1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:29,280 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Rounding the News. 2 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:33,840 This is your weekly news roundup presented by Rounding the Earth, hosted by me, Liam 3 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:34,840 Sturgis. 4 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:40,500 We've got a lot to get into today and it's going to be sort of nuts. 5 00:00:40,500 --> 00:00:49,220 So let me just pull up my notes here and welcome you to this April 28, 2023 episode, Who is 6 00:00:49,220 --> 00:00:51,040 Miles Guo? 7 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,580 Now we're going to get into that after a couple of news stories. 8 00:00:53,580 --> 00:00:57,820 First of all, if you're watching on Rumble, Rockfin or Odyssey, you have an option available 9 00:00:57,820 --> 00:01:02,600 to you to financially support the show, which would be absolutely fantastic. 10 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,960 If you're on Rumble, you can send a Rumble rant, which is like a paid comment. 11 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:13,360 And for the rest of this year, as far as I understand, 100% of the funds for Rumble rants 12 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,700 go directly to the creator, which is Rounding the Earth. 13 00:01:16,700 --> 00:01:22,800 And then in 2024, they go back to a very reasonable, I think, 20% cut. 14 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:24,480 So it's a fantastic way to support the show. 15 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:29,520 You can also do the same on Rockfin, where we have a number of very, very kind supporters 16 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,360 who tip every time and on Odyssey. 17 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:37,920 But of course, the best way to join us and to support the show is over at roundingtheearth.locals.com, 18 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:42,440 where you can join our Rounding the Earth community for free and stay up to date on 19 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:47,760 everything we are doing as far as articles, discussions and podcasts. 20 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:52,480 And if you want to become a paid supporter, that will grant you access to all of the above 21 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:59,080 plus access to our weekly locals exclusive live streams, which this past week, a very 22 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:05,460 interesting one, speculation about World War E, the US versus Europe. 23 00:02:05,460 --> 00:02:09,280 Very fascinating discussion between Matthew and myself, as well as everybody who joined 24 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:10,680 us in the live chat. 25 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,360 I highly recommend going over there. 26 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:17,080 Okay, so let's jump in, ladies and gentlemen. 27 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,880 We are going to run through just a couple of very quick updates. 28 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:26,200 First of all, hearings resume for class action lawsuit targeting BC pandemic health orders. 29 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:31,720 Yes, indeed, this past week, my friend, Kip Warner and his society, the Canadian Society 30 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,960 for the Advancement of Science and Public Policy. 31 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:36,100 I nailed it. 32 00:02:36,100 --> 00:02:38,160 He told me to call it CSAP. 33 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:46,680 In any case, the certification hearings, the court case, the hearings to see if British 34 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:55,320 Columbia's class action lawsuit will go forward, defending against various rather over the 35 00:02:55,320 --> 00:03:00,240 top public health measures that have occurred as a result of COVID. 36 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:06,920 So CSASPP.org is where you can go to find status updates on that case. 37 00:03:06,920 --> 00:03:09,120 Up next, we've got some rather shocking news. 38 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,520 Tucker Carlson fired by Laquan Murdoch. 39 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:19,640 Basically, Tucker Carlson, the top cable news show, possibly in history, at least in modern 40 00:03:19,640 --> 00:03:25,720 times was fired, let go by Fox, allegedly at the direction of the boss there, Laquan 41 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:26,720 Murdoch. 42 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:31,520 Rumors are swirling that he's about to join in Rumble or some other independent content 43 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:33,760 platform, but probably Rumble. 44 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:35,440 And that's all I know about that. 45 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:41,840 But on a one-two punch, you've also got Don Lemon from CNN being let go. 46 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:47,160 I've seen some entertaining clips of his final couple of shows. 47 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:53,800 And I don't know, I guess I'm not surprised that he was no longer in the flavor of the 48 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,800 direction that the new ownership over at CNN is hoping for. 49 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,960 But in any case, I thought it was interesting that on the same day you had the most popular 50 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:07,040 Fox News presenter and one of the very popular to some, maybe not quite so popular. 51 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:08,400 I'm not sure. 52 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,560 Don Lemon over at CNN, both being fired in the same day. 53 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:13,520 It's kind of nuts. 54 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:14,520 Okay. 55 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:16,120 Well, that's it. 56 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:21,120 That's all we're going to cover in advance of this show because it's going to be a long 57 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:22,120 one. 58 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:28,440 Now, bear with me because we're going to go sort of all over the place, hopefully not 59 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,840 too all over the place to answer this question. 60 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:34,360 Who is Miles Guo? 61 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:39,040 Indeed, this is the question of the day. 62 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:44,820 At a cursory glance, you might find on Google News that there's a picture painted of Miles 63 00:04:44,820 --> 00:04:50,780 Guo, a dissident Chinese billionaire in exile whose efforts to combat the Chinese Communist 64 00:04:50,780 --> 00:04:56,440 Party within the United States have led to his arrest on grounds of defrauding his supporters 65 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:59,840 with various investment opportunities. 66 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:07,720 Now, this is a convenient and well packaged profile, ripe to be exploited by both sides 67 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:15,200 of the left-wing political divide to either rip into allies of the Trump camp or elevate 68 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:18,920 Guo as the next figurehead of a societal revolution. 69 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,120 Well, what's the context here? 70 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,080 Why are we asking who this gentleman is? 71 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:28,200 What is it that we are, what led us to this moment? 72 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:34,680 Well, last week in my episode of Rounding the News titled Unreliable Narrators, we explored 73 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:40,520 the ongoing story surrounding the so-called secret Chinese police stations popping up 74 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:42,360 around the world. 75 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:48,420 This culminated in the April 17th arrest of two New York residents, formally accused by 76 00:05:48,420 --> 00:05:56,400 state and federal agencies of working on behalf of China's Ministry of Public Security. 