I posted a bit on this last night but thought I'd summarize here everything I've found as I've searched public records about the Harps. I think the most problematic part of the public story on them is Natalie's lack of transparency about her medical crises—a "medical mistake" of which there seems to be no record and no lawsuit, no name and no facility ever made public. She also blames this medical mistake for her cancer which doesn't seem to be supported by medical science. She also claims the Right to Try law saved her life when that is patently false. There is plenty of other weirdness to dive into.

I may or may not update this. But I since I am not a doctor or lawyer and there might be some reading this, please feel free to add correction or clarification where it is helpful. I'm not trying to create a conspiracy theory here, just trying to make sense of a lot of loose ends and untold history around this person who is now among the most powerful in the world.

I am not a conspiracy-type. But I am extremely skeptical of randos who quickly rise to power in Trump World. It is true that a young-ish blond who is a talking head on a far right "news" network rising to power is unsurprising. But it is also true that dozens of people around Trump were directly or indirectly operatives of Russia, many coming from anonymous or at least inconspicuous backgrounds. It's also true that Russia, since the end of World War 2 and perhaps earlier, has had as a primary focus of it's espionage work, made great effort to penetrate the leadership and intelligence operations of its adversaries. This is a primary focus, not a side hustle for them. There have been many notable cases where this activity has been confirmed including Ames, Hansen, Manafort, Bhutina to name a few in a history that spans 40 some years. It would be very foolish to assume that Russia, led by a former KGB has ceased this type of operation. Though their almost open relationship with Trump might render some high risk work less necessary.

All that said, while it may be easy to disregard odd connections, undocumented background stories or unexplained rises to power, it seems foolish to not dig in a bit where the ground has proven to be highly fertile—Trump has been manipulated by Russia through a variety of vector points over at least 10 years, and Russia has a long history of trying to do this with our government.

So I decided to at least pull on a few Natalie Harp threads.

Here is a rough timeline of public events:

2012 Earns Bachelor of Arts from Point Loma Nazarene University

2015 Earns Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Liberty University

Nov 9, 2015 Suffers a severe medical error when accidentally infused intravenously with sterile water instead of saline.

2017 Diagnosed with stage II bone cancer following prolonged complications and chronic pain.

May 30, 2018 President Donald Trump signs the federal Right to Try Act into law.

June 12, 2019 Publishes LinkedIn post "I'm Living Proof – the Party of Healthcare is Trump's," leading to a Fox & Friends interview, praise from Trump, and an invitation to join his 2020 campaign advisory board.

June 23 2019, goes on Fox and Friends to talk about her linkedin post which "went viral"

July 17, 2020 Dr. Robert Harp, dies by suicide in Orange County, California.

Aug 24, 2020 Delivers a primetime address on Night 1 of the Republican National Convention, praising Trump as a healthcare savior.

2020 – 2022 Works as an anchor and program host for OAN.

Mar – Apr 2022 Relocates to Florida and joins Trump’s post-presidency staff / Save America PAC.

2022 – 2024 Serves as a campaign aide; earns the nickname "the human printer" for delivering immediate paper printouts of news to Trump and managing social media dictation.

Jan 20, 2025 Formally appointed as Executive Assistant to the President / Special Assistant to the President.

There's some weird shit in there.

First, the "severe medical error." She talks very vaguely about this publicly. She has never mentioned any details about this—no hospitals, clinics, doctors have been mentioned. She only mentions the exact date of when it happened, which she states as being coincidentally one year to the day before Trump took office. As far as my limited ability to research this has taken me, there is no record of any law suit of any kind in relationship to what she calls, a "medical error."

Second, there is no medical record or history, that I can find of this type of error—injecting sterile water rather than saline—leading to bone cancer. She has also never given any details about her variety of bone cancer and has only referred to it as "stage II" "terminal" and "rare."

For these two issues, it seems entirely plausible that there could have been a settlement—perhaps even before a lawsuit occurred, if that is even something that happens. I'm no lawyer. But maybe that happened so there is no law suit on record. Or it's possible that my limited ability to search just didn't render something that is there. I checked court records in Orange County.

