The Independent Movement's Tipping Point. How One Senate Seat And Two Or Three House Seats Are All It Takes To Break Both Parties.

For the first time on Independent Americans, Senator Joe Manchin and Heather Manchin sit down with Paul Rieckhoff to lay out exactly how they plan to break the grip of the rigged two-party system. Joe Manchin knows what one honest vote can do — he was the deciding vote in a 50-50 Senate and got more done in the 117th Congress than most Congresses in a generation. Heather Manchin brings the business mind: mapping the billions of dollars flowing left and right, the closed primaries in 16 states that shut independents out, and the digital strategy needed to punch through the echo chambers and actually win. Together, they make the case that this is the tipping point — and that a handful of independent seats in the House and Senate could change everything. And that their efforts through their new Independent Leadership Council initiative can help to propel that change.

The conversation goes deep on Montana, where combat veteran Seth Bodnar now has a true three-way shot after the DSCC's preferred Democrat refused to step aside and the GOP hand-picked a Trump rubber stamp. Joe and Heather explain why independent veterans are the natural leaders of this movement, why the "spoiler" slander is draconian and antiquated, and why building a leadership pipeline from mayors and school boards up to the Senate is how you actually rewire American politics. It's a candid, tactical, and deeply hopeful conversation about turning frustration into structural power — and doing it before the 2026 midterms.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check out the Independent Leadership Council here.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sent Back to School While the Fires Still Burned. Why Isn't Women's Health Covered by the 9/11 Health Program? 25 Years of Political Theater.

Twenty-five years on, Washington still frames 9/11 as a story of heroes and villains — and quietly counts on the rest of us to forget the civilians in between. Paul sits down with survivor advocate Lila Nordstrom, who was a high school junior three blocks from the World Trade Center when the towers fell, and who was marched back into that building on October 9, 2001 while the fires were still burning. Her story is not a footnote to the first-responder fight. It is the part of 9/11 the political class worked hardest to bury, because acknowledging it would mean admitting the reopening of lower Manhattan was political theater with a body count.

This conversation cuts through the symbolism. Lila breaks down the two-tier structure of the Zadroga Act, why the survivor program forces you to get sick before it will screen you, and why uterine cancer — the only major reproductive cancer still excluded — keeps getting rejected for coverage. She and Paul connect the dots from 9/11 to Flint to COVID to PFAS in firefighter bunker gear, and expose the same rigged pattern every time: leaders choose short-term optics over long-term lives, and then dare exhausted victims to keep coming back to Washington to beg. It is a masterclass in how citizen activism actually works, why it should never have had to, and what independents owe the next generation of Americans who get caught in the next disaster.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Another Firefighter Lost 30 Minutes Ago. Why ‘Never Forget’ Became A Punchline. His 9/11 Anniversary Message: “Don't Be A Dick”. Inside The Deutsche Bank Fire. The Halloween Attack. The Illnesses Still Killing First Responders.

Rob Serra is a legendary FDNY firefighter whose first day on the job was September 11, 2001. He's spent the twenty-plus years since burying brothers, fighting his own government for basic acknowledgement that the air wasn't clean, and refusing to let the country slide into the comfortable amnesia of an annual hashtag. In this conversation, Paul Rieckhoff sits down with Rob as another FDNY firefighter dies of a 9/11 illness thirty minutes before they hit record — a gut-punch reminder that 9/11 is not a memory, it's still killing people this week.

They get into the moral injury that connects 9/11 first responders to Afghanistan veterans: the same government that stood at the microphones promising "never forget" is the same government that told sick firefighters to go beg, and the same government that left Americans and allies on a tarmac in Kabul. Rob talks about the 257 FDNY brothers lost to 9/11 illness, the Deutsche Bank fire, raising kids while his body breaks down, an eight-year-old son who called him lazy, and why his sign-off is "stay low." It's raw, it's specific, and it's the kind of conversation that reminds you why humanity — not partisanship — is the thing worth protecting.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Most Americans checked out for August. Paul Rieckhoff didn't. From a beach house on Long Island, he cuts a fast, urgent episode to hit what the corporate media won't touch: today is primary day in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin, and across those four states 21 of 22 U.S. House races are effectively decided before November ever arrives. Connecticut is the sharpest example — the only fully closed primary this week — where 935,892 unaffiliated voters, the largest voting bloc in the state, are legally barred from casting a ballot in the election that will actually pick their representatives.