77 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:01,080 If you haven't read or watched that episode yet, I highly recommend you do. 78 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,680 And the links to that will be in the show notes, which as usual will be posted very 79 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:09,480 shortly after this episode on roundingtheearth.locals.com. 80 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:19,320 Okay, the crux of my analysis was that all sides of the story are biased in some form, 81 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:25,840 in a really meaningful way, with larger geopolitical machinations leading both the United States 82 00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:30,720 and Chinese governments to act as unreliable narrators. 83 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:37,200 This is especially true of the non-governmental organization called Safeguard Defenders, 84 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:42,680 whose September 2022 report was the basis for all the hubbub in the first place, but 85 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:49,360 whose own agenda is thrown into question by its apparent ties to the American intelligence 86 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:52,000 community. 87 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,800 China's role in the United States and the rest of the Western world, or the world at 88 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:02,520 large, is unclear, shrouded by propaganda from both sides. 89 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:07,200 With this in mind, it may be helpful to zoom out slightly and take stock of some of the 90 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,120 other pieces on the game board. 91 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:16,080 I concluded my previous report with a case study of a New York-based rapper named DVS 92 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:23,040 7.0, who very recently went semi-viral for his strongly worded comments to United States 93 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:29,040 Representative Adam Schiff and DVS 7.0's subsequent handcuffing and removing from the 94 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,800 premises. 95 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:40,320 This is a picture of DVS 7.0 wearing a t-shirt that says, Free Miles Guo. 96 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:46,240 But far from an isolated incident of political dissidence, as we see by this shirt, DVS appeared 97 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:52,040 to be attending this New York event, the House Judiciary Committee's meeting on crime, 98 00:07:52,040 --> 00:08:00,160 on behalf of a larger movement, under this unifying message of hashtag Free Miles Guo. 99 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:07,000 DVS had recently released a song of the same name, and his Twitter feed is full of supportive 100 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:14,840 comments from a veritable swarm of users bearing similar characteristics between themselves. 101 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:19,880 We had Chinese characters in their names, allusions to something called the new federal 102 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:26,280 state of China and the hashtag Free Miles Guo. 103 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:34,800 On first glance, this seems to be a movement largely aligned with core principles of other 104 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:40,420 groups of like-minded people in the very broad freedom movement. 105 00:08:40,420 --> 00:08:46,120 There are strong assertions of defeating the Chinese Communist Party, liberating minority 106 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:51,480 groups from oppression, including the Uyghurs, protection of the island nation of Taiwan 107 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:56,560 from Chinese military invasion, corruption of the United States government through the 108 00:08:56,560 --> 00:09:03,680 influence of dark Chinese money, and, more generally, the creation of a world where all 109 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:10,280 peoples are free to be who they are without fear of totalitarian backlash. 110 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:17,720 They also loudly questioned the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and warned that the available COVID-19 111 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:22,400 genetic vaccine products are not safe, to put it mildly. 112 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:27,680 But as we've explored at length on various episodes of the Rounding the Earth podcast 113 00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:35,900 and as Matthew has written about in his articles on Substack, any time a movement of ideals 114 00:09:35,900 --> 00:09:42,960 focuses itself around any one individual, there is reason to be very suspicious. 115 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:49,940 This is the gang theory, the governance by aggressive nonsensical gurus. 116 00:09:49,940 --> 00:09:53,780 But that doesn't automatically mean, of course, that the values articulated by that 117 00:09:53,780 --> 00:09:58,820 movement are bad or even counterproductive onto themselves. 118 00:09:58,820 --> 00:10:08,040 On the contrary, if there were to be an attempt to rally real dissonance under an umbrella 119 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:16,660 for nefarious purposes, a necessary step would be to adopt or perhaps borrow or appropriate 120 00:10:16,660 --> 00:10:24,280 the flagship cause in order to mask the true intention of such an operation. 121 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:29,760 Now as I've concluded about the COVID-19 crisis, all a bad actor needs to do in order 122 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:36,560 to manipulate large groups of people is to tap into their genuine good nature. 123 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:40,700 So I invite you along a journey of learning. 124 00:10:40,700 --> 00:10:44,500 Who is this Miles Guo? 125 00:10:44,500 --> 00:10:49,440 Is he a guru leading by aggressive nonsense? 126 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:56,040 Or is he a genuine dissident, being now suppressed by both the Chinese and United States governments? 127 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:58,080 These are some good questions. 128 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:01,560 Let's find out. 129 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:08,080 So Miles Guo is just one name used by the man officially named Guo Wengui. 130 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:15,440 His other names used in various contexts are Ho Wan Kwok, Miles Kwok, Brother Seven, Guo 131 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:19,960 Huyun, and the Principal. 132 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:26,500 As summarized in a profile by Business Insider, much of his background is still shrouded in 133 00:11:26,500 --> 00:11:33,840 mystery and Guo's exact purpose and loyalties are the subject of speculation and conspiracy 134 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:34,840 theories. 135 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:40,920 Guo was born to an impoverished family in China's Jilin province. 136 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:49,600 He then moved to the farming village of Sikhao Ying in Shandong province, growing up there 137 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:51,680 with his seven siblings. 138 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:57,660 Now this is allegedly where the name Brother Seven came from, being the seventh son born 139 00:11:57,660 --> 00:12:01,520 into the family. 140 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:06,880 According to the New Yorker, Guo dropped out of school at age 13 to find work selling clothes 141 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:08,800 and electronics. 142 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:16,440 Now Guo was arrested and put in jail in 1989 on grounds that are not entirely clear. 143 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:21,240 According to Guo, this was the result of his support for students participating in pro-democracy 144 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:26,260 protests in Tiananmen Square, which occurred in 1989. 145 00:12:26,260 --> 00:12:31,520 This particular version of events is not reflected in court documents, however, with the official 146 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:37,880 story being that Guo was arrested one week before the protests began on charges of defrauding 147 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:42,560 investors in a local oil scheme. 148 00:12:42,560 --> 00:12:49,760 Now after his release in 1992, Guo took a job with a Hong Kong-based businesswoman named 149 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:51,360 Xia Ping. 150 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:59,280 According to an investigation published in Nikkei Asia, in 1993, Xia's Hong Kong Lotus 151 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:06,920 Love International Group set up a joint venture with Guo called Zhengzhou Yuda Property. 