The President's Daily Brief - January 18th, 2023. The Joe Biden Classified Intel Scandal Continues...

Episode Date: January 18, 2023

It’s January 18th. 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 four briefs for you this morning that are shaping America — and the world. First, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands was in Washington DC yesterday, talking about a very small product with global implications. I’ll share those details. Second, there are lots of headlines out this morning about China, from their economy to falling population numbers. I’ll sort through all of it, and share one thing that I guarantee nobody else is talking about. Third, I’ve got two pieces of good news. The first is on solar panels, actually, with a new supply chain that’s totally made in America. Fourth, some good news out of Texas. An oil refinery just got expanded there, and that means more diesel and gas, right when we need it most. Later, we close out the podcast with an update on the Joe Biden Intel Scandal. I’m going to do something I haven’t in the 10 months I’ve been hosting this podcast — speak to you without notes, just straight from the heart with a lifetime of experience backing it up. ------ 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

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It's January 18th. 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 four briefs for you this morning that are shaping America and the world. First, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands was in Washington, D.C. yesterday talking about a very small product with global implications. I'll share those details. Second, there are lots of headlines out this morning about China, from their economy to falling population numbers. I'm going to sort through all of that and share one thing that I guarantee nobody else is talking about. Third, I've got two pieces of good news. First is actually on solar panels with the new supply chain that is totally made in America. Fourth, some good news out of Texas, an oil refinery just got expanded there, and that means more diesel and gas right when we need.

it most. Later, we close out the podcast with an update on the Joe Biden Intel scandal. I'm going to do something that I haven't in the 10 months that I have been hosting this podcast. I'm going to speak to you without notes, just straight from the heart and the brain with a lifetime of experience to back it all up. But before we get to that, we got to get started with this. The prime minister of the Netherlands was in Washington, D.C. yesterday. He met with Joe Biden at the White House to discuss Ukraine, amongst other things, with the Dutch agreeing to send Kiev a $1 billion Patriot missile defense system. That's according to the Dutch media outlet, ANP. So that new system will join another Patriot system that Mr. Biden previously agreed to send to Ukraine from U.S.

stockpiles. Now, it's going to take a couple of months before either of those systems actually get delivered to Ukraine. A lot of training required on those very expensive systems. But once they arrived, they might help shoot down some of those Russian missiles that continue to do terrible damage all throughout Ukraine. But what I want to put under your radar this morning is a very different discussion that the two had about something quite small that's a really big deal, and that is computer chips. But let's back up for just a moment and refresh our memories on this. On August 16th, I briefed you on how the world is in the midst of a very big battle over computer chips. Those, of course, are the very tiny little brains inside the bodies of things like phones

and computers and planes and, well, pretty much everything in modern life. Those chips make everything work. So most of the production of those chips takes place in two countries, either Taiwan or South Korea. But that's a bad deal if either country would ever decide to stop selling those chips to us or if there were ever a war in the Pacific with China. So that's why over the summer, the U.S. Congress passed a bipartisan plan to increase chip manufacturing here in America. But things got very interesting in October. The Biden administration passed regulations that limited computer chips that could be exported to China.

Specifically, we're talking about advanced computer chips that would help Beijing build, say, faster, better, more accurate military weaponry, like missiles and jets. But the regulations went well beyond America's borders. because not only could American companies not export this advanced computer equipment, but other computer chip companies in other countries couldn't either, at least not if they wanted access to the U.S. marketplace. So it was a way to squeeze the entire global industry, but just doing so with U.S. regulations.

And guess what? It's been working. Yet these same companies abroad, some of them didn't take too kindly to these regulations. That included a very important manufacturer in, the Netherlands. It's called ASML Holding. They make something called lithography machines that basically design and produce computer chips. And actually, China is one of ASML's biggest clients. According to Reuters news, the Chinese bought about 2.2 billion worth of these machines from the Netherlands last year. So that's the background and sort of a refresh for this morning's update. The Dutch prime minister said yesterday that while he appreciated the October regular,

and he didn't want computer chips going to what he said was, well, quote, countries where you do not wish that to happen, end quote. Anyway, he said that he's not going to be lectured on this issue. Plus, he said, the computer chip industry is a critical part of his economy. And he said, he needs that money. Now, I want you to listen to this next quote, because it's why I am bringing you this brief. So here we go.

