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The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 26th, 2025: Satellite Images Reveal Work At Iran’s Secret Nuclear Site & James Comey Indicted
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Mike Baker
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Expedia Advertiser
Foreign.
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Mike Baker
It's Friday 26th September. Welcome to the PDB afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. The first up. Newly obtained satellite imagery reveals Iran is ramping up work at a secretive underground site just months after U. S and Israeli strikes on its nuclear program. I'll have those details later in the show. Former FBI Director James Comey. He's been indicted. Now facing charges of obstruction and lying to Congress. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. We're starting in Iran, where it appears that the mullahs are working to rebuild their rogue nuclear program, albeit cautiously, at a secretive underground fortress buried even deeper than the Fordo complex. According to an exclusive review of satellite imagery by the Washington Post, the Iranians have been quietly accelerating construction at a mysterious underground site known by Western intelligence as Pickaxe Mountain. Well, that sounds jaunty. The construction work has been intensifying ever since the June 22 US strikes that battered Iran's three main nuclear facilities, dealing a significant blow to the Islamic regime's atomic ambitions. As a brief reminder, Pickaxe Mountain is a suspected hidden nuclear fortress located just minutes away from the more well known Natanz nuclear site, which was bombed as part of June's Operation Pickaxe Mountain. I swear that sounds like a Disney ride. First came to the attention of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, or the IAEA, after satellite images were released earlier this year showing a new deeply buried tunnel and partially built security perimeter near the Natanz facility. Situated in the central Isfahan province. The installation has been quietly reinforced and expanded over the past four years. Above ground, the sprawling installation at Pickaxe Mountain occupies roughly a square mile of mountainside, with a pair of tunnel entrances on both the east and west side. The halls underneath the mountain, meanwhile, are reportedly buried some 260 to 330ft beneath the surface, nearly doubling the depth of the fortified underground nuclear complex at Fordo. In theory, its depth would make it difficult for even the largest American bunker buster bombs to penetrate. Additionally, the mountain housing the site is also 50% taller than the one at Fordo, providing greater protection and potentially larger underground chambers for Iran's nuclear operations. When construction first began at the site in 2020, Iranian leaders said it would house a production plant for assembling nuclear centrifuges. But its dimensions sparked suspicions that the true purpose of the facility is to serve as a new covert uranium enrichment complex, as well as a place to stash around stockpiles of near weapons grade uranium. But little concrete information is known about the site or its capabilities, and the IAEA has never been granted access to the complex. Construction of the site had been slow and deliberate over the past four years, but as I mentioned, ever since the US bombing campaign, the work has taken on a new urgency. So what do the satellite images reveal? According to the Post review, which was aided by several experts on Iranian nuclear activities, three major changes to the facility have been observed since late June. The near completion of a security perimeter, the reinforcement of a towel entrance, and a significant increase in excavated material known as spoil. Additionally, heavy equipment and construction vehicles have been spotted around the site, confirming that expanded building efforts are well underway. The analysis found that since the end of June, a 4,000 foot section of security wall has been erected on the west western edge of the complex, effectively sealing the security perimeter, and a new road has also been built parallel to the perimeter. Furthermore, one of the eastern tunnel entrances has been covered with dirt and rock. The fortifications of the tunnel entrance are meant to harden Pickaxe Mountain against airstrikes, particularly to prevent the entrance from collapsing, and indicate Iran's intent to use the site for nuclear proliferation. Regarding the excavation materials, the satellite imagery shows the pile has steadily increased in size near the eastern tunnel entrances, pointing to continued tunneling activity underground. Taken together, analysts say the activity shows the mullahs are intent on reviving their battered nuclear program at the secretive and well protected Pickaxe Mountain complex. An analyst for the Institute for Science and International Security told the Post, quote, the fact they're continuing to build this is significant. But another nuclear analyst noted to the Post that Tehran is still being deliberate in their construction and does not believe the mullahs are rushing to complete the facility. An unnamed White House official also downplayed the developments to the post. Indeed, an IAEA report published on 8 September said, quote, for the first time in over 15 years, Iran has no identifiable route to produce weapons grade uranium in its centrifuge plants, end quote. Still, the White House source added that President Trump is monitoring the regime's progress in and is prepared to strike again to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Despite the hurdles that Iran is facing regarding their weapons program, regional experts caution that the west shouldn't take the ongoing threat lightly. One major concern remains the status of Iran's existing stockpile of 60% enriched uranium, which is estimated at more than 900 pounds and believed to have survived the June bombardment. While intelligence suggests this material is still trapped under the rubble at Isfahan and fordo it, the IAEA said earlier this month they still can't confirm the location of the uranium. If Iran can retrieve it, it could theoretically be converted to the 90% threshold needed to fuel a nuclear weapon in a relatively short amount of time. Some have speculated that Iran intends to use pickaxe mountain to store these materials until they're ready to resume enrichment. The director of Non Proliferation Policy at the Arms Control association warned the Post, quote, the reality is Iran still has the capacity to reconstitute fairly quickly if they make that decision, end quote. All right, a quick reminder, the third episode of our limited series podcast, the Day the World Almost Ended, is now available. This week's episode takes us inside NORAD's mountain fortress back in 1979, when America's early warning screens lit up with what looked like a massive Soviet missile strike. All all three episodes are now available exclusively for our PDB Premium members. You can do that by signing up@pdb premium.com it's so, so simple. It's just that simple. Coming up next, former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted by a federal grand jury. