← The President's Daily Brief
The President's Daily Brief
August 1st, 2025: Putin's Summer Offensive Gains Momentum & The Clinton-Soros Plot To Derail Trump's Presidency
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- [00:00]
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- [00:29]
Mike Baker
Registered broker dealer looking to diversify and protect your hard earned assets. Well, schedule a free consultation call with the Birch Gold Group. They're the precious metals specialists. Just text PDB to the number 989-898 and you'll receive a free no obligation information kit and you'll learn how to convert an existing IRA or a 401k into a gold IRA. Again, text PDB to the number 989898. Foreign It's Friday the 1st of August. Oh, well, would you look at that. We've made it to the start of yet another month. And, and if it's August, well, can holiday Christmas music be far off? I. I think not. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, Russia's summer offensive against Ukraine intensifies as Moscow's forces attempt to take entire eastern Donetsk region. Now, the advances come as a Russian airstrike killed more than a dozen civilians and wounded hundreds in Kiev on Thursday. Now, I don't want to sound negative, but that airstrike might be yet another indication that Putin doesn't plan on capitulating to President Trump's August 8th ceasefire deadline. But that's just me being churlish. Later in the show, we'll look at surprising, yet not surprising revelations from newly declassified intelligence documents which show that Hillary Clinton, remember her, plotted with members of the DNC and George Soros Open Society Foundation. He is everywhere, isn't he? To foster and push the Trump Russia collusion narrative. Plus, an alarming new report warns that the mullahs of Iran are stepping up efforts to carry out attacks against Jewish targets across Europe while intensifying their persecution of religious minorities within the Islamic regime. And in today's Back of the Brief, we turn to Syria, where US Military forces recently took out a senior leader of the Islamic State, ISIS and Two other ISIS insurgents in a ground raid. But first, today's PDB Spotlight Russia's summer offensive against Ukraine is gaining momentum as Moscow's forces reportedly capture a key town in eastern Ukraine and close in on one of the last major cities in the Donetsk region still held by Kyiv. Officials with the Russian Defense Ministry claimed Thursday that their troops had taken control of the town of chasivyar AFTER nearly 18 months of intensive fighting in the surrounding area. The Kremlin published drone footage showing Russian soldiers occupying parts of the town, saying more than 4,200 buildings and structures had been cleared and 50 Ukrainian troops had been taken prisoner. That's according to a report from cnn. The Ukrainian military later confirmed the presence of Russian soldiers in parts of the eastern Ukrainian town, but denied that it had fallen to the Putin regime, calling the Kremlin's claims propaganda still deep State that's a Ukrainian open source mapping site published footage of Russian troops planting flags in two neighborhoods signaling Ukraine Ukrainian forces had indeed been pushed back. If Russia's alleged capture of the town is confirmed, it would represent a major strategic blow for Kiev. The town, which is located on relatively high ground, has long served as a regrouping point and forward artillery base for the Ukrainian army. Russia has regarded it as one of Ukraine's best defended strongholds, given its elevated geography and rough terrain. Its capture would advance Russia's slow and bloody effort to encircle Ukraine's fortress belt of cities in the eastern Donetsk region, removing a key obstacle that's prevented their army from pushing westward. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are sounding the alarm on Russia's efforts to consolidate control of the entire Donetsk region as their forces move toward the city of Pokrovsk, a crucial logistics hub that connects several key cities in Ukraine's eastern defensive arc. Russian troops have been steadily advancing on the city from the north, the east and south, using small infantry groups and drone surveillance to stretch the Ukrainian forces thin. Moscow has also been sending sabotage and reconnaissance groups into the southern portion of the city, seizing on vulnerabilities left in the defensive perimeter by depleted Ukrainian military units. Ukrainian military analyst Ivan Stupak told the Moscow Times that Russia's overwhelming numerical advantage, coupled with Ukraine's manpower shortage and the extensive length of the current front lines, have caused the situation near Pokrovsk to rapidly deteriorate over the past month. While the Russian military has been trying unsuccessfully to capture the city for more than a year, Stupak predicts that they may finally break through Ukraine's weakened defenses. The analyst warned, quote, I believe the city will likely be abandoned within 60 days. If the city does eventually fall, Russia would be able to cut off one of the Ukrainian military's main supply routes in the region and take effective control over nearly the entire Donetsk region. And that's a, it's a primary objective for Moscow. Ever since the war began. Well, the