The President's Daily Brief - October 3rd, 2023: Iranian Influence, Ukraine's Corruption, and the Wagner Group's Next Era

Episode Date: October 3, 2023

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:   First up, we uncover an explosive story from Washington. A high-level Iranian influence ring has been exposed, and shockingly, now-suspended Iran envoy Robert Malley is implicated. The objective? To influence U.S. policy toward Iran. We'll trace this network from Tehran all the way to the corridors of power in Washington DC.   Later, we analyze a confidential U.S. strategy document, obtained by POLITICO. Despite their public assertions, Biden administration officials are deeply concerned about corruption in Ukraine.   Moving to the west coast, California Governor Gavin Newsom swiftly names Laphonza Butler to Senator Dianne Feinstein's seat, making history with the first openly lesbian Black member of Congress. But who is Ms. Butler? We'll delve into her career, which paradoxically champions both progressive and anti-progressive causes.   And on the Back of the Brief segment: The Wagner Group's leadership might see a familial successor. According to unofficial sources, Yevgeny Prigozhin's young son, Pavel, is poised to inherit his father's vast empire.   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

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls and all the ships at sea. It's Tuesday, October 3rd. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First up, an explosive and fascinating story out of Washington has been largely overlooked by much of the media. A high-level Iranian influence ring has been busted in the nation's capital. Shockingly, now suspended Iran-onfoy, Robert Malley, is implicated. in supporting and directing what essentially was an Iranian intelligence operation. The operation aimed to influence U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic, and has all been unveiled through a trove of emails between U.S. participants and Iranian government contacts and handlers. We'll follow the trail from Tehran into the halls of power in Washington, D.C. A bit later in the show, we'll dive into a confidential U.S. strategy document obtained by Politico, revealing that Biden administration officials are deeply concerned about corruption in Ukraine, despite their public statements. Then, a little later, California Governor Gavin Newsom wasted no time in naming LaFanza

Butler to fill Senator Dianne Feinstein's seat. This swift decision makes Butler the first openly lesbian black member of Congress, but there may be more to Ms. Butler than meets the eye, as her career has seen her champion both progressive and distinctly anti-progressive causes. Finally, in today's back of the brief segment, an heir apparent may be emerging to the legacy and fortune of Slane Wagner Group Leader Yvgeny Progrosin. It's just chatter right now, but telegram channels in Russia claim that, according to Progosion's will, his 25-year-old son, Pavel, will take control of his business empire. No word on whether Pavel intends to board a private jet anytime soon. But first, today's PDB spotlight. It was called the Iran Experts Initiative,

or the IEI. Now, it's an innocuous enough name, but what it was was an influence ring run by the Iranian government. The story began back in 2014 when senior Iranian foreign ministry officials hatched a scheme to boost Iran's global image, especially during negotiations with the U.S. over its nuclear program. Their plan, relatively simple, and certainly a classic intelligence plan. Forge connections with a network of influential overseas academics and researchers, but it wasn't as innocent as it all sounds. According to a cache of Iranian government emails, first exposed by Wall Street Journal correspondent Jay Solomon, and reported on by two news outlets, semaphore and Iran International, this initiative revolved around a core group of

of second-generation Iranians. Now, these individuals had strong affiliations with leading international think tanks and academic institutions, primarily in Europe and the U.S. Members of the IEI portrayed themselves as academics, but they were essentially functioning as foreign agents for the Iranian regime. They met abroad to receive instructions from top regime officials, and some even pledged their loyalty to the Iranian government. The whole operation was funded and backed by Mustafa Zahani, an official from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC. Zahani acted as the link between IEI operatives and Iran's then foreign minister.

