USAID was Corrupt and Needed to Die
USAID was a profoundly corrupt, rogue Deep State operation. During the Obama regime reign, USAID was used as an uncontrolled covert action arm of the Brennan/Hillary/Powers/McCain vile lash-up of PC-Progs and neocons intent on destroying American interests around the world and at home. It operated OUTSIDE the Intelligence Community (IC), NOT as a member of the IC. The danger and dysfunction, and corruption inherent in USAID was NOT because it was a "front for the CIA." The danger inherent in USAID was because it was NOT part of the IC.
As problematic as the IC’s actual operations are, as much as the IC participated in the silent coup against President Trump, as much as various IC members facilitated illegal operations against Trump, they are all subject to controls and restrictions inherent in the IC organization. USAID was not. It operated outside those controls, intentionally, as a corrupt, money-laundering, neocon/PC-Prog regime destruction operation.
Those unaware of the facts of US government foreign affairs/military/intelligence/development operations, or who had a brief, 8 month glimpse of the behemoth from a cubicle in Main State, might perceive USAID as an IC operation. That would be mistaken.
Benz's Leap to Prominence--Out of Nowhere
I don't watch or listen to podcasts. I keep up with the news that comes from the fountains of talk that stream forth from podcasts, and see selected clips from podcasts, but don't spend time listening as they happen. So, it took me a while to be aware of "Mike Benz." Just since President Trump's inauguration, and the sudden focus on USAID have I focused on Benz.
I've seen and exposed posers and frauds in "conservative" circles before--Wayne Simmons, David Ramadan, Bill Randall, and others.
With the right connections, and funding, it appears that fakers and posers can penetrate "conservative" media with ease.
The keys to that are: connections and funding.
I do follow the Conservative Treehouse (CTH), reading "Sundance's" analysis and insights daily. During the Biden administration, Elon Musk bought Twitter, and the Twitter-files revelations developed. Matt Taibi and others, allowed to review internal Twitter communications, revealed wide-spread federal government collusion with Twitter and other social media to suppress the truth, bury stories unfavorable to PC-Progs, deplatform critics, and otherwise destroy free speech. Sundance's analysis, seemingly overnight, began including an interesting view of the American foreign affairs environment.
Sundance, who doesn't reveal his own identity, hints that he has sources in the government. His analysis, though insightful and usually accurate, reveals him to lack personal experience in the federal sphere. This includes a lack of experience in military and intelligence circles. Since he lacks that experience, he seems to rely on some source(s), whom he never reveals. He took a trip to Washington DC once, and hints at a source there, who "slipped a note under my hotel room door." Assuming good intentions of the source(s), this might be a good way to develop an understanding of DC and the Deep State. But it's also a good way to be led astray, if your unvetted source has bad intentions.
Sundance's analysis of America's intelligence community seems to show that he's been led astray by his source(s). The gist of his flawed understanding is his contention that CIA = USAID = State. This conclusion, though it has a tiny thread of reality running through it, is flawed and fundamentally wrong. And the flaw in this analysis causes his conclusions on the IC to be "close, but no cigar." This flaw warps all his conclusions and distracts from his overall message. Is/was Benz Sundance's source on the IC?
When Benz suddenly popped into national prominence, maybe in the run-up to election 2024, was the first I'd heard of him, or of his messages. When I heard his message about the IC, the source of Sundance's misunderstandings became clear. Benz's message was/is: CIA = USAID = State, just like Sundance's flawed analysis.
So, it appears that Benz is Sundance's source, or one of them, for understanding the IC. While it was obvious to me that Benz was spouting nonsense, to someone with no experience in the Deep State, evidently, Benz's schtick was convincing.
Who is "Mike Benz"?
Benz is a poser. He surely has all the hallmarks of an agent provocateur. Very much in the mold of Ray Epps--pushing for others to get out and do something.
He first hit the limelight in 2017 as an anonymous "content creator" on YouTube, using the name "Frame Game." His schtick was "alt-right" criticism of Jews, and as a supporter of "white identitarian" issues. He hinted at his true identity, but never revealed who he was. Frame Game often shared his background as a Jewish attorney living in New York City and told interviewers he had studied psychology at an Ivy League college.