war began when they invaded Ukraine. Ever since their invasion, let's put it that way. The advances come as Russia unleashed a massive wave of missiles and drones on Kiev early Thursday morning, killing at least 16 civilians, including two children, and wounding more than 150 others. Of the injured, Ukrainian President Zelensky said 16 were children. That's the highest number to be wounded in a Russian attack since the invasion began. Zelensky said the attack, which involved more than 300 drones and eight missiles, was, quote, extremely insidious and deliberately calculated to overload the air defense system. He added, quote, today the world has once again seen Russia's response to our desire for peace. Therefore, peace without strength is impossible, end quote. Now, the latest strike fell on the same day that the Trump administration told the UN Security Council that the Kremlin has until August 8 to make a deal with Kyiv to end the war or face new sanctions and tariffs on their oil exports. But earlier this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed Trump's threat of secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil, claiming Russia had developed immunity to sanctions after navigating around them in the years since the war began or since they launched their invasion. Peskov said, quote, we have been living under a huge number of sanctions for quite a long time. Our economy operates under a huge number of restrictions. Therefore, of course, we have already developed a certain immunity in this regard, end quote. A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry echoed those sentiments, brushing off the threat of new sanctions as, quote, routine, saying the US And Europe fail to understand that such measures have little impact on Russia's wartime economy and end up doing more damage to Western economic interests. The spokesman said, we are responding and taking measures to counteract all of this or even turn it to our own advantage. Now, given Russia's battlefield gains, however slow and costly they may be, and the current rhetoric coming out of the Kremlin, it's hard to picture or imagine a scenario where Putin decides to agree to a ceasefire before Trump's deadline. As long as China and India in particular are willing to circumvent energy sanctions and continue purchasing Russian oil and gas at, well, attractive discounts, there's little chance that Russia will capitulate. If Trump does then place heavy tariffs on any nation doing business with the Kremlin. It comes down to how effectively those tariffs and and additional sanctions can be enforced. All right, after the break. Declassified documents show Hillary Clinton plotted with members of the dnc, George Soros Open Society foundation, and individuals at the highest levels of government to create and elevate the Trump Russia collusion narrative. Now, whether the Republicans can succinctly make their case without going off topic and whether anyone outside their base cares, well, that remains to be seen. Plus, the mullahs of Iran intensify their persecution of religious minorities. I'd put my surprised face on, except I'm not remotely surprised. And the mullahs and their IRGC step up efforts to carry out attacks against Jewish targets across Europe. Again, I. Well, I can't even pretend to be surprised. Those stories when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Well, I don't need to tell you this, but I'm about to. Right. We are deep into the dog days of summer, right? When it's, it's too hot to think or do just about anything. Oh, but it's never too hot to grill, right? You see what I did there? A smooth segue into a Tri Tails beef ad because Trails produces some of the greatest beef that you'll ever throw on your grill. Look, it's an amazing company, a fifth generation family run Texas ranch delivering great tasting beef straight from their place to your doorstep. And by visiting tribe.com PDB Tritails Beef is helping you push through the summer heat with a freezer full of pasture raised grain, finished Black Angus beef. It's amazing, I guarantee it. Look, order now and get two free flatiron steaks with the order. 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- [09:54]
Caitlin Becker
Hey, I'm Caitlin Becker, the host of the New York Post Cast and I've got exactly what you need to start your weekdays. Every morning I'll bring you the stories that matter, plus the news. People actually talk about the juicy details in the worlds of politics, business, pop culture and everything in between. It's what you want from the New York Post wrapped up in one snappy show. Ask your smart speaker to play the NYPostcast podcast. Listen and subscribe on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [10:26]
Mike Baker
