The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | August 6th, 2024: Trump Assassination Plotter Arrested, Harris Taps Walz, & Secret Service Cocaine Coverup

Episode Date: August 6, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:    A Pakistani national with purported ties to Iran was arrested last month on charges he plotted to assassinate former President Donald Trump and multiple other public officials, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court. In the latest shakeup of the 2024 presidential election campaign, vice president and presumptive Democrat nominee Kamala Harris has announced she is tapping Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her vice-presidential running mate. Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is in the hot seat once again following reports that she pushed to destroy cocaine evidence found in the White House last summer, sparking some heated infighting at the agency. 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 PDB Afternoon Bulletin.  Email: [e-mail].  Patriot Gold: https://www.patriotgoldgroup.com Say Mike Baker sent you Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right, so I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong. Bro, Skycoin, way better than points. Never fly during a Scorpio full moon. Just tell the manager you'll sue. Instant room upgrade. Stop taking bad travel advice. Start comparing hundreds of sites with kayak and get your trip right. Bad advice?

You talking to me? Kayak, got that right. This episode is brought to you by Patriot Gold Group. Protect your retirement assets and protect your future. Speak with the experts over at Patriot Gold today. Now, they've been the top-rated gold IRA dealer for seven years in a row. Go to Patriot Gold Group.com or call 1-888-621-3856 for a free investor guide. It's Tuesday, 6 August.

Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker. your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. Now, before we get into today's top stories, I want to lead off with a late-breaking development. According to ABC News, a Pakistani national with alleged ties to Iran was arrested last month on charges of plotting to assassinate former President Trump and several other public officials. According to a criminal complaint that was unsealed today in Brooklyn federal court, the suspect Asif Mirren. Merchant, flew from Pakistan to the U.S. after spending time in Iran, aiming to recruit hitmen for the plot.

Unbeknownst to him, the individual he contacted was an FBI informant. Now, while the complaint doesn't explicitly mention Trump, sources familiar with the case confirmed ABC News that Trump was one of the intended targets. Merchant, now facing charges of murder for hire, was apprehended on the 12th of July. Now, you may recall, that's just a day before Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and was, of course, the scene of the failed assassination attempt by now terminated shooter Matthew Crooks. Investigators have yet to find a connection between Merchant and Crooks. However, merchants' arrest may shed light on the last-minute security changes at the event. Pat Young, head of the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit, noted a sudden decision to deploy secret service snipers, marking the first time that such measures were taken for a non-sitting president.

We'll be sure to bring you more on this story in tomorrow's PDB. All right, on to the afternoon bulletin. First, we'll take a look at the latest news from the 2024 U.S. presidential election campaign. Vice president and presumptive Democrat nominee Kamala Harris has announced that she and her campaign team have selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walts to be her vice presidential running mate. Also, former Secret Service. director Kimberly Cheatel. Well, she's back in the hot seat again, following reports that she pushed

to destroy cocaine evidence found in the White House last summer. You may recall that story, sparking some heated infighting within the Secret Service. But first, our afternoon spotlight. Leading off with U.S. political news, Vice President Harris has tapped Minnesota Governor Tim Walts as her running mate for the upcoming presidential election. The 60-year-old governor had been included on a relatively short list of possibilities, but is still considered a surprising choice, as nationally he's not well known. He recently did become a darling of Democrats for supposedly coining the term weird to describe former President Trump. A memo, of course, was quickly drafted, and countless Democrat pundits and media synchophants marched in lockstep to use the weird term when talking

about the Republican presidential candidate. Now, many were expecting Harris to choose Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to help shore up support in that state. Some reports indicate that there was pressure from within the Harris team to move away from Shapiro, given his pro-Israel stance. So, what do we know about the man joining Harris on the Democrat ticket? Okay, let's take a look. Walsh was raised in rural Nebraska, where he enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1981 and later graduated from a state college in 1989 with a degree in social science education. His teaching career took him to China, where he taught high school students in Guangdong province north of Hong Kong. He ultimately returned to the U.S. and settled in Minnesota in 1996.

