The President's Daily Brief - President's Daily Brief - April 11th, 2022

Episode Date: April 11, 2022

It’s April 11th. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. I’m your host and former CIA Officer Bryan Dean Wright. Your morning intel starts now. First, A jury found late last week that the nation’s top law enforcement officials had entrapped your fellow Americans and encouraged them to commit terrorism. Second, the latest on the war in Ukraine. Ukrainians are showing up on the southern border of the United States. Third, inflation is bad and getting worse. Finally, Tony Fauci and COVID. Both, back in the news. Also, quick notes on the Hunter Biden laptop, as well as a U.S. Government sanctioned COVID "Super Spreader" event. ------ Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's April 11th. 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. Before we start, a quick reminder to those new to the show, the brief you're about to hear is in the same spirit of the actual President's Daily Brief, which is a top secret summary of the most critical events in the past 24 hours delivered to the president each morning by the nation's spy masters. And so, ladies and gentlemen, I am your spy, and this is your brief. Here's what we're covering today. First up, a chilling story. about the FBI, a jury found late last week that the nation's top law enforcement officials had entrapped your fellow Americans, encouraged them to, listen to this, commit terrorism. Yeah, we're going to talk about that. Second, the latest on the war in Ukraine, among the developments this morning, Ukrainians are showing up on the southern border, and by that, I mean the one we share with Mexico. Odd. More to come. Next, we all know inflation is bad and getting worse. Fresh polling shows that if you're using your credit card to get by, you're not alone. We have some new data out on that. And if you ask me, I think it's time to demand credit card

companies place a cap on those interest rates. That coming up. Finally, Tony Fauci and COVID, both back in the news, he's saying it's time for each American to make their own medical risk assessments about COVID. Good. Well, that makes the question, though. Who's at risk exactly? I'm going to give you the facts, and then you decide. And as always, a couple of other stories I'm watching. Put these on your radar as you'd like. First, a bunch of my fellow intel officers said a few years ago that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation. It wasn't, but they're not apologizing. They are, however, on CNN and MSNBC offering advice about national security. That seems silly. Second, a big group of DC elites went to a party a couple weeks back. They all came down with COVID. It could be an important story. I'll explain

why it has to do with age. All up next on the President's Daily Brief. Your first bit of Intel, this morning, late Friday, a major domestic terror prosecution in Michigan collapsed. The U.S. government had alleged that there was a plot to kidnap and kill Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat. A jury, however, disagreed. They tossed out the charges against two of the four men, with the jury deadlocked and how to proceed against the other two defendants. That means a mistrial. To really understand the magnitude of what happened, you have to hear the details of this case. It's jaw-dropping. To explain, there were a handful of... men who started a group that they called the Wolverine Watchmen. How exactly to describe this group

is up for debate, but what we do know is that they like guns, libertarian ideas, and boy, oh boy, did they like their booze and weed? There was a military veteran among them, a Mr. Dan Chappell. He claimed that he became worried during some of these boozy meetings that the men were drifting towards actual violence, not just complaining over beer. So he contacted the FBI. Now, I want you to Listen to this. Mr. Chappell became an FBI informant and received $60,000 in payments for his services. After a few months of working secretly against his friends, he had some news for his two FBI handlers. It seemed that the Wolverine Watchers weren't planning any actual terror operations. They were, well, two drunken high. So Mr. Chappell said to his FBI handlers, I think they're

wasting my time. So what did the FBI do? Here it is. They all. organized and funded a terror plot for them. I'm going to repeat that for you. Your government funded and organized a terror plot because a bunch of drunk high dudes wouldn't do it for them. And then your government turned around and charged the drunk high dudes with terrorism. Now, this case gets even weirder and the details are more bizarre, but I want to focus our attention on the bottom line. Our government incited or induced American citizens to engage in terror, citizens that had no intent to commit actual terror, and then they charged them for it. Does that frighten you? Your government whipped up a hysteria amongst a bunch of drunk high men

and then charged them for a crime in that state of hysteria. Is that a good use of resources? Over a dozen FBI informants, by the way, multiple fueled offices involved, hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on a plot that would have never existed, if not for the FBI putting it all together. So here's the bottom line. The American government should not be in the business of inciting citizens to break laws when they would have never done so, certainly without that incitement. It's an egregious abuse of power, a power that should be immediately stripped from the FBI. So call your representative and your senator and tell them that this Michigan case warrants congressional oversight and investigation and new laws passed that remove all authority from the FBI to ever use this kind of. tactic again. Because what happened in Michigan is wrong. It was un-American and reasonable people know it. Looking to see what's happening around your home? Rings battery doorbell helps you track packages and see who's at your door in real time. The outdoor cam plus protects your yard at night with a wide field of view and clearer retinal 2K video or upgrade to 4K cameras and doorbells with