152 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:10,120 Guo was named Vice Chairman and General Manager. 153 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:16,200 Through Zhengzhou Yuda Property, Guo oversaw the construction of Zhengzhou's tallest building, 154 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:21,440 the Yuda International Trade Center, which for those watching can be seen on the right 155 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:25,040 side of the screen. 156 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:31,160 Guo also reportedly ran a company called Big Boss Furniture, another good name, but in 157 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:38,480 2002, he relocated to Beijing to further expand his burgeoning real estate empire. 158 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:43,560 He purchased two parcels of land in northern Beijing right beside the then-future site of 159 00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:50,320 the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. 160 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:57,160 According to Nikkei Asia, in October 2005, Beijing's Land Bureau revoked Guo's company's 161 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:02,760 rights to the Olympic Park plot, saying the company failed to pay in full for the property. 162 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:07,480 This led to Guo attempting to lobby government officials to help rescue his development project 163 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:09,600 for that lucrative property. 164 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:15,800 Specifically, he approached then-Vice Mayor Liu Xiuwa, who was in charge of projects surrounding 165 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:17,180 the Olympics. 166 00:14:17,180 --> 00:14:22,560 He refused to help, selling the plot back to Beijing Capital Group, a state-run real 167 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:24,800 estate firm. 168 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:31,640 But two weeks later, the Vice Mayor was detained alongside Beijing Capital Group Chairman Liu 169 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:38,480 Zhao Guang, allegedly based on a report submitted to the Chinese government by Guo, accusing 170 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,400 the Vice Mayor of corruption. 171 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:47,760 The report is said to have contained sexual blackmail, material which was allegedly provided 172 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:55,600 to Guo by a Chinese spymaster named Ma Jian. 173 00:14:55,600 --> 00:15:01,500 Jian was appointed Vice Minister of State Security in 2006 after having worked at the 174 00:15:01,500 --> 00:15:07,360 spy agency for more than 30 years, and he has been described as one of the mainland's 175 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,920 top spy chiefs. 176 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:16,280 While it worked, the plot of land was safely back in Guo's hands, and with the newly issued 177 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:21,360 building permits, Guo launched construction of Penghu Plaza. 178 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:27,400 The building, as you can see if you're watching, was crafted in the shape of the Olympic Torch. 179 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:31,920 Which makes sense, this was built to be timed with the Olympics, it was built right beside 180 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:34,000 the Olympic site. 181 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:35,760 Makes sense, Olympic Torch. 182 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:39,560 And it's not a bad-looking building. 183 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:45,400 This incident is cited as one of the first publicly known examples of Guo working directly 184 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:53,200 with Chinese military intelligence agencies to achieve favorable outcomes by unsavoury 185 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:56,040 means. 186 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:59,440 And it only built from there. 187 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:04,560 Guo reportedly travelled several times to meet the Dalai Lama on behalf of China's 188 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:10,160 Ministry of State Security, now led by his ally Ma Jian. 189 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,760 There are several pictures, including this one on screen right now, corroborating this 190 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:18,280 fact with the pair seeming to have a friendly relationship. 191 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:21,340 It looks like this is an autographed picture, in fact. 192 00:16:21,340 --> 00:16:26,520 Of course, I will point out, given the current capabilities to generate super-realistic images 193 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:32,240 with AI tools, sure, these must be considered with healthy skepticism. 194 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:38,620 But on the other hand, it doesn't appear that this relationship is in question in any 195 00:16:38,620 --> 00:16:40,320 reporting of Guo's past. 196 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:43,480 This appears to be real. 197 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:48,760 Shortly after the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Guo invited a man named Orville 198 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:55,120 Schell, director at the Center on US-China Relations at the Asia Society, for a dinner 199 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:57,100 at the Pangu Plaza. 200 00:16:57,100 --> 00:17:02,640 He also reportedly had such dinners with former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George 201 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:09,240 Schultz and met with Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un on a trip to North Korea. 202 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,380 They're very powerful allies. 203 00:17:12,380 --> 00:17:19,480 And another powerful ally that Guo courted was former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, 204 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:27,400 a relationship that first began in 2008, or possibly earlier, depending on who you ask. 205 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:38,680 In 2009, Guo purchased 5,000 copies of Cherie Blair, Tony's wife, Cherie Blair's autobiography, 206 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:42,680 and donated to Blair's various charities. 207 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:46,960 Okay, now, surely they're just friends. 208 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:54,000 Well actually, in or around 2013, it seems Guo paid for Blair and himself to fly out 209 00:17:54,000 --> 00:18:00,160 to meet members of the Abu Dhabi royal family in the United Arab Emirates, including Crown 210 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:06,940 Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nayan, one of the longest names I've ever seen. 211 00:18:06,940 --> 00:18:13,960 The royal family agreed to give Guo $3 billion to fund an attempt to quote, take control 212 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:18,360 of China's second largest brokerage house, Hightong Securities. 213 00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:24,600 Strangely, at some point, Guo was also issued a passport from the UAE, which granted him 214 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,860 certain diplomatic protections. 215 00:18:27,860 --> 00:18:34,080 In December 2014, Guo and the Abu Dhabi royal family created something called the ACA Investment 216 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,280 Fund. 217 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,600 Okay now, a slight sidestep here. 218 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:43,600 What was going on in China at the time? 219 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:49,800 Well, in June 2014, the Chinese government launched Operation Fox Hunt, described by 220 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:56,000 CNN as an international anti-corruption campaign targeting Chinese fugitives, often former 221 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,660 officials or rich individuals suspected of economic crimes. 222 00:19:00,660 --> 00:19:06,360 They followed up by launching the similar and larger Operation Skynet in March 2015. 223 00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:13,400 Now I will remind everybody this, these two programs were the basis on which this international 224 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:17,920 network of secret police stations was built. 