Jon Tester wants Americans to know he is NOT a lobbyist for Palantir.
No, Montana’s Democratic political loser–the flattop-sporting dirt farmer who became a BIG player in Washington–can’t be a lobbyist because he was SO against lobbyists and “secret” lobbying meetings back in the day, according to Wikipedia:
In June 2006, Tester won the Democratic nomination by more than 25 percentage points in a six-way primary. He was said to have “gained momentum in the closing weeks of the campaign through an extensive grass-roots effort”. While Tester’s pledge to “end secret meetings with lobbyists” was a central issue in his campaign, CNN reported in 2023 that he had not fully followed through on it.
OMG! A politician who failed to deliver on campaign promises! At least Mr. Flattop has NPR to help spin his new gig with Peter Thiel’s little tech company as being just “advisory” in nature, not lobbying.
I hope Tester got them some steaks or something for this “reporting”.
Tech companies are expecting a wave of scrutiny from Democrats for the industry’s ties with the Trump administration when they take over Congress in January. In anticipation, many are hiring former Democratic lawmakers and aides to make their case to the incoming House and Senate majorities.
Among the latest to make that move is Palantir, which has hired former Sen. Jon Tester, a colorful Montana Democrat who’s also an organic farmer.
“My agreement with Palantir is advisory in nature, it is not lobbying,” Tester, who lost reelection to the Senate in 2024, told NPR in an interview.
When you put “Thiel” into the Epstein DOJ search bar you get some interesting stuff, like details on this tech-tycoon’s dietary preferences and his disdain for the failed experiment of democracy, where minorities and women get to vote.
Gross!
If the writing is hard to read, let me quote that last part of the email: “Peter Thiel professes that he is unable to engage in what he terms “unacceptable compromise politics”, considers democracy a failed experiment drawing into doubt “the wisdom of granting women and the poor” voting rights. This positions received hard criticism.”
In another email we get some other names associated with Thiel, like Kathy Ruemmler and Ariane de Rothschild, but who pays attention to names they’re not familiar with, especially the names of staffers and executive assistants, like Alisa Bekins?
When I write about the Epstein CLASS it’s often the lesser known names I find the most interesting, since people like Alisa Bekins and Kathy Ruemmler are more like logistical coordinators than influencers with any real autonomy, and, because of these subservient roles, I suspect they see LOTS of suspicious things with how these super wealthy psychopaths are actively reshaping society.
Ruemmler joined the Obama administration in January 2009 as principal associate deputy attorney general at the DOJ. She was promoted to White House Counsel in 2011 following the departure of Robert F. Bauer.
When Thiel’s name emerged in this data dump earlier this year, outlets like WIRED thought the Sushi angle was worth reporting on, but, with Tester’s new job “advising” Palantir, I’m more interested in the former Prime Minister of Israel who nearly got a similar job.
Hmmm.
In one email, Bekins listed some two dozen approved kinds of sushi and animal protein, 14 approved vegetables, and 0 approved fruits for Thiel to eat. “Fresh herbs” and olive oil were permitted; however, ketchup, mayonnaise, and soy sauce should be avoided. Only one actual meal was explicitly outlined: “egg whites or greens/salad with some form of protein,” such as steak, which Bekins included “in the event they eat breakfast.” It’s unclear if the February 4 meeting ultimately occurred; other emails indicate Thiel got stuck in traffic on his way to meet Epstein that day.
According to a recording of an undated conversation between Epstein and former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak that was also part of the files the DOJ released on Friday, Epstein told Barak that he was hoping to meet Thiel the following week. He added that he was familiar with Thiel’s company Palantir, but proceeded to spell it out loud for Barak as “Pallentier.” Epstein speculated that Thiel might put Barak on the board of Palantir, though there’s no evidence that ever occurred.
“I’ve never met Peter Thiel, and everybody says he sort of jumps around and acts really strange, like he’s on drugs,” Epstein said at one point in the audio recording, referring to Thiel. The former prime minister expressed agreement with Epstein’s assessment.
The reason Ruemmler’s name is next to Rothschild’s is because of banking, an industry Jon Tester developed VERY strong connections to, which I was writing about over a decade ago at 4&20 Blackbirds (screenshot is a quote from a Counterpunch article):
If one took the suggestion to “keep an eye” on a politician like Jon Tester seriously, which partisans in Montana failed to do, then you could have followed his move in 2015 all the way to 2021 and his appointment as chairman of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, where he provided “oversight” of A LOT of defense money.
