Washington is taking a 15% cut of AI chip sales to China — and calling it “national security.”
Nvidia and AMD just became tax collectors for the surveillance state, proving the threat was always about money.
Good Morning, it’s Wednesday, August 13th, 2025.
Forget the speeches about “protecting America from China” — Washington just turned its so-called enemy into a revenue stream. Nvidia and AMD will now hand over 15% of every AI chip sale to China directly to the U.S. government, bypassing export controls entirely. We’ve got the receipts on how the same people warning of Beijing’s danger are now cashing in. Also in today’s issue: Israel’s “cleanup operation” wipes out five Al Jazeera reporters, a judge keeps Epstein’s secrets sealed, Trump seizes control of D.C.’s police and drops in the Guard, plus the stories they don’t want in your feed — from BBC’s South China Sea narrative ops to sabotage suspicion at a Pennsylvania steel plant.
Free Report — 7 Truth Bombs the Media Tried to Erase
They called them “conspiracy theories.” We found the receipts. 7 verified stories the media buried on purpose — from the laptop cover-up, to how January 6 was weaponized, to the censorship-industrial complex still running at full tilt. These aren’t hot takes — they’re patterns of control the regime hopes you never connect.
If you’re done letting the press choose what you know, grab your free copy here before they memory-hole it again.
Nvidia and AMD’s ‘national security’ shakedown deal
Two of America’s biggest chipmakers just agreed to a backroom arrangement that makes Capitol Hill richer without passing a single new law. Starting this quarter, Nvidia and AMD will fork over 15% of every AI chip sale to Chinese buyers directly to the U.S. government. The payment isn’t going into the general treasury — it’s being routed to the Department of Commerce’s “strategic technology fund,” a slush pile exempt from normal appropriations oversight.
The shift is staggering. For two years, Washington preached that Chinese access to cutting-edge GPUs was a “clear and present national security threat.” Biden’s Commerce Secretary, Gina Raimondo, rolled out sweeping export bans in 2022. Now, the same government says: keep selling — just cut us in on the profits. One senior tech lobbyist described it bluntly: “They went from embargo to extortion in less than 18 months.”
The White House is calling it a “security tariff,” but the mechanics look more like a protection racket. The government isn’t stopping the sale of chips that could power Chinese military AI; it’s monetizing them. Commerce officials even confirmed that the deal exempts Nvidia and AMD from individual export license applications, meaning fewer paper trails and less congressional scrutiny.
For China, the message is clear: America’s “security concerns” can be priced at exactly 15%. For Washington, it’s a cash cow — a self-funding program that sidesteps the need for taxpayer approval and ensures the agencies enforcing the “threat” are the same ones profiting from it.
Bottom Line: They told you China was too dangerous to do business with. Turns out, it was just too profitable to pass up, as long as Washington gets its cut.
If Nvidia and AMD cutting a 15% deal with Washington tells us anything, it’s that the real power moves never make the evening news. The public gets speeches about “security threats.” Insiders see the cash flows, the exemptions, and the quiet rule changes that turn policy into profit.
That’s the kind of signal we track every week inside The Ledger — where we follow the money, map the players, and forecast the next moves before they’re announced. It’s not theory. It’s the same pattern, over and over.
If you want that analysis while it’s still actionable — plus my private channel updates on developing stories — you can get it here.
Israel Kills Five Al Jazeera Reporters in Gaza Strike
Israel’s latest airstrike near Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital didn’t just hit a Hamas stronghold — it wiped out five members of Al Jazeera’s reporting team, including veteran correspondent Anas al-Sharif. The Qatar-owned network confirmed their deaths within hours, calling it a “targeted attack on press freedom.” What they didn’t emphasize: Al Jazeera has long operated as Qatar’s state propaganda arm, the same Qatar that quietly bankrolled Hamas for years while Benjamin Netanyahu’s government looked the other way.
The strike comes just weeks after revelations of a Qatar-to-Hamas funding pipeline that ran unimpeded for over a decade. Several of the dead reporters weren’t just covering the war — they’d been granted unusual access to Hamas leadership, safehouses, and logistics hubs. Intelligence sources now say that level of proximity made them witnesses to the very money trail Western and Israeli leaders now want buried.
Timing matters. The Qatar funding scandal has rocked diplomatic channels from Washington to Tel Aviv, raising uncomfortable questions about why Israeli leadership tolerated — and even facilitated — Qatari cash reaching Gaza. Eliminating journalists who had been documenting both sides of the operation isn’t just collateral damage; it’s a cleanup operation.
The message is unmistakable: in war, the truth isn’t just the first casualty — sometimes it’s targeted deliberately.
Judge Blocks Release of Maxwell Grand Jury Transcripts
A federal judge just slammed the door on one of the most high-profile criminal cases in modern history, refusing to release the Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury transcripts. The official reason? There’s “nothing new to release.” Translation: the most explosive details about Jeffrey Epstein’s network remain sealed — permanently.
