{"id":33640,"date":"2026-11-11T22:44:40","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T22:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=33640"},"modified":"2026-11-11T22:44:40","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T22:44:40","slug":"pentagon-inc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=33640","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon, Inc."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-intercept-editors-note\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-intercept-editors-note__content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span class=\"has-underline\">Self-styled War Secretary<\/span> Pete Hegseth narrowly avoided impeachment for \u201chigh crimes and misdemeanors\u201d on Tuesday. That failed effort sets Hegseth up for a reckoning in the new year. Congressional committees have broad investigative powers, including the authority to subpoena administration officials to testify under oath and compel them to turn over documents.\u00a0And many Democrats \u2014 fresh off an electoral rout of the GOP \u2014 are spoiling for a fight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI want Pete Hegseth not just impeached, I want him prosecuted. They murdered people in the Caribbean. And we killed 163 little girls in Iran,\u201d Rep.-elect Richard Ojeda, D-N.C., <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2026\/11\/10\/hegseth-no-impeachment-house-vote\/\">told The Intercept<\/a> on Tuesday. \u201cEverybody in my class is ready for him to go. We tried it. It didn\u2019t work. We\u2019ll do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A mountain of evidence is poised to fall on Hegseth\u2019s head. He could be convicted of countless crimes. But just because Congress has a government official dead to rights doesn\u2019t mean that that official won\u2019t evade justice.\u00a0Today, TomDispatch regular Rebecca Gordon takes us back to the 1980s, when a military aide at the National Security Council, Oliver North, was running a project to fund Nicaraguan \u201cContras\u201d with money from congressionally outlawed missile sales to Iran. Convicted on three felony counts, North fought and won a pitched battle to have them dismissed and turned his malfeasance into a long career at Fox News, the same extremist breeding ground that turned Hegseth from a joke into a favorite of President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gordon\u2019s back-to-the-future exploration raises the specter of Hegseth\u2019s Pentagon transforming from a power unto itself within the government to something that transcends it \u2014 an independent economic behemoth like the militaries of Egypt and Iran. Are we now on the brink of Pentagon, Inc.? Let Gordon be your guide.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2013 <em>Nick Turse, editor of TomDispatch<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><!-- BLOCK(tipline)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22TIPLINE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%7D) --><!-- CONTENT(tipline)[0] --><\/p>\n<p class=\"tipline-shortcode\">If you haven\u2019t yet, <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/dispatch\/\">sign up to receive TomDispatch in your inbox here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- END-CONTENT(tipline)[0] --><!-- END-BLOCK(tipline)[0] --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<h2 id=\"h-a-sprawling-cia-plot\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Sprawling CIA Plot<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Forty years ago, on the evening of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zinnedproject.org\/news\/tdih\/iran-contra-hasenfus\/\">October 5, 1986<\/a>, I sat conferring with members of my local Nicaragua solidarity organization. We were trying to understand the implications of the day\u2019s events in San Carlos, a small town in southern Nicaragua. A young Sandinista soldier had fired a shoulder-launched missile, bringing down a plane in a wreck survived by one Eugene H. Hasenfus. The plane contained U.S.-supplied weapons destined for the Contras, the counter-revolutionary force illegally supported by the CIA to overthrow the Nicaraguan government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hasenfus was captured, tried, and convicted of terrorism, and then, in a clever PR move by the Sandinista government, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1986\/12\/18\/world\/hasenfus-is-freed-by-nicaraguans-and-heads-home.html?mcubz=0\">pardoned and released<\/a> in time to spend Christmas at home with his family in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hasenfus\u2019s capture \u2014 along with his planeload of AK-47s, 50,000 rifle cartridges, some shoulder-mounted missiles, and grenades \u2014 provided concrete evidence of something we\u2019d known for a while: The Reagan administration was actively defying Congress by illegally funding and supplying the Contras. In those years, the Boland amendments (addenda to laws funding U.S. intelligence agencies) prohibited the CIA from using appropriated monies to support the Contras. Hasenfus\u2019s capture not only demonstrated that those amendments were being violated, but it also eventually led to the unraveling of a much bigger plot, known today as the <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2021\/04\/27\/biden-iran-contra-investigations-reagan\/\">Iran\u2013Contra affair<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-oliver-north-iran-and-the-enterprise\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Oliver