It could also be a very simple explanation that she did have this unfortunate medical crisis with the infusion of water and that she links it to her cancer the way people link autism to vaccines.

She spoke about this at the GOP convention, in a primetime slot on night 1.

That speech came as a result of her linkedin post a year earlier where she gave the history of her medical crisis and how Trump's EO saved her life. There are some odd details in there that seem pretty dramatic and IMO invite at least curiosity if not whole hearted skepticism. She gets detailed about the life ending care that she says she was offered. This was stage II cancer according to her. She echoed these claims in her convention speech a year later.

I was unable to find any information about the specific treatment she received that saved her life.

I was unable to find any information about the doctor who treated her or how this treatment is now being used or if it is helping others.

back in 2020, Undark called out Harp's contradictions in her story.

"But Harp’s story doesn’t seem to be an actual case of Right to Try providing access to an experimental treatment. According to Harp’s own statements, she received “an FDA-approved immunotherapy drug for an unapproved use” to treat her cancer. The federal Right to Try law, however, cannot be used for FDA approved drugs. Rather, the off-label use of FDA approved drugs has been allowed for many years, long predating President Trump’s administration."

As far as her father's suicide goes, tragedies like this happen. And they happened at a higher rate around Covid. And they sometimes happen to otherwise successful people which he appears to have been as a professor and real estate broker. But as soon as he dies, in fact two weeks after his funeral she speaks at the GOP convention. There is also a paucity of public data about her father's death, which isn't necessarily surprising.

It's been reported already that Natalie and her mother, Jill wanted to lie about her father's death and say that it was due to natural causes. That is somewhat unsurprising for two people who are public about their Christianity and that Robert himself was involved in Lausanne Movement a global network of christian businessmen. They may have thought they were protecting Robert's legacy as a Christian businessman as many christian denominations (if not all) see suicide as a serious sin.

This created a rift between Natalie and her mom, and her brother. Preston, moved to Nicaragua in 2022 where he still lives and works with expat anti-interventionist S. Brian Willson. It's another angle of curiosity within this family.

References

• Robert Harp Obituary
• GlobalHotelNetwork.com one of Robert Harp's businesses
• Natalie Harp Linkedin post
• Natalie Harp appearance on Fox and Friends 2019
• Undark story on Trump's Right to Try and Harp's misappropriation of the concept.

EDIT: 8:40 EDT - reflecting on everything here I find it very odd that the most obvious issue with Harps story/background is the inconsistency in her medical story and the claim that Trump saved her life when the law had nothing to do with the treatment she received—that there is no focus on that in any reporting.

My wife and I had been trying to have a baby for 5 years as of 2016. From 2016 to 2019 my wife had two miscarriages. All of this before Covid. Then she got the shot in March of 2021. Our daughter was born in December of 2022. So apparently it was an effective fertility treatment for her. And this was at the age of 45 entering perimenopause.

Who are the guys either at MLB level of in the minors that fill out the rotation? Are there some FAs in there because of lack of depth? Same for the lineup. What does it look like, who from the farm makes it and where do we have FAs? Are current players like JHL, Webb, Devers still around?

Asking because I have no idea, man.

I have a little aluminum skiff I like to take crabbing in a little bay not too far from my house. I go as much as I can in season. Often when friends or family visit I give them a taste of the seafaring life and take them out for a little float and pull up some crabs.

One of these outings went wrong one day. I was out with my 9 year old daughter and my 7 year old niece. We had finished dropping and pulling up our traps after about 2 hours. The weather was changing and it was starting to feel like it could get unsafe. So I went to start up the engine to go back to shore and nothing happened. I pulled that cord for a good ten minutes. Must have pulled it 100 times or more. Tried a lot of different things—checked the fuel line, the carburator. Couldn't figure out the problem. I had just had the boat worked on so I was expecting it to work well and it was a surprise that I was having a problem.