Welcome back to the pdb. A newly declassified intelligence file reveals that Hillary Clinton approved plans to kneecap then candidate Donald Trump with fabricated ties to Russia during the 2016 election. Republicans are calling this one of the most egregious political scandals in U.S. history, and, well, there have been a few, frankly. The revelation comes from an intelligence annex attached to former Special counsel John Durham's 2023 report, declassified by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It details how Clinton in July of 2016 greenlit a proposal from then foreign policy adviser Julianne Smith to deflect attention from Clinton's own email scandal by manufacturing a media frenzy linking Trump to Moscow. According to a tranche of emails allegedly pilfered by Russian hackers from George Soros Open Society Foundation, Smith called for a prolonged effort to, quote, demonize Putin and Trump and spark what she hoped would be a media firestorm, a classic covert action campaign. Another exchange contained in the declassified material confirmed Clinton's personal approval of the scheme, noting that the plan would help shift public focus away from her legal troubles, especially if the effort goes, quote, to the highest level. But the fire wasn't expected to spread on its own. Open Society executive Leonard Bernardo suggested that the FBI would, quote, put more oil into the fire, signaling that the campaign anticipated help from the highest levels of federal law enforcement to give the hoax some teeth, or at least the veneer of law enforcement approval. To bolster the claims, the Clinton team planned to lean on cybersecurity firms CrowdStrike and Threat Connect, both known for close ties to the intelligence community, to feed the story to reporters despite knowing that there was no hard evidence to back it up. But this wasn't just a simple disinformation. Media campaign. Then CIA Director John Brennan personally briefed then President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, FBI Director James Comey, and Attorney General Loretta lynch on Clinton's plan. Brennan's now declassified notes referred to a, quote, plan to vilify Trump by stirring up a scandal, claiming interference by the Russian Security Service, end quote. Shortly thereafter, the FBI opened up Crossfire Hurricane and now discredited counterintelligence probe into the Trump campaign that leaned heavily on the Steele dossier. That was a CL DNC funded opposition file riddled with inaccuracies. And when I say riddled with inaccuracies, it was basically a binder full of crap. Despite internal doubts about the dossier's veracity, it was used to justify Foreign Intelligence Surveillance act warrants to surveil Trump campaign staff. A separate CIA memo passed to Comey and counterintelligence official Peter Strzok, remember him, explicitly cited Clinton's authorization of the plan as the basis for launching the investigation. The newly declassified Durham Annex concludes that the Clinton campaign, quote, wanted or expected federal agencies to, quote, aid that effort effectively using the credibility of the US Government to breathe life into a politically useful fabrication. Durham concluded Smith was, quote, at a minimum, playing a role and determined the emails were, quote, likely authentic. Based on corroboration by both the CIA and the FBI. US Intelligence analysts assess that the messages in question were not disinformation and likely originated from legitimate foreign sources with access to real material. And the Obama administration, well, they don't escape unscathed. A separate January 2016 memo claimed President Obama pressured Comey via lynch to quash the Clinton email investigation to safeguard his legacy. Another document described the use of, quote, administrative levers to insulate the Clinton foundation from scrutiny. Committee Chairman Senator Chuck Grassley, who spearheaded the annex's release, said the FBI's failure to act on this intelligence shows that the bureau had been politicized against Trump. He said, quote, these records were buried for years, adding, this is one of the biggest political scandals and cover ups in American history. The annex's release was also coordinated by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Now, Ratcliffe called the move a bold step forward in exposing a coordinated effort to cripple Trump's first term. Bondi vowed to support congressional action to hold those involved accountable, while Patel declared, the American people deserve the full unfiltered truth about the Russian collusion hoax and the political abuse of our justice system that it exposed. End quote. Now, I'm going to go out on a limb here with some predictions. Look, it's, it's Washington, D.C. right? So there will be an investigation and it will cost millions. And Democrats will cry foul and accuse the Republicans of wasting the taxpayers time and money. The Republicans will have a hard time getting their point across succinctly because, well, they always have a messaging problem. And the average American will instinctively understand that something wrong happened and that there was a cover up, but will lose interest when the next shiny object appears. And ultimately, well, nobody will be held accountable, not even Adam Schiff. Now, Adam Schiff spent hours in front of TV cameras telling the American people that there was actual evidence of collusion between Russia and Trump, but he just couldn't share it with the American people because it was so sensitive. Now, of all the peddlers of collusion crap, Adam, well, he pedaled the hardest, but again, no accountability. Okay. Turning to Iran, the Islamic Republic is tightening its grip on religious minorities at home while accelerating a global campaign of anti Semitism. According To a new report from the U.S. commission