In a blog post from 2017, Frame Game described himself as “a Jew who is deeply sympathetic to the AltRight’s accurate depiction of the double-edged nature of Jewish influence on Europe and America.” A former self-described libertarian, Frame Game credited alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos as “putting the puzzle together” and opening his eyes.
After Benz was unmasked as Frame Game, "He said the account was a covert effort intended to somehow combat the anti-semitism it espoused.
Here’s Benz admitting he ran a 2 year provocation op as Frame Game:
“Let me start with the bottom line and then I’ll tell you the backstory. The account in question was a project by Jews to get people who hated Jews to Stop hating Jews. It was a deradicalization project, and it produced deradicalization material. It made contact with groups in the early primordial soup Of the MAGA movement in 2016 and sought to move people from a place Of hate and division closer to a place Of love and unity.”
So, he admitted that he was an agent provocateur then, essentially running a two year false flag operation. The question that arises, though is: Who sponsored Benz's provocations then? And of course, who is sponsoring his second and third careers now?
His second career was in the government. Somehow, and again the question is by whose sponsorship, in 2018 Benz was hired as a speechwriter for Ben Carson HHS. Then in 2020, he was hired by the State Dept in a communications and IT role. He did that for less than a year.
Then his third career is his sudden leap to "conservative" stardom as a supposed "expert" on intelligence, State Dept, CIA, and USAID.
Who's Sponsoring Benz?
Who is Benz's cash cow? Who opened doors for Benz to get a job in the Trump administration in 2017? Who continued to open doors for him to slip into a quick tour of the Department of State in 2020? Who greased the skids for him to leap to podcast prominence?
The answers to those questions will shed lots of light on the Benz mystery.
Bottom line
Benz is a known faker and provocateur. He has minimal experience and exposure to the Intelligence Community. 8 months as a State IT guy is about enough to learn some acronyms. His current pose as an expert on CIA's use of USAID, or any other issue is ludicrous.
He's somebody's mouthpiece. He's pretty much a carbon copy of little Ben Shapiro, and other neocon nobodies who are suddenly everywhere.
Beware. Not only are his insights about the IC false, but he's surely got ulterior motives.
Recommendation
Take everything Benz says with a ton of salt. Better yet, ignore him. Even better--find the answer to who his sponsor is.
More sources on "Frame Game" aka "Mike Benz"
Analyzing Internet Freedom Activist Mike Benz aka Frame Game Radio
Thank you. Years ago, I heard Dan Bongino's radio program, where he expressed surprise at some of Biden's actions. I emailed him, and said that California was the testing ground, and that Biden's job was to destroy the U.S. I never heard back, but then, I never expected to. A couple of weeks later, a woman called in (not me, not a Los Angeles-born Californian) who claimed that Biden was going to destroy the country. Pelosi out here has made this very clear, that her plan was to attack other States first, then the U.S. Not the only legislator, as Boxer, DiFi decimated our aerospace, aircraft, naval, military capability. California once had over 3,000 defense/aerospace/aircraft/naval contracts. It's now about 30.
I'm not a journalist, nor have I ever worked in government, with a brief exception of a non-profit attached to a major City. I saw illegal and unethical behavior and ratted it out. ('90s) Then got sacked for "lack of work" which wasn't. I was careful, and put copies into my purse. No one saw this, yet it was stolen out of my purse. Before I retired, I can count on 3X that I blew the whistle.
I'm proud of myself for doing so. I wish more people would speak up truth to power.
Should have added our family is probably considered military, although those who served don't boast about it. 4 Army, 2 Navy (1 SEAL), 1 Marine, 1 Air Force. Family worked for aerospace/aircraft firms, as did family friends. No employees were ever to speak of work or their projects. At one time, U.S. protected herself.
Good general questions, widely applicable.
A couple specific ones: Flaw, or spin? Warps and distracts from, or comprises? Is/was MB (or an associate/apprentice) Sundance?