Biden admin led operation to blow up Nord Stream pipelines, says new report
The Biden administration may have committed an act of war by leading a joint effort with Norway to destroy three of Russia’s four Nord Stream 1 pipelines, according to a new report by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh.
While the Biden administration categorically denied its involvement in the explosion that hit Nord Stream 1 in September — a denial obediently echoed by mainstream media, who blamed it on Russia — Wednesday’s report appears to unravel that claim.
Hersh says the plan was conceived in 2021 as the White House grew concerned that the 760-mile pipeline, which funneled cheap Russian natural gas to northern Germany, would cause Europe to become more dependent on Russia and less on the United States.
Years earlier, President Trump had publicly warned Germany to pause development of Nord Stream 2, another pipeline which would make Europe’s largest economy even more dependent on Russia’s natural gas. While German officials mocked Trump at the time, Chancellor Olaf Scholtz was forced to admit in March 2022 that Germany was unable to fully divest from Russia because it was dependent on its energy.
Nord Stream 1 was owned by Nord Stream AG, a holding company for Russian energy corporation Gazprom and four European firms, with Russia’s Gazprom maintaining majority ownership. This meant that Russia was raking in astounding profits — enough to cover as much as 45% of its annual budget.
The White House also worried that if Germany and other European states became dependent on Russian energy, they would not supply aid and weapons to Ukraine.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was authorized to come up with a solution. Sullivan assembled an interagency team that included officials from the CIA, the State and Treasury Departments and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The team concluded that sabotaging the pipeline would be the most effective way to isolate Russia and maintain Europe’s allegiance to the United States.
One thing that was obvious to all involved was that the operation, if discovered by Russia, could be seen as an act of war. The plan, therefore, had to be kept secret — so secret that even Congressional leaders would not know about it.
So, instead of using elite covert units from Special Operations Command, which would by law require the administration to brief Senate and House leadership on the details, the federal government decided to use deep divers from the U.S. Navy’s Diving and Salvage Center in Panama City.
The Biden administration also enlisted the help of Norway, where the US has a newly refurbished submarine base. Norway, aside from being anti-Russia, would benefit from an out-of-commission Nord Stream because it would enable Norway to sell its own natural gas to Europe.
The operation was hi-tech and daring. It was decided to have divers place concrete-sleeved bombs at strategic spots on the pipeline 260 feet beneath the Baltic Sea, a few miles from Denmark’s Bornholm Island. The bombs could be detonated on Biden’s command.
But for reasons still unclear, Biden publicly announced in March that the US government “will bring an end” to Nord Stream 2.
"If Russia invades . . . then there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2," he said during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. "We will bring an end to it."
When a reporter asked him how the US would end the pipeline, Biden ominously answered, "I promise you, we will be able to do it."
Two months before, State Department official Victoria Nuland vowed that “If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.”
These statements would later be used to question the Biden administration’s denial that it had anything to do with the Nord Stream’s explosion. The questions grew when a Biden official discarded rumors of a White House-authorized sabotage as “Russian disinformation,” a phrase that has become a go-to red herring for the Biden administration and its Pravda operatives in the mainstream media. The coordinated narrative accused Russia of sabotaging its own pipeline, though no motive was given.
While the CIA and the White House vehemently deny Hersh’s report, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has demanded a White House comment on the report. Zakharova announced that Russia intends to convene an official UN Security Council Meeting regarding the incident.
Russian Parliament Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin called Joe Biden a “terrorist who must be brought to justice”, according to The Gateway Pundit.
UN Secretary-General deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said the UN has not verified the report, but added that it is “up to US journalists to determine the veracity of these claims.”
Hersh quotes his unnamed source as saying that if the attack on Nord Stream were traceable to the United States, “It’s an act of war.”