Hmmm.
Montana Sen. Jon Tester has been named as chairman of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee (SAC-D).
The powerful, 18-member panel controls nearly $700 billion in U.S. defense spending — about 14.8% of the entire federal budget; ranging from pay and benefits for millions of service members to the development of advanced technologies and next-generation weapons. It controls nearly 95% of spending appropriations for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp and just about every U.S. intelligence organization.
“We work closely with the military in two areas;” Tester said of SAC-D’s oversight authority, “to find out where their priorities are, but also to hold them accountable to make sure the money is being spent appropriately.”
Money spent appropriately? Funny.
If money lenders with Epstein connections had been more appropriately scrutinized when politicians like Jon Tester were in power, would Goldman Sachs still have hired Kathy Ruemmler after she served in Barack Obama’s administration? Because when that IN-appropriate connection to Epstein emerged, Ruemmler no longer had a banking career.
Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee had harsh criticism for Kathy Ruemmler, the former top counsel for Goldman Sachs, as she testified Wednesday as part of the panel’s ongoing investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking to reporters during a break in proceedings, Democratic members of the committee questioned Ruemmler’s credibility and the nature of her ties to the late, convicted sex offender.
“Her responses have been shameful,” Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the committee’s top Democrat, told reporters. “We can all read the emails in the files about her making jokes about massages, about her making jokes about Russian women, about her making jokes about Epstein’s girls. For her to deny that there was any type of real relationship there — I don’t buy that.”
Something I have trouble buying is the appearance of coincidences, which I don’t think actually exist the older I get and the more I understand about this weird world, so what are the chances that FOUR men involved in pushing back against established political narratives in Missoula–me, the guy I made Engen’s Missoula with, Brandon Bryant, and Sam Redfern–ALL have a connection to a politically-connected woman related to Dylan Laslovich, the former chief of staff for Jon Tester?
Is that just a coincidence?
Maybe I have a pattern-recognition problem, but, if I don’t, then other coincidences might need to be considered, like how Dylan Laslovich just accepted a position for a politician in a state that shares something very interesting with Montana, and that’s a STRONG (and strange) connection to America’s space program.
Stick with me here.
CBS reported in April that Georgia–like Montana and our recently announced SUPER RANGE Trump broke news of last month–is well positioned for BIG money from Uncle Sam to “explore” space.
Hmmm.
As NASA prepares for its next mission to the moon, one Atlanta university is drawing attention for its growing role in space exploration.
The Georgia Institute of Technology says it has produced 14 astronauts, tied for the second most among public universities in the country, with alumni flying on dozens of missions and logging hundreds of millions of miles in space.
But leaders at the university say its impact goes far beyond the astronauts themselves.
Inside labs on campus, researchers and students are working on projects connected to the International Space Station and future missions to the moon, including technology already being tested in orbit. “Students actually build spacecraft hardware, operate it when it’s in orbit around the moon,” said Jud Ready, executive director of Georgia Tech’s Space Research Institute.
When you add other odd “coincidences”, like Elon Musk hanging out with his tech buddies in June, 2025, just north of Missoula, at Paws Up Ranch, and you realize that was the same month tensions peaked between Trump and Musk, which involved the withdrawn appointment of Jared Isaacman to NASA, and you further realize that Trump changed his mind because of the intervention and advocacy from Montana’s Senator, Tim Sheehy, well, it’s easy to see why claiming “coincidence” is a safer, and saner, option.
Jared Isaacman’s comeback bid to lead NASA got behind-the-scenes help from a rare figure in Donald Trump’s Washington: a Republican senator willing to play hardball with the White House.
Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy tried unsuccessfully in May to get President Donald Trump to reconsider his withdrawal of Isaacman’s nomination to lead the space agency. After months passed with still no permanent NASA nominee, Sheehy, a longtime friend of Isaacman, identified a key piece of leverage: the confirmation of a close Trump ally.
In summary, Palantir is lucky to have such an “experienced” politician like Jon Tester to help tell their very important story, the state of Georgia (where America’s next president might come from) is lucky to have a Missoula native steering their Federal pork wrangler, and I’m just the unlucky one who notices all this shit.
Thanks for reading!