225 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:21,820 That's what that program is. 226 00:19:21,820 --> 00:19:25,160 So it's at this time that this is launched. 227 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:35,080 Now right after this, in late 2014, Guo accused a rival named Li Yu of corruption. 228 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:39,960 The conflict escalated into public view, bringing scrutiny onto Guo's relationship with the 229 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,660 Chinese government and its intelligence apparatus. 230 00:19:43,660 --> 00:19:50,120 On January 16, 2015, the Communist Party of China announced that Guo's intelligence colleague 231 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:53,920 Ma Jian was under investigation. 232 00:19:53,920 --> 00:20:01,040 His reports emerged in March 2015, alluding to this and Jian's, leading to Guo and Jian's 233 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:06,480 collaborations in quote, surveillance, blackmail and political influence to amass fortunes 234 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:09,900 and evade scrutiny. 235 00:20:09,900 --> 00:20:17,040 Despite initially denying reports of intelligence ties, Guo later acknowledged that he was affiliated 236 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:21,960 in some form with the Ministry of State Security in China, completing tasks for the agency 237 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:26,800 under the code name Wu Nan. 238 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:29,200 But the water was getting a bit hot. 239 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:38,100 So Guo fled to London, England via Hong Kong, eventually landing in New York City. 240 00:20:38,100 --> 00:20:46,240 In the winter of 2015, Guo purchased a $68 million penthouse suite at the Sherry Netherland 241 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:55,560 Hotel Tower in the Upper East Side of New York City, in cash no less. 242 00:20:55,560 --> 00:21:02,560 He reportedly provided a glowing reference letter from UBS Bank, which recently purchased 243 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:10,000 Credit Suisse, and a personal recommendation, which I believe was glowing, from Tony Blair. 244 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,000 Very impressive. 245 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:17,280 I think it made it very easy for this building's management to accept his proposal. 246 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:23,420 After moving into the penthouse, he also purchased a $43 million yacht named the Lady May. 247 00:21:23,420 --> 00:21:28,760 He became a member of Mar-a-Lago, the Florida resort owned by then presidential candidate 248 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:30,400 Donald Trump. 249 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,600 Trump had announced his run for President of the United States just six months prior 250 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,680 to this. 251 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:45,000 No stranger to the game of national intelligence, and as can probably be predicted, Guo engaged 252 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:50,880 with both the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, and the Central Intelligence Agency, 253 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:57,300 the CIA, offering to provide information on the inner workings of the Chinese government. 254 00:21:57,300 --> 00:22:02,880 In the New Yorker's long profile on Guo, which I highly recommend reading, linked in 255 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:08,220 the show notes, the authors describe the FBI as being more enthusiastic about working with 256 00:22:08,220 --> 00:22:11,160 him than was the CIA. 257 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:15,200 Quoting from that article, in New York, Guo spoke to the FBI about Chinese leaders' 258 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:19,740 financial and private lives, according to two sources familiar with the arrangement. 259 00:22:19,740 --> 00:22:24,880 He knew who had girlfriends, who had boyfriends, a former bureau official recalled. 260 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:32,360 More importantly, Guo knew which party families profited from which companies. 261 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:37,160 Just going to Miles and asking him these questions will save you three or four months of analytical 262 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:38,400 work. 263 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:43,520 In one instance, the official said, Guo provided information about Xi Jinping's daughter while 264 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:47,840 she was attending college in the US. 265 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:49,540 Very interesting. 266 00:22:49,540 --> 00:22:56,080 At this point, it is established that Guo has worked on behalf of both the Chinese and 267 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:58,920 American intelligence agencies. 268 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:06,760 He is a double agent, but it's not clear on whose behalf he truly operates. 269 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:12,920 If you ask ten different FBI and CIA people about Miles, you're going to get seven different 270 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:18,920 answers, says a former FBI official in the New Yorker. 271 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:24,720 Guo reportedly attempted to hire Jay Johnson, former Secretary of the United States Department 272 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:27,600 of Homeland Security, as his lawyer. 273 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:30,760 Johnson considered the offer, but declined. 274 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:36,800 In 2016, Chinese authorities seized ownership of Guo's Pangu Plaza Tower. 275 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:42,200 According to CNN, a court in Beijing later listed it for sale on Alibaba, selling it 276 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:50,800 for just under 5.19 billion yuan, equivalent to 734 million US dollars, a figure which 277 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:58,480 Guo commented was way below its real value. 278 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:05,440 In January 2017, Guo created an account on Twitter and began conducting interviews in 279 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:10,720 which he loudly accused Chinese leaders of corruption. 280 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:16,580 One target in particular was someone named Wang Qishan, who then sued Guo for defamation 281 00:24:16,580 --> 00:24:18,500 in response. 282 00:24:18,500 --> 00:24:23,960 One of these interviews was to be conducted with the Mandarin language arm of Voice of 283 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:24,960 America. 284 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:31,800 Notably, Voice of America is yet another outlet in the network run by the United States Agency 285 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:36,640 for Global Media, an agency of the United States government, which we went over in last 286 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,680 week's episode. 287 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:49,400 On April 17, 2017, at the request of the Chinese government, Interpol issued a red notice interpreted 288 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:55,280 by some as an international warrant for Guo's arrest. 289 00:24:55,280 --> 00:25:00,480 This led that Voice of America interview to be cancelled, I believe as it was going on, 290 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:08,960 shut down live stream due to pressure from China's foreign ministry. 291 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:21,720 Then in May 2017, four agents with China's Ministry of State Security, his former colleagues, 292 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:25,000 visited Guo at his penthouse in New York. 293 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:29,760 According to the Wall Street Journal, the several-hour-long meeting saw the agents ask 294 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:34,640 Guo to cease his activism and return back to China. 295 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:39,680 ProPublica referenced this incident as an example of the Chinese government's operations 296 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:46,360 under the aforementioned Operation Fox Hunt and Operation Skynet. 297 00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:56,560 Alright, then, in June 2017, Vice Minister of Public Security in China Sun Lijun made 298 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:02,980 contact with Steve Nguyen, Finance Chair of the Republican National Committee. 