The President's Daily Brief - August 8th, 2025: Iran's Purge: Mullahs Execute Nuclear Scientist Spying For Mossad & Putin Accused Of Mass Child Trafficking In Ukraine

Episode Date: August 8, 2025

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:    First—Iran executes one of its own nuclear scientists over allegations of espionage on behalf of Israel, as the Islamic regime intensifies its internal purge of suspected infiltrators following the recent 12-Day War. Later in the show—the Associated Press is facing widespread backlash after running a highly sympathetic story about Hezbollah terrorists injured in last year’s Israeli pager attack, saying they "struggle to recover." Plus—a Ukrainian NGO sounds the alarm on Russia’s mass abduction of Ukrainian children, alleging the Putin regime is engaged in systematic child trafficking. In our 'Back of the Brief—a recent report is shedding light on how Hamas terrorists are using a secret stockpile of cash, along with looted humanitarian aid meant for starving Palestinians, to keep their fighters and local loyalists paid. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief.   YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold Ridge Wallet: Get 10% Off your entire order & take advantage of Ridge’s Annual Sweepstakes by going to https://ridge.com/PDB #Ridgepod NO PURCH. NEC. Open to legal residents of 50 US/DC, Canada & the UK, age maj.+. Void where prohibited. Begins 8/1/25 and ends 9/15/25. 2 winners selected. Max Prizes total ARV: $380,000 USD / approximately $516,000 CAD / £306,800. Canadian skill-testing question required. Subject to Rules, including free entry method & odds: ridge.com/rules. Sponsor: The Ridge Wallet, LLC. American Financing: Call American Financing today to find out how customers are saving an avg of $800/mo. 866-885-1881 or visit https://www.AmericanFinancing.net/PDB - NMLS 182334, https://nmlsconsumeraccess.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Again, it's simple. Just text PDB to the number 989-898. It's Friday, the 8th of August. 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, Iran executes one of its own nuclear scientists over allegations of espionage on behalf of. of Israel, as the Islamic regime intensifies its internal purge of suspected infiltrators following the recent 12-day war and U.S. strikes on their nuclear facilities. It will have those details. Later in the show, the Associated Press is facing widespread backlash after running a highly sympathetic story about Hezbollah terrorists injured in last year's Israeli pager attack, saying that they,

quote, struggle to recover. Oh. Plus, a Ukrainian NGO sounds the alarm on Russia's mass abduction of Ukrainian children, saying the Putin regime is engaged in systematic child trafficking. And in today's back of the brief, a recent investigation finds that Hamas is using a secret stockpile of cash and looted humanitarian aid to pay its fighters and its loyalists in Gaza, while the broader Palestinian population, of course, goes hungry. Anyone who's been following Hamas's activities over the years should express absolutely no shock over these findings. And before we get to today's BDB spotlight,

a bit of breaking news out of the Middle East. Following a meeting on Thursday that went on into the evening, Israel has announced that a majority of Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to gradually occupy all of Gaza in a controversial effort to eliminate Hamas and recover the remaining hostages. The occupation plan was met with skepticism and opposition by some of Israeli military leaders, but the political leadership has, for the most part, lined up behind Prime Minister Netanyahu in support of the plan.

And now, today's PDB spotlight. We'll begin today with the execution of an Iranian nuclear scientist accused of spying for Israel. The revelation lays bare just how deeply Mossad has potentially embedded itself inside Tehran most sensitive nuclear enrichment operations. According to Iran's judiciary, which consists of the regime's Supreme Court, a Supreme Judicial Council, and lower courts, Ruzbe Vadi was hanged on Wednesday after being convicted of espionage and passing classified knowledge to Israel's intelligence agency.

The regime claims Vadi was not just a passive informant, but an active participant in facilitating the assassination of several Iranian nuclear scientists by providing their locations prior to the 12-day war in June. That, of course, is when Israel and the U.S. carried out a series of air strikes across Iran targeting nuclear sites, scientists, and senior IRGC commanders. While judicial statements initially downplayed his role, describing Vadi only as a, quote, employee of a sensitive agency, Iran state broadcaster, Arab, later confirmed he was a nuclear scientist

with the atomic energy organization of Iran. Now, his position would have granted him direct access to restricted data at sites like the Fordo-Uradiom enrichment facility. One of the targets, of course, struck in the June conflict. His arrest had not been publicly acknowledged until the day of his execution. According to Iran's judiciary-controlled news outlet Mizan, Vardy was first recruited online by Mossad operatives and had met with his handlers five times in Austria. there he allegedly provided weekly intelligence reports, including updates on fordo and the movements of nuclear material in exchange for cryptocurrency payments.

