The President's Daily Brief - January 13th, 2023. Japan Growing Concerned with Chinese Military Activity

Episode Date: January 13, 2023

It’s January 13th. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ A good day to you, ladies and gentlemen. I’ve got six briefs for you this morning that are shaping America — and the world. First up, Japan’s Prime Minister is in Washington DC today, with a big focus on China. Second, the CIA Director made a surprise visit to Libya this week. Third, protests continue to escalate in the country of Peru, with copper mines now being targeted. Next, a new development in the Biden Intel Scandal. We’ve got a Special Prosecutor to talk about. Fourth, the US Treasury Department issued a warning sign about the US Deficit. Later, we close out the podcast with some good news from the State of California. ------ Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They say everything happens for a reason, but I suspect everything happens for a recesses. Like this commercial break, did you need 15 seconds away from music, or 15 seconds to eat arreases? Perhaps it's true. Everything happens for a recesses. It's Friday the 13th, or January the 13th, you're listening to the president's daily brief. I'm your host and former CIA officer Brian Dean Wright. Your morning intel starts now. A good day to you, ladies and gentlemen.

I've got six briefs for you this morning that are shaping America and the world. First up, Japan's prime minister is in Washington, D.C. today with a big focus on China. Second, the CIA director made a surprise visit to the country of Libya this week. Third, protests continue to escalate in Peru, with big copper mines now being targeted. Next, a new development in the Biden-Intel scandal. We have a special prosecutor to talk about. Fourth, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a warning sign about the U.S. deficit. Later, we close out the podcast with some good news from the state of California.

But before we get to all of that, we got to get started with this. Japan's prime minister is in Washington, D.C. today with one singular focus in mind, and that is China. All right. Now, it's true. The official agenda will be a series of meetings covering things like North Korea, trade, and the war Ukraine. But the real focus between Joe Biden and Prime Minister Kashida is China. And that's because, as I briefed you all on before, Western nations like the United States and Europe, as well as Asian countries like Japan, believe that China will invade Taiwan in the next year to 10 years. And that is something that these allies want to either prevent or be prepared for. And that helps explain a notable

number of developments over the past couple of months from Japan. Now, perhaps the biggest one is Tokyo's announcement that the communists in Beijing are their greatest threat, and that because of that threat, Japan will double its military budget. So let's talk about what that means, and then why it matters to us. So for starters, Tokyo announced that they will be building or buying more missiles with longer ranges to include the U.S. Tomahawk missile. Now, that means that that they will now be able to hit targets inside of China. Next, they're also plowing $7.3 billion into their cybersecurity personnel. They're going to go from about 890 officers to over 4,000.

Next, they're expanding their Navy by at least two ships and refining their ability to shoot down ballistic missiles with those ships. In fact, they conducted successful tests doing just that back in November off the coast of Hawaii in cooperation with the U.S. Navy. And by the way, speaking of collaborations and cooperation, the U.S. has agreed to help Japan protect its satellites from Chinese attacks. Apparently, there's a growing concern that Tokyo's commercial space program is being targeted by Beijing. Meanwhile, the U.S. is also adding a new regiment of U.S. Marines in Okinawa armed with anti-ship missiles

to help defend Japanese islands. That is, of course, on top of the current contingent of U.S. armed forces in Japan. which numbers around 54-55,000 personnel. Finally, Japan just signed a new deal with the United Kingdom this week, which will allow each of those nations to send troops to the other for the purposes of defense and training. Britain's prime minister called it hugely significant. In fact, the most significant development between those two nations

in more than a century, he said. So taken all together, ladies and gentlemen, this is quite a change for Japan. It's been a largely pacifist nation since the end of World War II, and these collective developments put Tokyo closer to their history as a militarized nation with offensive capabilities. By the way, if you're wondering what China thinks of all this, well, yesterday they offered up a response of sorts in the Chinese Global Times newspaper. Now, typically, that's where China publishes what it really thinks when it can't or chooses not to say so publicly. And in this case, the newspaper cited an anonymous Chinese military analyst who said, quote, The Chinese military is sure to take countermeasures, including holding more exercises and

patrols in international waters and airspace around Japan. So off to the races we go, ladies and gentlemen, whether it's war or not in the Pacific, we are certainly gearing up for it. And if you have friends or loved ones in the U.S. military, this pivot to Asia with allies like Japan will directly impact you. And God forbid, if there is a war in the Pacific, that will impact all of us. But no matter what, I will keep you posted every step of the way.

With that, let's head from Asia this morning to the Middle East, where the CIA director just made a surprise visit to the country of Libya. Director William Burns arrived yesterday in Tripoli, where he met with Libya's prime minister to discuss it. Well, we don't know exactly what they discussed. but we can assume three things based on my previous briefs to you all over the past couple of months. First, the United States wants more Libyan suspects who are connected to that 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerby, Scotland. That terror attack killed 270 people on the plane and on the ground.