299 00:26:02,980 --> 00:26:08,520 Sun asked for assistance in returning Guo to China, and Nguyen reportedly agreed to 300 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,940 raise the issue with President Trump. 301 00:26:11,940 --> 00:26:17,680 From The New Yorker, in late June, at a dinner in Washington, Nguyen conveyed the request 302 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:23,400 and gave Trump's secretary a packet that included the Interpol notice, press reports, 303 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:26,720 and copies of Guo's passport. 304 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:31,240 Trump did indeed see the packet, apparently, but was dissuaded from pursuing the matter 305 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:37,160 further by H.R. McMaster, who was serving as Trump's national security adviser at 306 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,640 the time. 307 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:47,720 Also present was Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, who retrieved the packet and decided he didn't 308 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,480 want Guo to be extradited. 309 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:55,280 Okay, Act 2, Bannon and Guo. 310 00:26:55,280 --> 00:27:01,000 It's this relationship between Steve Bannon and Guo that starts to bring this story 311 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:07,200 closer to home, in a way that many people may start to become uncomfortable with. 312 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:08,200 Maybe that's the point. 313 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:13,920 Let's look at how this pair started their mini-media activism empire and all of the 314 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:19,560 ways in which it interacts with the larger medical freedom movement. 315 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:28,460 So, in August 2017, Guo met with Steve Bannon at the Hay Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C. 316 00:27:28,460 --> 00:27:35,680 One year later, Bannon signed a year-long contract with Guo Media for consulting services, 317 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:39,200 a $1 million contract. 318 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:46,360 This is a screenshot of an archive, the first of which is the archives of what appear to 319 00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:52,380 be the now-defunct Guo Media website, dating back to January 1, 2018. 320 00:27:52,380 --> 00:27:58,960 On April 24, 2018, a patent application was filed for the name Guo Media, subsequently 321 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:06,360 assigned to a new company called Saraka Media Group, which itself was formed in May 2018. 322 00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:11,680 Guo's son, Qiang Guo, headed up this new company. 323 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:16,740 And Saraka Media Group went on to found a number of subsidiaries and register further 324 00:28:16,740 --> 00:28:23,840 trademarks for ventures, including variations of Guo's own name. 325 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:26,960 A list here, everything is just beginning. 326 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:36,800 G-Live, G-News, G-Post, GTV, Guo Media, Guo Wengui, Guo Dot Media, Miles Guo, and Miles 327 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,380 Kwok. 328 00:28:39,380 --> 00:28:40,520 Very interesting. 329 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:43,200 We're starting to see this empire form. 330 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:50,920 Now on November 20, 2018, Guo and Bannon launched the Rule of Law Foundation and the Rule of 331 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:52,840 Law Society. 332 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:55,640 Bannon served as chair for the society. 333 00:28:55,640 --> 00:29:00,920 As for the foundation, that chairman position was at some point filled by a gentleman named 334 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:04,880 Kyle Bass. 335 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:10,620 I'm not sure if it's Bass or Bass, but his claim to fame include his successful shorting 336 00:29:10,620 --> 00:29:16,200 of the housing market during the 2008 financial crisis in the United States, as depicted popularly 337 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,200 in The Big Short. 338 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:23,640 And his ventures in the business of carbon credits, which seems a little backwards given 339 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:25,920 his political affiliations. 340 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:32,520 He also serves alongside Steve Bannon on the Committee on the Present Danger China and 341 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:37,900 is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 342 00:29:37,900 --> 00:29:39,640 This is significant. 343 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:44,480 The Council on Foreign Relations is where a lot of stuff gets done. 344 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:50,520 It at one point was delegated or relegated to a conspiracy theory. 345 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:57,600 But everyone from Dick Cheney to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, I believe, and many, many, 346 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:02,720 many other people are on this committee, all of which are on this council, I should say, 347 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:04,440 all of which are very powerful. 348 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:06,240 So this is not insignificant. 349 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:13,520 Okay, then in April 2020, Guo and Bannon founded GTV Media Group. 350 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:18,020 Bass served as a board member for this venture as well. 351 00:30:18,020 --> 00:30:21,880 But now it just gets really weird. 352 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:23,880 Recognize this? 353 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:31,140 Okay, so we saw this in the previous episode. 354 00:30:31,140 --> 00:30:36,240 If you look closely, there was a tweet by someone named Gordon saying, thank you so 355 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:40,140 much, my brother, referring to DVS 7.0. 356 00:30:40,140 --> 00:30:42,780 And he mentions his song Free Miles Guo. 357 00:30:42,780 --> 00:30:48,120 And if you look at the logo of this gentleman's profile picture, it is the same. 358 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:52,040 It is the flag of whatever this is that we're about to talk about. 359 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:53,840 So what is this? 360 00:30:53,840 --> 00:31:01,200 Well, on June 4, 2020, Guo and Bannon live streamed an announcement of the launch of 361 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:05,280 the new federal state of China. 362 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:06,480 And that's what this flag is. 363 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:10,800 It is the flag of this new federal state of China. 364 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:15,840 The pair chose to hold the live streamed event on Guo's yacht, which we mentioned before, 365 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:21,480 off the coast of New York City, right in front of the highly symbolic Statue of Liberty. 366 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,520 Okay. 367 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:29,080 Now a glance at the Wikipedia page for the new federal state of China suggests that there's 368 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:32,560 some confusion as to what this thing actually is. 369 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:33,840 Is it a lobbying group? 370 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:36,440 Is it a political movement or something else? 371 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:44,900 Well, it describes itself in its launch documents as a government in exile whose stated intention 372 00:31:44,900 --> 00:31:49,120 is to overthrow the Communist Chinese Party. 373 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:51,880 Okay. 374 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:58,720 Now the organization is supported by the aforementioned Rule of Law Foundation and Rule of Law Society, 375 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:06,320 as well as a separate entity created called the Himalaya Supervisory Organization, which 376 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:12,540 was formed in order to govern yet another associated network of activists organized 377 00:32:12,540 --> 00:32:15,920 under something called the Himalaya Farms Network. 378 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:21,260 And on screen we have a capture from a report that was produced, which we'll get to again 379 00:32:21,260 --> 00:32:25,640 in a moment, of the various organizations that are starting to appear. 