Frightening the Public by Blurring the Line Between User-Authorized Agentic Behavior & Cyberattacks Is Irresponsible
Most of the activity described in the Axios story appears to be the former: customers sharing credentials with agents so they can take actions on their behalf. This may violate bank terms requiring humans to log in themselves, but these are in no way cyberattacks.
The direction banks should go is to support user-directed agents. For example, Amex is an authorized connection in Muse, making it easy for users to grant, limit, and revoke access.
Read-only permission levels are a sensible interim step. Several banks already support or are moving toward them. Full write access (with user credentials) is a different risk category and should be approached carefully.
Frightening the public by blurring the line between user-authorized agentic behavior and cyberattacks is irresponsible.
David Sacks, President’s Council of Advisors on Science & Technology
… restrict access to their systems as AI moves at a velocity faster than financial institutions can respond, multiple industry and bank executives told Axios.SCOOP: Major U.S. banks are detecting unauthorized third-party AI agents inside customer accounts, including some attempting to take actions that appear to be independent of user instructions, sources told Axios. The findings have alarmed banking executives, who are racing to restrict access to their systems as AI moves at a velocity faster than financial institutions can respond, multiple industry and bank executives told Axios. Several banks are now preparing for worst-case and even “day after” scenarios, including how to rapidly secure or restore customer accounts if things go wrong, the people said. Several bank executives told Axios they're struggling to distinguish between human users and AI agents. One executive said banks also struggle to determine whether agents are authorized by customers or potentially operating without their permission, more akin to rogue agent behavior. Read my latest for Axios here: https://t.co/Q3bda5In8q
— Madison Mills (@MadisonMills22) October 22, 2026
Several banks are now preparing for worst-case and even “day after” scenarios, including how to rapidly secure or restore customer accounts if things go wrong, the people said.
Several bank executives told Axios they're struggling to distinguish between human users and AI agents. One executive said banks also struggle to determine whether agents are authorized by customers or potentially operating without their permission, more akin to rogue agent behavior.
Scoop: Unvetted AI agents are accessing U.S. bank accounts, Axios
The Democracy Files, Part 5
… scenarios and ultimately a vision of creating a "cross-partisan" government in the wake of an illegitimate federal government.🚨🚨THE DEMOCRACY FILES / ILLEGITIMACY PLAYBOOK, PART 5: Washington state's Secretary of State weighs in 🚨 The below clip shows Danielle Reiff of DRG pitching her vision to an audience including Washington state's Secretary of State, Steve Hobbs. She explains the red-line scenarios and ultimately a vision of creating a "cross-partisan" government in the wake of an illegitimate federal government. Her three "democratic emergency" scenarios should be familiar by now: · Election meltdown - which includes a widespread public loss of trust in election results · Insurrection Act deployed against protesters · An attempt to delay seating of legitimately elected officials post-election If the federal government becomes illegitimate in her view because of the above, then she proposes a cross-partisan system of transitional governance. She names a cross-partisan board of governors, as well President Obama and President Bush as potential transitional leaders. WA SoS Hobbs replies to Reiff that he has had the exact same conversation with German and Japanese officials regarding how to deal with AfD and right-wing nationalist parties. Now, to be fair, he does not want to commit because, in his words, "we're winning." But he doesn't disagree either. Note also that here and in other recordings, "election meltdown" does not mean some sort of flashy media crisis. It means, simply, a large segment of the population doesn't believe the election results are legitimate.
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) October 22, 2026
Her three "democratic emergency" scenarios should be familiar by now:
· Election meltdown - which includes a widespread public loss of trust in election results
· Insurrection Act deployed against protesters
· An attempt to delay seating of legitimately elected officials post-election
If the federal government becomes illegitimate in her view because of the above, then she proposes a cross-partisan system of transitional governance. She names a cross-partisan board of governors, as well President Obama and President Bush as potential transitional leaders.
WA SoS Hobbs replies to Reiff that he has had the exact same conversation with German and Japanese officials regarding how to deal with AfD and right-wing nationalist parties. Now, to be fair, he does not want to commit because, in his words, "we're winning." But he doesn't disagree either.
Note also that here and in other recordings, "election meltdown" does not mean some sort of flashy media crisis. It means, simply, a large segment of the population doesn't believe the election results are legitimate.
The One Thing the Iranian Regime Can Still Produce
After: no crude tankers in sight.
Kharg Island is now nothing more than a monument to the one thing the Iranian regime can still produce: failure.
The regime’s arrogance and belligerence continue to punish ordinary Iranians. Operation Economic Outcast is cutting off the regime’s oil lifeline, denying it resources to fund terrorism, nuclear procurement, and the lavish lifestyles of the IRGC elite.
