Iran Blockade Strike, Fauci Contempt Vote, $35M SNAP Fraud Bust | Your News Talk America

Your News Talk America, August 12 2026: Iran blockade strike, Fauci contempt vote, SNAP fraud bust

Your News Talk America

Wednesday, August 12, 2026 · with Jake Smith

9:00 · US Navy Strikes Blockade Runner as Iran War Turns Economic

A U.S. Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of the Panama flagged cargo vessel M/V Vela Nova after its crew ignored repeated warnings and tried to run the American blockade against Iran through the Gulf of Oman. The ship's civilian crew was transferred to another vessel and no casualties have been reported. CENTCOM says it has now redirected 55 commercial vessels attempting to run the blockade, disabled 3 noncompliant vessels, and boarded 2 since the blockade began. Separately, the Iran backed Houthis reportedly killed three crew members of a Tanzania flagged cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, fatalities that, if confirmed, would be the first deaths in a Houthi strike since the conflict began.

  • Jake and Paul Davis discuss the Washington Post report that President Trump was shuttled from the replacement Air Force One to a smaller aircraft to avert a suspected Iranian assassination attempt.
  • Has the war with Iran shifted from a military fight to an economic one, and how long can Tehran hold out with little to no oil revenue?
  • Iran has effectively gained leverage over both the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, giving Tehran and its Houthi allies influence over two of the world's most important energy chokepoints.
  • The U.S. and Gulf states are pursuing alternatives, including a proposed $5 billion, 200,000 bpd refinery and export hub outside Hormuz, expanded India, Middle East, and Europe trade corridors, and a more ambitious pipeline network across Saudi Arabia and Israel that could bypass both chokepoints altogether.

Sources: Jerusalem Post · OilPrice.com

Panelist: Paul Davis, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the Institute of World Politics and founder and president of JANUS Think · Bio

9:20 · Subpoenas vs. Pardons: Fauci Held in Contempt

Following a partisan Senate committee vote to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress, Mark Meckler joins Jake to unpack the constitutional showdown over congressional oversight. Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment rights more than 100 times during recent questioning, fueling debate over how presidential pardons interact with legislative subpoenas.

  • Was Fauci running his own shadow government, and did that violate the Constitution?
  • The rules of oversight: why legislative bodies argue public figures must stay answerable to Congress regardless of prior executive interventions.
  • The legal standoff between the Fifth Amendment, state level prosecution concerns, and the limits of federal pardons.
  • The grassroots solution: how organizations are shifting focus to the Article V Convention process to build structural checks on federal agencies.

Panelist: Mark Meckler, President and cofounder of Convention of States Action and cofounder of the Tea Party Patriots · Convention of States

9:35 · America's Amphibious Readiness Gap

Mike Jernigan joins Jake to explain why amphibious operations remain essential to national security, why the fleet needs modernized logistics, and how a stronger amphibious posture can deter crises before they start. Amphibious operations are far more complex than steaming a ship near a beach. They require tightly integrated air, land, and sea assets, and U.S. warships function as mobile sovereign territory that can project force without needing permission to use host nation airfields or ports.

  • America's amphibious readiness faces funding and organizational challenges that demand action from Congress and the Department of the Navy.
  • Has a lack of amphibious readiness deterred President Trump from ordering a ground assault on Kharg Island?

Source: Heritage Foundation, "Beyond the Silver Screen: The Urgent Need to Restore America's Amphibious Readiness"

Panelist: Mike Jernigan, Visiting Fellow in the Allison Center for National Security at The Heritage Foundation · Bio

10:00 · Senate Moves to Hold Fauci in Contempt: What Happens Next?

Former federal prosecutor Cully Stimson returns to walk through what comes next for Fauci. Eric Holder shrugged off his own contempt charge, while Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon went to prison over theirs. Jake and Cully compare those cases to Fauci's, and dig into who wiped Fauci's government cell phone contact list clean before it was turned over to the Senate.

  • Does Congress have the authority to compel answers from former government officials?
  • Why does the committee's vote matter beyond Fauci personally, and what legal and political consequences could follow?
  • How do presidential pardons factor into congressional investigations?