Now, one of the planners of that attack, a Libyan intelligence officer named Abu Agile Massoud, was snatched from his home in Libya back in November and held by a military. militia connected to the prime minister. And then Abu Aguilimusud surprisingly showed up in the United States, arrested for his role in the Lockerbie bombing. But there are other suspects that remain at large in Libya, so no doubt Mr. Burns discussed how to grab those outlaws too. Second, they probably also discussed stability in that country, also that Europe and the world can get access to Libya's oil and gas. So here's what we know about that. In the past couple of years, the U.S. government has repeatedly said that it is worried about the continued instability in Libya, given that the country is effectively split into two.

There's one warring faction in the West and another in the East, and that instability, or civil war, contributes to a lack of consistency around oil and gas exports. Now, as listeners know, Libya has very rich deposits of both of those things in the Mediterranean Sea, and those deposits could be benefiting, Europe, which is less than 1,000 miles away. And that would be very helpful to Europe, you know, to get that supply, because they used to get much of their oil and natural gas from Russia, but that spigot has been turned off following the war in Ukraine. And that takes us to the third and final piece that the CIA director probably spoke to the Libyan Prime Minister about, and that is the future of Libya. Now, as I mentioned, Libya is effectively split into two with the official government in Tripoli and a rebel faction in the east,

headquartered in the city of Benghazi. According to Reuters News Service, CIA Director Burns met with a rebel leader there, a man named Khalifa Haftar, who's been backed by the Russians over the past few years, but allegedly, he used to have a relationship with the CIA years ago when he opposed former Libyan dictator Moin-Mar Gaddafi. So I'm sure they discussed that interesting relationship. all on all folks a busy trip for the CIA director one that could have very important implications

for Europe but also America and that's because we are exporting a record amount of our natural gas and oil to our friends in Europe and that in turn has bumped up utility and gas prices here and abroad so if we could bring some of that Libyan capacity back online that would help ease some of that strain here at home so there you have it and I will keep you posted as I learn more. Next, let's head west out of Libya this morning all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to the South American nation of Peru, although we might not want to stay too long. Things are not going well in the capital city of Lima this morning. So to refresh our memories here, Peru has

been thrown into chaos over the past month or so because the former president tried to sack the country's Congress, but they actually impeached and jailed him first. Well, that led to an initial outbreak of violence by his supporters, many of whom are fellow socialists or radical leftists. Well, in the weeks since that initial crisis, things calmed down a bit, but the violence has since kicked back up. In fact, in the southern part of Peru, protests amongst those leftist supporters have led to a spate of deaths. At least 40 people have died, all because the government is trying to disperse those crowds who are putting up roadblocks and burning buildings.

They're all demanding a new constitution and a new government. Meanwhile, things are deteriorating to the point that one of the largest copper mines in Peru suffered an attack on worker housing a couple days ago, leading yesterday to the evacuation of 2,000 workers. That's based on local reporting, by the way, plus a press conference by Peru's energy and mines minister. So as ever, I'm going to be watching Peru for further developments, especially because the country is the world's second largest produce.

of copper, only behind the country of Chile that we talked about yesterday. So if more copper mines get shut down, that'll put more pressure on both supply and prices, which unfortunately could affect us here in America. Regardless, I'll keep you posted. With that, ladies and gentlemen, let's take a quick break. When we come back, I've got three more critical pieces of news for you, so hang tight, and we will be right back. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right,

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I've got three more critical pieces of news for you this morning. First up, Joe Biden is facing new legal troubles this morning over his unlawful handling of top secret classified information. Although, based on his response at a press conference yesterday, he's not terribly worried about this issue. He actually said that the material had been locked up, but in his garage next to his Corvette. All right.

We'll come back to that in a minute. But first, you should know that yesterday, the Department of Justice announced the appointment of a special counsel to take over the investigation of Biden's handling of this top secret classified information. We have no timeline on how long that will take or how public his findings will ultimately be. Now, in the meantime, we now know that there were at least two different locations where this highly sensitive information was being unlawfully held. First, it was at his academic office in Washington, D.C. And second, the White House is now confirming that there was also top secret material at Mr. Biden's home in Delaware, both in his garage and in his home library.

Now, we still don't know the exact level of sensitivity of these documents, beyond that they are categorized as top secret. But what you should know is that such a label is the highest degree of classification in the U.S. government. So the breach of this information is a big deal. And indeed, that's why it is unlawful to have it outside of a secure area with cleared personnel. But that's where it has been, totally unsecured for at least six years, with Mr. Biden himself confirming yesterday that at least some of that classified material was in his garage. Now, where exactly in his garage has become somewhat of a joke? Because at a press conference yesterday, he admitted that the material was stacked up next to his restored corvette.

