Kibbe on Liberty

As more people started asking questions about the two pipe bombs that were placed around the Capitol on January 6, 2021, the FBI was quick to arrest a suspect and declare the case closed. But does the evidence against alleged bomber Brian Cole hold up under scrutiny? Matt Kibbe is joined by Blaze News journalist Steve Baker to go over the facts of the case, all of which seem to paint Cole as an unlikely perpetrator. Is it possible that this young man with predictable habits and a learning disability is nothing more than a convenient scapegoat?

Three weeks into the Trump administration's war with Iran, the path toward a clean victory is looking narrower and narrower. And with an ever-shifting series of objectives, it's not even clear what such a victory would look like. Matt Kibbe is joined by Scott Horton, executive director of the Libertarian Institute, to discuss where the war goes from here and whether there is even a coherent strategy at play. After failing to enact meaningful regime change and with low public approval ratings for this military action, a best-case scenario would probably involve Trump simply declaring victory and bringing our troops home. However, Iran is unlikely to allow that resolution to happen and is likely to keep inflicting pain on American military bases as a deterrent to future bombings. The good news is that, as was demonstrated in 2013 with Barack Obama's abortive strikes on Syria, the American people have the power to influence foreign policy if they make their voices loud enough, especially on the eve of the midterm congressional elections.

After premising his 2024 campaign on the promise of no new wars, President Donald Trump is taking military action in Iran that has already cost over a thousand civilian lives. Matt Kibbe is joined by Kelley Vlahos, editor in chief of Responsible Statecraft and a senior adviser at the Quincy Institute, to discuss the confusing rationale for this war and the best-case scenario Americans can hope to see. The administration has succeeded in killing the ayatollah, only to replace him with his more radical son, so any pretense of liberating the Iranian people seems farcical. Moreover, there appears to be no strategic plan or exit strategy to avoid turning this war into an Iraq-style quagmire. The best we can hope for is that Trump declares victory and pulls out before more lives are lost, but even in that case the reversal of one of his key campaign promises is likely to cost the Republicans badly in the midterm elections.

Following the removal of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, the cat is out of the bag on the U.S. government’s use of covert energy weapons to stop soldiers dead in their tracks. Matt Kibbe is joined by independent journalist Steve Baker, who has been investigating the history and current status of these weapons, which use subsonic sound waves and microwaves to produce profound physical distress in targets, up to and including stopping a heart. What’s even more concerning is the prospect of these weapons being deployed on American citizens to disrupt peaceful protests without outside observers being able to tell that the attacks are taking place.

As U.S. forces move closer to Iran, it appears more and more likely that the Trump administration is planning military action against the country for the second time in a year. Matt Kibbe is joined by Cato research fellow Jon Hoffman to discuss why the president has turned his back on his campaign promises not to start any new wars, why open conflict with Iran would be a disaster for the U.S., and why the wishes of the Israeli government seem to be more important than putting America first.

The release of millions of formerly classified pages related to Jeffrey Epstein is giving Americans an inside look into a web of collusion and deception that spans multiple countries, agencies, and administrations. Matt Kibbe is joined by Mike Benz, executive director of the Foundation for Freedom Online, to take a deep dive into the links between the military, wealthy individuals like Bill Gates, and the public health apparatus that gave us the COVID-19 pandemic. The deeper you dig, the worse it gets. But there’s a bright spot in all this: The transparency we’re now getting, thanks to the efforts of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), is allowing the American people to finally see what’s been going on behind the curtain, and that knowledge is the first step toward reform.

The most recent Super Bowl featured a dazzling and expensive display of military patriotism. While this may be pleasing to some viewers, it’s important to realize that such spectacles are a deliberate propaganda effort on the part of the military-industrial complex. Matt Kibbe is joined by Abigail Hall, co-author of "How to Run Wars," to discuss the ways in which the government tries to make its foreign policy palatable to the average citizen, including funneling huge amounts of taxpayer money into Hollywood, music, and the NFL. Consumers of this entertainment are being sold a pro-war agenda without realizing it and are even financing these programs with their taxes.

The Justice Department just dropped another 3 million pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, hoping to satisfy critics who have been demanding transparency on the Epstein files since Donald Trump’s election. There’s just one problem: The documents conceal the only thing people care about — the names of the perpetrators — while recklessly outing innocent victims. Matt Kibbe and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) discuss whether this botched release is the result of incompetence or malice, whether these emails contain any smoking guns, and what can be done to force further releases from the administration that campaigned on being the most transparent in history.

America was built on the idea of limited government and personal freedom, but as the nation has expanded and taken on the role of the world's policeman, these founding ideals have eroded into something resembling the empires of previous eras. Matt Kibbe and Judge Andrew Napolitano discuss how the desire to engage in nation-building, to acquire colonies, and to have a military presence all over the world necessarily entails sacrificing the Constitution, sound money, and our national values. As the U.S. government grows more and more imperial, it becomes less and less American.

In the aftermath of two high-profile shootings related to immigration enforcement in Minnesota, many freedom-loving Americans are concerned about the government's disregard for civil liberties and the cavalier use of deadly force by agents who lack adequate training. Regardless of one's position on immigration, the optics are not good for Republicans, who will soon have to face the midterm elections. Matt Kibbe sits down with investigative journalist Jim Bovard to discuss the conduct of federal agents, as well as the parallels between the recent shootings and the 1992 Ruby Ridge incident, in which the FBI shot and killed several members of the Weaver family.

