Did Brad Thor predict the Bergdahl prisoner exchange?

July 16, 2015

WRITER

The line between fact and fiction is becoming increasingly hard to recognize. No one knows this better than bestselling author Brad Thor, who speaks to people in all areas of America’s intelligence agencies to find out what keeps the people really in the know up at night. But it’s hard to believe that some of the most outrageous story lines from his novels have actually become a reality under the Obama administration. For instance, his book First Commandment depicted the swap of five high value prisoners held in Gitmo. So what’s next? Brad Thor discussed his new book Code of Conduct and much, much more on Thursday's radio show.

MIKE: Welcome. It is the Glenn Beck Program. My name is Mike Broomhead, in for Glenn today. We start things off, the brand-new book. It's called Code of Conduct. I've been told Glenn Beck says it's the greatest thriller ever written. Joining me is Brad Thor, the author of the book. Fourteen in the series. Tell us about the book.

BRAD: Well, Mike, it's good to be with you. Code of Conduct. Glenn says that what I do is faction. Glenn coined this term. Where you don't know where the facts end and the fiction begins.

MIKE: But he says the same things about politicians.

BRAD: He would be correct on that one. But with Code of Conduct, I picked two things that I thought were fascinating, real life things that a lot of people aren't aware of and put them in as the bedrock of this thriller. Number one, down in Georgia, somebody put together. Somebody spent a fortune to erect these huge granite slabs. People are calling it the American Stonehenge. And on them, in 12 languages, including ancient Babylonian and Sanskrit, is written this terrifying agenda for the United States and the rest of the world. It's bizarre. People don't know if it's Ted Turner who did it or what. I've heard about this and investigated and thought, that's a fascinating, fascinating oddity. And I saved it in the back of my mind. And a couple of years ago, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, got together his inner circle and took over the chalet high in the Austrian Alps, sounds like something out of a Bond movie, tons of security. And they got together and said, you know what, let's figure out how to get the United States off the world stage so we can become number one and we can set the agenda for the rest of the world. And their agenda, what they wanted to do, got leaked out of this meeting. And several of the things they wanted matched up with the stones down in Georgia. And I thought, you know what, that's going to be the bedrock for my thriller.

MIKE: Now, watching the video -- the preview of the book. It's about a three-minute preview on your website. You talk about a one-two punch. You know what the first punch was going to be. Can you give us some insight without giving it away? Or can't you do that?

BRAD: No. I can tell you a little bit. So I have developed over the years with my thrillers a great network of active and retired people from the CIA, special operations community, and I like to ping them every once in a while and say, A, how are you doing? And, B, what's keeping you up at night? What are you afraid of happening? And there's something they've been worried about for a long time potentially coming out of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is the potential for an attack, a terrorist attack that would be simultaneously kicked off around the world. And it would be so crippling and so devastating that every single country would be affected at the same time and nobody would be able to come to anybody else's aid. So when I talk about the one-two punch in the book, what I do is I set up a particular line, a plot line, and you think you've got it figured out. Just when you think you have it figured out, the characters in the book are starting to tune in, and then this secret thing comes around the side. That's that second punch. Readers that have read the book so far have loved it, and nobody saw that second thing coming. It's a fun thing to do as a thriller writer.

MIKE: So when you write the book -- you say Glenn calls it faction. So tell me where something you've put in the book is fiction has become fact.

BRAD: All right. So several books ago, I wrote a thriller called the First Commandment. The first commandment in the War on Terror is thou shalt not negotiate with terrorists.

So on page one of the First Commandment, the very first page, I have a scene in Gitmo where not four, not six, but five high-value detainees are being released in a swap. That's exactly how many, five, were exchanged for Bowe Bergdahl.

MIKE: All right. So now I'm a little -- that is creepy. Does it creep yourself out yourself? How did you predict this? Or did you just take credit and say you knew it was coming?