Upon returning stateside, Walts and his wife set up a company to coordinate summer trips to China for American high school students. Walsh was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007 and was the ranking member of the Committee on Veterans Affairs. In 2019, he became the governor of Minnesota. Now, a year into his term as governor, Walsh found himself dealing with the BLM and Antifa riots that saw over 1,500 businesses damaged in Minneapolis. Fires erupted, small businesses were looted and damaged, some never to reopen, and buildings were vandalized, including the torching of a police precinct, days after the death of George Floyd.

Wals has been criticized for his hands-off approach to the rioting, waiting to call in the National Guard to restore order after three days of rioting, looting and damage. The Democrat mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Fry, said at the time that Governor Walsh ignored his repeated warnings about brewing violence in the city and rebuffed his requests to deploy the National Guard. While delaying the call for the guard and a restoration of order, Walsh actually said, this is from Walsh himself, quote, I want to just be clear, there's philosophically an argument to be made that an armed presence on the ground in the midst of where we just had a police killing is seen as a catalyst, end quote. Okay, well, yeah, you wouldn't want to upset the rioters

and looters. Now, when it came to immigration, and nowadays, of course, every state, including Minnesota, is a border state. Walsh adopted a pro-ill illegal immigrant stance, supporting Minnesota's designation as a sanctuary state. His policies have drawn comparisons to California's controversial approach to immigration. One of Walsh's most contentious actions was signing what's referred to as the driver's licenses for all bill in 2023. The bill permitted anyone in the state, regardless of immigration status, to obtain a driver's license. While this move benefited approximately 80,000 immigrants in Minnesota, it has sparked significant concern. Critics argue that the law could enable undocumented immigrants to vote or enroll in state programs, raising questions about

the integrity of state services and electoral processes. Furthermore, Walsh's support for laws limiting state cooperation with federal authorities, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE, underscores his liberal departure from traditional enforcement policies. Walsh's progressive bent continued through 2023 when he signed a bill that expanded voting rights for over 55,000 ex-convicts. Later that year, 2023, he was elected chair of the Democratic Governors Association, the DGA, claiming, quote, one person's socialism is another person's neighborliness, end quote. Ah, that old trope of implying that being a socialist simply means you're kind and considerate. So by Walsh's definition, if you're against socialism, well, you're not neighborly. I'm starting to understand why Harris selected this cat and why Bernie Sanders is a fan.

Republicans were reportedly surprised by Walsh's selection, having anticipated other candidates like Arizona Senator Mark Kelly or Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Minnesota Republican strategist Kevin Poindexter said, quote, him, Walsh, joining the ticket as VP, does not bring anything, end quote. Well, I'd suspect the Democrats and the Harris campaign team would disagree. Democrats are held back on Walsh's Midwestern routes to counter the Trump Vance ticket, who Walsh refers to as, quote, weird dudes. Caroline Levitt, the national press secretary for the Trump campaign,

criticized Harris's choice, labeling Walsh say, quote, West Coast wannabe, and accusing him of trying to reshape Minnesota to mirror California as part of a, quote, dangerously liberal agenda. Former President Trump also responded to this election. Shortly after the news broke, Trump took to truth social and wrote simply, Thank you. beginning with an introductory event on Tuesday night in Philadelphia, Harris and Waltz will begin their campaign tour through seven key battleground states to drum up support.

Now, I've said it before, but one thing that the Democrats do very well is take orders. They do what they're told. So expect the entire party to start doing TikTok dances and memes celebrating Waltz's selection. He'll be celebrated for being folksy, and he'll be described as a moderate Midwestern type. all in an effort to balance out Harris' reputation as a California liberal. The talking points and memos have already been written and distributed to the media, pundits, social influencers, and TikTokers. The Democrats are very good at sticking to a message.

Coming up after the break, housed at Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheedle, well, she's back in the hot seat following internal reports that she tried to destroy the infamous cocaine evidence that was found last summer at the White House. 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, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29th. Don't pass go and own it all.