But not to worry, he said, quote, my corvette is in a locked garage. So it's not like they, the classified documents, are sitting out in the street, end quote. All right, to be clear, folks, you must keep classified documents in a government-controlled facility. called a skiff, or it must be carried in a special bag held at all times by cleared personnel. So putting that material in a garage, no matter how many padlocks you put on it, that is a security violation and that is unlawful, irrespective of what Mr. Biden, frankly, is claiming here. One other thing that I want to share with you, I've seen media reports suggesting that Mr. Biden might not be in legal trouble because allegedly there was no intent to leave.

this classified material unsecured. It was an accident, in other words, and that he and his team took immediate actions to fix their mistake. Well, CBS News is correctly reporting that such a defense is not in line with the law. And that's because federal law is very explicit that the accused has to only be guilty of gathering, transmitting, or losing defense information based on gross negligence. No mention there on the law of intent. So with Biden leaving classified information in now two locations for over six years, well, that feels pretty gross and negligent to me anyway. But my opinion aside, prosecutors do sometimes look at intent to increase their chances of a conviction. But as CBS News is saying, intent is not required to charge someone with this type of crime.

bottom line is that this issue is bad and getting worse for Mr. Biden. I suspect that we are going to be talking about this for many more months to come. All right, let's move on this morning to some alarming data out from the U.S. Treasury Department on America's national deficit. So here's what we know. The Treasury Department released figures yesterday showing that the budget deficit for December quadrupled from one year ago. It was $21 billion last year, which is bad enough. Well, this year, it's $81 billion. Now, the reason for this explosion of debt are a couple.

First, income tax receipts are down, and that's as expected because of the economic downturn. Now, you can call that a recession or whatever you'd like, but the data show that whatever it is, it is real and it is hitting America's finances. Meanwhile, as we are making less, we're spending more, a lot more. For instance, Social Security payments are up $9 billion. special spending in Ukraine, that's contributing too. Also, listen to this. The interest payments on our national debt are skyrocketing. For just the first three months of this fiscal year, from October through December,

interest rates totaled $210 billion. That is up 37% compared to a year ago. And that increase, folks, is because interest rates are going up and staying up, meaning that all that extra deficit spending is getting extra expensive, and there is no end in sight to that. By the way, you are going to be hearing a lot more about this issue over the next couple of weeks, and here's why. Even though the president has signed into law a lot of deficit spending, America has a quirk

that many other nations don't. We have something called a debt ceiling. And that means that even though Congress and the president have agreed to deficit spending, there still has to be another vote on technically allowing the government to borrow more money. And that additional vote has yet to take place. And that means the Republican-controlled House has to negotiate with the White House. Of course, controlled by Democrats and Joe Biden. And they're going to have to figure out a new debt ceiling.

Republicans have said that they're going to increase the debt ceiling. They're open to it. But only if Democrats agree to a new budget deal that would lower over. overall spending. Well, Democrats in the Senate and the White House, and some Republicans too are opposed to any new deal. And so if these folks can't come to an agreement, that means that the U.S. government runs the risk of defaulting on our debt, which would be an absolute disaster. Now, most folks do not think that that will happen. And instead, there will be some kind of new deal struck at some point. And in fact, that's probably true. As an example, back in 2011,

A Republican-controlled House faced off against then-President Obama during this same sort of debt-sealing fight. Now, Obama eventually backed down and accepted a new round of spending cuts. So, we will see if that happens this time around. With that, folks, let's take a quick break. And when we come back some good news out of California to wrap up the podcast, we'll be right back. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usa.com slash bundle.

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Welcome back to the PDB folks. I've got one more thing before I let you go. Some good news to report this morning out of the state of California. So as PDB listeners know, that state is of vital importance when it comes to producing fruits and vegetables for the nation. and frankly the world. In fact, that industry runs about $80 billion worth of products annually, feeding people from America to Australia. But that state's long drought has meant that many crops either had lower yields,

meaning less produce, or those crops were scrapped altogether, especially those that required more irrigation, like alfalfa and cotton and almonds. Well, Mother Nature is a fickle lady, well, as always, But over the past couple of weeks, she has shown up, and boy, has she shown up. Some areas of California have received over 30 inches of rain in just the past three weeks. The Sierra Mountain snowpack is now anywhere from 176% of normal to 257%, with the southern areas of that mountain range doing the best.

Now, just as impressive is the water content in that snow. Scientists have estimated that all told, the existing snowpack meets the normal threshold for a good year usually reached by April 1st. So we are way ahead of schedule with a few more months of rain and snow remaining. If I could just use one last statistic here to really make the point of how good things are right now, the company Accuether is reporting that in the last three weeks, storms over California have dumped 24 trillion gallons of water on that state. and what that means is that there are no longer any places in California with exceptional drought

conditions for the first time in a long time. Areas with extreme drought are virtually gone too. In fact, things are looking so good that the L.A. Times is reporting that the state is seeing the best snow and snow water conditions in at least the last 20 years. All right. Now, that doesn't mean that the drought is over, nor does it mean that it's without cost. Some 19 people have lost their lives to localize flooding and mudslides over the past month. Plus, storm damage is expected to top just north of one billion.

One last thing to share with you. Accuether says that there is more rain and snow to come. At least one or maybe two more big storms are teed up for January than perhaps quieter for the rest of the winter and spring. But who knows? Mother Nature often does exactly as she would like. So as ever, folks, please do keep careful, have those emergency kits ready, stay out of the creek bottoms and gullies, and you know what, let's pray for some more snow. Keep those mountains nice and wet for the very long dry season to come.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes your morning brief. As always, we close out the show, reminding each other of why we are here, talking about our country and our world. It's the creed of every good spy and every smart American. It's from John chapter 8, verse 32. And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free. Good day. All.

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