BRAD: It's this funny kind of weird thing that I do where I look at the tea leaves and try to see over the horizon. It's one of the reasons that the Department of Homeland Security, I believe, brought me in to help them brainstorm as part of their analytical Red Cell Unit, what future terrorist attacks might look like, where and when they might happen. You know, it sounds conceited to call it a gift. That's not how I refer to it. My wife says I have ESP. If you pay attention, I'm on the Blaze.com all the time. I'm a voracious reader of news and all the articles that are popping. I think when that happens, you can kind of project forward and see what's coming. Maybe not everybody. For me, I can.

MIKE: Number 14 in the series, the book is Code of Conduct. What keeps it fresh 14 books in? How is this different 14 books?

BRAD: That's a great question. Glenn and I have had this talk before. That I'm a small businessperson. So the product that I create, that's my thriller. I'm selling escape to people. This is the kind of book I want to read when I go on vacation. Take to the pool, the lake, the beach. So my goal is to get better with every single book. With Code of Conduct, I set the bar really, really high. And I want to see if I can get over this bar. I want to see if I give my readers something they've never seen before from any other thriller author. It's setting that bar high which really makes it exciting to write and I hope exciting to read. This book is completely fresh because I'm pointing out threats to the readers that I think even they don't know exist. Real life threats that are after the United States, in particular.

MIKE: So you talk about Scot Harvath. And you allude to -- or, in the video you talk about Indiana Jones and James Bond and learning about them as opposed to -- you know, the character development of learning more about them. You accomplish that here in the book?

BRAD: Absolutely. That was another goal I set for myself. What I said on my website in that little three-minute video, describing the book and what people can expect of it, is that we want Indiana Jones to still be Indiana Jones at the end of the book -- or, at the end of the film. We want James Bond to still be James Bond at the end. But a trick for an author who brings back a recurring character -- which I do. All my books are meant to be standalones. So you can read them in any order. You don't have to start with the first one. You can start with Code of Conduct. The challenge is, how do I reveal a little bit more of Scot Harvath my main character in each book. This one, when my wife read it, she's my first reader, when she read it, she came and found me, she said, you know what, I love all your books. But what you did with the character developments, with the surprises on practically every page in this thriller, she said this is the best book you've ever written.

MIKE: On the Blaze tonight, you'll be in for Glenn. Tell us what will be on the show. All the usual outlets to get the book?

BRAD: Amazon with all its algorithms is predicting this will be the best-selling thriller of all time. Glenn was right when he said it was the best. Now Amazon is catching on. Tonight, we'll talk about serious stuff on the Blaze. We'll be discussing ISIS rebuke Iran, and Orwell and how all these things are tying together and why Americans need to be better tuned in to what's happening and what the Obama administration is doing both domestically and abroad and what it means for us as a nation moving forward. It's going to be a fascinating episode tonight.

MIKE: So I want to ask you before I lead into what I'm going to start talking about. I'll ask the expert. When you're looking at the deal that was just cut with the Iranians, as the president tries to sell this to the Congress and the American people and our allies in that region, the alliance now it seems to be between the Saudis and the Israelis. Is that just a small little picture of how dangerous this deal is? And what do you predict the next six to 12 months?

BRAD: Well, I'll tell you, it's amazing that anything could get the Arabs and the Israelis together on the same page. I mean, that's big, big deal.

You know, we talk a lot about if you could go back in time and stop Hitler and the Nazis, would you do it? This is one of those incredibly historic moments, and we made the wrong choice as a nation. Instead of stopping Hitler and the Nazis, we handed them a check for $150 billion and drew them a map straight to Czechoslovakia. It's a bad, bad deal. It's bad for stability in the region, and it's bad for stability overall in the world.

This is something -- the president plays an incredibly short game. He does not look long-term. And I don't think there's been a greater force for destruction in the history of this country than the Obama administration.

MIKE: All right. Well, Brad is in for Glenn. Brad Thor.com is the website. Code of Conduct. Fourteenth in the series. Predicted to be the best-seller ever.

BRAD: Only behind the Bible. That's how many copies they think it will sell.

MIKE: That's a high. You better do something special for number fifteen, right?

Thanks for being here. We'll be back here in just a moment. My name is Mike Broomhead. It's the Glenn Beck Program.