Regime officials have not disclosed to just how much he was allegedly paid. On Wednesday, Iranian State TV aired what it claimed was Voddy's confession tape. In it, he says, quote, I told him I had information and it was about fordo. Mossad agents told me to send everything. He added that Mossad was, quote, very interested in data of, about the quote, entry and exit of nuclear material, likely referring to Isfahan's uranium conversion facility, another site targeted in the Israel and U.S. air strikes.

Now, despite the confession tape, human rights groups were quick to point out that such statements are routinely extracted under duress, if not outright torture. But that didn't stop the mullahs from using the tape as a centerpiece of their latest intelligence purge. Vadi's death is part of a broader crackdown that's intensified in the wake of the 12-day war.

Since the bloodshed, officials in Tehran have executed at least 10 individuals accused of spying for Israel and arrested hundreds more. Just last week, Iran's Ministry of Intelligence announced that it captured 20 more people allegedly linked to Israeli espionage networks. Now, the Islamic Republic has openly acknowledged what many outside observers long suspected. Mossad operatives have penetrated the regime's most guarded institutions. Still, Iran's revolutionary courts, which handle cases like bodies, operate behind a veil of secrecy. Trials are close to the public, and defendants are often denied legal representation.

Human rights organizations repeatedly accuse the regime of using vague espionage charges to silence, dissent, or eliminate political rivals. This week's execution draws comparisons to two other high-profile cases. Back in 2016, Iran hanged a nuclear scientist who had defected to the U.S. and then returned, claiming that he was kidnapped by American intelligence. In 2023, Iran's former deputy defense minister was executed for allegedly leaking details about Fordo and other nuclear operations to British intelligence, leaks that Tehran claims later contributed to the U.S. airstrike on the site.

As of now, Israel has not commented on Vadi's execution or whether he had any ties to Mossad. All right. Coming up after the break, the Associated Press is under fire after running a sympathetic story about Hasbola terrorists injured in last year's Israeli pager attack. And a Ukrainian NGO sounds the alarm on the Putin regime's trafficking of Ukrainian children. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let me take just a moment of your time to talk about protecting your hard-earned assets. Now, you've probably noticed there's a bit of turmoil out there in the economy, right? Trade wars? a U.S. Federal Reserve that seems a bit at odds with the White House,

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Shop Skinny Pup now. Welcome back to the PDB. The Associated Press is facing widespread backlash after recently publishing an article putting Hezbollah terrorists in a sympathetic light, go figure. To the surprise of many public officials and much of the general public, the AP ran a story on Wednesday headlined, quote, portraits of survivors of Israel's pager attack on Hezbollah last year, in which they interview militants. that survived the clandestine operation.

Now, the AP, which I'm told anyway is supposedly a news organization, spoke to a total of six people wounded during the attack, all of whom admitted that they were either Hezbollah officials, fighters, or members of their families, according to a report from the New York Post. As a brief reminder, last September, after suffering nearly a year of rocket attacks by Hezbollah on their territory, Israel initiated an unprecedented surprise attack against a terrorist group,

detonating thousands of explosive-laced pagers and walkie-talkies simultaneously that Israeli intelligence managed to trick the terror group into buying. The mission, which took 10 years to plan and execute, killed at least 30 Hezbollah terrorists and injured more than 3,000, crippling the Iranian-backed group's operations across Lebanon and Syria. Now, just 10 days later, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah would be killed, basically heralding the demise of the once-mighty-tileged. terror army. But the AP, apparently, in concert with Hezbollah public relations personnel, attempted to present the Hezbollah terrorists in a compassionate light. They focused the story on how the surviving Hezbollah terrorists, quote, struggle to recover, calling Israel's operation, quote, indiscriminate, and suggesting it violated international law. Well, yeah, the acts of

terrorists would also, I suppose, violate international law, but that wasn't discussed. They also described Hezbollah's rocket attacks on Israel as being done, quote, Oh, in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, so therefore the AP decides that's okay. Now, the AP didn't even refer to the Iranian-back group as, quote, terrorists, despite their long-standing designation as a terrorist organization by the U.S., by Canada, and by much of Europe. Instead, the AP variably described them as a, quote, militant group or, quote, a major Shiite political party with a wide network of social institutions, end quote. well, that's because those are the talking points that they took from Hezbollah.

