NEW EPISODE · MAY 25, 2026 · EP 531
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Vol. V · No. 531Monday Edition
Righteous MediaSince 1776. Est. 2019

Episode 531

Memorial Day betrayed: Trump's payout to the January 6th mob

On Memorial Day weekend, while Americans honor the fallen, Donald Trump floated cash payouts to the January 6th insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol. This isn't a whim. It's Plan C — a green light to the worst of the worst, designed to disrupt the midterms his own machine knows will hold him accountable. And while House Republicans scrambled to cancel the Iran war powers vote, Cuba is already in the crosshairs.

The Brief

→ Four things from today’s episode
01

Why Trump's proposed J6 payouts are Plan C, not a distractio. Why Trump's proposed J6 payouts are Plan C, not a distraction

02

The NPR report. a pardoned insurrectionist told his molestation victim he was 'coming into a lot of money' from Trump

03

The Saddam Hussein parallel. releasing the worst of the worst to create chaos

04

Mitch McConnell's January 6th floor speech as a de facto cri. Mitch McConnell's January 6th floor speech as a de facto criminal referral

It's Memorial Day weekend. Americans are visiting Arlington, honoring generations who stepped forward with integrity, sacrifice, and honor. And days before that solemn marker, the President of the United States floated cash payouts to the domestic terrorists who violently attacked the Capitol on January 6th. Not a pardon. A payout. Paul Rieckhoff and the panel break down why this isn't a tantrum or a distraction — it's strategy. Call it Plan C: when the military won't move and ICE is uncertain, you incentivize the insurrectionists themselves. You signal to every desperate, despised foot soldier that violence against the government will be rewarded.

From there the conversation pivots to the other sucking chest wound of the week: House Republican leaders scrapping the Iran war powers vote because they didn't have the votes. Congressman Pat Ryan, a West Point grad and combat veteran, says out loud what veterans across the country are feeling — a generation of chicken hawks is sending other people's kids to die again, with Cuba teed up next and an aircraft carrier already in position. The panel maps the fracture lines: Massie carving out an anti-war, anti-tariff, pro-transparency lane; the manosphere abandoning the regime-change crowd; and the 45% of Americans who are independent and unaffiliated, looking for someone — anyone — who will speak for the angry middle.

In this episode

  • Why Trump's proposed J6 payouts are Plan C, not a distraction
  • The NPR report: a pardoned insurrectionist told his molestation victim he was 'coming into a lot of money' from Trump
  • The Saddam Hussein parallel — releasing the worst of the worst to create chaos
  • Mitch McConnell's January 6th floor speech as a de facto criminal referral
  • House Republicans scrapping the Iran war powers vote because they lost the floor
  • Pat Ryan calling out the chicken hawks sending other people's kids to die
  • Why Cuba is the next dividing line — and the war powers vote that has to happen
  • Joe Rogan, Sean Ryan, and the manosphere breaking with the regime-change crowd
  • Thomas Massie's emerging platform: anti-Iran, anti-tariff, pro-Epstein-files, anti-Trump
  • The 45% independent and unaffiliated majority hunting for a voice on national security