It's worth noting that the IRGC is a designated terror organization. It should probably be also mentioned that Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism. Over time, some of the operatives managed to infiltrate positions of power. Shockingly, at least three of them became top aides to Robert Malley. Now, he was the Biden administration's U.S. Special Envoy to Iran and the go-to person for Iranian policy. Mali was placed on leave quietly this June after his security clearance was suspended, and the reasons remain unclear. Unsurprisingly, the White House has not provided any detailed explanation for Malley's suspension nor specifics as to why his security clearances were yanked. Amali has also long been known to favor dialogue at a more proactive open approach

to Iran while being scornful of the maximum pressure approach. Some of these operatives are still working in the U.S. government, and they still maintain their security clearances. One of them, Ariang Tabatabai, is currently working at the Department of Defense as Chief of Staff to Christopher for mayor, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict. Mayor recently testified that the Pentagon is scrutinizing Tabatabai's background check and security clearance investigation. The Iran-influenced ring has left its mark, and its implications will continue to unfold in the highest echelons of power. Look, the top three foreign intelligence services working against U.S. national security interests are the Chinese, the Russian, the Russian,

and the Iranians. It appears that the Iranian regime successfully established, built, and maintained an influence operation using cooperative contacts and sympathizers who Iranian intelligence knew could be useful in both pushing a pro-Iranian agenda and likely providing insight and intelligence of value to the regime. Again, a classic intelligence operation. And the Iranians, frankly, were aided by the fact that the Biden administration has been clear since day one that they've been keen to re-engage with Iran and find a way back into a nuclear deal, regardless of what that deal may look like or entailed. It shouldn't be a surprise that, as a result of the White House's agenda, they staffed relevant Iran-focused positions inside the government

with like-minded individuals, and also gave voice to academics and researchers likely to push a pro-Iranian message. That made easy pickings for the Iranian intel service in terms of identifying potential cooperative contacts. The fact that Republicans in Congress are reportedly investigating this Iran network, that's a good thing, and hopefully they'll be relatively transparent with their findings. At the same time, you can be sure that there is a counterintelligence investigation being conducted off the radar by the FBI and the intel community in order to determine

exactly who has been involved and how much damage has been done. All right, up next, we've got another story we're keeping an eye on. A confidential U.S. strategy document, hints that the Biden administration, is more concerned about corruption in Ukraine than they publicly let on. I'll be right back. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming,

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Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. Welcome back to the President's Daily Brief. As we've noted previously on the PDB, President Zelensky and the Ukraine government are working overtime to maintain support from the U.S., the EU, and NATO. In order to maintain that united front and ensure the money and hardware keep flowing, Ukraine needs to do more than just demonstrate success on the battlefield. They also need to fight against their longstanding reputation for corruption. Transparency International's 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index reveals that Ukraine ranked 122 out of 180 countries, earning the unfortunate distinction of being the second most corrupt country in Europe. Anyone want to take a stab

at the most corrupt country in Europe? Yes, that would be Russia, which came in at 136th place. In a confidential document obtained by Politico, it becomes evident that the White House shares these concerns. The Integrated Country Strategy Report explicitly warns against, quote, perceptions of high-level corruption, which could erode both the confidence of the Ukrainian public and foreign leaders in the wartime government. The document lays out an extensive plan to tackle various issues in Ukraine, spanning from bank privatization to English education and military reforms. The emphasis is notably on reducing corruption and the process of what it terms de-oligarchization.

Yeah, say that three times fast, or even once, de-oligarchization. However, the Biden administration faces a delicate balancing act. While it aims to pressure Ukraine to combat bribery, the public discourse around this issue could embolden opponents of U.S. assistance to Ukraine. Ukraine's challenges extend further as it navigates post-war reconstruction plans, or planning, for an eventual endgame, and strives for EU membership. Achieving these goals hinges on overcoming a legacy of decades-long corruption and and illegality. Sides of progress are visible. In September, Ukrainian President Zelensky

took decisive action within the Department of Defense, replacing the defense minister and all six deputy ministers. Ukraine's journey toward transparency and reform will not be an easy one. Zelensky is fully aware of the need to combat corruption, both the actual incidents and the perception. He'll need to be very aggressive and transparent as he was with the sackings in the Defense Ministry, if he's to keep the allies on side and meet the necessary conditions for EU entry. All right. Switching gears.