Paul breaks down the numbers town by town, names the 129,563 Connecticut veterans caught in that lockout, and explains why so many of them refuse to join a party on principle — the same principle they swore an oath to defend. Then he pivots to Montana, where Democrat Alani Bankhead just blew past the 5 p.m. deadline to drop out, guaranteeing she'll split the anti-Republican vote and torpedo independent veteran Seth Bodnar's shot at an incumbent Trump rubber-stamper. It's a rigged two-party system on full display in a single news cycle — and a reminder that nobody else is counting these voters, so we will.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week. 

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pete Hegseth is on thin ice, and the reason should worry every American with a family member in uniform. U.S. commanders are reportedly picking and choosing which Iranian missiles to intercept and which to let fall. Our stockpiles of Tomahawks, ATACMS, and Patriots are draining. Ukraine's civilians are dying for lack of munitions. And the response from the White House is to hunt down leakers, blame subordinates, and ask Congress for another $67 billion — roughly $20 billion of it for weapons the administration should have planned for in the first place. This is what happens when leadership refuses to take responsibility and gets way ahead of its skis.

At the same time, the Trump family is cashing in on Defense Department contracts while the commander in chief ramps up warfare around the world and pushes a $1.5 trillion defense number. It may not be illegal. It is deeply, deeply wrong — and it is exactly the kind of grift that unites independents, moderate Republicans, and anyone who still cares about basic ethics. Paul breaks down Elizabeth Warren's "gelatinous blobs" broadside at spineless Senate Republicans, the small cracks opening around Cornyn and Tillis, the widening MAGA civil war between Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie and the establishment, and where a wandering Tulsi Gabbard might land next. If you want to know where the off-ramps and pressure points are heading into 2026, this is the map.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week. 

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Democrats Drop Out in Idaho and South Dakota. Media Blitz Pod

The rigged two-party system delivered another round of primary results this week, and the pattern is impossible to miss: the extremes keep winning the nominations while roughly 44% of Americans who identify as independent get shoved further to the margins. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed squeaked past Haley Stevens in a race that was supposed to be close and somehow got closer — and now Democrats have ninety days to figure out whether a DSA-aligned progressive can hold a battleground state they cannot afford to lose. Paul Rieckhoff joins the news desk from Detroit alongside Lauren Wright and former Congressman Conor Lamb to lay out the stakes with no spin and no jersey.

From there the conversation widens to the races nobody in cable news is covering yet. Democrats have dropped out in both Idaho and South Dakota, clearing the runway for independent veterans Todd Achilles and Brian Bangs to go head-to-head against Republican incumbents. In Montana, Green Beret and Rhodes Scholar Dan Bodnar is running as an independent — if the Democrat will finally step aside and stop playing spoiler. It is a real-time test of an alternate theory of the case: that the way to beat entrenched incumbents is not to nominate a mirror-image extremist, but to run rooted, mission-first veterans who can actually reach the middle. This is what the map looks like when you stop pretending the two parties speak for everyone.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week. 

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Brian Bengs—Indy Vet For Senate in South Dakota: the Dem Dropping Out & His Head-to-Head vs GOP Incumbent Rounds

The independent movement is surging — and the machine is fighting back. In episode 594, Paul Rieckhoff breaks down the biggest under-covered story of the week: Mayor Mamdani's Board of Elections quietly rejected 42,000 petitions from New Yorkers demanding open primaries, a direct shot at the one million independents disenfranchised by New York's rigged partisan system. Paul also digs into the Politico report that Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie and Joe Kent are sowing the seeds of a new third-party project at Carlson's Maine compound — and why a third party is not the same thing as being independent.

Then an exclusive with South Dakota independent veteran Brian Bengs, who now has a cleared head-to-head against unpopular Republican incumbent Mike Rounds after the Democrat dropped out. Bengs — a dual-service veteran and expert in the law of armed conflict — makes the case on the unauthorized Iran war, tariffs as a surgical tool versus a wrecking ball, the affordability crisis hitting South Dakota farmers, rural veteran healthcare, and why he refuses to caucus with either party. With Dan Osborn in Nebraska, Todd Achilles in Idaho and potentially Seth Bodnar in Montana all clearing head-to-head shots, the independent fulcrum in the Senate is no longer a talking point. It's a plan.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week. 