The Deep State's NEW plan to backstab Trump

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move.

In 2016, Donald Trump shocked the world by defeating Hillary Clinton. Conservatives cheered, believing we’d taken back the reins of our country. But we missed the bigger battle. We failed to recognize the extent of the damage caused by eight years of Barack Obama and decades of progressive entrenchment. The real war isn’t won at the ballot box. It’s being waged against an insidious force embedded deep within our institutions: the administrative state, or the “deep state.”

This isn’t a new problem. America’s founders foresaw it, though they didn’t have a term for “deep state” back in the 1700s. James Madison, in Federalist 48, warned us that combining legislative, executive, and judicial powers in the same hands is “the very definition of tyranny.” Yet today, that’s exactly where we stand. Unelected bureaucrats in agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Justice hold more power than the officials we vote for. They control the levers of government with impunity, dictating policies and stifling change.

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege.

We’ve felt the consequences of this growing tyranny firsthand. During COVID-19, so-called experts ran our lives, crushing civil liberties under the guise of public safety. Our intelligence agencies and justice system turned into weapons of political warfare, targeting a sitting president and his supporters. Meanwhile, actual criminals were given a pass, turning American cities into lawless war zones.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1816 that “the functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents.” Today, we see Jefferson’s prophecy fulfilled. The deep state exercises unchecked power over our freedoms, and information itself is controlled by the fourth branch of government: the legacy media.

Even when we win elections, the deep state doesn’t concede defeat. It switches to survival mode. Trump’s first term proved this. Despite a historic mandate to dismantle the bureaucracy, the deep state fought back with everything it had: leaks, investigations, court rulings, and obstruction at every turn. And now, with the possibility of Trump returning to office, the deep state is preparing to do it again.

Progressives are laying out their attack plan — and they’re not even hiding it.

U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) recently boasted about forming a “shadow cabinet” to govern alongside the deep state, regardless of who’s in the White House. Nickel called it “democracy’s insurance policy.” Let’s be clear: This isn’t insurance. It’s sabotage.

They’ll employ a “top down, bottom up, inside out” strategy to overwhelm and collapse any effort to reform the system. From the top, federal judges and shadow officials will block Trump’s every move. Governors in blue states like California and New York are gearing up to resist federal authority. During Trump’s first term, California filed over 100 lawsuits against his administration. Expect more of the same starting January 20.

From the bottom, progressive groups like the American Civil Liberties Union will flood the streets with protesters, much as they did to oppose Trump’s first-term immigration reforms. They’ve refined their tactics since 2016 and are prepared to unleash a wave of civil unrest. These aren’t spontaneous movements; they’re coordinated assaults designed to destabilize the administration.

Finally, from the inside, the deep state will continue its mission of self-preservation. Agencies will drag their feet, leak sensitive information, and undermine policies from within. Their goal is to make everything a chaotic mess, so the heart of their power — the bureaucratic core — remains untouched and grows stronger.

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move. Progressives never see themselves as losing. When they’re out of power, they simply shift tactics, pumping more blood into their bureaucratic heart. We may win elections, but the war against the deep state will only intensify. As George Washington warned in his Farewell Address, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force; and force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege. The deep state has shown us its plan: to govern from the shadows, circumventing the will of the people. But now that the shadows have been exposed, we have a choice. Will we accept this silent tyranny, or will we demand accountability and reclaim our nation’s heart?

The battle is just beginning. We can’t afford to lose.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Drone mystery exposes GLARING government incompetence

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

The drone issue is getting way out of hand.

Earlier this month, Glenn first reported on the mysterious drones stalking the night sky over New Jersey, but the situation is increasingly concerning as the sightings have escalated. Not only have drones been seen across the Northeast Coast, including over New York City, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, but recently, they have been spotted over the night skies of San Diego and other parts of Southern California.

