The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | June 26th, 2024: ISIS Threats Inside America & Putin's Attack On The Press

Episode Date: June 26, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:    In a disturbing announcement, U.S. law enforcement have identified more than 400 immigrants who were brought into the U.S. by an ISIS-affiliated human smuggling network. The Putin regime announced plans to ban access inside Russia to 81 different media outlets from the European Union in their latest retaliation. 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] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, in a disconcerting announcement with serious ramifications for U.S. national security, and yes, I just used disconcerting and ramifications in the same sentence, which makes me sound rather posh. U.S. law enforcement have identified more than 400 immigrants who were brought into the U.S. by an ISIS-affiliated human smuggling network. Also, the Putin regime announced plans to ban access inside Russia to 81 different media outlets from the European Union in their latest move in this Cold War 2.0. But first, our afternoon spotlight. Now, we've spoken regularly here on the PDB about the numerous national security threats

posed by the poorest U.S. southern border. And now federal officials are giving another warning regarding potential infiltration by ISIS. Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revealed Tuesday that they've identified more than 400 individuals inside the U.S. who were brought over the border by a human smuggling network with ties to the Islamic State, you remember them. Officials said the migrants, who were brought to the U.S. from Central Asia and elsewhere, have been deemed, quote, subjects of concern given their potential links to ISIS, according

to an exclusive NBC News report. Now, while authorities have arrested roughly 150 of these migrants and are monitoring others, the whereabouts of approximately 50 of them remain unknown. known, though they're believed to be spread out across 17 states. Well, that narrows it down. Authorities noted that the migrants had been processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials when they initially crossed the border, but they were released under Biden administration policies as they were not on the terror watch list and were deemed to pose no national security threat. Yeah, that vetting process that the White House likes to talk about, it's about as

useful as side pockets on a cow. However, Biden administration officials have attempted to calm any fears, nothing to see here, folks, noting that none of the 400 are linked to any known active threats against the U.S. homeland. Well, then again, they were led into the country, despite being brought into the U.S. by an ISIS-connected smuggling network. An unnamed senior Biden administration official told NBC News, quote, in this case, it was the information that said, suggested a potential tied to ISIS because of some of the individuals involved in smuggling migrants to the border that led us to want to take extra care, end quote. The official added that the proactive steps were taken, quote, out of an abundance of caution,

given the recent terror attacks in Russia by ISIS in its offshoot ISIS K. So you let them into the country after that excellent screening process, and then you try to figure out where they've gone so you can arrest some of them. So let's see, there's that old saying about the barn door and the horse, or maybe it's Elvis has left the building. Regardless, my point is what they're doing is taking defensive action rather than a proactive effort to protect national security. Some former officials fear that the problem may be bigger than the Biden administration is letting on. As we've extensively covered here on the PDB, federal officials have been warning that terrorist networks are leveraging our border policies to infiltrate the U.S.

Christopher O'Leary, a former FBI counterterrorism section chief, told NBC News, quote, the fact that the whereabouts were unknown is clearly alarming. I believe the U.S. is scrambling to locate these individuals, end quote. As we've previously covered here on the BDB, FBI director Christopher Ray has also been sounding the alarm for months about the looming threat of an attack on American soil. In early June, during testimony before a Senate Appropriation Subcommittee,

Ray told lawmakers that he was, quote, hard-pressed to think of a time where so many threats to our public safety and national security were so elevated all at once. Now, back in March, Ray even warned about a smuggling network with ties to ISIS that the agency was monitoring. At the time, Ray said the agency still didn't have a clear picture of the situation, but noted that threats against the U.S. homeland for all foreign groups have reached new extremes. The revelation regarding the ISIS-link smuggling network also comes just weeks after authorities in L.A., New York, and Philly, arrested eight migrants from Tajikistan, with suspected ties to ISIS in a series of coordinated sting operations carried out by ICE agents. All eight men crossed through the southern border over the past year after apparently being vetted and released under current immigration policies. All right, a quick note for premium members to the President's Daily Brief this weekend. I'll be hosting the June edition of the monthly Ask Me Anything sessions, so be sure to submit your questions.

And frankly, our PDB team, which, as you may know, probably not, is headquartered in a secret underground lair. They love going through the mailbag each week and selecting some of your great questions that you do send in for these Ask Me Anything sessions. If you'd like to join us, you can become a pre-mail bag. premium member by going to PDB Premium.com. In addition to our monthly AMAs, that's the Ask Me Anythings, you'll be able to listen to the PDB ad-free. You'll also receive our weekly PDB intelligence checklist newsletter and get early access to our weekly video broadcast,

the incredibly well-received PDB Situation Report. Again, you can check all that out at PDB Premium.com. Coming up after the break, the Putin regime has announced plans to ban access inside Russia to 81 different media outlets from the European Union in their latest retaliation. Now, Putin is apparently retaliating against the West as a result of his invasion of Ukraine. And as they say, most authoritarian despots do lack self-awareness. I'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 auto.

home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usaa.com slash bundle. Restrictions apply. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. Freedom of the press in Russia, which is either on life support or actually currently flatlining, just took another major hit this week. The Russian government has announced a widespread crackdown on Western outlets, issuing a ban on 81 organizations from the European Union,

including well-known agencies such as France's AFP, and Politico's European Bureau. This action comes as a retaliatory measure against the EU's earlier ban on several Russian media channels, escalating the ongoing media conflict between Russia and the EU. Now, back in May, the EU announced its own ban, suspending four Russian outlets, the Voice of Europe, RIA News, Izvestia, and Rosaskaya Gazeta, describing them as, quote, Kremlin-linked propaganda networks. Well, they're not wrong. The Russian Foreign Ministry framed their latest bans as a response to the EU's, quote,

motivated harassment of domestic journalists and unreasonable bans of Russian media. It accuses the targeted outlets of systematically distributing inaccurate information about their actions in Ukraine. Well, frankly, if anybody knows anything about inaccurate information and disinformation, it would be those cats over at the Russian Foreign Ministry. In addition to AFP and Politico, the move silences prominent organizations from 25 EU member states, including Austria's ORF, Ireland's RTE, and Spain's EFE News Agency. Media outlets across the block are calling the Kremlin's blacklisting unjustified.

Politico's editor-in-chief for Europe, Jamil Anderlini, described the measures as, quote, completely unacceptable. While Russian officials claim the move is retaliatory and could be reconsidered if the EU lifts its restrictions on Russian media, the escalating media war obviously heightens concerns about the future of press freedom and access to information in the region. The media ban is just the latest escalation and the deteriorating relationship between Russia and the West. Case in point, the trial of Wall Street Journalist Evan Gerskovich, the first American journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War. Gerskiewicz, who's facing fabricated

charges appeared in a Russian courtroom on Wednesday. He and fellow U.S. citizen Paul Wheelan have become pawns in a larger geopolitical game. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Wednesday afternoon, June 26th. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, well, you know the drill. Stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Thank you.