Secretary Bessent
Democracy Files Primer
… AI video (above) to explain the whole thing to others are not on 𝕏 - feel free to distribute. Here's the primer:🚨🚨 THE ILLEGITIMACY PLAYBOOK / THE DEMOCRACY FILES: A PRIMER 🚨 I will be using this thread to track all drops, so bookmark it. I spent most of yesterday backing everything (now 312 gigabytes) up in various sources and getting the materials out to others. I also produced an AI video (below) to explain the whole thing to others are not on 𝕏 - feel free to distribute. Here's the primer: USAID, the foreign aid agency, had a democracy office. Inside the agency, it was called DRG. Officially, DRG administered "democracy assistance." They'd go inside countries they thought were sliding into authoritarianism and help the opposition there. That assistance included election monitoring, judicary support, independent media, and civil society building. You may have heard the term "color revolution." The model comes from Serbia in 2000, where trained student activists brought down Milosevic with the help of Western governments, after sustained protests. With the help of USAID's democracy office, this model was implemented in many other countries to topple governments: Georgia's "Rose Revolution" in 2003, Ukraine's "Orange Revolution" in 2004, and many more. Then last year, DOGE shut down USAID. But the USAID democracy office didn't stop. They formed a group called the Democracy Renewal Group, the same initials as their office (USAID Democracy, Human Rights, Governance). Their goal: apply their own playbook to the United States itself. This goal became a plan, called Renew American Democracy (RAD). It invoked the "4 B's" framework. Block - use lawfare and protests to make life harder for the Trump administration. Bridge & Belong - control dialogue and win people over. The final and most important B is Build. Build means redesigning the American government itself, and the crisis is the opening. In their own words: "We can take that breakdown moment and leverage it for a big structural reform, you know, refounding moment." - Danielle Reiff, DRG lead. Calls show DRG working alongside DSA on ideas of creating a different government, one that does away with the Constitution itself. DRG does not run the Block operations. They hand it to UDA, the United Democracy Alliance. One organizer calls it a "huge galaxy": lawsuits, street protests, non-cooperation. They list No Kings, Indivisible, MoveOn, 50501, and many other mega-activist NGOs among their members. Another organizer calls UDA Erica Chenoweth's project. Chenoweth is the Harvard professor behind the three-and-half-percent rule of regime change: get that share of a country's populace onto the streets, and historically, the movement wins. The UDA is very "hush-hush." They have no website, no roster, no filings. Then come the red lines: things the Trump administration could do, such as calling the Insurrection Act on protesters, that would mean that the federal government, in their words, "crosses the threshold into illegitimacy." Nobody voted on those lines. There was no public debate. These red lines were developed within secretive working groups, and in a paper addressed to governors and staff. In the words of Reiff/DRG: "So that if there is a red line crossed in terms of a Constitutional crisis, like everyone's already pre-organized. And so Mike Smith actually said, he goes, oh, you guys have the day after tomorrow plan." Cross a line, and the paper's options include states refusing to lend their resources to federal officials, and governors convening what it calls a "Third Continential Congress." Running the UDA's Insurrection Act working group: Rear Admiral Mike Smith (RET) of National Security Leaders of America (NSL4A). NSL4A is also credited with operationalizing UDA, the blocking operations. NSL4A consists of about 1,600 ex-officers, spies, diplomats. They're turning red lines into indicators and running a situation room to monitor them throughout the midterms and beyond. The NSL4A's lawyers told them to stop recording meetings in case of subpoenas. But the rest of the network continued to record. DRG works in conjunction with Renew to Thrive (R2T), which ended up accidentally publishing 400+ calls and thousands of documents. These calls and documents were never meant for our eyes, but it's them, on tape. Thousands of NGOs and billions of dollars are involved in this endeavor. Most of them believe they're saving democracy. The problem is that people who spent their careers deciding when other countries' governments had lost their legitimacy wrote that test for ours, in private, and planned for what comes after. Who decides when your government is legitimate?
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) October 22, 2026
USAID, the foreign aid agency, had a democracy office. Inside the agency, it was called DRG.
Officially, DRG administered "democracy assistance." They'd go inside countries they thought were sliding into authoritarianism and help the opposition there. That assistance included election monitoring, judicary support, independent media, and civil society building.
You may have heard the term "color revolution." The model comes from Serbia in 2000, where trained student activists brought down Milosevic with the help of Western governments, after sustained protests. With the help of USAID's democracy office, this model was implemented in many other countries to topple governments: Georgia's "Rose Revolution" in 2003, Ukraine's "Orange Revolution" in 2004, and many more.
Then last year, DOGE shut down USAID. But the USAID democracy office didn't stop. They formed a group called the Democracy Renewal Group, the same initials as their office (USAID Democracy, Human Rights, Governance). Their goal: apply their own playbook to the United States itself.
This goal became a plan, called Renew American Democracy (RAD). It invoked the "4 B's" framework. Block - use lawfare and protests to make life harder for the Trump administration. Bridge & Belong - control dialogue and win people over. The final and most important B is Build. Build means redesigning the American government itself, and the crisis is the opening.
In their own words:
"We can take that breakdown moment and leverage it for a big structural reform, you know, refounding moment." - Danielle Reiff, DRG lead.