Panelist: Charles "Cully" Stimson, Acting Director of the Legal Policy Center and Senior Legal Fellow for National Security at The Heritage Foundation, former federal prosecutor · Bio

10:30 · DOJ: Florida Fraudster Spent $35 Million on Luxury Homes and Cars from SNAP Fraud

Rachel Sheffield joins Jake to break down a DOJ case in which a Florida fraudster spent $35 million in stolen SNAP benefits on luxury homes and cars.

  • How did the COVID pandemic, and the flood of money out of the Treasury, open the door to fraud against taxpayers?
  • How did these schemes work, and how were third parties used to carry them out?
  • Are penalties for those convicted severe enough to actually deter theft of taxpayer dollars?
  • Is this $35 million case just the tip of the iceberg?

Panelist: Rachel Sheffield, Research Fellow, Welfare and Family Policy, in The Heritage Foundation's Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget · Bio

11:00 · Iran Holds the Global Economy Hostage

Colonel Wesley Martin returns four months after his April Newsmax piece, where he argued that Iran, in keeping with its history of taking hostages to get its way, has effectively taken the global economy hostage. As Sultan al-Jaber, head of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., put it at the time, weaponizing the Strait of Hormuz threatens every consumer and family who depends on affordable energy and food, more an act of economic warfare than aggression against one nation. "When Iran holds Hormuz hostage, every nation pays the ransom."

  • Four months later, is that the very position the world finds itself in today?
  • If the war has transitioned into an economic war, what are current conditions like inside Iran, and how long can the regime hold out with little to no oil revenue?
  • Iran has effectively gained leverage over both Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, giving Tehran and its Houthi allies influence over two of the world's most important energy chokepoints.
  • The U.S. and Gulf states are pursuing alternatives, including a proposed $5 billion, 200,000 bpd refinery and export hub outside Hormuz, expanded India, Middle East, and Europe trade corridors, and a more ambitious pipeline network across Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Sources: Newsmax, Colonel Wes Martin · OilPrice.com

Panelist: Colonel Wesley Martin, U.S. Army (Ret.), former senior Antiterrorism and Force Protection Officer for coalition forces in Iraq · Bio

11:20 · Is the WNBA on a Suicide Mission?

Paula Scanlan joins Jake to discuss the WNBA's response, or lack of one, to a series of on court incidents this season, and what she sees as a double standard in how the league and women's advocacy groups have handled them.

  • Paula's take on the league's response, and where groups like NOW have been on the issue.
  • Having been a teammate of William "Lia" Thomas at Penn, what was that experience like for Paula and her teammates?

Panelist: Paula Scanlan, Senior Fellow at the American Principles Project and spokeswoman for the Independent Women's Forum, former University of Pennsylvania swimmer

11:30 · How Democratic Socialism Became Democrats' New Purity Test

Lura Forcum joins Jake as Democratic Socialists of America candidates become a more prominent force in the Democratic Party, fueling debate over whether the party should move toward the political edge or compete for the center. Some argue the leftward shift has less to do with winning strategy or policy than with the psychology of political tribalism, where in groups use purity tests to weed out dissenters and members seek identities that make them feel both connected and distinct.

  • Do DSA supporters realize the positions they're backing are not American and align with communism?
  • Jake's take: the Democrat Party shifted since the Obama presidency, and the DSA grew out of that shift.
  • If you're a true blue Democrat uncomfortable with that direction, do you shift to independent or wait for a new party to emerge?

Sources: USA Today · USA Today Video · Reuters · The Hill · IGI Global · Politico · MIT, Brewer 1991

Panelist: Lura Forcum, Member of the Board of Advisors, Prohuman Foundation · Bio

11:50 · Are Today's Headlines Fulfilling Biblical Prophecy?

Pastor Mark Biltz joins Jake to discuss whether more people are comparing world events, from earthquakes in Japan and Colombia to the Iran war, Israel, political upheaval, the threat of communism, and trans culture, to Biblical prophecy.

  • Are people more fearful about today and the future, and if so, why?
  • Does Biblical prophecy warn us about the future, or does it prepare us for it?

Panelist: Pastor Mark Biltz, founder of El Shaddai Ministries and author of the new book The Final Tyrant: Unmasking the Antichrist and His Last Days Agenda · Get the book

Salute the Troops

YNTA closes the show honoring the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.

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