One Hezbollah fighter profiled by the publication said the attack happened while he was spending time with his family. I'm just a family guy, just before he planned to return to the front lines to carry out more attacks on Israel. When the page of vibrated and he went to check it, it exploded. He lost his left eye as a result, and he told the AP was also left with limited vision in his right eye. Well, I suppose, you could argue, play stupid terrorist games and win stupid terrorist prizes. The AP sympathetically, though, wrote that due to his vision loss, the man, quote, can no longer play football. I'm not making this stuff up, seriously. But not to worry, the AP said his benevolent Hasbullah masters are, quote, helping him find a job, a new job.

Hmm, you know, probably one that doesn't involve killing Israelis. The militant himself lamented that he would no longer be able to serve. alongside fellow Hezbollah fighters. He added, quote, The community is shaken. Some children fear coming near their fathers. It not only affects us, but also those around us, end quote. Well, as you can imagine, the backlash to the piece was immediate and fierce.

Ex-users roundly mocked the AP, with Twitchy's Amy Curtis responding, quote, This is me playing my tiny violin. The Israeli government's press office, meanwhile, slammed the AP, as you might imagine, for the one-sided piece, saying their reporters failed to properly contextualize the events that led to the attack, or specify the ties that their interview subjects had to a designated terror group. In a brief statement, the press office said, quote, we don't sympathize with literal card-carrying terrorists, and neither should you, end quote. They added that the article downplayed the threat posed the threat posed by Chazbollah while saying nothing of the plight of the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October,

which, of course, ignited this entire conflict in the first place. Others were even more blunt in their criticism. Conservative activist Robbie Starbuck said, quote, nothing shocks me anymore with media, but this really did. They literally are presenting chansbalah terrorists as victims, absolutely jaw-dropping, end quote. Adam Mossoff, a professor at George Mason's Scalia Law School, told the New York Post, quote,

imagine in 1944 the Associated Press, published a news article about how Nazi SS soldiers, quote, struggled to recover from wounds they suffered from battles with the allies in Europe. It's a moral abomination that this is not a fantasy for the AP in 2025, end quote. Others accused AP employees of harboring personal sympathies towards Hasbullah and their allies, knowing, noting reports from 2021 that the AP had shared a Gaza office building with Hamas's military intelligence wing. Now, at the time, the publication did,

denied knowing who their office mates truly were. I mean, hey, sure, we're investigative journalists, right? We always find the truth. But how were we supposed to know our office mates were with Hamas? That just seems a bridge too far. Republican members of Congress also jumped on the dog pile. New York representative Claudia Tenney called the story, quote, an utter disgrace, and phrased the White House for revoking the AP's Oval Office credentials earlier this year. That's just a sampling of the backlash, but, well, you get the idea. But the AP, well, of course, is defiantly unashamed, as you would expect. A representative for the outlet told Fox News that they stand firmly behind the story, no matter how stupid it is.

Because once again, well, you can't fix stupid. All right, turning to the war in Ukraine, Russian occupation authorities have launched a disturbing online database offering abducted Ukrainian children for adoption, sorted by physical features like eye color, hair color, and even personality traits. The site, uncovered this week by the NGO Save Ukraine, is hosted on the official web portal of the Russian-controlled education department in the Luhansk region. Nearly 300 children are featured, complete with photos and personalized descriptions. And yes, it's every bit as dystopian as it sounds.

Most of the children listed were born in Lohansk prior to Russia's invasion and held Ukrainian citizenship, according to Save Ukrainian CEO, Miko Lekulok. Kuleba. Now, in an Instagram post, he alleged they, quote, some of their parents were killed by occupation authorities, while others were, quote, handed Russian identification documents to legitimize their abduction. Kulab's organization, which has worked since 2014 to rescue children from Russian occupied territories, warned that the catalog is just the latest phase in a broader Kremlin-backed effort to erase Ukrainian identity and forcibly assimilate the next generation. This revelation comes on the heels of our coverage earlier this week on the PDB

of a separate operation by Ukraine's military intelligence agency, the H-U-R. Now, the agency announced it had hacked the servers of Russian-installed authorities in occupied Crimea, extracting over 100 terabytes of data. That data contained damning evidence of a Kremlin-sponsored program to relocate abducted Ukrainian children into Russia, where they're either adopted by Russian families or placed in, to state custody. As of now, Kyiv has officially confirmed the abduction of more than 19,500 children since the war began back in February of 2022. But unofficial estimates are staggering. The Ukraine's

Human Rights Commissioner says the real number could exceed 150,000. And one advisor to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy put the figures as high as 300,000 when including children taken since Russia's 2014, annexation of Crimea. Now, many of the children, the advisor said, were, quote, systematically deported and transferred to Russian families in Moscow and other regions. The searchable adoption portal, he added, is part of a Kremlin initiative to prop up plummeting population numbers. Save Ukraine's CEO Kuleba said, quote, the way they describe our children is indistinguishable from a slave catalog. This is child trafficking in the 21st century, and the world must act

to stop it immediately, end quote. Well, as you can imagine, the internet backlash has been swift, not that that translates into actual action. The UN, European Union, and human rights groups have all condemned the forced transfers. Well, that should do it. Zelensky, meanwhile, has made the return of these children a non-negotiable pillar of any future peace deal. And yet, Russia, as you may suspect, denies everything. At the most recent July round of talks in Istanbul between Moscow and Kiev, Kremlin representatives reportedly mocked Ukraine's demands is a, quote, show for childless European old ladies. Nevertheless, Russian officials have admitted to relocating hundreds of children while stopping short of calling it abduction.