The tide started to move from a slack tide to a receding tide and the water began to move pretty swiftly. All I had was a wooden oar. As I would try to start the motor, after a couple of attempts the current would pull me in toward the shore where it became too shallow to attempt to start the motor. So I would have to push back out with my oar and try to pull a few more times. Then after a couple of pulls I'd be right there in the shore again and have to push off. This happened maybe a dozen times. All this time I was gradually moving toward more open waters that were rougher. And rain was beginning to fall along with the sun. I was starting to get worried as this cycle of paddling, pulling the starter cable and then pushing back out into deep enough water to try again was exhausting. There was also a risk that the tide could pull me into rougher, more open water. So keeping a course that was close to shore but deep enough to keep the prop down was difficult and was quickly using up my strength. I was still far from safety and getting worn out with two little girls there needing protection and unable to offer help. It was getting colder, darker and rainier with each minute.

I was beginning to wonder how this was going to turn out.

Then a song came into my mind—"Song of Good Hope."

If we're gonna make it
Cross this river alive
You need to think like a boat
And go with the tide

I realized I could use the outbound tidal current to clear the point of the peninsula then save my strength to paddle against the current for the last half mile or so. At least if I got that far, people waiting for me to return at the boat launch would see me and know I was okay but in need of some help or at least, their patience.

So I stopped fighting and let the current carry me out occasionally paddling a little to keep from floating out too far.

Eventually I did make it around the point and then with the rest I got by letting that tide carry me, was able to paddle in that last half mile or so.

Kind of a weird question to ask because I am not sure if I even care. His work with PJ is awesome. My favorite songs often are influenced strongly by Jeff's bass.

Anyway, I'm not a genius with music. I played violin for a couple years and always sucked at it. Can read sheet music well enough to sing with a choir, but do not understand instrumental stuff at all. Also, I love Pearl Jam but I don't go around critiquing bass players. I know some of the very well known bass players like Flee or Less Claypool. Mostly know of Claypool because of my stoner friends in high school LOL. I am sure though that there are a ton of great bassists out there that I couldn't name. But how does Jeff stack up?

Caleb Wilson says he’s taking 2k-2,500 shots everyday. Says he’s not changing anything mechanically. “You get more confidence putting in the work.”

At UNC: “I didn’t really have the time. Had to go to class. That’s what’s good about the NBA, it’s just your job.”

source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/author/joel-lorenzi/

EDIT: Holy shit people? do none of you listen to the podcast? It's a bit!!!!

What is America really good at? Making rich people even richer with a small fraction of the residual benefitting the general public through the form of a product.

We have the seeds for this already as two hedge fund billionaires helped land Poch to be USMNT head coach.

How this works:

A few of America's super rich get together in the Hamptons over a weekend and decide they want to make America a top soccer nation. Alone they can't fund enough grass roots activity to do it. And they realize like the capitalists they are, if they don't control the means of production, they can't make all the money. Why give charitably to a thousand soccer clubs run by a bunch of slimeball hucksters to make soccer free when you could instead create a megacomplex with the world's most elite athletic trainers and international soccer geniuses to shape 5, 6 and 7 year olds from all over the world into a future Messi, Courtoise, Mbappe or Kane?

Can you see the venture cap model unfolding here?

So they create the best training/academy facility and organization in the world. They scout and recruit kids from the youngest ages, not just in Europe or South America, but in India, China Africa—areas that aren't scouted as well today.

They bring all these kids to New York or LA or maybe the Europeans go to New York and the South Americans go to LA.

They train them for 10 years then they turn into the athlete's agent. They put them in clubs where they play at the highest level they can competitively. Then the money starts flowing in. They take a cut of every contract of every player, every transfer fee. FIFA doesn't allow clubs to act as player agents but this wouldn't be a club, no professional team. They are just a soccer star factory.

As they become successful at this and more and more players land at the top clubs and perform well, it will become a global magnet for the best soccer talent in the world. People will move to America to have their kids trained at the Bezos Soccer Center, or the Balmer Soccer Institute. Eventually you have kids from soccer royalty being born in the US and playing for USMNT. Maybe even you get some dual nationals to play for the USMNT before that second generation hits.