380 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:27,800 And it's getting complicated. 381 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:32,720 You see at the bottom the Himalaya Farms Network and it's got many, many logos and we find 382 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,560 that these stretch across the planet. 383 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:40,680 But still, this is unclear what this actually is, right? 384 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:49,480 Well, now we start to see the sphere of influence, the full extent of where this takes us. 385 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:55,320 In May 2021, at the height of protests against COVID-19 restrictions, a New Zealand-based 386 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:59,920 channel called Counterspin Media was launched. 387 00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:05,160 Its original host was GTV, among other platforms, but it was endorsed by GTV and as you can 388 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:12,380 see the background of a screenshot of this very first episode displays the flag of the 389 00:33:12,380 --> 00:33:15,600 new federal state of China. 390 00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:17,160 There it is. 391 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:18,960 And there it is. 392 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:26,320 And subsequent videos continue the overt promotion of the new federal state of China with the 393 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:32,480 flag of the organization displayed behind him and guess the host here. 394 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:37,480 Describing itself as New Zealand's media revolution, Counterspin has been very active 395 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:42,360 in coverage of issues related to COVID-19, particularly as you might be able to predict 396 00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:47,740 the mass vaccination program and the authoritarian public health response, which was particularly 397 00:33:47,740 --> 00:33:50,160 overt in New Zealand. 398 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:57,080 Okay, so we're starting to see the ways in which this organization, this network is affiliated 399 00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:05,780 with or influenced by or supported by or it supports other smaller, perhaps otherwise 400 00:34:05,780 --> 00:34:10,640 not clearly affiliated voices in this dissident COVID movement. 401 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:12,640 This is just one example. 402 00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:17,480 It's a big enough example that it has its own Wikipedia page, which I find interesting. 403 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:21,640 And I don't know anything further about Counterspin Media. 404 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:26,720 But now here's another very interesting example. 405 00:34:26,720 --> 00:34:27,720 Getter. 406 00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:36,320 Guo, it turns out, was an early investor in Getter through, depending on who you ask, 407 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:40,040 at least a family foundation. 408 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:48,200 Getter went live on the 4th of July 2021, founded by former Trump aide Jason Miller. 409 00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,920 Now notice something. 410 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:58,560 Notice that Getter's logo is in the shape of the Olympic torch, the same design as Guo's 411 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:03,960 signature Pangu Plaza building. 412 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:09,800 Notably as we saw, the launch of the new federal state of China was held in front of the Statue 413 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:22,760 of Liberty, which depicts Lady Liberty holding a torch, nearly identical to the others. 414 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:29,120 And I thought all these things were unrelated. 415 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,840 Let that sit for a moment. 416 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:38,800 So Guo's influence over Getter, it's explored, it's expanded a little in an article published 417 00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:44,080 by the Washington Post really recently, just a month ago, March 26, 2023. 418 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:46,240 I get a quote from that now. 419 00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:51,800 Former Getter employees allegedly said the arrested expatriate Guo Wengui and his longtime 420 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:57,640 money manager, William Jay, called the shots at the company, while Donald Trump's senior 421 00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:02,000 advisor Jason Miller was its chief executive and public face. 422 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:08,100 Guo was known to have been a Getter investor, but his dominant financing role and ability 423 00:36:08,100 --> 00:36:16,680 to influence hiring and content decisions at the platform have not been previously reported. 424 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:23,120 Miller said previously that Guo invested in Getter indirectly through a family foundation, 425 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:27,960 and that an international fund was another part owner. 426 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:34,220 But two former Getter employees told the Washington Post that Miller told them that that international 427 00:36:34,220 --> 00:36:41,360 fund was Hamilton Investment Management, where Jay is founder and chief executive. 428 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:48,200 Now, further substantiating Guo's leading role at Getter, which by the way, if I haven't 429 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:54,520 made clear, is a social media platform like Twitter that was launched alongside others, 430 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:58,000 Gab, Parlor, they all had their moment of launch. 431 00:36:58,000 --> 00:36:59,000 Well that's what Getter is. 432 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:05,440 It's intended to be a censorship-free, a free speech platform, particularly for political 433 00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:06,440 dissonance. 434 00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:08,880 So just to be clear, that's what that is, in case for some reason you're not familiar 435 00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:09,880 with Getter. 436 00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:10,880 Okay. 437 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:12,960 It's a Twitter competitor. 438 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:17,480 Now further substantiating Guo's leading role at Getter is the fact that the social 439 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:25,200 media company had $2.8 million seized in September of 2022 as part of an indictment, which has 440 00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:31,400 since been unsealed, against Guo and William Jay. 441 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:37,440 Now so too did Hamilton Investment Management, Jay's firm located in, interestingly, the 442 00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:40,920 Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands. 443 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:49,340 Interestingly, some of the $305 million seized by the government from Hamilton was held at 444 00:37:49,340 --> 00:37:54,680 Silvergate Bank, the crypto-friendly bank that was recently caught up in the panic following 445 00:37:54,680 --> 00:38:00,840 Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, with Silvergate itself announcing it was closing down just 446 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:04,800 under two months ago. 447 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:11,480 Now in November 2021, Guo appeared in a music video promoting something called Himalaya 448 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:19,320 Coin, the native token of cryptocurrency exchange Himalaya Exchange, with which Guo has a business 449 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,040 relationship. 450 00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:28,160 In his promotion of this coin, he shared a quote from Bannon describing the success of 451 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:30,880 the new coin as monumental on Getter. 452 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:33,680 Let's see if we can hear just a moment of... 453 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:53,160 Well, it's catchy so far. 454 00:38:53,160 --> 00:39:21,720 Okay, that's probably enough of that. 455 00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:23,760 So yeah, that promo video. 