North, Iran, and \u201cThe Enterprise\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The trail from Hasenfus led to a military aide at the National Security Council, Oliver North, who was running a project to fund the Contras \u2014 with money from congressionally outlawed missile sales to Iran. Iran needed the military hardware for a brutal war of attrition with neighboring Iraq. The Reagan administration wanted to free U.S. hostages held in Iran and by Iran\u2019s ally Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. So the arms-for-hostages deal was cooked up. Ollie North saw a way to use that one illegal deal to enable a second one. He would funnel unappropriated funds for the Contras by charging Iran a steep markup on the weapons and stashing the difference in Swiss bank accounts, outside U.S. government control.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the suggestion of CIA Director William Casey, North had recruited Richard V. Secord, a retired Air Force major general, to establish what they called \u201cthe Enterprise.\u201d North would later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/archives\/la-xpm-1987-07-11-mn-436-story.html\">describe<\/a> the Enterprise as an \u201coff-the-shelf, self-sustaining, stand-alone entity that could perform certain activities,\u201d i.e., covert overseas operations. The congressional committee that eventually investigated the Iran\u2013Contra affair <a href=\"https:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/documents\/excerpts-the-report-congressional-committees-investigating-the-iran-contra-affair\">reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Enterprise, functioning largely at North&#8217;s direction, had its own airplanes, pilots, airfield, operatives, ship, secure communications devices, and secret Swiss bank accounts. For 16 months, it served as the secret arm of the N.S.C. staff, carrying out with private and non-appropriated money, and without the accountability or restrictions imposed by law on the CIA, a covert Contra aid program that Congress thought it had prohibited.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"promote-related-post\">\n    <a class=\"promo-related-post__link\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2018\/05\/12\/oliver-north-nra-iran-contra\/\" data-ga-track=\"in_article-body\" data-ga-track-action=\"related post embed: oliver-north-nra-iran-contra\" data-ga-track-label=\"oliver-north-nra-iran-contra\"><br \/>\n              <img width=\"440\" height=\"440\" src=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/oliver-north-nra-leadership-feat-1526047104.jpg?w=440&amp;h=440&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>            <span class=\"promo-related-post__text\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"promote-related-post__eyebrow\">\n        Related      <\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"promote-related-post__title\">Oliver North Worked With Cocaine Traffickers to Arm Terrorists. Now He\u2019ll Be President of the NRA.<\/h3>\n<p>    <\/span><br \/>\n    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">North became something of a comic figure in U.S. history, especially after the escapade in which he choked a government office shredder during a late-night document \u201cshredding party.\u201d He and the coterie of implicated officials both above and below him all received <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2018\/12\/07\/george-h-w-bush-iran-contra\/\">pardons from incoming President George H. W. Bush<\/a>, who\u2019d served as Reagan\u2019s vice president.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is no way of knowing just how large North\u2019s Enterprise might have grown had Hasenfus\u2019s plane not been shot down, or what other sorts of dirty money-making businesses it might have spawned. Perhaps today we\u2019d be living in a country with a largely self-funding, and therefore (even more) unaccountable, national security apparatus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<h2 id=\"h-big-dirty-business-in-venezuela\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Big, \u201cDirty\u201d Business in Venezuela<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I thought about the Iran\u2013Contra affair and North\u2019s Enterprise for the first time in years when I <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/08\/31\/us\/politics\/pentagon-venezuela-oil.html?unlocked_article_code=1.91A.xjMr.Hj1PxixYTsiY&amp;smid=em-share\">read<\/a> that Pete Hegseth\u2019s Defense Department is getting into the oil business in Venezuela. Under the new arrangement, the Department of Defense would receive \u201cpenny warrants\u201d for an ownership stake in at least one company developing Venezuelan oil fields. These warrants, according to the New York Times, \u201cwould give the Pentagon the option to take up to a 35 percent stake in the parent company\u201d of North American Blue Energy Partners. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company, which is legally registered in Barbados, is run by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cyvze0n4vy1o\">Alejandro Betancourt L\u00f3pez<\/a>, a Nicol\u00e1s Maduro crony, around whom <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/9\/1\/who-is-alejandro-betancourt-ex-chavez-ally-now-trumps-venezuela-oil-man\">corruption rumors<\/a> have swirled for at least a decade. The deal would also provide the Defense Department with the right to purchase up to 20 percent of the company\u2019s oil output \u201cat production cost\u201d and first refusal on the remaining 80 percent, presumably at market rates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are a number of issues to consider here: The U.S. invasion\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2026\/01\/04\/trump-maduro-venezuela-war-media\/\">legality<\/a>, the logistical difficulties of extracting and using Venezuela\u2019s \u201cdirty\u201d crude, and, of course, the human folly of pouring even more oil on the climate fire. But what especially caught my attention in the Times story is that the Pentagon taking an equity stake in a private oil company looks a lot like a new edition of North\u2019s off-the-shelf operation from the 1980s.<\/p>\n<div class=\"promote-related-post\">\n    <a class=\"promo-related-post__link\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2026\/08\/23\/trump-china-ai-chips-rare-earth\/\" data-ga-track=\"in_article-body\" data-ga-track-action=\"related post embed: trump-china-ai-chips-rare-earth\" data-ga-track-label=\"trump-china-ai-chips-rare-earth\"><br \/>\n              <img width=\"440\" height=\"440\" src=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26161473881439.jpg?w=440&amp;h=440&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>            <span class=\"promo-related-post__text\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"promote-related-post__eyebrow\">\n        Related      <\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"promote-related-post__title\">The Dawn of a New Cold War<\/h3>\n<p>    <\/span><br \/>\n    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon isn\u2019t alone among federal agencies acquiring ownership stakes in a variety of companies. Perhaps most notable is the Commerce Department\u2019s purchase of an almost 10 percent interest in the chip manufacturer Intel for $8.9 billion, a stake that\u2019s now reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2026\/07\/26\/the-u-s-government-invested-27-billion-in-corporate-stakes-good-luck-finding-them\/\">worth<\/a> $42 billion. As the Center for Strategic and International Studies <a href=\"https:\/\/www.csis.org\/analysis\/understanding-federal-equity-investments-strategic-companies\">reported<\/a> in February, \u201cthe Trump administration is acquiring a strategic portfolio of investments in companies directly related to national security, spanning minerals, nuclear energy, and semiconductors, among other sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The CSIS report lists several smaller \u2014 though still enormous \u2014 Defense Department equity investments, among them:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vulcan Elements, a manufacturer of rare earth magnets: warrants to purchase equity at an undisclosed fixed price; $620 million loan against a $50 million equity stake<\/li>\n<li>MP Materials, a rare earth magnet manufacturer: 15 percent stake for $400 million<\/li>\n<li>Korea Zinc, a joint venture with Commerce and private investors in a Tennessee smelting installation; Defense Department to take 40 percent ownership, total cost $1.9 billion<\/li>\n<li>ReElement Technologies, a rare earth magnet recycler: warrants for future stock purchase; $80 million from Defense \u201cmatched by private capital\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Trilogy Metals, a Canada-based company <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2025\/10\/08\/trump-ai-alaska-national-park-ambler-road\/\">with Alaskan mining rights<\/a>: 10 percent stake purchased for $35.6 million, with warrants to purchase another 7.5 percent<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since that report was published, DoD has continued to expand its portfolio with other equity purchases, which seem to be aimed at least in part on restocking American weapons reserves depleted by the Iran war:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default alignright\">\n<div class=\"photo__container\">\n    <img src=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Screenshot-2026-11-11-at-2.16.56-PM.png?fit=592%2C896\" alt=\"\" width=\"592\" height=\"896\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption class=\"photo__figcaption\">\n      <span class=\"photo__caption\">&#8220;American Nuremberg,&#8221; by Rebecca Gordon. Available on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/american-nuremberg-the-u-s-officials-who-should-stand-trial-for-post-9-11-war-crimes-rebecca-gordon\/70f4736f57640d99?ean=9781510703339&amp;bkshp-astro=t\">Bookshop.org<\/a>.<\/span>    <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>L3Harris Missile Solutions: <a href=\"https:\/\/federalnewsnetwork.com\/congress\/2026\/03\/lawmakers-question-dods-growing-use-of-equity-investments-to-strengthen-dib\/\">$1 billion direct equity investment<\/a> for solid rocket motor and missile production<\/li>\n<li>The Elmet Group: <a href=\"https:\/\/insidedefense.com\/insider\/dod-makes-450m-investment-secure-domestic-tungsten-supply-chain\">$450 million preferred equity investment<\/a> in the only U.S.