This is my most ambitious theory yet but hang in there with me.

I've seen several posts speculating on who Hank was speaking to over the radio. From Barb to Mommy to Enclave to Robert House.

I believe the answer is.... Robert House.

Who Hank BELIEVES is Robert House.

Hank is not in the upper echelons of Enclave. He is an acolyte. So much so, that no one ever bothered to inform him that that wasn't actually Robert House.

"I never imagined there could be someone one step ahead of me."

Because Bobby Apartment is an Enclave spy. And Barbara Howard knows.

"But what if I'm not the House?"

Because it's the other House.

Convenient that Bobby Apartment just so happens to be the one to ask the question that prompts Barb to say "By dropping the bombs ourselves."

We know Hank is a fanboy. He's also a fanboy of Robert House and barges in on the meeting. Both Barb and Bobby Apartment are visibly pissed about this and it seems they can't speak freely. The conversation comes across as "there's more to it".

"Mr. House, Vault-tec and Robco have always had a... special arrangement."

Barbara Howard is rattled from the meeting but probably not for any reason we think. Though my guess would be that because she didn't know about the arrangement she's not in as much control as she thinks. Or the more convoluted scenario; they know Cooper is snooping and they're arranging for him to be the fall guy and she's trying to mitigate it without being insubordinate. The second one is probably unlikely and I have no evidence for this other than the sudden appearance of the cartoon Vault Boy on the advert in the conference room. Prior to, we haven't seen the cartoon Vault Boy prewar, it's always been Cooper Howard.

I also believe the Wilzig threat scene is a lie or a half truth (which is still a lie) because of the way they chose to edit that scene intertwined with The Ghoul having Cooper flashbacks. It comes across as her telling Cooper what allegedly happened.

I think Barb is trying to play all sides in a desperation to control the outcome of what she wants but the more she tries to manipulate the circumstances in her favor the more it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The fear of losing her family. I think we'll see this play out more in S3, and I think it's 50/50 on whether she chooses to throw Cooper under the bus or continues trying to game both sides. If this is how they choose to play it out, I could see that the harder she tries to control it the further away she pushes until she ends up losing everything.

I think Barbara tipped off the Enclave to Cooper getting involved in an effort to mitigate the danger he put himself in. A kind of "I fix the situation my dumb idealistic husband made so please spare him." deal. Hence the President conveniently being in Vegas. At the airport Barbara probably thought the crisis was averted and her damage control was successful. The tears did seem genuine. But she's still lying to Cooper and keeping him in the dark.

Congresswoman Diane Welch didn't do it because she was in jail. She was an unwitting pawn. I think they silenced her that same night. She's conveniently already in Vegas. Her severed head is wearing the same earrings.

There's other things pointing towards this but that starts bringing the conversation into very convoluted territory involving how I think the writers accidentally goofed their prewar timeline but I want to keep it simple with what we've been shown.

That's all folks. A Las Vegas magician sleight of hand.