Quote, the computer chip industry is a terrain where we are a world player. And sure, we can conduct discussions about it, but without talking in terms of being put under pressure. I don't like to experience it like that at all. In other words, he's saying, do not lecture

me over 2.2 billion worth of goods going to China, because that amount and that industry are really important to the Netherlands. And it makes us a world player, he said. Okay, so remember that. 2.2 billion worth of goods going to

China making the Netherlands a world player. And all that's very important to this prime minister. Okay. So later, the conversation went on between the prime minister and Mr. Biden, who said that they both had a constructive conversation about the computer chips, and they would manage to find a diplomatic solution. That's great. But thinking about the 2.2 billion in goods going to China and making the Netherlands a world

player, all right, remember that as I remind you of this. So this same prime minister announced last year that his government will seize upwards of 3,000 farms because of climate change. In fact, his minister for nature and nitrogen policy said that the Dutch agricultural industry is no longer of importance to the country. Ms. Christian von der Vandreville said on December 12th that, quote, export percentages are not a goal for us. Our goal is a mission reduction and to restore nature. Now, she's saying that about an agricultural industry that, according to Bloomberg News, is valued at $110 billion worth of goods per year. By the way, that makes them the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world

behind only the United States. All right, so those are the facts and data. Let me now pivot to my analysis and opinion putting all this together. So on one hand, the prime minister has his sort of feathers ruffled by computer chip regulations that affect 2.2 billion in sales to communist China, a country that is the biggest driver of climate change emissions. But on the other hand, Keena's government have no problem with abandoning 110 billion in agricultural sales, all to help solve climate change. I find that fascinating. And look, the reason that I highlight this for you, in fact, the reason that this

brief is so important, is that if smart people in the Netherlands can get to this point, doing not calculus and deciding to swap out $110 billion for $2.2 billion? Well, if it can happen there, it can happen here or anywhere. That is how serious climate change activists are. And you should know that, whether you celebrate this fact or it makes you want to organize against it. With that, my friends, let's pivot now to some headlines you probably have seen over the last day or two about China. The government there released year-end figures that talked about the economic and demographic health of the country. Now, that might seem boring, but actually it's really, really important. Because first, it's a country that is America's number one enemy. That's

according to the Pentagon, the CIA and FBI. So it's really prudent for us to pay very close attention when data like this comes out. It's basically a look at our enemy's strengths and weaknesses. So that's why I dug into the numbers. And what we learn from this data, well, includes three very important things. First, let's talk about their economy. The National Bureau of Statistics said that China's economy expanded 3% in 2022. But that's actually the worst year for gross domestic product growth since 1976. Now, there was the strange pandemic year of 2020, but that aside, last year was one for the Chinese record books and not in a good way. And it actually helps explain a major reason for why China just abandoned its zero COVID policies.

As I briefed you on previously, those constant shutdowns of factories and entire cities over one single COVID case, well, they were having a horrific toll on China's economy. So they obviously decided to lift those COVID restrictions, despite, by the way, having very little vaccination in their population, and they just chose to let, well, natural immunity do its thing. All right. So that's the first piece of big news from this. data to summarize China's economy is sick, just like some of their people these days.

All right, let's now talk about the second key finding. Even though China's economy slowed down last year, it ramped up the production and importation of coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuel production reached record highs last year, especially with coal and natural gas. As for coal, they dug up 9% more of the black stuff than last year, actually. natural gas, that's up 6.4% too. By the way, they also squeezed out a bit more domestic oil production, topping at 200 million tons of crude.

