I've had the privilege of several encounters with RFK Jr.'s head lieutenant, Calley Means, Health and Human Services representative to the White House. He resigned a couple of weeks ago and is now on a crusade to expose the swamp.
Before going any further, let me make the point of this blog: the elected person, regardless of position or party, is surrounded by gatekeepers responsible for two things:
1. Feed me the information I need, including setting up meaningful meetings with people who will help me make good decisions.
2. Protect me from doing anything that will jeopardize re-election and make sure the money keeps flowing into our campaign fund.
All of us live in silos of sorts, but few live in more insulated silos than elected leaders. Their gatekeepers open and close access to issues and constituents to such an extent most politicians don't even know who is being excluded or included.
Calley Means last week was on Joe Rogan, yesterday on CBS Face the Nation, and he's naming names. The day he exposed White House Chief of Staff Suzie Wiles as the biggest hurdle to any MAHA agenda, President Trump fired her. She's been moved to another position, at least.
Means is shouting "corruption" from the housetops and has already begun formal cease and desist orders to stop Wiles and others from harassing him. He quotes her directing him to back off big food and big ag to keep the money flowing to mid-term Republicans.
The entire glyphosate executive order was a major kerfuffle and put RFK Jr. in a terrible position. According to Means, Trump didn't even know the White House legal team filed friendly briefs for Bayer's Supreme Court case to stop states from being able to hold pesticide companies liable for damages. The revelations will make your hair curl. Rather than being shocking, these allegations are revelatory about how deep and imbedded the swamp really is.
As Congressman Thomas Massie says, Elon Musk found out it was much easier to land a rocket standing up back on its pad than to chop a dollar from government spending. I was with Means a couple of weeks ago in Iowa and asked him what his future plans were. He smiled and said "I'm now free; I can tell it all."
I think it's heartening that someone like him actually made it to the heights of inner sanctums in our country. People of integrity, at that level, are as scarce as hen's teeth. I think RFK Jr. is similarly principled, as are most of the people he's appointed in the various HHS departments. But thousands of offices, along with K street, are no different than ever.
Apparently USDA Sec. Brooke Rollins did not even know about the 300,000 metric ton subsidized beef import until she saw it on X. Are you kidding? These kinds of back-door deals occur with a phalanx of powerful people surrounding elected officials. I'm purposely not saying "Trump" because one of the most profound revelations from Means right now is how little Trump knows and how much he personally disagrees with some things his White House has issued.
Folks, it's a circus. The same was true with Biden. The same is true, to one degree or another, of every elected official, which is why their power to intervene in our affairs needs to be chopped to a minimum. Big government's interests never align with freedom, liberty, and letting folks do their thing. It's meddlesome, corrupt, and self-enriching to an elite few who hold inner sanctum access.
So I say, "Go, Calley. Keep up the heat. Turn it up. One honest guy, who really knows the inner workings, can feed us a lot of great information." I'm listening and have found him to be a true friend of honesty and integrity. If the swamp can't handle a guy like that, then a guy like that who knows things needs applause to pull plugs on the drain.
What is the most shocking thing you've heard from Calley's recent statements?