It doesn't take an expert to identify the potential dangers and risks that dozens of undetectable, unidentified six-foot or larger drones pose to national security. Yet, our government's response has been one of unimaginable incompetence, leaving us to speculate on the origin and intention of these drones and wonder in astonishment at the government's ineptitude. Here are three examples of the government's lackluster response to the mystery drones:

Iranian Mothership and Missing Nuclear Warheads

- / Stringer | Getty Images

After several weeks of hubbub, New Jersey Representative, Jeff Van Drew gave an interview on Fox News where he claimed that the drones originated from an Iranian "mothership" off the East Coast of the United States. This theory has since been disproven by satellite images, which show that all Iranian drone carriers are far from U.S. shores. Another theory suggests that drones may be equipped with sensors capable of detecting nuclear material and that they are looking for a nuclear warhead that recently went missing! With these apocalyptic theories gaining traction in the absence of any real answer from our government, one can't help but question the motive behind the silence.

Pentagon's Limp Wristed Response

Alex Wong / Staff | Getty Images

In a recent press conference, national security spokesman John Kirby responded to reporters demanding answers about the government's lack of transparency, which has caused increasing public anxiety. He insisted that the drones did not pose a threat and were not assets of a foreign power, such as from Iran or China--even though he is still uncertain about their identity and origin. He also claimed that many of the sightings were simply misidentifications of normal aircraft.

This lackluster answer has only further inflamed national anxieties and raised even more questions. If the government is unsure of the identity of the drones, how do they know if they are a threat or if they aren't foreign assets? If they aren't foreign, does that mean they are U.S. assets? If so, why not just say so?

The Pentagon has also stated that they are leaving it up to local law enforcement to spearhead the investigation after concluding that these drones pose no threat to any military installation. This has left many feeling like the federal government has turned a blind eye to a serious issue that many Americans are very concerned about.

Where's Pete Buttigieg?

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

We are in the closing weeks of the Biden administration, and with the finish line in sight, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg probably figured nothing else could go wrong on his watch—but boy was he wrong. As Secretary of Transportation, Buttigieg is in charge of the FAA, the agency responsible for managing all air traffic across the nation. One would think that mysterious, 6-foot-long, seemingly intractable drones are invisible on radar and flying above major cities would pose a serious threat to the myriad of legal aircraft that traverse our skies. Yet, Buttigieg has been silent on the issue, adding another failure to his resume which includes: malfunctioning airplanes, the train derailment in Ohio, and the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse, just to name a few.

Glenn: How Alvin Bragg turned hero Daniel Penny into a villain

Michael M. Santiago / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty.

America no longer has a single, shared understanding of justice. Two Americas now exist, each applying justice differently depending on who you are and where you live. One America, ruled by common sense and individual courage, praises heroes who stand up to protect others. The other, driven by political agendas and corrupted institutions, punishes those same heroes for daring to act.

This stark division couldn’t be clearer than in the case of Daniel Penny, the Marine whose trial in New York City this week drew strong reactions from both sides across the divided line of justice.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare.

Penny was on a subway train last year when Jordan Neely — a man suffering from severe mental illness and reportedly high on drugs — began threatening passengers, saying, “I’m going to kill you all.” The fear on that subway car was palpable, but nobody moved. Nobody, that is, until Penny did what needed to be done. He took action to protect innocent lives.

In the America many of us used to believe in, Penny’s response would be heralded as heroic. His actions mirrored the courage of Todd Beamer on Flight 93, who, on September 11, 2001, rallied others with the words, “Let’s roll,” to prevent further tragedy. But in New York, courage doesn’t seem to count anymore. There, the system turns heroes into villains.

Penny subdued Neely using a chokehold, intending only to restrain him, not kill him. Tragically, Neely died. Penny, filled with remorse, told the police he never meant to hurt anyone. Yet, instead of being recognized for protecting others from a clear and present threat, Penny stood trial for criminally negligent homicide.

In Alvin Bragg’s New York, justice bends to ideology. The Manhattan district attorney has made a career of weaponizing the law, selectively prosecuting those who don’t fit his narrative. He’s the same prosecutor who twisted legal precedent to go after Donald Trump on business charges no one had ever faced before. Then, he turned his sights on Daniel Penny.