Only at Yamava, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Details at Yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. Hey, honey, it's mom. Did you know if we switched to Verizon,

we can get four phones for $0,000, plus four lines for $25 a line? Call me back. Me again. That's just $100 a month for four lines on unlimited welcome. Plus four phones, no trade in needed. Call me. It's mom. America's Best Network, Verizon.

That's the one we're talking about. I'll send you text. America's Best Network based on Route Metrics, best overall mobile network performance, U.S. second half, 2025. Porto lines and a limit and welcome and auto pay. See Verizon.com for details. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin.

The Secret Service is under the spotlight once again, and it all centers around that mysterious bag of cocaine officials found last summer at the White House. Apparently, it was just too hard to determine who that Coke belonged to. It was left in a cubby, as you'll recall, outside a secure area of the White House, where visitors are required to leave phones and other electronic devices. Now, despite the building being heavily monitored and folks being logged in and logged out as a matter of routine, apparently there was just no way to figure out who might have put the gear in the cubby. Well, now, three sources in the Secret Service community exclusively told real clear politics on Monday

that ousted Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheedle fought to destroy the cocaine evidence after it was discovered in the room in the West Wing of the White House on July 2, 2023. Yeah. Anticipating a media firestorm, Cheetah allegedly wanted to swiftly close the case and called the agency's forensic division supervisor to ask him to dispose of the cocaine. Cheeto was reportedly, quote, really pissed off when her subordinates in both the Forensic Services Division and the Uniform Division refused her order, citing rules requiring the criminal evidence. be retained for seven years. The anonymous sources told real clear politics that normally the discovery of illegal drugs in the White House wouldn't come to light at all, as those in the innermost ring of protective agents assigned to the first family would simply dispose of

illegal drugs or other contraband, found in areas used by the president, his family, or their staff. Wow, what an accommodating White House. But in this case, the cocaine was found by a member of the agency's uniform division, which oversees the facilities used by the president and other protectees. The White House was subsequently evacuated, while the substance was tested to see if it posed a danger, tipping off the press to the incident. One uniformed division officer was initially assigned to investigate, but was allegedly taken off the case by Cheatel and acting Secret Service director Ronald Roe, who was then the deputy director after the agent indicated that he would be following a crime scene investigative protocol. The plastic. The plasticist's

bag and its contents were reportedly sent to the FBI's crime lab for fingerprint and DNA analysis. According to the report, while no latent fingerprints were found, they did get a partial hit on some DNA material. But the sources said that agency leaders reportedly under pressure from Cheatel did not run additional searches for DNA matches or conduct interviews with White House staff. One source told real clear politics, quote, that's because they didn't want to know or even narrow down the field of who it could be. It could have been Hunter Biden. It could have been a staffer. It could have been someone doing a tour. We'll never know. End quote. Now to be clear, the Secret Service has denied this report and claimed it's false, claiming that the investigation was handled professionally

and in accordance with protocol. A Secret Service spokesman said no interviews were conducted because it would have been a strain on resources, potentially infringed upon civil liberties, and would ultimately be pointless without physical evidence tying an individual to the drugs. Why bother? Wait a minute, wait. So conducting interviews of folks in the White House about the Coke could have infringed on civil liberties. Got it. The spokesman also noted that there were no latent fingerprints and that the DNA material was insufficient for investigative comparisons. Ultimately, the spokesman said the investigation was closed after only 11 days, quote, due to a lack of physical evidence, end quote. Sorry, folks, nothing to see here. If only we had investigative resources, say, we could get to the bottom. of this incredibly difficult case. The spokesman added in the statement to the New York Post that,

quote, the evidence from that investigation was disposed of in accordance with retention policies. Cheedle, who you may recall had at one point served as a favored agent on Jill Biden's protective detail, stepped down from her post as director on July 23rd, following widespread bipartisan calls for her resignation over the myriad security failures that led to the attempted assassination of former President Trump. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday, 6 August. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And of course, if you're so inclined, to listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting pdb premium.com. Couldn't be easier.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money, whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion-dollar swings. There's a money side to every story. Get the money side of the story. Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com.