All right. Coming up next in the back of the brief, Hamas is reportedly using a secret stockpile of cash and looted humanitarian aid to pay its fighters and loyalists in Gaza. Stay with us. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, let me ask you an intriguing question about your findings. What if you could, right, delay your next two mortgage payments? Think about that. That's right. Imagine putting those two payments in your pocket and finally getting a little breathing room. Well, it is possible when you call American financing today. Look, if you're feeling stretched by everyday expenses, you know what I'm talking about, grocery bills, gas bills, car bills, utility bills, they're all adding up. Well, you're not alone. Look, most Americans, many of them are putting some of those expenses on their credit cards. And for many,

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In today's back of the brief, a recent report is shedding light on how Hamas terrorists are using a secret stockpile of cash, along with looted humanitarian aid meant for Palestinian civilians to keep their fighters and local loyalists paid. Now, according to an exclusive report from the BBC, the Iranian-backed terror group continues to pay their fighters roughly 20% of their pre-war salaries every 10 weeks. And it's also distributed some $7 million in wages to roughly 30,000 people across Gaza described in the report as, quote, civil servants. The BBC learned of the arrangements after speaking to three Hamas employees, all of whom said they had received the equivalent of roughly $300 within the last week. So after nearly two years of war with Israel and the systematic destruction of their leadership hierarchy, how is Hamas staying financially liquid? According to a senior Hamas official cited by the BBC, the main source of the funds is roughly

$700 million in cash that the militants hid in underground tunnels before launching their savage 7 October attacks on Israel. The group is also selling humanitarian aid on the black market to generate additional revenue. To receive their payments, Hamas fighters reportedly receive encrypted messages on their phones inviting them for tea at a specific time and location. A contact then discreetly hands them an envelope containing cash. Now, the activity is not unknown to the Israeli military, which has sometimes conducted strikes after learning of the cash distribution sites used by the terror group. But the sources that spoke to the BBC said that, frankly, most pay drops go off without a hitch.

The revelations come as international outwage grows over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with Israel facing the brunt of the criticism. But the BBC's findings support Israel's assertion that Hamas has been systematically stealing humanitarian aid entering Gaza, handing it out to the supporters while the broader Palestinian population goes hungry. As we recently covered, data from the UN Office for Project Services, that's a UN office, mind you, shows that roughly nine out of every 10 U.N. aid convoys sent into the enclave are looted by civilian mobs or hijacked by Hamas terrorists. The BBC cited unnamed Ghazan sources who confirmed the widespread hijackings. The sources said a significant portion of aid is diverted by Hamas and then either gifted to loyalists or sold on the black market at a significant markup. According to the Times of Israel, Hamas has also been taxing local traders and selling packs

of cigarettes for up to 100 times their pre-war value in an attempt to generate additional revenue. Local Palestinians told the BBC that the schemes have fueled increased anger against Hamas among the general public. A single mother described watching her Hamas-affiliated neighbors receive food parcels and sacks of flour, while her own children starved. She said, quote, are they not the reason for our suffering? Why didn't they secure food and water and medicine before launching their October 7 of venture? Despite the payments, there's also said to be growing resentment of Hamas' leadership. among their rank-and-file fighters, who claim that their wages are inadequate given rampant inflation

in the enclave. In a statement, an analyst with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy said, It's no surprise that Hamas is inflating prices to fund salaries and provide aid to its employees. This terrorist organization has never prioritized the well-being of ordinary Gazans. Instead, it has exploited their suffering to manipulate international opinion and media coverage, end quote. All right. That, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Friday, the 8th of August. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And lest we forget, today is Friday, which of course means a brand new episode of our much-beloved PDB situation report hits the airwaves this evening at 10 p.m. on the first TV.

And you can find it and past episodes, of course, on our YouTube channel. I hope you'll check that out and subscribe. You can find that on YouTube at President's Daily Brief. And, of course, you can always find our episodes on podcast platforms throughout podcast land. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.