-based tungsten producer. Tungsten is crucial in the production of Patriot missiles, an essential defense against incoming missiles and drones, and a <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2026\/10\/06\/iran-war-uk-fairford-overseas-bases\/\">much-depleted armament<\/a> in U.S. stores <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2026\/10\/28\/yemen-saudi-arabia-iran\/\">because of the Iran war<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Hertha Metals: an apparent $65 million investment \u2014 for an undisclosed number of shares \u2014 in a steel manufacturer. The libertarian Cato Institute, which generally opposes federal ownership stakes in corporations, called the investment with Hertha an \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/blog\/trump-administrations-equity-portfolio-reaches-34-deals\">apparent<\/a>\u201d deal, as only the company, not the DoD, has announced it publicly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beyond taking direct ownership shares in corporations, DoD continues to diversify its loan portfolio beyond traditional military materials. For example, President Donald Trump recently <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/atrupar.com\/post\/3my3rxka4mv2n\">promised<\/a> a $100 million Pentagon investment to rebuild a pharmaceutical factory in Winchester, Kentucky \u2014 but only if Republicans won the midterms in that state.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-how-does-government-ownership-of-corporations-work\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How Does Government Ownership of Corporations Work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The federal government has taken temporary partial ownership of U.S. corporations before Trump\u2019s current string of acquisitions. What makes this round of purchases different is that it seems the Pentagon intends to make them permanent. In the past, when the federal government acquired warrants or corporate shares, the move was part of a program to shore up failing institutions in the midst of a more general financial disaster.<\/p>\n<div class=\"promote-related-post\">\n    <a class=\"promo-related-post__link\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2022\/05\/05\/cia-venture-capital-inqtel-spac\/\" data-ga-track=\"in_article-body\" data-ga-track-action=\"related post embed: cia-venture-capital-inqtel-spac\" data-ga-track-label=\"cia-venture-capital-inqtel-spac\"><br \/>\n              <img width=\"440\" height=\"440\" src=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/in-q-tel-cia-spacs-theintercept.gif?w=440&amp;h=440&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>            <span class=\"promo-related-post__text\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"promote-related-post__eyebrow\">\n        Related      <\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"promote-related-post__title\">As the SEC Cracks Down on Shady SPACs, CIA Officials Get In on the Action<\/h3>\n<p>    <\/span><br \/>\n    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This was the case with the Troubled Assets Relief Program, which formed part of the Obama administration\u2019s response to the 2008 fiscal crisis, and more recently when airlines faced bankruptcy during the 2020-21 Covid pandemic. In neither case did the government retain permanent ownership of the entities it bailed out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The evidence is that this time around, the Trump administration envisions permanent ownership stakes in companies it deems essential to military preparedness and national security. In the case of the Pentagon, two related offices are responsible for overseeing DoD\u2019s equity investments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Office of Strategic Capital was established in 2022 during Joe Biden\u2019s administration and funded under the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024. The OSC\u2019s initial purpose was to facilitate Pentagon loans to industries <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2023\/04\/03\/silicon-valley-bank-bailout-pentagon\/\">it deems crucial to national security<\/a>. Other parts of DoD use grants or purchases to get money to defense industries. Only OSC can <em>lend<\/em> those corporations money. Still, neither the NDAA for 2024 nor subsequent NDAAs permits the OSC to <em>buy<\/em> shares in companies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The OSC received a huge funding boost under Trump\u2019s 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act. While simultaneously meting out <a href=\"https:\/\/ocasio-cortez.house.gov\/legislation\/how-trumps-one-big-beautiful-bill-act-will-impact-you\">drastic cuts<\/a> to programs that support Americans\u2019 actual everyday security \u2014 such as Medicaid, nutritional assistance, housing, and student loans \u2014 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act awarded OSC $1.5 billion in additional funds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The other entity tasked with overseeing Defense equity investments is the Economic Defense Unit. Established this year through an internal DoD memo, the EDU offers a hint that the Pentagon isn\u2019t ready to give up on capital. Like the Office of Strategic Capital, the EDU is overseen by Defense Department Undersecretary <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2021\/06\/24\/khashoggi-trump-donor-saudi-arabia-tier-1\/\">Stephen Feinberg<\/a>, a billionaire, <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2016\/10\/25\/pension-trump-pence\/\">major Trump donor<\/a>, and co-founder of the private equity firm <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2026\/10\/26\/philippines-military-base-cerberus-private-capital\/\">Cerberus Capital Management<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"promote-related-post\">\n    <a