If you thought you were going to have to wait through some lengthy process of selection and vetting to find out who would replace the late Democrat Senator Diane Feinstein, well, you'd be wrong. Just two days after the 90-year-old Feinstein passed, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced he would be choosing LaFanza Butler to fill the empty seat. Now, the speed of the announcement could lead one to believe that Butler's been waiting in the wings for some time as Feinstein's health has been in decline. This move fulfills Newsom's 2021 pledge to appoint a black woman if Senator Feinstein ever stepped down, and what's more, Butler will be the first openly lesbian

black member of Congress. That checks a lot of boxes, but certainly in no way implies that Newsom and the Democrats are engaged in identity politics. Butler has never held an elected position, but to be fair, other governor-appointed replacements in the past have, likewise, sometimes never been in front of the voters. Butler's swearing in is set for Wednesday, and it will be Vice President Kamala Harris doing the honors. Now, at first glance, Butler looks like a progressive activist's dream candidate. She's the president of Emily's list, a political action committee supporting pro-abortion Democrat women candidates, and she spent over a decade, leading California's largest labor union, the SEIU Local 2015. But there's a bit more to her story beneath that

progressive activist surface. In short, Butler is one of California's most seasoned strategists. She played key roles in Kamala Harris's 2020 presidential campaign and Hillary Clinton's in 2016. She first made her name at a company called SCRB Strategies, the firm behind, well, now here is a surprise, Governor Gavin Newsom's political campaigns. Huh. But in addition to serving political clients, SCRB strategies, also works with major corporations like Airbnb, Pacific Gas and Electric, and Uber. Uber's interesting. Despite all the pro-labor ink that's going to be spilled about Ms. Butler, her corporate work has pitted her against anti-eastern. organized labor efforts as well. During her time working with SCRB, for example, the firm worked with

Uber to help the ride Hailing Giant push back against driver's labor rights efforts, for which they paid over $185,000 to Butler's company. Oh, and there's one more interesting detail about California's new senator, and that's that she's lived in Maryland since 2021. But conveniently, her residency was just now switched back to California, where she does own property. Now, also, there's some intrigue, some interesting backroom jockeying going on in California regarding the late Feinstein's vacant seat. Several Democrats had already announced their plans to run for that seat in 2024, including Katie Porter, Barbara Lee, and Adam Schiff. While initially, the appointment by Newsom to fill the seat following Feinstein's death was to be only

an interim appointment, meaning the named individual would simply hold the seat until the election next year, it does appear that Newsom's choice, LaFanza Butler, may decide to run as the incumbent. We'll keep an eye on that. All right, in today's back of the brief segment, we've got a fascinating twist in the aftermath of Yvgeny Progossian's death. Unificial telegram channels in Russia are buzzing with reports that Progoshan's assets and control of his business empire have now been bequeathed to his 25-year-old son. That reportedly includes control of the Nefarious Wagner Group. I'll be right back.

Welcome back. In today's back of the brief, you may remember the name Yvgeny Progoshin. Remember, he owned the Wagner Group, a Russian-based private military company that's operated in various wars, owns, including Syria, parts of Africa, and, of course, Ukraine. You also might recall his brief clash with the Russian Defense Ministry and the Putin government, and by class shy, I mean he led an aborted coup against Putin's government. After calling off his march on Moscow, it appeared as if he might just survive. That is, until he and other senior Wagner group leaders died when their private plane crashed north of Moscow in August. We don't know the cause of the deadly plane crash, but it could rhyme with Schmuton.

Anyway, Progosion left quite a legacy, a massive fortune, several businesses, and of course, the infamous Wagner Group. Today, we might be getting a glimpse into the future of that business empire. Now, it's all chatter at this point, but Russian telegram channels, connected to the Wagner Group, suggests that, per Progossian's will, his 25-year-old son, Pavel, could take control of the assets. It's also said that Pavel filed inheritance paperwork on September 8th. But here's the twist. One source alleges that Pavel is gearing up to collect all the debts owed to his father, estimating that the Russian Defense Ministry may owe Progoshan's business empire as much as a staggering 86 billion rubles. Now, those of you keeping score and aware of the ruble to dollar translation would understand that that's around $800 million.

Adding to the intrigue, telegram channels tied to Wagner suggests that Pavel Progoshin is actually in talks to return Wagner personnel to the combat zone in Ukraine. It's worth noting that following Progosian's death, a mysterious death might I add, many of the Wagner forces were folded into the Russian military structure. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Tuesday, 3 October. If you have any questions or comments, reach out to us, please, at pdb at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker. Until tomorrow. Stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance.

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