how The Apprentice enabled Donald Trump’s organized crime activity around the world and exposes even more secrets of The Apprentice.

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Subversion of Democracy: Explaing Trump’s Charge

by Zev Shalev May 29, 2024

The Spy Games 2024

by Zev Shalev April 22, 2024

Exposing the enemies of democracy since 2016

by Zev Shalev December 11, 2023

The post Secrets of The Apprentice appeared first on Narativ.

The DOJ’s reversal on prosecuting Michael Flynn means reopening the case of Flynn’s alleged treasonous acts.

In my latest podcast, I was joined by strategic analyst Eric Garland. We discussed Flynn’s crimes and why Jared Kushner’s and Bibi Netanyahu’s actions need closer examination.

Before you watch Part 2, Narativ relies on donations from viewers like you to fund our investigations and podcasts. Go to Patreon.com/Narativ and support our independent journalism for as little as $5 a month.

Here’s part 2:

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The post The Flynn Files appeared first on Narativ.