Note: the interview with Dennis Brennan is above.
Current Events
Richard Luthmann and I were back for the 54th edition of The Unknown.
In the current events segment, we talked about a slew of important US Court of Appeals decisions, monopoly action with Google and NASCAR, Trump firing on smuggling ships in Venezuela, and Pete Hegseth wanting to honor more Confederates.
Find the full segment below.
I previously wrote about the What the Hales segment.
Burr: Misunderstood
After that, we brought historian Dennis Brennan on the show. He is author of the book: D.C. Swamp Strikes Back: Aaron Burr, Donald Trump and Their Similar Battles.
In it, Dennis took a contrarian view, defending someone long viewed a villain, Aaron Burr.
Dennis argued that far from being a villain, Burr was the first victim of the DC swamp and the lawfare which President Donald Trump faced from 2021-2025.
Burr’s historic fate was sealed when he killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel on July 11, 1804.
Hamilton wasn’t an iconic founding father, and the architect of the US financial system.
He also was a media mogul, starting the NY Post.
His allies, Dennis told us, went to work, and Burr’s historical reputation was cooked.
The duel started with a war of words which escalated until Hamilton felt his honor was at stake and he challenged Burr to the duel.
Burr served in the Revolutionary War before working his way through the New York State political hierarchy.
Alexander Hamilton married into one of the four families who set the political agenda in New York.
Burr was an outsider who infiltrated New York politics, a la Donald Trump.
The rivalry formed.
Richard noted that the duel didn’t take place in their native New York state, where it was illegal, but across the state border in New Jersey where it was.
Hamilton missed, Burr didn’t, and Hamilton was dead.
With it, Burr’s political career and historic reputation.
Later, Burr was tried for treason, for purportedly conspiring to raise armies to fight the US.
We spent a lot of time going over the evidence of this case with Dennis.
He said that Thomas Jefferson and his cronies had a lot to do with pushing forward a weak case against Burr, a Jefferson rival.
“They didn’t have any evidence that he (Burr) took any steps to further the conspiracy,” Dennis told us, “The idea was, he was going to Louisiana and meet up with his friend for- they were forming an army supposedly.”
“There was an alleged meeting,” Dennis continued.
The evidence, he further stated, came largely from Burr’s friend, James Wilkinson, who turned against Burr.
Wilkinson had a reason to color his testimony, since he was working for Jefferson’s administration.
Burr, to his dying day, said he went to Louisiana to help the country and try and make a deal with Spain.
US Supreme Court Chief Justice, who presided over the two treason trials, said the elements of conspiracy weren’t met.
While found not guilty in a court of law, Burr was found guilty in the court of public opinion, and in particular, the historical court.
Burr faced numerous trials by his political enemies, similar to President Trump.
For that reason, Dennis Brennan thinks he should be viewed as the first person to take on the DC swamp.
Check out the full episode below.