456 00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:24,760 Okay. 457 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:30,560 Now, notably, remember this is promoting a coin listed by Himalaya Exchange, which held 458 00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:37,240 its funds in a... which were also seized, to be clear, in a Puerto Rico-based bank called 459 00:39:37,240 --> 00:39:44,960 FVBank, whose business is focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain services, with recent activity 460 00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:49,680 in the digital identification space. 461 00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:54,600 Another related business, just to throw it in there, is the Himalaya Federal Reserve, 462 00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:58,060 based in New York, which issued something called Gcoin. 463 00:39:58,060 --> 00:39:59,480 So many coins. 464 00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:00,920 All right. 465 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:07,480 Now, speaking of cryptocurrency, Getter users, of which I am one, and so is rounding the 466 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:13,320 earth, will note that the platform is right now, recently, promoting something called 467 00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:15,040 Getter Coin. 468 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:17,680 Not the same as Gcoin, I don't think. 469 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:18,920 Getter Coin. 470 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:24,760 But in order to participate, in order to use it, to be part of the Getter Coin ecosystem, 471 00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:29,560 users are required to either be a highly influential user of other platforms, with a minimum of, 472 00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:36,720 I think, its 20,000 followers, or upload your government-issued identification, in order 473 00:40:36,720 --> 00:40:40,060 to achieve verification. 474 00:40:40,060 --> 00:40:47,240 Which is really pretty much what Twitter is now doing under Elon Musk, isn't it? 475 00:40:47,240 --> 00:40:53,320 Twitter is also, speaking of being topical, promoting a new feature called Gtalk, a rather 476 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:58,440 plainly, plainly obvious, it's a clone of the controversial TikTok. 477 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:08,680 Okay, now, this naming convention, Gcoin, Getter, well, Getter as a whole, and Gtalk, 478 00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:15,120 it's based, look, Gtalk is based on Getter's own branding, but it follows a naming scheme 479 00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:26,000 overall, following brands shaped after Guo, including, let's see, we got G-Clubs, G-Fashion, 480 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,240 and G-Music, for example. 481 00:41:28,240 --> 00:41:29,520 There's more. 482 00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:37,040 But just looking at these three, the latter appears to be how rapper DVS 7.0 is connected 483 00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:41,360 to the empire, perhaps as part of the record label. 484 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:47,200 Guo himself is listed as an artist under the G-Music label, which advertises the use of 485 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:56,360 Getter, Getter Coin, Hcoin, and HDO, whatever that is, and NFTs, to, quote, pursue freedom 486 00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:59,200 and equality through music. 487 00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:06,120 Now, G-Fashion, as it sounds, is a clothing brand and company owned by Guo. 488 00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:10,080 It is the fashion counterpart to G-Clubs, apparently. 489 00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:16,360 Now, interestingly, Sean Bannon, nephew of Steve Bannon, is listed as the chief operating 490 00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:23,200 officer of the venture in a patent filing dated September 10, 2020. 491 00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:29,800 Further interesting, G-Fashion was initially represented by a company called Rubenstein 492 00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:38,920 Public Relations, who has also represented COVID-19 vaccine developer Johnson & Johnson. 493 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:47,400 G-Clubs is purportedly a membership organization based in Puerto Rico. 494 00:42:47,400 --> 00:42:53,360 According to court documents, it is functionally controlled by Guo and his finance guy, William 495 00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:58,160 Jay, despite neither man holding a formal position with the company. 496 00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:02,000 Now, look, as I said, there's more. 497 00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:03,620 This is not it. 498 00:43:03,620 --> 00:43:05,520 It took me so long just to get to this point. 499 00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:09,680 And look at that, we're 44 minutes in almost. 500 00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:12,280 There's so much to go through with Guo. 501 00:43:12,280 --> 00:43:16,680 And I simply must discipline myself at this point in order to get through or to reach 502 00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:19,000 the most important message of today. 503 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:20,480 But before we do that, take a look. 504 00:43:20,480 --> 00:43:26,000 This is, once again, from that report by Grafica, is the name of the organization. 505 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:31,920 Grafica put out this report in which they detail a network of so-called ants, which 506 00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:40,240 are used to go after other so-called Chinese dissidents, so-called in their terms, because 507 00:43:40,240 --> 00:43:46,280 oftentimes, as we've been discussing, it's really unclear who's vying for what outcome 508 00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:49,080 and on whose behalf. 509 00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:55,440 But this screenshot is that network of just some of the organizations that we've looked 510 00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:56,440 at today. 511 00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:58,080 You see, it's a mess. 512 00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:01,080 It's a mess. 513 00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:06,280 But look, let's get to the main point. 514 00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:10,080 Steve Bannon and the War Room. 515 00:44:10,080 --> 00:44:16,120 The War Room has been a significant platform for dissident voices over the course of the 516 00:44:16,120 --> 00:44:19,560 COVID-19 pandemic era. 517 00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:25,960 Given Bannon and Miles Guo's close partnership on a range of ventures, it stands to reason 518 00:44:25,960 --> 00:44:32,480 that Guo's proximity would lead to at least some level of influence over Bannon's approach 519 00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:36,680 to his pandemic coverage and other issues. 520 00:44:36,680 --> 00:44:42,560 According to Vox, the theme song for the War Room is called Take Down the CCP performed 521 00:44:42,560 --> 00:44:43,560 by Guo. 522 00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:50,920 Now, to be frank, I've actually never watched the War Room, and it wasn't immediately obvious 523 00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:56,480 how I would go and discover whether this remains the theme song or if perhaps it's changed 524 00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:57,480 over time. 525 00:44:57,480 --> 00:45:04,600 So with that caveat, it's not clear to me furthermore at this point if the War Room 526 00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:09,900 as a venture is funded by Guo, either directly or indirectly. 527 00:45:09,900 --> 00:45:15,040 But with this strange network of organizations, many of which now facing criminal sanctions 528 00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:20,900 as Guo sits in jail, it's tremendously difficult to track what the true intentions are behind 529 00:45:20,900 --> 00:45:22,760 this collection of organizations. 530 00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:28,460 Now this is FTX and Alameda's org chart, or at least one that someone put together to 531 00:45:28,460 --> 00:45:32,920 try to outline how complicated their corporate structure was. 532 00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:40,920 And this Miles Guo empire reminds me an awful lot of this FTX and Alameda setup, which takes 533 00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:44,760 planning. 