Tough call because I know the Bulwark values, as do I, a broad scope of perspectives in a good faith effort to build a big tent anti-MAGA coalition. But there are a few accounts here and they appear to be increasing in number, that seem to be actively degrading the content and experience here which diminishes Bulwark’s mission. Something to consider.

Was just reading the Players Tribune piece posted in this sub. And this really stuck out to me:

>"Also … I’ve never been around so many tall people in my life. No, seriously, it’s like: How are these dudes so big? You know Aday Mara is 7’3”, right? Crazy. And this isn’t one of those 7’3” guys where all they can do is dunk. He’s making behind the back passes. No looks. I’m like: I didn’t know they actually made people like that. And then he’s a beast on the other end, too. Early on in practices, he’d be blocking my shot every time. I’m talking to my coaches like, “Um, maybe I suck? I can’t score on this guy.” I had to go back to the lab and figure out some new moves. And that’s how it is with pretty much all the guys on this team — they’re always doing things that make me want to work even harder just to stay at their level. We’re always pushing each other. And any given night, any of us can go off, which I think takes the pressure off of us as individuals. It makes everything so fun."

Cam Boozer like Steph and Klay grew up on the sidelines and in the locker rooms of their NBA fathers. He had the best possible training, coaching and competition his entire life. He was always playing against the best talent and had what Yaxel describes here for at least the last 5-6 years of his life if not longer. Yaxel played with competition that actually pushed him and had elite coaching for one season. Now he's going to have that every day. And I really think he still has a lot of growth in him. The guy played less than half of one season of high school and no AAU ball. The way he learned basketball was playing with his friends, and none of them could match him physically, so he was never pushed to work to be great against great players. That happened for the first time less than a year ago.

I don't bring up Boozer to suggest that Yax is a better prospect, he's not. Obviously. But the contrast in the two is important to point out when people write off Yax for being so much older than Boozer or any freshman.

I agree with the idea that the draft *IN MOST CASES* should be seen as a way to add players to your rotation for the coming season that can contribute immediately and grow into bigger roles as their skills and physical attributes mature.

This is why I am really high on Wagler. Because he can be a 6th-8th man in a rotation to come off the bench tomorrow and knock down open jumpers at a high rate. And in three years he might also be leading your offense.

As a Warrior fan I look at what the Warriors did with Kuminga in rolling the dice on someone they thought had star potential but knew was raw. Kerr wouldn't play him because the maturity of his skillset wasn't there. He had very little he could add in year one to get him on the floor. So they got very, very little out of a top 7 pick. Teams can not afford to do that.

It's also why I'm high on a guy like Yaxel, who is older but is ready now. And there is a high probability a team would only have him for 4-7 years at which point he would be no older than 30. So why would I care if he's 23 now?

I think a lot of front offices over think things trying to get the best probability at an all star or a team leader, when that is rarely what the draft yields for the team that drafts the player. And in the current CBA that will become less likely.

Looking at the past 7 years—choosing that number to try to capture players who are either on rookie deals or a rookie extension—only 17 of the 144 all stars represented the team that drafted them (only looking at last 6 years of all stars to not artificially pad the N with rookies who weren't all stars). And of those 17 only 5 were outside of the top 5 slots.

Player (Draft Position) Year drafted position drafted (i.e first pick, second pick, etc) year as an all star

Zion Williamson (#1) 2019 1 2021, 2023

Ja Morant (#2) 2019 2 2022, 2023

Darius Garland (#5) 2019 5 2022, 2025

Tyler Herro (#13) 2019 13 2025

Anthony Edwards (#1) 2020 1 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026

LaMelo Ball (#3) 2020 3 2022

Tyrese Maxey (#21) 2020 21 2024, 2026

Cade Cunningham (#1) 2021 1 2025, 2026

Evan Mobley (#3) 2021 3 2025

Scottie Barnes (#4) 2021 4 2024, 2026

Jalen Duren (#13) 2021 13 2025

Alperen Sengun (#16) 2021 16 2025

Jalen Johnson (#20) 2021 20 2026

Paolo Banchero (#1) 2022 1 2024

Chet Holmgren (#2) 2022 2 2026

Jalen Williams (#12) 2022 12 2025

Victor Wembanyama (#1) 2023 1 2025, 2026

5 goals (could have easily been 6) in two World Cup matches days shy of 39. Lionel Messi turns 39 in two days. Will he be the best 39 year old athlete in history? Obviously Lebron and Brady are in the conversation. But he's better than KAJ was at the same age. Better than Jordan was in his Wizards days.