class=\"promo-related-post__link\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2026\/10\/26\/philippines-military-base-cerberus-private-capital\/\" data-ga-track=\"in_article-body\" data-ga-track-action=\"related post embed: philippines-military-base-cerberus-private-capital\" data-ga-track-label=\"philippines-military-base-cerberus-private-capital\"><br \/>\n              <img width=\"440\" height=\"440\" src=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2201935046.jpg?w=440&amp;h=440&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>            <span class=\"promo-related-post__text\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"promote-related-post__eyebrow\">\n        Related      <\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"promote-related-post__title\">Bankrolling American Empire in the Philippines<\/h3>\n<p>    <\/span><br \/>\n    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">EDU\u2019s ostensible purpose is to coordinate U.S. economic competition with adversaries such as China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea. But reporting suggests another reason Feinberg <a href=\"https:\/\/defensescoop.com\/2026\/04\/10\/dod-economic-defense-unit-edu-steve-feinberg-pentagon\/\">established<\/a> the unit. Quoting a knowledgeable inside source, <a href=\"https:\/\/prospect.org\/2026\/10\/22\/as-lawmakers-scrutinize-pentagon-equity-deals-pentagon-keeps-making-them\/\">The American Prospect says<\/a> that the EDU \u201coperates as a \u2018venture capital firm-type entity that looks at deals, what the government\u2019s going to do and evaluates them,\u2019\u201d determining what the government\u2019s ownership stake should be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Cato Institute <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/blog\/pentagon-sovereign-wealth-fund\">says of the EDU<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Available information points to an investment apparatus being created within the Pentagon, staffed by financiers connected to the same private-equity world that stands to benefit from it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It sounds like another attempt by the administration to construct a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/commentary\/uncle-sam-shareholder\">pseudo-sovereign wealth fund<\/a> controlled by the executive branch.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other words, the Economic Defense Unit looks like the beginning of a Defense Department investment bank.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of today, no law explicitly permits the Pentagon to own pieces of corporations or to develop its own pseudo-investment bank, but the 2027 NDAA may change that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the meantime, what happens to any revenue derived from DoD\u2019s investments? Such income could include interest on loans, share dividends, or proceeds from the sale of equities. Legally, any such income should be deposited to the U.S. Treasury within three days, according to the U.S. legal code section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/31\/3302\">\u00a7 3302(b)<\/a>, perhaps in the Pentagon\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/10\/4817\">Industrial Base Fund<\/a> at Treasury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">History tells us North sent the Iran\u2013Contra money to Swiss banks, not the U.S. Treasury. Can we trust Hegseth \u2014 who just this week <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2026\/11\/10\/hegseth-no-impeachment-house-vote\/\">survived an impeachment vote<\/a> \u2014 and his boss not to do something similar with the Pentagon\u2019s earnings today? How would we even know if that trust were violated?<\/p>\n<aside class=\"promote-banner\">\n    <a class=\"promote-banner__link\" href=\"\/tomdispatch\"><br \/>\n              <span class=\"promote-banner__image\"><br \/>\n          <img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TomDispatch_logo-promo-banner.jpg?fit=300%2C150\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" \/>        <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"promote-banner__text\">\n<p class=\"promote-banner__eyebrow\">\n            Read Our Complete Coverage          <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"promote-banner__title\">TomDispatch<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>    <\/a><br \/>\n  <\/aside>\n<h2 id=\"h-just-like-egypt-and-iran\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Just Like Egypt and Iran?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The prospect of a metastasizing U.S. Defense Department may seem far-fetched, but it\u2019s already happened in a number of other countries. In Egypt, popular demonstrations brought down President Hosni Mubarak, the country\u2019s effective dictator, during the 2011 Arab Spring. After a brief period under an increasingly unpopular elected president, the Egyptian military staged a coup and has ruled the country directly ever since.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Egypt\u2019s army is more than a military force. It\u2019s the most powerful economic entity in the country as well. As the Carnegie Middle East Center <a href=\"https:\/\/carnegieendowment.org\/middle-east\/research\/2019\/12\/owners-of-the-republic-an-anatomy-of-egypts-military-economy\">describes the situation<\/a>, the Egyptian military has its tentacles in every aspect of Egypt\u2019s economy. Members of the military:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8230; deliver massive infrastructure projects, produce consumer goods ranging from food to household appliances, manufacture industrial chemicals and transport equipment, and import basic commodities for civilian markets. They have expanded into new sectors as diverse as steel production, pharmaceuticals, gold prospecting, and managing religious endowments and pilgrimage.