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let me take just a moment of your time to talk about your personal finances. Now, the Fed, you may have noticed, has finally dropped interest rates and that's great news for American homeowners. After all, expenses have been a major burden on families. Look, wages are flat, prices keep climbing, and for many, the only way to make ends meet is to lean on credit cards. But that cycle of high interest debt makes it hard to stay ahead. If you're a homeowner, I want you to call my friends over at American Financing. With credit cards charging rates around 20% or higher, you should look at the potential to use your home equity to save money. There's an easy path to see how you can finally put your hard earned equity to work for you. American Financing can help you pay off that expensive debt, free up your cash flow and keep your budget under control. Their salary based mortgage consultants are saving customers on average $800 a month. And if you get started today, well, you may even be able to delay your next mortgage payment, take control. Call American Financing today. The number 866-885-1881. Again, that's 866-885-1881 or visit American financing.net/PDB. Mike Baker here. Now. You know those nights when you just don't sleep? Well, you know what I'm talking about. You're tossing and turning, maybe your mind's racing, you just can't sleep, right? And the next day, of course, what you're dragging, you're exhausted and everything just feels harder. Well, that's where CBD from CB Distillery can make a real difference. But it's not just about sleep products. 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Piers Morgan
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Mike Baker
Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. Former FBI Director James Comey is back in the headlines, and. And this time, he's the one facing charges. A federal grand jury has indicted Comey on two counts, making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison. At the center of the indictment is Comey's testimony from September 30th of 2020. He appeared before Congress to answer questions about the FBI's handling of the Trump Russia probe, codenamed Crossfire Hurricane. Prosecutors now allege that during that testimony, Comey lied when he claimed he never authorized anyone at the FBI to act as an anonymous source. According to the indictment, that statement was false. The grand jury also concluded that Comey obstructed a congressional investigation tied to the disclosure of sensitive information. Comey, for his part, denies it all. In a video message on Instagram, he struck a defiant tone, saying, quote, my family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn't imagine ourselves living any other way. We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn't either. Somebody that I love dearly recently said that fear is the tool of a tyrant, and she's right, but I'm not afraid, end quote. Comey added that his, quote, heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but said he has confidence in the judicial system and looks forward to a trial. His attorney, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, echoed that sentiment, saying Comey denies the charges in their entirety. The arraignment is set for 9 October in Alexandria, Virginia, before Judge Michael Nakmanoff, who was appointed by President Biden. Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi declared, quote, no one here is above the law, and called the case part of the Justice Department's commitment to accountability. The FBI director, Cash Patel, praised the career agents who handled the investigation, saying they, quote, called the balls and strikes. He dismissed accusations of politicization as baseless, arguing that critics were trying to recycle old grievances about the Trump Russia probe. Of course, President Trump was quick to jump in, too, as a surprise, and as you can imagine, he wasn't too sympathetic. On Truth Social, he called Comey a, quote, dirty cop, end quote, one of the worst human beings this country has ever been exposed to, end quote. He said Comey told a serious and far reaching lie and predicted that the former FBI director would pay a, quote, very big price. Speaking to reporters, Trump said the indictment was about justice, not revenge. For years, Comey has been a polarizing figure. He oversaw the FBI during two of the most controversial investigations in modern history Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server and the Trump Russia collusion allegations. His firing by Trump in 2017 led directly to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Mueller's report ultimately found no evidence of criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but the damage was, of course, already done, and John Durham's later probe concluded that the FBI mishandled political intelligence in opening Crossfire Hurricane, raising questions about how Comey's bureau allowed itself to be used. Now the man who once led the nation's top law enforcement agency is being forced to defend himself. And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon bulletin for Friday 26th September. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb@the first tv.com and of course to listen to the show ad free. Well, you can do that and it's very simple. Just become a premium member of the President's Daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back over the weekend with our latest episode of the PDB Situation Report. That's our extended weekend show. You can catch the Situation report on the first TV, on our YouTube channel, at President's Daily Brief and on podcast platforms everywhere. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.
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Mike Baker
Oh come on.
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Expedia Advertiser
They called a truce for their holiday and used Expedia Trip Planner to collaborate on all the details of their trip. Once there, Mike still did more laps around the pool.
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Mike Baker
Whatever.
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