Now, a good chunk of this overall energy increase can also be attributed to trade with Russia. That hit a record last year of $190 billion, mostly with natural gas, coal, and oil driving that increase. Now, it is true that December's numbers are a little bit softer in ports of things. like coal and oil are down largely because of the slowing global economy. But the Chinese government said that they expect continued production and consumption of fossil fuels all at record highs this year, plus they're going to expand their energy trade

with Russia. So just keep these two things in mind as we think about the war in Ukraine, plus as countries like the Netherlands shut down farms for climate change while China sprints in the other direction. Finally, authorities in Beijing said that China's population fell for the first time since the 1960s. The population there fell by 850,000 people putting the country at 1.41 billion total citizens. By the way, compare that to America at 350 million. Now, what you may have seen, the number of headlines and experts, saying that this is a demographic crisis. And what they're arguing is that as China gets wealthier, the people are...

people, well, they're having fewer babies. And that is correct. It's also happening here in America, too. But what that means, they say, is that with fewer young people, well, there's fewer people than to take care of an aging population. But more importantly, when you have too few workers and too many old folks, well, that creates lots of problems for the country's economy. And that's why these experts are saying that China actually could collapse if it doesn't tackle this problem and encourage folks to have more babies. But is this line of argumentation correct? Well, we're going to talk about this more in future briefs, but for now, I want you to think about one thing that nobody else is talking about. And it's something that's happening at the Tianjin port, which is about an hour's drive

from Beijing. So here's what you need to know. In October of 2021, that port opened a new terminal that operates completely by robotics and automation. It's built on a system run by advanced software and machine learning created by the Chinese company, Huawei. And I'll tell you, it's quite something to watch. Ships being loaded and unloaded without a single person moving a muscle. No dock workers, no crane operators, no truck drivers, no people, except for a handful of folks in an office watching the process unfold on TVs and computers.

Okay, so why is that important? Well, the port built this system because, well, fundamentally, human workers like you and I, we require salaries and benefits and vacations. Sometimes we get sick. We make mistakes. Sometimes we even strike. Or sometimes you have labor shortages, not enough young workers, for instance. And that's when these kinds of ports and this kind of economy thrives.

So, for example, In this new smart terminal, they only need 200 workers, compare that to 800 at any traditional terminal. So keep that in mind as you read headlines that talk about the demographic crisis or the labor crisis in China. Because as it turns out, they might not need those extra young workers because of robotics, automation, and machine learning. In other words, technology might solve this problem for China. 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.

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And I think it's fair to say that these are, well, it's all good news, or at least more positive than negative. So let's first start in the state of Georgia. The solar energy company Q-cells announced last week that it would become the first company in the United States to produce solar panels starting from the raw materials all the way to the finished panels. That is the complete supply chain. All of it made in America. Now, before I give you the details, let's remember the analogy that we used on this

to help us understand the supply chain for solar panels. So we talked about on December 26th, you know, making solar panels. And we said that it was kind of like making bread. You start with the dough or polysilicon in this case. Then you have your freshly baked loaf. Those are called the ingots. Then you slice and assemble those.

pieces of bread, which are called the solar wafers and cells, then you assemble it all into a meal or a dish of some kind. Well, in this case, it's a solar panel. Well, the company Q-cells is saying that they are going to invest $2.5 billion in two plants to make all of that from the dough to the final dish, as it were. So one plant will be in Dalton, Georgia, and the other in Cartersville, Georgia. Groundbreaking on these plants will begin at some point in the next three months and take a year or so to complete. All told, it'll produce about two to three gigawatts of power each year, which will service, give or take, two million homes. Now, none of this solves the problem of what's called solar harvesting, meaning sometimes the sun won't shine on those panels, so we are going to

have a bad energy harvest. And that's bad if you want, say, power all the time at your home, the hospital or a factory. Nor does this new supply chain solve. the contamination issue if these panels are ever damaged or once they're thrown into America's landfills. As PDB listeners know, they leach toxic chemicals into our soil and groundwater, and very few people have come up with a solution for it. But even still, this is, I think, fairly an important development. One might even say good, especially for folks who want to make an America solar panel. And we had to talk about the good news to provide some balance and fairness to this very, very combustible debate over dirty green energy.