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

"Let's F***ing Go." Dem Drops Out in South Dakota: Brian Bengs vs Mike Rounds Is On. Two Independent Vets Win in Washington While Their County Burns. 

Michigan is not Manhattan. That's the through-line of this one. The Democratic primary in Michigan handed the U.S. Senate nomination to Abdul El-Sayed, a far-left progressive in a state where roughly 17% of voters are independent and Mike Rogers is waiting on the Republican side. Paul Rieckhoff calls it what it is: another gift from a rigged two-party primary system to the MAGA machine, and one more reason the Democrats will not save you. The Bernie-vs-Schumer civil war is nominating candidates who can't galvanize independents or win general elections — and it's happening on the biggest stages in the country.

But this episode is also a scoreboard for the independent veteran movement. In South Dakota, Democrat Julian Bedouin dropped out, clearing a one-on-one between IVA-endorsed independent veteran Brian Bengs and Republican Mike Rounds. In Idaho, Todd Achilles is head-to-head with 83-year-old Jim Risch. In Montana, spoiler candidate Alani Bankhead is being called on to step aside for Green Beret and Rhodes Scholar Seth Bodnar. And in Washington's top-two nonpartisan primary — the fairest system in the country — four independent vets ran while the wildfires burned, and at least two are moving on to November. Michigan is what wrong looks like. Washington is what right looks like. This is the map.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week. 

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

PLUS: The Pentagon's Body Count Bookkeeping Trick. Blanche Ready to Weaponize DOJ. Democrat Spoilers in the Way in Montana, South Dakota. A Marine Vet in Tennessee Steps Up.

Spokane is burning. Three wildfires have merged into the Spokane Complex, torching more than 8,000 acres, destroying over 700 structures with a final count that could top a thousand, and forcing 65,000 people under evacuation orders. The Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center sits inside the evacuation zone and has been shuttered, its veteran patients moved to partner hospitals. And in the middle of that inferno, an election. Four IVA-endorsed independent veterans were on the ballot — Nate Powell, Danny Tarkington, Erin Croft, and Ronald McCoy — three of them running to serve the county that is on fire right now. Paul Rieckhoff walks through what a real open primary looks like, what it means when veterans meet the moment, and why Washington state's top-two system is what right looks like.

From there the show swings to the other Washington, where the fires are political but no less dangerous. Todd Blanche is being teed up to weaponize the Justice Department. CENTCOM is literally crowdsourcing ideas to "pressure and punish Iran" while stockpiles of precision-strike missiles run dry. Pete Hegseth's Pentagon is splitting the wounded count into two ledgers to hide the true cost of the Iran war — the same muscle memory that lied about Vietnam and Afghanistan. And in Montana and South Dakota, spoiler Democrats with zero chance of winning are refusing to clear the lane for independent veterans Seth Bodnar and Brian Bengs. Plus a live endorsement alert: Marine Corps veteran Shane Eaton is on the ballot in Lawrence County, Tennessee — and he needs supporting fire this week.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week. 

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Plus: "Independents Aren't Real"? Kasich's Partisan Slander, Manchin's New PAC, and 45% of America Says Otherwise.

Trump says he's close to an Iran deal. He's been saying he's a week away from a Putin deal for a year and a half. Paul Rieckhoff calls the head fake for what it is, warns the media not to fall for it again, and lays out the chaos Congress is trying to jam through before its six-week recess — including Todd Blanche's nomination and the weaponization fund built to compensate January 6th insurrectionists. The forever wars don't take August off, and neither do we.

Then the real story: on August 4th, four independent veterans appear on a single top-two primary ballot in Eastern Washington. Nate Powell for U.S. House, Danny Tarkenton for Spokane County prosecutor, Aaron Croft for the State House, and Ronald McCoy for State Senate. Across those races, roughly 131,000 independents and 53,000 independent veterans can vote — a decisive bloc the corporate media isn't covering. Paul breaks down why open primaries are the battlefield, why John Kasich is wrong that independents aren't real, and what's coming next with Senator Joe Manchin, Heather Manchin, and Senator Angus King joining the show.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check the IVA overview of Washington State’s primary this week. 

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Head to cozyearth.com and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.