Donald Trump and his acolytes are often complaining about the “deep state.” When asked to describe their “deep state,” Trumpists are unable to provide a coherent answer. Some spew forth the stock villains often cited by the far-right: the CIA, the Federal Reserve, the Vatican, George Soros, the Illuminati, the Bilderberg Group, the globalists, and, of course, their traditional target, the Jews.
The one thing that is standard practice with Trump and his supporters is their use of projection, accusing others of what they, themselves, do. And when it comes to charges that the deep state is out to get them, they fail to mention that a much-more clearly defined deep state supports Trump and his anti-democratic goals to destroy the constitutional order of the United States and replace it with a pluto-theocracy. How do we know about Trump’s deep state? We have the list of its members.
Last month, the full list of the secretive Council for National Policy (CNP) was leaked to the media. The list, updated as of September 2020, provides an insight into the extent and depth of Trump’s deep state in big business, evangelical organizations, the courts, and Republican politics. The CNP was formed in 1981 during the Ronald Reagan era and its founders included many Republicans close to the Reagan administration, including right-wing evangelicals like Tim LaHaye, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Paul Weyrich. The CNP’s policies later sharply veered into the far-right extremist territory of the Trump movement. Over the years, CNP membership has included Steve Bannon; Blackwater founder Erik Prince; longtime Federalist Society executive Leonard Leo; Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife, Virginia (Ginni) Thomas; and Trump’s White House adviser, Kellyanne Conway.
The CNP was founded as a right-wing counterpart to the Council on Foreign Relations, which was founded in 1921 and has long been described by the right-wing as an integral component of the “deep state.” The CNP’s membership list is “strictly confidential” and membership in the group is by invitation only. Members are cautioned against using the name of the organization in public and meetings are closed to outsiders, including the press. In other words, the CNP has adopted the same rules of the many organizations, including the Bilderberg Group, that the right-wing accuses of being part of the “deep state.”
The CNP’s “Values Statement,” which is included in its membership directory, states that “CNP members look to God for guidance.” Apparently, Donald Trump has taken the place of God in recent years.
One of the current listed members of the group is former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who was the key person in charge of committing election fraud in 2004 to deliver the state’s 20 electoral votes to George W. Bush, ensuring his re-election. He is now playing a hypocritical role in advocating that Joe Biden was not legitimately elected president in 2020.
Another CNP member is Lawson Bader, the head of two PACs tied to Trump and one-time Steve Bannon funder, billionaire hedge fund owner Robert Mercer. The Mercer PACs are Donor’s Trust and Donors Capital Fund. The address for this secretive financial tranche is listed as 1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 280, Alexandria, Virginia. Bader’s email is also listed: lbader@donorstrust.org.
Other members represent a “Who’s Who” of Trump “deep state” conspiracy world, including conspiracy author Jerome Corsi; Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton; Center for Security Policy founder Frank Gaffney; former Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC); James Dobson; U.S. Representative Jody Hice (R-GA), who is running as Trump’s candidate in 2022 for Georgia Secretary of State to replace Brad Raffensperger; and convicted former U.S. Representative Steve Stockman, whose 10-year prison sentence for campaign donation fraud was commuted by Trump.
The CNP “In Memoriam” page includes such right-wing figures as Jesse Helms, Rich and Helen DeVos, Jack Kemp, TV evangelist Dr. D. James Kennedy, Reed Irvine, Nelson Bunker Hunt, John Birch Society co-founder Robert Welch, Howard Phillips, and R. J. Rushdoony.
Although CNP meetings are closed to the press, there is an ample contingent of the right-wing press present among the group’s rank-and-file, including Steve Forbes of the Forbes Media empire; Phil Anschutz, owner of the Washington Examiner and Weekly Standard; Larry Beasley, CEO of The Washington Times; and Richard Bott II, Chairman and CEO of the Bott Radio Network.
And for those who do not believe the CNP has connections to the U.S. intelligence community, consider the fact that among the CNP members is Marc Johansen, the vice president of the Satellites and Intelligence Program at Boeing.
Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.
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Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist, author and nationally-distributed columnist. A member of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the National Press Club. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required).