on International Religious Freedom, or as the acronym goes, US Serf. Tehran has intensified its campaign of anti Semitism and religious persecution in the wake of its 12 day war with Israel and the US back in June. The regime, the report claims, is ramping up arrests, executions and intimidation, targeting Jews, Christians, Sunnis and other non Shia communities within Iran and across Europe. The document released this week paints a damning portrait of a battered regime that's relying on proxies, propaganda, and sheer brutality to silence dissent and erase religious plurality. The crackdown, US Surf warns, is not a one off. It's the latest escalation in a years long pattern of religious repression that intensified after the 2020 death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, who, as some of our listeners may recall, was arrested for allegedly violating Iran's mandatory hijab law. Yeah, she showed her hair. And for that, the mullah's religious police killed her. Her death triggered widespread national unrest. And since then, regime authorities have executed at least 480 people under religiously charged accusations. Those charges include, quote, waging war against God and, quote, corruption on earth. And Tehran isn't slowing down. In the aftermath of the June conflict, Iran's judiciary issued fresh directives to fast track religiously charged prosecutions and ratchet up punishments for those suspected of collaborating with the West. Christians in the country are denied medical care, with pastors being jailed under Zionist charges. And Sunni and Sufi Muslims are subjected to arbitrary detention or even execution for merely speaking out against the regime's brutality. Women continue to be flogged or jailed for defying the hijab law, which is now enforced with an expanding arsenal of surveillance tools and public shaming tactics. Yeah, you wouldn't want that hair showing. Iran's Jewish population of an estimated 8,500 is also increasingly marginalized. Synagogues are monitored, so called quote, Jews only. Polling stations are reportedly used to intimidate voters to influence election outcomes. And holocaust denial is openly promoted. State media and hardline clerics routinely describe Jews as subhuman, deviant infidels. And earlier this year, operatives tied to Hezbollah and the IRGC affiliated Basij militia reportedly attempted to intimidate worshippers outside Jewish religious sites. And as you might suspect, legal recourse is, well, practically non existent. And by that I mean it's non existent. Many religious minorities are denied basic protections, tortured or imprisoned under sweeping national security laws that criminal dissent in the vaguest terms possible. That hatred hasn't stayed inside Iran's borders. According to the report, Tehran has contracted criminal gangs in Europe, including Sweden's chief narcotics trafficking network and the anti Semitic Rumba network to surveil and attack Jewish targets across the continent. In January, Iran reportedly paid $200,000 to a Georgian trafficker to assassinate a rabbi in Azerbaijan. That was a plot that was ultimately foiled. Weeks later, Danish authorities arrested a man tied to Iranian intelligence for scouting Jewish sites in Germany. And British officials say Iranian operatives have also attempted to activate sleeper cells in the UK to kill Jews. But Tehran's weapons aren't all physical. The Islamic Republic is waging a propaganda war too, broadcasting Spanish language anti Semitic messages across Latin America via Iran's state run networks. The commission concluded that, quote, the regime remains an egregious violator of freedom of religion or belief. Now, did the commission actually need to study the situation before coming up with that assessment? The U.S. surf called on the U.S. state Department to maintain Iran's designation as a, quote, country of particular concern. Let me just repeat that. The US Surf called on the US State Department to maintain Iran's designation as a, quote, country of particular concerns and urged international allies to impose further sanctions to support persecuted religious minorities. A country of particular concern. Look, only the State Department could come up with that sort of diplomatic twat waffle to describe the Iranian regime. Okay, coming up next, in the back of the brief, US Military forces take out a senior leader of the Islamic State and two other ISIS insurgents in a daring ground raid in Syria. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let's take a brief moment to talk about ways to protect your hard earned savings. Now look, I know the personal finance talk isn't everybody's favorite, but it is important to your financial health. One of the smartest ways that you can protect your savings is through diversification. And one way to diversify is with gold from the Birch Gold Group. 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- [21:52]
Piers Morgan
I'm Piers Morgan, the host of the Piers Morgan Uncensored podcast. We do big interviews and we do big debates about whatever's getting people talking. We make news, we make noise, and we make a little bit of trouble too. Come and see what all the fuss is about. You can listen to Piers Morgan uncensored on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcast.