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, \u201cthousands of retired senior officers have benefited from the powerful political influence of the military to occupy senior positions throughout the state\u2019s civilian apparatus and public sector companies, securing extra postretirement incomes for themselves while complementing the formal military economy in return.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"promote-related-post\">\n    <a class=\"promo-related-post__link\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2022\/09\/28\/cia-extinction-woolly-mammoth-dna\/\" data-ga-track=\"in_article-body\" data-ga-track-action=\"related post embed: cia-extinction-woolly-mammoth-dna\" data-ga-track-label=\"cia-extinction-woolly-mammoth-dna\"><br \/>\n              <img width=\"440\" height=\"440\" src=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/AP19282739915058-woolly-mammoth-DNA-CIA.jpg?w=440&amp;h=440&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>            <span class=\"promo-related-post__text\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"promote-related-post__eyebrow\">\n        Related      <\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"promote-related-post__title\">The CIA Just Invested in Woolly Mammoth Resurrection Technology<\/h3>\n<p>    <\/span><br \/>\n    <\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(This sounds a lot like the egregious post-service opportunities promised to the investment bankers being recruited to work in the Pentagon\u2019s EDU. After serving on the Pentagon\u2019s new 30-person investment team, where they would have \u201cunmatched access to top-level government officials and privileged information flow,\u201d the recruitment pitch goes, \u201cif you ever want to raise your own fund, you will gain access to fund-raising channels that include royal families and foreign sovereign contacts,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/13\/us\/politics\/wall-street-access-pentagon.html\">according<\/a> to the New York Times.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has emerged as Iran\u2019s most powerful economic force, plays a similar role, according to CSIS:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The IRGC now owns businesses in the oil and gas sectors, as well as land, marine, and air transportation. The IRGC-owned company, Khatam al-Anbiya, established as the IRGC\u2019s arm in the construction sector, currently controls 812 officially registered Iranian companies which have a total of some 1,700 governmental contracts. Another IRGC-owned company has also recently bought a 51 percent stake in the Iranian Telecommunications company that was privatized at a value of $5 billion.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 id=\"h-can-it-happen-here\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Can It Happen Here?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Could the Pentagon really emerge as an economic power in its own right, one that operates in tandem with, but parallel to, the federal government? Not tomorrow, certainly, but now is the time to step on the brakes to prevent that scenario.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The prospect of an economically independent U.S. military would be frightening under any circumstances. But it becomes both more frightening and more likely with a Pentagon that Hegseth is reshaping in his own white <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2026\/09\/17\/hegseth-christianity-jesus-iran-war\/\">Christian nationalist<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2026\/07\/25\/pete-hegseth-testosterone-military-masculinity\/\">misogynist<\/a> image. He\u2019s already removed many of the potential human guardrails by purging long-serving top military leadership. As long as DoD doesn\u2019t threaten any of the enterprises of the Trump family and friends \u2014 including those of <a href=\"https:\/\/1789capital.vc\/don-trump-jr\">Don Jr.<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trump.com\/leadership\/eric-trump-biography\">Eric Trump<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/story\/jared-kushner-hacked-phone-secret-negotiations?srsltid=AYCX9vJbkab8XOpofBwqolE8I0y7i5qpcHzzzqbiBE31FqkjqRFZzXjm\">Jared Kushner<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/26\/insider\/steve-witkoff-financial-empire-middle-east.html\">Steve Witkoff<\/a> \u2014 we can expect little resistance from the demented relic in the White House.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fortunately, Hegseth is not the sharpest bayonet in the armory. As with many aspects of this nightmare administration, we may yet be saved from a metastasizing Pentagon by the ineptitude of its leader. Let us work to make it so.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2026\/11\/11\/hegseth-pentagon-investment-bank\/\">Pentagon, Inc.<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\">The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>#Pentagon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Self-styled War Secretary Pete&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[246],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}