534 00:45:44,760 --> 00:45:52,360 This corporate structure, a lack thereof, obscures the scope of the company's activities 535 00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:55,120 worldwide. 536 00:45:55,120 --> 00:46:00,880 But note that Steve Bannon is not the only major player operating under the War Room 537 00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:07,820 umbrella, nor one whose specialty or focus right now is on the COVID-19 issues. 538 00:46:07,820 --> 00:46:13,640 Journalist Naomi Wolf of The Daily Cloud and her team, they are partnered with Bannon's 539 00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:19,360 War Room for their highly publicized Pfizer documents analysis based on the court-ordered 540 00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:24,840 disclosure secured by public health and medical professionals for transparency. 541 00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:31,400 Recall that in our episode of our roundtable discussions this week with Pierre of OpenVate 542 00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:36,760 and Josh Getsko, I know I pronounced that right this time, they pointed out that there 543 00:46:36,760 --> 00:46:42,400 was at least one really glaring error in this analysis that may have been corrected for 544 00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:48,920 this book that was put out, but one that dramatically overinflated the number of miscarriages as 545 00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:55,880 a result of the shots when the true number is still staggering, but lower. 546 00:46:55,880 --> 00:47:00,120 The point is it's an important topic and it's one that my colleagues, some of whom, some 547 00:47:00,120 --> 00:47:06,160 of which I work very closely with on projects that are very important, they listen to Naomi 548 00:47:06,160 --> 00:47:12,720 Wolf and they specifically give this document and this project a lot of credence. 549 00:47:12,720 --> 00:47:15,840 They trust it. 550 00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:24,040 So, once again, I end this week's episode by urging caution. 551 00:47:24,040 --> 00:47:31,120 Just because Guo is in jail doesn't necessarily mean at this point, okay, that he is guilty 552 00:47:31,120 --> 00:47:35,000 of all of the crimes he's alleged to have committed. 553 00:47:35,000 --> 00:47:39,960 Now it is notable at this point that both the United States and Chinese governments, 554 00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:45,720 well, previously worked with him in some kind of intelligence capacity, but have now marked 555 00:47:45,720 --> 00:47:48,200 him as criminal. 556 00:47:48,200 --> 00:47:49,840 But what does Guo stand for? 557 00:47:49,840 --> 00:47:58,080 If he is a guru, if he is somebody asking or suggesting or calling for people to follow 558 00:47:58,080 --> 00:48:03,700 him under his name, heck, the campaign is called Free Miles Guo. 559 00:48:03,700 --> 00:48:05,820 It's under his name. 560 00:48:05,820 --> 00:48:15,240 If that is the case, under which flag is he calling on his followers to gather? 561 00:48:15,240 --> 00:48:16,240 It's broad. 562 00:48:16,240 --> 00:48:19,120 It covers a lot of the same ground that many of us do. 563 00:48:19,120 --> 00:48:22,000 But then you have stories like this. 564 00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:26,860 Canadian Target of Miles Guo and Steve Bannon protest group says family is still living 565 00:48:26,860 --> 00:48:33,000 in fear as criminal case gets underway in brutal beating of his friend. 566 00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:37,360 Now just pulling up one article doesn't mean much at all. 567 00:48:37,360 --> 00:48:40,000 But there are a number of these. 568 00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:44,880 Some of them are very close to home in Surrey, British Columbia. 569 00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:47,160 Some of them are down in Texas. 570 00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:53,200 China Aid, the founder of that group, which by the way is an organization I normally would 571 00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:55,200 be very skeptical of. 572 00:48:55,200 --> 00:49:03,400 But if supporters are following the message of someone like Miles Guo and the result is 573 00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:09,120 violent attacks on other so-called dissidents, so-called has an implication that I don't 574 00:49:09,120 --> 00:49:10,120 mean here. 575 00:49:10,120 --> 00:49:15,120 I mean other dissidents, other people claiming to be dissidents. 576 00:49:15,120 --> 00:49:20,600 When internal conflict, which is totally reasonable, becomes physical conflict and people start 577 00:49:20,600 --> 00:49:28,920 targeting and attacking other people, what line has been crossed? 578 00:49:28,920 --> 00:49:37,760 The question I leave everyone with, what does it mean to be part of a movement? 579 00:49:37,760 --> 00:49:46,480 And what if you are part of one is your role? 580 00:49:46,480 --> 00:49:49,360 But alas, I come to no conclusions. 581 00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:53,040 I simply ask questions and I encourage you to do the same. 582 00:49:53,040 --> 00:49:57,160 And like I said, there's much more to be dug into with Miles Guo, but I wanted to bring 583 00:49:57,160 --> 00:50:04,160 this topic to our attention because there are these so-called ants, these people who 584 00:50:04,160 --> 00:50:06,840 seem to be real but may not even be. 585 00:50:06,840 --> 00:50:12,280 They may be bots, they may be just ardent supporters, but they are reaching out to people 586 00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:13,560 close to us. 587 00:50:13,560 --> 00:50:16,880 I'm not going to name them just in case they wanted to keep it private, but people I work 588 00:50:16,880 --> 00:50:24,600 very close with, multiple, have been receiving communications from people who they weren't 589 00:50:24,600 --> 00:50:27,400 expecting to. 590 00:50:27,400 --> 00:50:31,600 Sort of promoting this notion that Miles Guo is a savior and should be freed. 591 00:50:31,600 --> 00:50:36,680 Which may be the case or may not be, but there is an active operation ongoing right now. 592 00:50:36,680 --> 00:50:41,740 And maybe it's good, maybe it's bad, but I urge caution. 593 00:50:41,740 --> 00:50:43,120 Thank you once again for tuning in. 594 00:50:43,120 --> 00:50:48,040 This was a long one and I really appreciate it very much. 595 00:50:48,040 --> 00:50:52,720 If you appreciate what we've done here today, the best way to support us once again is to 596 00:50:52,720 --> 00:50:57,520 go to roundingtheearth.locals.com, sign up to be either a free member where you can keep 597 00:50:57,520 --> 00:51:03,040 up to date on everything we're doing or you can contribute as little as $5 a month or 598 00:51:03,040 --> 00:51:09,000 sign up for an annual subscription or even give a one-off contribution and gain access 599 00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:11,460 to our weekly Locals exclusive live streams. 600 00:51:11,460 --> 00:51:18,000 And once again, my weekly plug for roundingtheearth.substack.com, the platform that started it all. 601 00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:24,800 Matthew continues to write incredible pieces of work that largely inform what I tend to 602 00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:29,160 then pursue and look into because it's just that interesting. 603 00:51:29,160 --> 00:51:32,080 So I highly recommend roundingtheearth.substack.com. 604 00:51:32,080 --> 00:51:38,040 And last but not least, as a musician, I have begun to return to my roots and I have just 605 00:51:38,040 --> 00:51:44,120 uploaded a music video for a song called Tuesday Afternoon, which was released all the way 606 00:51:44,120 --> 00:51:50,600 back in 2018, but long before I was aware of any kind of alternative social media platforms 607 00:51:50,600 --> 00:51:55,080 and back when I had a different group of people paying attention to me. 608 00:51:55,080 --> 00:52:00,840 So I have uploaded this song Tuesday Afternoon on my Rumble channel, Liam Sturgis, and I 609 00:52:00,840 --> 00:52:04,520 highly recommend if you haven't heard it yet, go check it out. 610 00:52:04,520 --> 00:52:09,280 It may be a nice detox from some of the more stressful material we've covered. 611 00:52:09,280 --> 00:52:12,240 But as always, thank you everybody for your support. 612 00:52:12,240 --> 00:52:16,360 I haven't been able to look at the chats on our various platforms as much as I would like 613 00:52:16,360 --> 00:52:24,440 because I've been trying my very best to stay on task and on focus for the episode itself. 614 00:52:24,440 --> 00:52:29,540 But thank you all for watching and I very much look forward to seeing you again on Monday 615 00:52:29,540 --> 00:52:31,000 and Tuesday. 616 00:52:31,000 --> 00:52:36,400 And a reminder that the show notes for this episode will be posted on roundingtheearth.locals.com 617 00:52:36,400 --> 00:52:37,580 probably within an hour. 618 00:52:37,580 --> 00:52:38,580 So thank you again. 619 00:52:38,580 --> 00:53:01,720 We'll see you very shortly.