The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 19th, 2024: Iran's Brazen Election Interference & Ukraine Destroys Massive Russian Weapons Stockpile

Episode Date: September 19, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:   We’ll start things off with an update on Iran’s sprawling hacking operations, as we learn that their cyber operatives sent sensitive information stolen from the Trump campaign directly to officials in the Biden campaign earlier this summer in a brazen attempt to tip the scales of the U.S. presidential election. Then, an update out of Ukraine, where it appears Kyiv’s forces have dealt a major blow to Russia’s weapons stockpiles in a drone strike that caused a blast strong enough to register as a small earthquake. 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 President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail].  Patriot Gold: Call 1-888-870-5457 for a free investor guide. Say Mike Baker sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We'll start things off with Iran's cyber operations, as the FBI reveals state-backed hackers sent information stolen from the Trump campaign to the Biden campaign earlier this summer. Then, an update out of Ukraine, where it appears Keeves' forces have dealt a major blow to Russia's weapons stockpiles in a drone strike,

that caused a blast strong enough to register as a small earthquake. But first, our afternoon spotlight. I want to begin with an update on Iran's hacking operations, their election interference and general all-around cyber shenanigans. As we learned that their cyber operatives sent sensitive information stolen from the Trump campaign directly to officials in the Biden campaign earlier this summer, in an attempt to tip the scales of the U.S. presidential election. In a joint statement on Wednesday, the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the DNI, revealed that in late June and early July,

Iranian hackers sent unsolicited emails to members of the Biden campaign that contained, quote, an excerpt taken from stolen non-public material from former President Trump's campaign. Furthermore, they noted that the Iranians have also been attempting to leak non-public material from the Trump campaign to media organizations since June, and that's according to a report from Politico. Regarding the emails, it's unclear if the content was ever read or used in any way by the then-Biden campaign, but the FBI did note that the recipients never replied to the Iranian hackers. Caroline Levitt, Trump's campaign spokesperson, said the revelation is, quote, further proof that the Iranians are actively interfering in the election to help Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. Representatives for the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris said they've been cooperating with federal authorities ever since they were made aware of the attempted Iranian cyber incursions, but said that they were not aware of any material being sent directly to the campaign. A spokesperson said, quote, A few individuals were targeted on their personal emails with what looked like a spam or fishing attempt.

We condemn in the strongest terms any effort by foreign actors to interfere in U.S. elections, including this unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity, end quote. Now, as PDB listeners are likely aware, given that PDB listeners are some of the most aware folks out there, hackers linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, have been engaged in a multifaceted effort to infiltrate the inner circles of former President Trump and the Biden administration in an effort to interfere in and influence the outcome of the November election. One of their primary methods of attack are phishing emails, encouraging targets to click a link containing malicious code that grants the hackers access to the victim's devices.

Their operations cast a wide net targeting the email correspondence of journalists, former U.S. officials and notable think tank leaders. The Iranian hackers managed to breach the Trump campaign through one of these phishing emails in June, and that targeted longtime Republican operative and Trump ally Roger Stone, successfully stealing internal campaign documents that they subsequently distributed to American media outlets. It appears the Iranian regime is embracing the hack and leak playbook

used by Russia during the 2016 presidential election. Cyber security firms and intelligence officials have been warning that the Iranian regime's hacks are even overshadowing Russian cyber activities. Now, these hacking and disinformation campaigns, whether from Iran, Russia or China, all have the same top line goal. Now, it would be discrediting democracy, damaging the credibility of the electoral process, and of course creating division. And to that end, well, they seem to be having some success.

Coming up, it appears Ukraine has dealt a major blow to Russia's missile stockpiles in a drone strike that caused a blast strong enough to register as a small earthquake. I'll be right back. If data management is slowing down your business, you need the Intuit ERP. If one entity is here and one here and one here and one here, you need the Intuit ERP. If scaling your business feels like start starting over, you need the Intuit ERP. Intuit Enterprise Suite is the AI-native ERP solution that consolidates, migrates, and automates, all in one place. Learn more at intuit.com slash ERP.

Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. In the early hours of Wednesday, Ukrainian forces launched an unprecedented drone attack on an ammunition depot in Russia's Tavir region. The depot, a critical resource in the ammunition supply chain for Russian troops, exploded with massive force, registering as an earthquake and forcing the evacuation of nearby residents. The attack, which targeted the 107th arsenal in Toropets, Russia, was massive in its scale. It involved over 100 drones in a single operation, marking the largest known Ukrainian strike on Russian territory since Moscow's 22 invasion. It's according to the Ukrainian analysis group Fronteligence Insight. The destruction was reportedly immense. Analysts, including George Herbert,

from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in the U.S., estimated that the mushroom cloud explosion involved 200 to 240 tons of explosive materials, shells, and rockets, registering as a 2.8 magnitude earthquake in the area. Pro-Russian military blogger Yuri Potioliaka described this scene as catastrophic, with everything flammable in the depot catching fire and continuing to explode, of course. The explosion was so powerful, it was detected by NASA fire-spotting satellites with intense heat sources emanating from about five square miles. The significance of the strike cannot be overstated. In addition to storing rockets, mortars, bombs, bullets, Ukrainian fishermen, said the Arsenal also likely contained S-300 air defense missiles and Iskinder ballistic missiles made by North Korea.

These have been used to devastating effect by Russian forces in their relentless bombardment of Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy hailed the attack as a, quote, very important result, emphasizing its potential to save Ukrainian lives. Zelensky noted that it could likely delay or reduce the intensity of future long-range Russian strikes, offering much-needed respite for cities under constant Russian attack. Russian state media, under strict censorship, provided, as you might imagine, very muted coverage. The governor of the Tavir region acknowledged a fire and local evacuations, but avoided specifics on the cause or damage. Officials later assured the public that the fire had been contained

and residents could return home and that there were no reported fatalities. Despite these reassurances, social media reactions from Russian citizens, well, they painted a more chaotic picture. A woman from a village nearly three miles from the explosion described houses being blown away by the force of the blast. Others called the incident a failure of Russian military preparedness with one commentator asking, quote, what kind of negligence is this? For Russia, the consequences are, well, obviously severe. While Russia may replace stockpiles, likely with Iranian, and North Korean aid, there's concern in Moscow that this strike wiped out a significant portion of critical munitions. From Ukraine's perspective, destroying the arsenal marks a turning point.

For months, Ukraine has relied on locally developed weapons, such as drones to strike deep into Russian territory. This attack emphasizes Ukraine's growing ability to target Russian military infrastructure despite delays in obtaining long-range munitions from the West and the reluctance from the U.S. to authorize use of U.S. provided munitions to strike into Russia. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Thursday, 19 September. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. I should also mention that the PDB team is busy working on this weekend's PDB situation report. once again, featuring insightful guests and news that you can use to dazzle your friends at parties

with your understanding of geopolitical events. And of course, to listen to the show ad-free, well, become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting PDB Premium.com. That's a very simple thing to do. I'm Mike Baker. Now, I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.