A jury may have acquitted Penny, but what happened in New York City this week isn’t justice. When the rule of law changes depending on the defendant’s identity or the prosecutor's political motives, we’re no longer living in a free country. We’re living in a state where justice is a game, and ordinary Americans are the pawns.

The system failed Jordan Neely

It’s worth asking: Where were activists like Alvin Bragg when Neely was suffering on the streets? Jordan Neely was a tragic figure — a man with a long history of mental illness and over 40 arrests, including violent assaults. The system failed him long before he stepped onto that subway train. Yet rather than confront that uncomfortable truth, Bragg’s office decided to target the man who stepped in to prevent a tragedy.

This isn’t about justice. It’s about power. It’s about advancing a narrative where race and identity matter more than truth and common sense.

It’s time to demand change

The Daniel Penny case — and others like it — is a wake-up call. We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty. Americans must demand an end to politically driven prosecutions, hold DAs like Alvin Bragg accountable, and stand up for the principle that true justice is blind, consistent, and fair.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare. It’s time to choose which America we want to live in.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

CEO Brian Thompson's killer reveals COWARDICE of the far-left death cult

Jeff Swensen / Stringer | Getty Images

Early on the chilly morning of Wednesday, December 4th, Brian Thompson, CEO of health insurance giant, UnitedHealthcare, was walking through Midtown Manhattan on his way to a company conference. Suddenly, a masked and hooded figure silently allegedly stepped onto the sidewalk behind Thompson, drew a 3-D printed, silenced pistol, and without warning fired multiple shots into Thompson's back before fleeing the scene on an electric bicycle. After a multiple-day manhunt, a 26-year-old lead suspect was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania after being recognized by an employee.

This was not "vigilante justice." This was cold-blooded murder.

As horrific as the murder of a husband and father in broad daylight in the center of New York City is, the story only gets worse. Even before the murder suspect was arrested, left-wing extremists were already taking to X to call him a "hero" and a "vigilante" who "took matters into his own hands." Even the mainstream media joined in on the glorification, as Glenn pointed out on air recently, going out of the way to show how physically attractive the murder suspect was. This wave of revolting and nihilistic fanfare came in response to the findings of online investigators who surmised the murder suspect's motives to retaliate against healthcare companies for corruption and denied coverage. The murder suspect supposedly underwent a major back surgery that left him with back pain, and some of his internet fans apparently viewed his murder of Thompson as retribution for the mistreatment that he and many other Americans have suffered from healthcare companies.

me liking tweets celebrating the assassination of the united healthcare ceo pic.twitter.com/N41w51ZuZR
— 🔻 (@pegasustits) December 5, 2024

The murder suspect and his lackeys don't seem to understand that, other than depriving two children of their father right before Christmas, he accomplished nothing.

The murder suspect failed to achieve his goal because he was too cowardly to try.

If the murder suspect's goals were truly to "right the wrongs" of the U.S. healthcare system, he had every tool available to him to do so in a constructive and meaningful manner. He came from a wealthy and prominent family in the Baltimore area, became the valedictorian at a prestigious all-boys prep school, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master's in engineering. Clearly, the murder suspect was intelligent and capable, and if he had put his talent into creating solutions for the healthcare industry, who knows what he could have accomplished?

This is the kind of behavior the far-left idolizes, like communists on college campuses who wear shirts that celebrate the brutal Cuban warlord, Che Guevara. Merchandise celebrating the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect is already available, including shirts, hoodies, mugs, and even Christmas ornaments. Will they be sporting his face on their T-shirts too?

A liberal TikToker is selling a t-shirt that glorifies the recent assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in NYC.
“deny , defend, depose” was reported to have been on the shell casings. pic.twitter.com/IWpHYkx2lF
— SteveSant66 🇺🇸 (@SSant66) December 8, 2024

This macabre behavior does not breed creation, achievement, success, or life. It only brings death and risks more Americans falling into this dangerous paradigm. But we still have a chance to choose life. We just have to wake up and take it.

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