EDIT: Brainfart on Bonds. But I also thought of Clemens and there are probably others, Nolan Ryan? Who’s on the Mt Rushmore?

Player	Age	HT	WT	PPG	3PT%	3PA
Wagler	19	6'6"	185	17.9	39.7	5.9
Klay	19	6'6"	187	12.5	41.2	5
Klay	20	6'6"	202	19.6	36.4	6.7
Klay	21	6'6"	202	21.6	39.8	7.2

The knock against Wagler has been his slight frame and limited athleticism. He's also seen more as a PG because he has good distribution and creation skills. However I think his role in the early part of his career is going to be off ball as a jump shooter. That's where I see him looking a lot like Klay. And note that at the same age, they basically had the same body. Klay got huge in the NBA, and there's no reason that couldn't happen for Wagler. As he adds weight and improves handle, his game may expand to be a primary ball handler who is also an elite shooter with positional size.

On the defense side of the ball, he doesn't look like he will be locking down primary options on offense. But he is a smart defender with good positional size.

• 2022 (Qatar): Quarter-finals (eliminated by Morocco)
• 2018 (Russia): Round of 16 (eliminated by Uruguay)
• 2014 (Brazil): Group Stage
• 2010 (South Africa): Round of 16 (eliminated by Spain)
• 2006 (Germany): 4th Place (lost to Germany in the third-place play-off)
• 2002 (South Korea/Japan): Group Stage

Bill Simmons has been right about these things before. Not saying he is always right or even often right, and that isn't the point here. But it seems like he is a good dot connector who if he has a little inside info can be right at times. I think that was the case when he said Lebron would go to the Lakers at least a year before it happened. IIRC he also called Durant going to the Warriors. Saying he would "bet his life" that Lebron is going to go to the Warriors seems to me to be a way of him saying—I know this is going to happen because I have inside information.

He may end up being wrong in embarrassing fashion. But I thought I would just play around with the trade machine to see how this will work.

I have thought for a while now that if Lebron went to the Warriors it would only make sense on a vet min or at most a MLE of some variety. And over the past year things have only trended more that direction. If Lebron is going to the Warriors, here is why I think he would do it on a vet min or MLE

1. The guy is a billionaire. The money is of little real consequence other than to signal his value/dominance. But. he has so thoroughly established this over the past 23 years is there really much value to be gained from prioritizing money now? Sure his ego and agent might not agree, but the I think it makes sense that he would care more about making the most out of his final season(s) on the court and for his legacy.
2. A Lebron S/T would have to be for three years. I would be shocked if he or the Warriors would want to do that. Perhaps the Warriors would want to at a super low number—like Moses Moody money. And I suppose he could just retire at any point during that contract if he isn't up for playing until he's 45. But I don't think the Warriors would want to risk that and tie up the money that far in the future for him. Slight chance this could happen, but it seems less likely.
3. If Lebron is coming here, it's either because he just wants to have fun with Steph, or he want's his 6th 5th ring. I'll be the first to agree that there are other places he could go to give himself a better shot at a ring—hell, staying in LA would be more convenient and at least as likely as the best case scenario the Warriors could put together to make a deep playoff run. Because of all this, I think, if he chooses the Warriors he'd want to maximize the roster he's going to, letting the Warriors keep Jimmy and Draymond, the only players who could possibly make an S/T work.
4. The only other way the Warriors could acquire him without an extraordinarily unlikely S/T would be as a vet min or MLE.

Just following the logic here, I think there is a decent chance that Lebron would be acquired via MLE or vet min if he is intent on coming to the Warriors. So how serious is Simmons about betting his life? I just think that's his way of signaling inside info, and he's done it multiple times in the past and one of those times involved Lebron. Another involved the Warriors.