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Mike Baker
US in today's Back of the Brief, I want to bring you some news regarding ISIS operations in Syria that has well flown under the radar for the most part. Last Friday, US Military forces conducted a rare ground raid in northwestern Syria targeting senior members of the Islamic State. During the mission, U.S. forces killed senior ISIS leader Zouba Masli Alhadani along with his two adult sons who held top positions in the terror group the According to a report from the New York Times, officials with the US Central Command said the militants posed a significant threat to U.S. and coalition forces in the region, as well as to Syria's new Islamist government, which has struggled to maintain order among the war torn countries numerous religious sects. Well, to be fair, that's in part because they supported attacks on the Druze community in southern Syria. So not exactly the moral high ground of inclusivity. Centcom provided little other details on that ground operation, but the fact that they chose to conduct a counterterrorism raid rather than an airstrike suggests that the targets were a particularly high value and were likely operating in civilian areas as cover. Analysts noted that the location of the raid may also have contained sensitive intel like hard drives or cell phones and other data that could help inform future missions. Now, Pentagon officials stressed that there were no casualties or injuries to U.S. personnel during the operation. The raid comes after President Trump lifted most of the US Economic sanctions on Syria in late June in the hopes that Syria's new leader, former Al al Qaeda member Ahmed al Sharah, can stabilize the country. Yeah, we'll see if that happens, a counterterrorism analyst at the security consulting firm Sufan Group told the Times. Publicizing the raid makes sense as the US May be eager to highlight the anti ISIS fight in partnership with Turkey and Syria in an effort to show the lengths Damascus is going to in order to make tangible changes and to see the US demands, end quote. I don't know if the Sufan Group knows, but that would be called a run on sentence. Now, it's not clear at this point whether the Syrian government even knew about the raid ahead of time. Frankly, it would be an astonishing operational leap of faith if anyone in the new Islamist government or military was briefed ahead of the operation so I'm not really sure just how much cooperation there was from the new Islamist government in Syria. As we've been tracking here on the pdb ever since the fall of Bashar al Assad's regime in December, there has been a resurgence of ISIS activity as the terror group works to exploit Syria's turbulent political transition. In mid June, an ISIS suicide bomber stormed a Greek Orthodox church service in Damascus, opening fire before detonating his explosive vest and killing at least 25 worshippers. A recent intelligence estimate puts ISIS total strength at up to 3,000 fighters across Syria and Iraq, including roughly 300 in central Syria, where it's believed to be rebuilding its external operations army. Another 9,000 fighters and 40,000 ISIS linked individuals remain in limbo in Syrian detention facilities. In a statement following the raid, General Michael Kurilla, commander of U.S. cENTCOM, said, quote, we will continue to relentlessly pursue ISIS terrorists wherever they operate. ISIS terrorists are not safe, where they sleep, where they operate, and where they hide. He added, quote, U.S. central Command is committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS terrorists that threaten the region, our allies and our homeland. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily brief for Friday 1st August. Now if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at bdb@the first tv.com and oh, did I say it's Friday? Well, kids, that must mean that a brand new episode of our weekend show, the PDB Situation Report is on the launchpad just waiting for liftoff. You can catch it this evening at 10pm on the first TV and of course it will be on our much loved YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief and of course, podcast platforms throughout all of podcast land. Terrific guests as always. Excellent insight, informative, thought provoking, and at times, well, even pithy. And we produce it, frankly, with far fewer staff than Stephen Colbert has. So check it out if you get a chance. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back later today with a PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, well, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.