retinal vision for ultra-clear zoom in detail. Your door, your yard, your home. With Ring, it's protected. Shop cameras, doorbells, and more at ring.com now. Next up, the latest out of Ukraine. The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin is acknowledging this morning that Russia has in fact sustained, and let me quote him here, significant losses of troops. He added that the death of these many Russian soldiers was, in his words, a huge tragedy. Ukrainians would probably disagree with that assessment, rightfully so. Regardless, the confirmation of major Russian losses by the Russian government matches what I've

heard from my sources and the public assessments made by Western officials. The heavy losses also explain why a pivot is underway in Moscow. Yesterday, we learned that Putin has tapped a new war commander to take centralized control. General Alexander DeVornikov is the pick, and he's one of Russia's most experienced military officers to date. In fact, he's been overseen Russian efforts in Ukraine, South and East, where he has been far more successful than the northern campaign near Kiev. The general has a long record of brutality in Syria and elsewhere that despite the bloodshed has led to successful military campaigns. Now, what's surprising about this move is that Russia has not had a central war commander

on the ground to date. The reason for that is Putin didn't think this war would go on for very long, so, well, he just didn't need one. But the war has gone on for far longer than he expected, and he's adjusting. Meanwhile, the Russians continue to send their troops and equipment to eastern, and southern Ukraine, which is obviously the next major push in the war, and indeed where the Ukrainians have been holding up quite well. We're seeing trains leave from an allied country, Belarus, full of tanks and assorted weapons. The upshot here is that it's going to be a very long and very bloody war.

By the way, the longer the war, the more people will flee from Ukraine to other places, understandably, and that includes the United States. In fact, they're turning up on our southern border. That's right, with Mexico. The city of Tijuana, said late last. last week that about 2,800 Ukrainians were waiting at the border to enter the United States claiming asylum. That number has doubled in the past week. Each person is said to have spent $5,000 to $10,000 each to make that long journey. So as our hearts continue to break for the innocent civilians caught up in the war and how could your heart not break, this story prompts a really important set of questions. First, why go to Mexico? Ukrainians and countless others from around the

world could have gone to U.S. embassies and consulates abroad to apply for asylum, say, in Germany or Hungary or Poland. That would have been a much safer and a much cheaper route. But instead, they took the far riskier and costlier approach to Mexico. And Ukrainians aren't alone in doing this. In fact, that's the ultimate issue. You see, 20 years ago, 97% of the migrants encountered by the Border Patrol on our southern border were Mexican citizens. Well, that's not true anymore. In just one sector last fall on the southern border in the Del Rio area, Border Patrol officers encountered over 28,000 illegal immigrants from more than 50 countries. Those countries included Eritrea, Sudan, and Djibouti, all in Africa.

There were also people from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan from Central Asia. The point is this. The world knows we have no effective southern border, obviously, because if they did and they knew there were stringent controls, they wouldn't come via the Mexican route. They would go to embassies and consulates abroad and apply there, safely and cheaply. But instead, it's clear that we've adopted a dangerous policy,

which is, if you can get here, you can stay here. No application required. And so people try. Bottom line, the war in Ukraine has many lessons to be learned about failure to take threats seriously. Europe failed to take Russia seriously, obviously. And now we have one more lesson. We failed to take our own border seriously.

And that's why people from over 100 countries are showing up and trying to cross illegally. Unvetted, unknown, and I'm sorry to say, coming to a city near you. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at yamava Theater.com, only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You in? Must be 21 to enter. Who cares about your poops? Ollie does. That's why Ali's science-backed gut health lineup

helps support your family's regularity. From daily probiotics to fibergummies your kiddos will love. Find it all on ali.com. That's OLL.com. These statements have not been evaluated, by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Your third story this morning, inflation. Worldwide food prices hit a record high last month as exports from Russia and Ukraine, the world's largest grain producers, are stuck in those two countries. The United Nations said on Friday that its food price index jumped nearly 13 percent from February to March. Countries from around the world, already unstable and poor, are starting to buckle from the fallout.

Pakistan, for instance, just kicked out its prime minister over inflation. Peru, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Egypt, even Greece, all seen protests over inflation and costs of food in particular. But America has one thing in abundance that most of those places don't, consumer credit cards. A new report by the Federal Reserve shows that consumer credit spiked by, wow, $41.8 billion across the U.S. in February. That's a massive jump, and it was largely from credit cards. use and largely to pay for goods that are at a 40-year inflationary high. This is really bad news, obviously. The average credit card interest rate in this country is around 16.5%. That was last year, by the way. Rates are going up. So let's do some math. Inflation is at about 8%. Credit card rates,

another 16% in counting. You know where this is going. Americans are putting the expensive basics on a very expensive credit card. That's an economic nightmare, not just waiting to happen. It is happening. The question is, what can we do about it? We've talked on this show before about the time-tested strategies that you can do to tighten your budget. I've said this before and I'll say it again. If you're not building out your social networks via church or fraternal organizations, maybe a veterans organization, you're missing out on the best way to keep your life afloat, financial and otherwise, during these hard times. But what can our government do? In my view, the most sensible fastest way to deal with this is for Congress to pass legislation limiting credit card interest. There's a precedent for this.

