ABC's This Week interviewed Admiral Mike Mullen this morning about Trump II's War of Choice on Iran. Yesterday, CNN's Michael Smerconish interviewed Admiral James Stavridis about the same topic. Neither network revealed their conflicts of interest from their private equity ties.
Admiral Mullen's C5 Capital is "tackling some of the biggest societal issues that corrode global security and disrupt peace." That sounds germane to the current outbreak of war.
C5 was founded by South African born Andre Pienaar who calls himself a "cybersecurity, space and energy expert and investor. He does not have the same name recognition as Elon Musk or Peter Thiel but he is politically connected.
Pienaar serves on the Advisory Board of the U.S. Institute of Peace which was renamed in December 2025 to the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. That board is currently under disruption like everything Trump II, private equity underwriters (PEU) and TechGods touch.
An SEC filing stated:
Admiral Michael Mullen, Ret. joined the Pine Island Capital Partners team in 2018.
Mullen was not alone in getting a free pass on his conflicts of interest. The Carlyle Group's Admiral James Stavridis got same.
Surely, Carlyle's global strategists are working overtime with the seismic remaking of industries and the globe, something they have had a hand in for decades.
Thank heaven for the French. They may be the first to surrender in war, but they did not surrender to conflicted warriors. Their interview with General David Petraeus disclosed his PEU role with KKR and his numerous positions, one of which deals with the Middle East.
The PEU Admirals & Generals have returned to the airwaves, no longer afraid that Trump II might twist their words or whack heir firm in retaliation for anything less than "Trump is great, Trump is good and I thank him for our food."
It's risk taking time, everything, everywhere and all at once. Where are the sane minds in Congress and the Supremes? Many are retiring, so I hear. How many will end up on a PEU or TechGod payroll?
And how many PEU/TechGod candidates will emerge to replace them?
Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren. Increasingly, more are one and for this many suffer needlessly.