With that, let's talk about our second piece of good energy news. This one is actually out of Texas. On Monday, the oil and gas company ExxonMobil announced that they had finished building a $2 billion expansion of their mid-sized oil refinery in Beaumont, Texas. It's the first major expansion of refining capacity in America in at least 10 years. And once up and running, probably in a couple months, it'll add another 250,000 barrels a day of capacity, with priority going to diesel production, but also gasoline and jet fuel. And honestly, it's not a moment too soon. As PDB listeners know, U.S. stockpiles of diesel and gasoline

are near five-year lows, in part because refining production is limited. We have fewer refineries now than in the 1980s. And you add that to the war in Ukraine, and you, my friends, have the high prices for fuel that we have seen over the past nine months. I'd also note that this is an important development based on the brief that I gave you yesterday, that Europe will no longer buy Russian diesel starting February 5th. Analysts are predicting that we may otherwise see some supply disruptions and possible price hikes. So this latest addition in Texas will probably be helpful in addressing that issue, at least come March or April, when the Beaumont facility is running full steam.

One final bit of good news on this. We're also seeing new refining capacity coming online in the next. next few months in Kuwait, Mexico, Nigeria, and, yes, of course, China, which taken together means more traditional fuel supply that'll help balance out prices. So there you go. Good news all around, maybe even, for your pocketbook. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we conclude your morning brief. But I've got one more thing before I let you go. We'll be right back. Who cares about your poops? Ollie does. That's why Ali signs back to gut health lineup. help support your family's regularity.

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And for this one, folks, I'm going to do something that I haven't done in the 10 months since I started this podcast. I'm going to do this, well, freestyle, right? No notes or scripts, because I really want to reach you all with just a lot of heart and a lot of head on this one. And it all has to do with this. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported

that the Department of Justice thought about having FBI agents work alongside Joe Biden's attorneys as they look for more classified information. Again, that information has been held unlawfully in either Mr. Biden's garage or library or attic or where he's managed to scroll this all the way. But the Department of Justice or DOJ did not do that. Instead of having these FBI agents go to the crime scene, as it were, and it is, and of course work next to Mr. Biden's attorneys,

the Attorney General Merrick Garland decided to just trust Biden's attorneys, believing that they would find and report everything honestly. no matter, of course, that they represent Mr. Biden and are paid to protect him and his interests. All right, so why is Mr. Garland doing this? Well, according to the Wall Street Journal, he has decided that if those FBI agents were there, it might complicate the efforts of the special counsel. Based on all the folks that I've talked with, particularly those who have served at the Department of Justice, they're not quite understanding the logic there.

It just doesn't make any sense. All right. So those are the facts, as reported by the Wall Street. journal this morning. And with that, let me get to my counsel and my opinion. And folks, this is based on my years of service at the CIA, working with all these same kinds of classified top secret documents. And I've received dozens of briefs over the years about how to handle and retain classified materials. And so this is what I would say to you if we were, let's say, in the White House, and I could pull you aside and we could talk about this in private for why, frankly,

this is absolute madness. And we're going to start with this. It's a thought experiment. So let's imagine that I'm back at the CIA, and I have over 20 classified documents sitting at my house. And I tell the CIA that, okay, yes, I've got these 20 documents, plus there could be more. I'm not sure.

But don't worry, because my attorneys and I are going to take a look, and we're going to keep you posted. So, folks, what do you think would happen to me? What would the CIA do, knowing that they have an employee with top secret intel floating around his house, unattended and unsecured? Well, let me tell you what they would do based on my years of experience. They would take my badge. They would revoke my clearances. They would escort me off of the campus, and I would no longer have a job.

Then the FBI would show up at my house, and they would raid my house with a team of agents. I may or may not be arrested on the spot. And guess what? That's good. That's what they should do when a CIA officer or anybody is using his home as an unauthorized storage unit for classified material. And yes, please arrest someone who does that because either that person is an idiot or they're spying for the Russians or the Chinese and they're handing that material in that way. And that home then is now a crime scene. to figure out which it is.

Am I an idiot or am I a spy? And yet, the Department of Justice is now telling Joe Biden that his attorneys, they can just handle the whole thing. You know, just keep us posted. I'm sure of Joe Biden's attorneys, you all are going to do great and be completely honest with us. Are you kidding me? Folks, as at this moment,

we've got Joe Biden's attorneys at a crime scene deciding what's evidence, what's not, or maybe destroying evidence. Who knows? No one knows. Plus, whatever intel these attorneys are reading, they're not cleared to read that stuff. They have no need to know, even with the clearance. We talked about that yesterday.