With the ousting of Nicolás Maduro, the future of the Venezuelan government is an open question. Will we see a mere continuation of the Maduro regime, which left the country economically devastated, or will we instead see the kind of fundamental reforms that have worked so well for Javier Milei in Argentina? Matt Kibbe is joined by Ian Vásquez, Vice President of International Studies at the Cato Institute, to discuss the next steps for the Trump Administration. In a best-case scenario, Trump would work with Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado to bring libertarian reforms to Venezuela, putting the country back on the path towards the kind of freedom and prosperity it enjoyed prior to Hugo Chavez's socialist takeover.

In the wake of President Trump’s sudden military action in Venezuela, ousting Nicolás Maduro and asserting U.S. control over the country, at least temporarily, much of the debate has centered around the wisdom and legality of Trump’s actions. Matt Kibbe argues that while unilateral military action by the president is certainly unconstitutional, the more important question is what happens next. Free the People has a long history of pointing out the evils of the socialist regime led by Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, and yet history teaches us that regime-change wars invariably make things worse rather than better. As Maduro’s vice president assumes control for the time being, there remain many questions about what the plan is going forward, whether it involves installing new leadership or a boots-on-the-ground military occupation by U.S. forces, or whether the country will simply be left to its own devices from here on out. The answers to these questions will determine much about the future faced by the Venezuelan people.

On the eve of 2026, Matt Kibbe takes a look back at the first year of Donald Trump's second term as president of the United States. Trump was swept into office by an extraordinary coalition of tech enthusiasts, disaffected Democrats, and even libertarians, all of whom expected big things in return for their support. Trump promised to drain the swamp, end foreign wars, cut spending, and free Ross Ulbricht. These selected segments from this year's "Kibbe on Liberty" guests trace Trump's progress on all these issues, from the heady days of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to the bitter parting of ways between Trump and conservative lawmakers like Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene, as well as how these issues will affect Republicans in the looming 2026 midterm elections.

One of the most precious things COVID lockdowns took from us was the ability to gather, to socialize, and of course to drink together. Matt Kibbe sits down for a beer with Thomas Pacchia, the founder and CEO of PubKey, a Bitcoin-friendly establishment with locations in New York and Washington, D.C. Pacchia explains the importance of Bitcoin, not as part of an investment portfolio, but as a medium of exchange protected from the government’s manipulation of the money supply. His bars aim to offer a low barrier to entry for new and inexperienced Bitcoin users to start treating the technology as an actual currency, while at the same time encouraging community and friendship among like-minded individuals. You can check out more about PubKey on their website: https://www.pubkey.bar/

You better not shout, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why: The Epstein files are coming to town! Following the near-unanimous passage of Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie's discharge petition, the Trump Justice Department has until midnight on December 19 to finally make the Epstein files public. Will the administration follow through, or will Pam Bondi and pals attempt some last-minute shenanigans? Matt Kibbe sits down with Thomas Massie to discuss what happens next and whether the recently reopened investigation into Epstein's case has a chance of thwarting the will of the people.

With the arrest of a suspect for placing the January 6 pipe bombs, the FBI would like to consider the case closed. But Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) says not so fast! Matt Kibbe sits down with his favorite congressman to discuss the myriad unanswered questions about why law enforcement officers were able to find the bombs so quickly, why they stopped looking after finding two of them, and why the Biden FBI apparently declined to prosecute this suspect for more than four years. Did Kash Patel and Dan Bongino finally get their man, or is he a patsy meant to take the fall and get the public to stop asking questions?

The Supreme Court is currently hearing a case to decide whether the Trump administration has the power to impose tariffs on a whim, without the approval of Congress. Trump wants this power as a negotiating tool, but he fails to consider the fact that future administrations will be able not only to overturn his orders but to impose far more onerous ones of their own. Matt Kibbe talks with John Vecchione, senior litigation counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance, about the dangers of executive power overriding the legislative branch of government. Do we really want a system that would allow a future President AOC to unilaterally tax gas-powered cars out of existence or levy selective tariffs on anything she deems bad for the environment? Republicans always seem to forget that they will not be in charge forever, and with the midterm elections fast approaching, their time in the majority may be ending sooner than they think. This is all the more reason why they should use this opportunity to govern responsibly instead of setting dangerous legal precedents that will empower their enemies in just a few years.

The right to keep and bear arms is one of the most sacred and unique features of the American system of government, allowing citizens to defend themselves not only against criminals, but against potential tyranny as well. Yet in spite of this fact, the corporate press is determined to misrepresent the statistics on gun violence in order to push for stricter gun control laws. John Lott, Senior Litigation Counsel NCLA, sits down with Matt Kibbe to tell the real truth about guns and gun owners, such as the fact that almost all mass shootings occur in gun-free zones, that armed citizens prevent thousands of crimes every year, and that gun registries disproportionately impact the poorest Americans. In almost all cases, the attempts to disarm Americans are built on emotion, not data.

When Javier Milei was first elected president of Argentina in 2023, no one was really sure whether his populist, free-market policies would work to fix the nation's struggling economy. Two years later, he has made tremendous strides, as reflected in Argentina's 2025 legislative elections, in which Milei's party received a clear mandate from the masses. Matt Kibbe sits down with Agustin Etchebarne, director-general at Fundación Libertad y Progreso, to discuss why Milei has become so popular and why he has been so successful in presenting the ideas of Austrian economics to his voters.

Freedom of speech may be under assault in America, but that's nothing compared with what's going on in the United Kingdom, where police are arresting 33 people every day for social media posts. Matt Kibbe sits down with Reem Ibrahim, head of media for the Institute of Economic Affairs, to discuss how Britain has become so authoritarian, the difference in attitude between the British and American public, and whether there is any hope for the nation that gave us the Magna Carta to embrace liberty again.