Calls show DRG working alongside DSA on ideas of creating a different government, one that does away with the Constitution itself.
DRG does not run the Block operations. They hand it to UDA, the United Democracy Alliance. One organizer calls it a "huge galaxy": lawsuits, street protests, non-cooperation. They list No Kings, Indivisible, MoveOn, 50501, and many other mega-activist NGOs among their members.
Another organizer calls UDA Erica Chenoweth's project. Chenoweth is the Harvard professor behind the three-and-half-percent rule of regime change: get that share of a country's populace onto the streets, and historically, the movement wins.
The UDA is very "hush-hush." They have no website, no roster, no filings.
Then come the red lines: things the Trump administration could do, such as calling the Insurrection Act on protesters, that would mean that the federal government, in their words, "crosses the threshold into illegitimacy." Nobody voted on those lines. There was no public debate. These red lines were developed within secretive working groups, and in a paper addressed to governors and staff.
In the words of Reiff/DRG:
"So that if there is a red line crossed in terms of a Constitutional crisis, like everyone's already pre-organized. And so Mike Smith actually said, he goes, oh, you guys have the day after tomorrow plan."
Cross a line, and the paper's options include states refusing to lend their resources to federal officials, and governors convening what it calls a "Third Continential Congress."
Running the UDA's Insurrection Act working group: Rear Admiral Mike Smith (RET) of National Security Leaders of America (NSL4A). NSL4A is also credited with operationalizing UDA, the blocking operations. NSL4A consists of about 1,600 ex-officers, spies, diplomats. They're turning red lines into indicators and running a situation room to monitor them throughout the midterms and beyond.
The NSL4A's lawyers told them to stop recording meetings in case of subpoenas. But the rest of the network continued to record. DRG works in conjunction with Renew to Thrive (R2T), which ended up accidentally publishing 400+ calls and thousands of documents. These calls and documents were never meant for our eyes, but it's them, on tape.
Thousands of NGOs and billions of dollars are involved in this endeavor. Most of them believe they're saving democracy. The problem is that people who spent their careers deciding when other countries' governments had lost their legitimacy wrote that test for ours, in private, and planned for what comes after.
Who decides when your government is legitimate?
Roleplayed a Straight-Up Stealing of Electoral College
… of the governed; it now flows top-down from those who claim to be "guardians of democracy." They justify it in pretty language such as "anti-majoritarian."The funny thing is, Transition Integrity Project in the @JudicialWatch documents outright roleplayed a straight-up stealing of Electoral College if Trump had somehow won in 2020. I spend considerable time explaining in UNELECTED that legitimacy no longer comes from the consent of the governed; it now flows top-down from those who claim to be "guardians of democracy." They justify it in pretty language such as "anti-majoritarian." There is no double standard with them, because in their own eyes, they are the true rulers.
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) October 22, 2026
There is no double standard with them, because in their own eyes, they are the true rulers.
Dismantling These Fraud Networks Across the Country.
… these fraud networks across the country. Steal from the American people, and we’re coming for you.8 arrests. 7 additional defendants charged. $1.8 BILLION in alleged healthcare fraud. The defendants allegedly exploited Medicare, hospice care, and substance abuse treatment programs to steal from American taxpayers. Under President Trump, this FBI and DOJ are dismantling these fraud networks across the country. Steal from the American people, and we’re coming for you. -DKP🇺🇸
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) October 22, 2026
Feds bust $2B medical fraud rings secretly operating in California - as agents seen scaling rich doctor's mega mansion https://t.co/VDlVmZGq9k https://t.co/jBLJHR27yO
— New York Post (@nypost) October 22, 2026
Feds busted a $1.6B fraud scam...just as I warned you: they traffic in addicts from all over the country to their "rehab" center in SoCal, where they receive no treatment, but they billed insurance for billions. @USAttyEssayli doing God's work. https://t.co/oB7Sq87W7M
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) October 22, 2026
New York Social Adult Daycares Audited
15 of 15 New York Social Adult Daycares audited yesterday showed no record of a single meal, activity, or hour of supervision — just attendance sheets. These daycares are receiving millions from our Medicaid system and providing NOTHING in return —this is FRAUD! https://t.co/ZB5Dujx3kP
— HHS Rapid Response (@HHSResponse) October 21, 2026
They Don’t Realize It’s Really Dangerous to Do That
… Real Deal’ Holyfield.”TRUMP STUNNED AFTER PROTESTER GETS PUNCHED AT SOUTH CAROLINA RALLY @POTUS reacts after a protester is struck during another disruption in the crowd, comparing the punch to boxing legend Evander Holyfield. “Who’s the guy that threw that punch?” “You reminded me of Evander ‘The Real Deal’ Holyfield.” Trump says protesters are taking a real risk when they try to disrupt a packed rally: “They don’t realize it’s really dangerous to do that.”
— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) October 21, 2026
Trump says protesters are taking a real risk when they try to disrupt a packed rally:
“gThey don’t realize it’s really dangerous to do that.”