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:

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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:

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Governor John Kasich went on national TV and told Paul Rieckhoff, to his face, that independents aren't really independent — that come November they'll just go back to the bench and put the old jersey back on. Paul's response is the spine of this episode: that's an antiquated way of looking at America in 2026. Sixty percent of young people are unaffiliated. Fifty percent of veterans are unaffiliated. Ten thousand Americans are walking out of the Republican and Democratic parties every single week. Trump is sitting at a 22% approval with independents and a 32-34% approval overall — the Bush line — with an unpopular Iran war, tariffs jacking prices, and a party heading into the midterms with 96 days on the clock.

This is a media-blitz sweep of a very big week. Paul rolls through his hits on CNN, News Nation, and MS Now to break down the races the rigged two-party system doesn't want you watching: Todd Achilles running head-to-head against 83-year-old Jim Risch in Idaho after the Democrat dropped out, Seth Bodnar in Montana, Dan Osborn in Nebraska, Yemi Mobolade already governing as an independent mayor in Colorado Springs. He takes on the Politico poll showing MAGA voters shrugging off DUI convictions, bribery, domestic violence, and sexual assault allegations — and names the command climate that made that possible. And he pushes the Democrats hard: outrage isn't a plan. What's your alternative on affordability? What's your alternative to end the war in Iran? Independents are listening. So is a country starved for character.

-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.

-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.

Trump's approval with independents just hit 24%. Republicans are going home to their districts and getting an earful about an unauthorized, unconstitutional, and wildly unpopular war with Iran that is now pulling in the Saudis, the Egyptians, and Iranian proxies from Iraq to Yemen. Paul Rieckhoff calls it what it is — a sucking chest wound — and lays out why Senate Republicans are finally breaking, why Lindsey Graham comparing Trump and Netanyahu to Roosevelt and Churchill isn't landing, and why supporting the troops means demanding a coherent plan, not a blank check for one man's war.

From there, the episode moves to John Cornyn refusing to be rolled on Trump's weaponization slush fund, Todd Blanche's Epstein problem and his condescending meeting with survivors, and the acting-AG limbo that could stretch into September. And it closes with a tribute to Coach Yeoman Wilder — the New York youth baseball legend who stood up to ICE agents at his practice, protected his players, and reminded a country full of capitulating law firms and universities what actual patriotism looks like. Righteous anger, patriotic hope, and a call to meet the moment.

-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.

-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.

9/11 Families Telling Mamdani to Stay Away For 25th Anniversary Next Month. Media Blitz Pod

The Iran war is overflowing. Saudi Arabia is now actively engaged. Egypt is getting hit with drone strikes. Roughly 50,000 American sons and daughters are in harm's way — and Congress has authorized none of it. In this episode, Paul Rieckhoff broadcasts from the Huntsville, Madison County Veterans Memorial to lay out exactly how bad it's gotten, why the president's expletive-laced tough talk is a sign of desperation rather than strategy, and how this war is dragging vulnerable Republicans down with it heading into 2026.

Paul also breaks down the Fauci hearing — 111 invocations of the Fifth — and makes the case for a 9/11-style bipartisan commission instead of a partisan witch hunt, because the next pandemic is coming whether we're ready or not. He connects the dots on the Idaho Senate race, where independent veteran Todd Achilles now goes head-to-head with Jim Risch, and reflects on what the 25th anniversary of 9/11 should really be about. If you want no-BS analysis of a war spiraling beyond our control — and a reminder that veterans still know what courage, sacrifice, and duty actually mean — this is the conversation.

-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.

-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! 

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The Iran War, Skyrocketing Prices and Jim Risch—A Really, Really Old Opponent. Like Really Old. Defending Public Lands. Independents Are Not The Spoilers. The Shuttle Trailblazer, Southern Nice and Space City Week Continues. 

The Democrat is out in Idaho. That single sentence rewrites the 2026 Senate map. Independent veteran Todd Achilles is now in a one-on-one race against three-term incumbent Jim Risch — chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the third most powerful voice on American foreign policy, and a man who has rubber-stamped an unauthorized Iran war while public lands go up for sale and 160,000 Idaho veterans wait on understaffed VA clinics. Paul Rieckhoff gets Achilles on the line for a national exclusive from Space City, USA, and the message is blunt: this is the most competitive Senate race in the country, and almost nobody in the corporate or partisan media is telling you about it.