So it's just security violation after violation. And the Department of Justice and Merrick Garland, they know this, and they're letting it happen. Which begs the question, why? Why are they doing this? well, I'll tell you what I think, at least based on experience and logic. The DOJ, we know, is led by an attorney general who is supported by and preferred by Democrats. He was chosen by Democrats and now covering for his party.

I see that not just because we know that former President Obama picked him to be on the Supreme Court years ago. Instead, I just look at the facts here, and I realize that none of this is not. normal. I certainly wouldn't be treated the way that Biden is being treated because it's illogical and unlawful. And to be clear, you wouldn't be treated with these sorts of kid gloves either. And that's good. Because either someone like you or I, if we were to do that, we would be an idiot or a spy. And either way, we wouldn't deserve either a clearance or a job. And yet none of that seems to matter, does it? So my general takeaway from this, folks, is that I think we're seeing something pretty dark happen. I think that we're seeing the collapse of law and order. It's a blatant demonstration

that there are two sets of laws and rules, one for the ruling class and one for it to everybody else. Okay, so why does that matter? Well, I'll tell you that the most obvious is that it endangers national security. So who knows how many assets or collection platforms this misguided and unaccounted for intel has compromised? The answer isn't zero. Right? But it's more than that. Because based on my experience, nations rise and fall based on law and order, because laws create order. And then with that foundation, well, people build homes and families. They create factories and businesses and hospitals and museums and economies, culture, society, all of it. And that folks is why America is exceptional. We have the U.S. Constitution and all the laws that flow from it. That's why millions of people each year try to come to this country, including illegally. They're fleeing some pretty terrible garbage dump nations that don't have law and order and don't have those economies that flow from all of that law and order.

But what we're seeing right now, how the DOJ is handling this Biden intel scandal, it's putting all of that at risk. They are creating two separate rules, one for Mr. Biden or his political party, and another set of rules for everybody else. And that's got to stop. Because the next time that a Republican gets into office and did the presidency, their attorney general is going to do this same garbage out of either revenge or just because they can. And then we are in a political blood feud.

It's a spiral that we will not pull out of. And it's in no small part because, you know, all those mid and lower level FBI agents and DOJ officials, well, they're going to look at this and say, say, oh, like and target whoever I would like and get away with it because the boss is. And in fact, that's what the Inspector General of the Department of Justice warned a few years ago when former FBI director James Comey leaked classified information about Trump. I tell you, it's just so infuriating and frightening to watch this.

Because I've seen this happen in other countries, my friends. And it's just disastrous. countries collapse or end up in tyranny and anarchy and I just can't believe it's happening here virtually all of my professional life I have served this country and I just can't believe that it's happening here so as I have reflected on this I think what do we do well at first we need to be honest that it's happening right we got to talk about it and debate it because okay look Brian's experiences and opinion they're nice but so is yours second we have to demand that Republicans in the House investigate this Department of Justice like a dog on a bone,

it's got to be priority number one, because if this gets out of hand, nothing else matters. And third, I'll tell you, I don't care who you vote for, but we have to vote and we have to get our friends to vote, and we have to tell candidates that this stuff has got to stop. And if you don't like the candidates, well, then you and I and others are going to have to run ourselves or find somebody to run for office who shares our values because it's time. This decision by the DOJ, assuming it is true and accurately portrayed by the Wall Street Journal, and I believe it is based on folks with whom I've spoken, okay, we have now crossed a very important red line. All of us are going to have to find ways to get involved to fix it. Because if we don't,

we will lose this country. Trust me, I have seen this abroad. I never thought I would see it here, but it's here and we got to fix it. And I'll tell you what gives me hope. Remember many, many years ago, there was a man named Benjamin Franklin. And he was asked by a woman outside of a very important hall where people were discussing at the time, what kind of country we would have. And she asked him, what kind of government have you given us? And he said, a republic, if you can keep it.

So, my friends, let's keep it. America is worth fighting. 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.