This flies directly in the face of President Trump’s calls for full transparency in the Epstein investigation. It’s the same judiciary that ran interference for years, now telling the American people to move along. The phrase “nothing new” is legal camouflage for “everything dangerous has been buried.” These transcripts could contain testimony naming powerful figures — the kind of names that never see the inside of a courtroom.
For the so-called “independent” judiciary, the stakes are obvious: unsealing this evidence risks implicating elite networks tied to finance, politics, and intelligence. By keeping the lid on, the court protects the very power structure the Epstein operation served.
This isn’t just a denial of transparency — it’s the latest move in a judicial coup that shields the ruling class from exposure.
Trump Federalizes DC Police, Deploys National Guard
President Trump has taken direct federal control of Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department and ordered National Guard troops into the capital — an unprecedented peacetime move that’s already set social media ablaze with “martial law” speculation. The official line is “public safety,” but insiders say this is about removing the local political shield that’s protected the capital’s entrenched power brokers for half a century.
For decades, the D.C. police force has acted as the capital’s unofficial security detail for the swamp — slow-walking corruption probes, burying evidence, and protecting the city’s elite from consequences. With the department now under federal command, local political interference is off the table. That means any federal investigation into government corruption, election fraud, or influence peddling can move without the traditional roadblocks.
The National Guard deployment adds another layer, one that points to something much bigger coming. Guard troops on the ground in the capital during peacetime aren’t just a show of force; they’re a staging move. Multiple sources suggest this could be preparation for large-scale arrests tied to ongoing federal probes.
For Trump’s enemies, the fear isn’t “tyranny” — it’s that their decades of immunity in the capital just ended.
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Trump Vows to Evict DC Homeless
At a press conference, President Trump pledged to forcibly remove homeless encampments from Washington, D.C., framing it as a crime and safety crackdown. Critics scream “cruelty,” but D.C.’s homeless industrial complex has burned through billions with nothing to show except bigger bureaucracies and more street tents. The loudest opposition isn’t about compassion — it’s about protecting the paychecks of agencies that profit from failure.
CDC Staff Melt Down Over Trump Disruptions
CDC employees are telling friendly media they’re “traumatized” by Trump’s shake-ups, claiming vital projects are “in limbo.” Translation: taxpayer-funded pet projects and cushy consulting contracts are drying up. This is the same agency that greenlit cruel animal experiments and botched pandemic response — now panicking over losing their sinecures.
Trump Pushes ‘Land Swaps’ for Ukraine Peace
Fresh off his Alaska summit with Putin, Trump floated a “land swapping” framework to end the Ukraine war — a move that sent defense contractor stocks tumbling and NATO loyalists into meltdown. The war machine isn’t panicked over lost territory; it’s panicked over lost revenue streams. Permanent conflict was the business model, and Trump just put it on the chopping block.
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BBC “Verifying” Chinese Ship Collision Footage
The BBC says it’s “assessing” video of Chinese ships colliding in the South China Sea — but why is British state media the arbiter of Chinese military incidents? BBC “specialists” are just intelligence assets in press badges, shaping the narrative before the facts. That “verification” will justify whatever military move they’ve already chosen. Read more
Europe Panics Over Trump-Putin Ukraine Talks
Germany rushed emergency meetings after word leaked that Trump may cut a land-swap deal with Putin, without EU sign-off. Europe’s fear isn’t losing Ukraine, it’s losing their American-funded defense contracts. Biden let them hold the leash; Trump just yanked it out of their hands. Read more
Explosion Rips Through Pennsylvania Steel Plant
A massive blast at a Pennsylvania steel facility injured dozens, with rescue crews still on scene. Cause unknown — but steel production is national security, and China has infiltrated U.S. infrastructure for decades. If sabotage is confirmed, watch how fast this story vanishes. Read more
Delta Jet Clips Empty Plane in Atlanta
A Delta flight to Guatemala clipped an empty jet during pushback at Atlanta’s airport. Industry calls it “routine,” but in the DEI era, merit takes a backseat to quotas, and aviation safety doesn’t survive that trade. Read more
Ford Dumps $2B Into EV Plant as Market Collapses
Ford’s pouring $2 billion into a Kentucky EV plant even as sales tank and Trump dismantles green mandates. This isn’t market demand — it’s corporate welfare. When the subsidies dry up, the factory lights go out. Read more
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Thanks for reading The Daily Briefing. Our mission is simple: expose the moves the regime hopes you’ll never see, connect the dots they try to keep scattered, and arm you with facts before the spin cycle kicks in. If what you read today opened your eyes, don’t let it end here — pass it along to someone who still thinks the headlines tell the whole story. They won’t see this anywhere else unless you show them.
~ Scott 🇺🇸
P.S. Here’s my take on the Nvidia/AMD deal: when “national security” turns into a government cut of the profits, it’s not about safety — it’s about power and revenue. I want to hear what you think — is this corruption in the open, or just how the game’s always been played? Hit reply and tell me.
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