Achilles breaks down the numbers — 75% of Idahoans want a senator who works across the aisle, his internal polling has swung from minus-14 to plus-20 in three months, and 350,000 votes is the win number in a state where the majority self-identifies as independent. Paul connects the dots to Dan Osborn in Nebraska and Seth Bodnar in Montana, and to the bigger strategic prize: an independent caucus with the leverage to hold both parties accountable on forever wars, public lands, and the VA. This is what the independent movement looks like when it stops being a slogan and starts being a ballot line.

-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.

-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! 

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Lindsey Graham Funeral—Zelensky in DC. The Dem Spoiler in Montana. Space City Week Continues. Media Blitz Pod

Paul lays out why independents — now 45% of voters and growing by 10,000 defectors a week from the two major parties — are the circuit breaker this country needs. And breaks down the new polling from the Montana Senate race, where Green Beret and Rhodes Scholar Seth Bodnar can actually win—if the partisan Democrat in the race stops playing spoiler. 

And in a special media pop from his weekly segment on CNN with Erin Burnett, Paul rips into Clayton, and explains why the elections themselves are the last firewall against a president who has told us exactly what he plans to do. This is the ground truth from Rocket City: patriotism, unity, and vigilance, delivered straight.

-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.

-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! 

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The Insurrection Act and The Role of Governors. How to Win Over the Other Side. WNBA All-Star Game. Rocket City, USA, NASA and Trash Pandas.

Trump is federalizing National Guard troops, threatening Chicago, New York, and LA with domestic deployments, and using the White House podium to launch personal attacks at anyone who pushes back. Governor JB Pritzker is one of the few Democrats actually fighting — in court, in public, and inside his own party. In his first appearance on Independent Americans, he sits down with Paul Rieckhoff for a no-BS conversation about Trump's nasty WHCD remarks, the Bears' stadium standoff, the Mamdani-Sherrill-Spanberger split in the Democratic coalition, and why he thinks the real divide right now isn't left vs. center — it's team cave vs. team fight.

Paul presses Pritzker hard on the stuff independents actually care about: open primaries, the public funding of private party elections, national security credibility on the Democratic bench, and whether governors — not senators, not congressmen — are the best bet for 2028. Pritzker pushes back, defends his grocery initiative, warns about the Insurrection Act, and tells a story about calling other Democratic governors during the Minneapolis crackdown that should make every voter in America pay attention. This one is a real conversation, not a campaign stop.

-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.

-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.

The Secretary of State went on television and refused to rule out striking civilian targets. "A head for an eye," Marco Rubio said — boasting about sending a country back to the Stone Age. At the same time, the Pentagon has cancelled press briefings, killed reporter embeds with combat units, and gone dark on casualty numbers. Paul Rieckhoff joins Katy Tur on MS Now to lay out what that combination actually means: an administration waging war without the accountability the Constitution demands, and military families left in the dark about whether their people are coming home.

Paul draws on his own time as an infantry rifle platoon leader in Iraq to explain why the laws of war exist in the first place — they protect our troops when they're captured, they hold the line against retaliation on our allies, and they're the difference between a professional military and a political weapon. He also breaks down the president parading a Gold Star family at a Georgia rally, the New York Times reporting on strikes against Iranian escape routes, and why the erosion of the wall between the troops and the politicians is the exact mistake America made before Vietnam. This one is short, sharp, and essential.

-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.

-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.

Iran Now Less Popular Than Iraq, Vietnam, Or Afghanistan. Media Blitz Pod

A president who never served is once again diminishing the cost of war — calling traumatic brain injuries "just headaches," parading a fallen soldier's family at a political rally, and standing next to a Secretary of State who openly floats a "head for an eye" doctrine against Iran. Meanwhile, MSNBC reporting confirms the US military has been targeting civilian infrastructure inside Iran, including a bridge families were using to flee the danger zone. This is not how a country that claims to believe in the rule of law fights a war. And it's not how a country that claims to honor its troops treats them when they come home in boxes.

Paul unpacks the strategic and moral consequences of a Pentagon that has canceled press briefings, killed embed programs, and gone silent on military families who deserve to hear from the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs every single day. He connects the diminishment of American sacrifice to the diminishment of Iranian civilian life — and to the invisible injuries a whole new generation of veterans will carry home. If you want to understand what forever wars actually cost, and why separating the people from the policy is a matter of national security, this is the episode.

-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.

-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.