Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer

The Senate. So DOD leadership, Army leadership said you can't go in.

The Senate. So DOD leadership, Army leadership said you can't go in.

That morning. You can pull up pictures of the hearing. I'm in uniform standing right next to the charts. Right. If you if you if you bring up if you Google able danger Senate hearing 2005, it should come up with a number of time life pictures that show all of us together where I'm in the back row next to J.D. Smith, who's going to become. Yeah, here we go. Right there. See, I'm right there.

That morning. You can pull up pictures of the hearing. I'm in uniform standing right next to the charts. Right. If you if you if you bring up if you Google able danger Senate hearing 2005, it should come up with a number of time life pictures that show all of us together where I'm in the back row next to J.D. Smith, who's going to become. Yeah, here we go. Right there. See, I'm right there.

I see you. There's Russ Caso, there's Kurt, there's J.D. Smith, and I think you're there somewhere, right? I'm heading behind one of the maps. So we were going to lay out, everything I'm laying out to you right now, we were going to lay out in great detail. So this is where, to answer your question,

I see you. There's Russ Caso, there's Kurt, there's J.D. Smith, and I think you're there somewhere, right? I'm heading behind one of the maps. So we were going to lay out, everything I'm laying out to you right now, we were going to lay out in great detail. So this is where, to answer your question,

What I was going to do is build a case of why—and by the way, Pat, one key thing to remember, we weren't supposed to find what we found. We were off the books. We were looking at al-Qaeda from a fresh perspective. None of us were experts on this issue.

What I was going to do is build a case of why—and by the way, Pat, one key thing to remember, we weren't supposed to find what we found. We were off the books. We were looking at al-Qaeda from a fresh perspective. None of us were experts on this issue.

I would argue that we became a dangling participle, an inconvenient organization that saw what the deep state was doing, and that's why they came after us.

I would argue that we became a dangling participle, an inconvenient organization that saw what the deep state was doing, and that's why they came after us.

No, no. No. Let me explain.

No, no. No. Let me explain.

I think wise people understood what was forming because we were told by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs to go look at this. And one of the notable things about this, now, full disclosure, I know President Trump. I was a national security adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign. So I do have, you know, and I did meet him way later in 20, I think, 15.

I think wise people understood what was forming because we were told by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs to go look at this. And one of the notable things about this, now, full disclosure, I know President Trump. I was a national security adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign. So I do have, you know, and I did meet him way later in 20, I think, 15.

But I think he had a sense, like many of us, that something was brewing. And to continue your point to answer your question. When I was the coordinator of trying to pull the team together behind the scenes, I took the ABLE Danger Team to land information warfare activity at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. And that's where Eric comes into it.

But I think he had a sense, like many of us, that something was brewing. And to continue your point to answer your question. When I was the coordinator of trying to pull the team together behind the scenes, I took the ABLE Danger Team to land information warfare activity at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. And that's where Eric comes into it.

They were doing an extraordinary job of, again, look at the time frame, 98, 99, 2000. Pat, nobody knew the power of big data. And so we were the first operational unit to actually use a combination of open source, closed source. Part of my job was to actually combine the top secret piece. One of my deputies, Theresa McSwain, Lieutenant Colonel McSwain,

They were doing an extraordinary job of, again, look at the time frame, 98, 99, 2000. Pat, nobody knew the power of big data. And so we were the first operational unit to actually use a combination of open source, closed source. Part of my job was to actually combine the top secret piece. One of my deputies, Theresa McSwain, Lieutenant Colonel McSwain,

brought the NSA database down to Garland, Texas, to combine them together to do this overall targeting, to basically combine things. This was a major effort.

brought the NSA database down to Garland, Texas, to combine them together to do this overall targeting, to basically combine things. This was a major effort.