There are laws like the Military Lending Act that limit interest rates for, in this case, active duty service members. The point then is that your government can force those credit card rates down. And I think that if there were ever a time to do so with record inflation, with wages that can't keep up, now is the time to demand that our government act for us. After all, Joe Biden keeps extending the deadline for when students have to repay their loans. Why not you? Why not help the American working class survive this inflationary storm? The bottom line is we shouldn't load up our credit cards with debt. We all know that. But if we have to lean on that resource in times of trouble, credit card companies shouldn't be allowed to gouge us for it. So if Joe,

Biden were any president, he'd say this, and our leaders would act. All right, the final brief this morning, Tony Fauci and COVID are back in the news, with Fauci changing his tune, again, saying that it's now up to individual Americans to make their own medical assessments when it comes to COVID. I'm going to quote him here. The virus, he said, is not going to be eradicated and it's not going to be eliminated. Each individual is going to have to make their own calculation of the amount of risk that they want to take. Huh. That's been the argument that many smart people have been making all along.

For instance, many people and our doctors think you should only get one shot after you've been infected with COVID rather than two. But that's not recognized by the CDC. But back to a statement, how do we make our own risk assessments? And what is the risk from COVID? Let me give you some of those answers, but let me ask you some questions first. What percentage of people do you think end up in the hospital if they get COVID. If you answered one to five percent of people, even before vaccination, you're right. But the odds are that you guessed a much higher number than one to five percent. A poll not long ago found that most Americans thought the hospitalization rate for COVID was 30 to 50 percent of people. Again, the actual number is one to five percent.

Democrats, by the way, were much more likely than Republicans to overstate the threat. That's really bizarre. And we're going to talk about why there's that yawning gap of perceived risk versus actual risk in a future PDB episode. Meanwhile, let's say you're one of the people who ends up hospitalized. What does the typical hospitalized COVID patient look like? Well, we have the data that tell us, and here's what we know. About 80% of hospitalized COVID patients are obese or morbidly obese. The remaining 20%, well, most of those folks are 65 and older and mostly men. So let me recap. If 100 average Americans gets COVID, the odds are one to five percent of them will end up hospitalized.

Of those hospitalized people, 80 percent will be obese. The rest are going to be made up of mostly folks age 65 and up. There are exceptions to the rule. I'm one. I'm going to tell you that story another time. But the message from science to you and to me is pretty straightforward. If you fall into the two categories of either obesity or advanced age, you're at elevated risk. And you should talk to your doctor about vaccine or monoclonal antibodies, which help you after you've been infected. There's also some good data that vitamin D levels are really important to lowering risk. But there's one thing that we haven't talked about as a country. It's our weight. We can control that. It's hard. It involves work. But it's important for us to start acknowledging. And to date, basically, no one in our country, not Fauci, not the CDC, not the

the White House or the media has ever had an honest talk or campaign to educate us about either the actual one to five percent hospitalization rate or how obesity is really driving the COVID epidemic. That's really bizarre. It's anti-science. It's anti-common sense. Look, the bottom line is this. It's great that Fauci wants us to focus on individual risk. That's what we should have been doing all along. And that's what most reasonable people have demanded. But so many of us have gotten fired from jobs for daring to say so. They were shunned on social media, or even sometimes in their own families.

Soldiers and other war fighters, do you remember this? They were kicked out of the military for daring to talk about their individual health risk, which, as young men and women, the risk was very low. So, folks, we're going to keep talking about this on this show, because I suspect that there's more to this story

of Fauci's sudden emphasis on individual risk, something he should have been talking about for years, but didn't. Why? In the meantime, you've been armed with some good data on COVID and risk. I hope it was helpful. More to come. Finally, two other quick stories I'm following that you might want to put on your radar. First, there were 51 intelligence experts, some of them my former colleagues at the CIA, who signed an infamous letter back in 2020 saying that Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation. It wasn't, of course. They were wrong. None of them have apologized. This, despite reporters knocking on all their doors, asking for a response. After all, they spread disinformation, fake news. They attacked our democracy with their lies.

But none have apologized. That includes a guy named John Seifer, who's a former CIA station chief in Moscow, who you'd think would be smart, especially in Russian disinformation. Turns out you'd be wrong. He's not smart, obviously. He signed the letter. Incredibly, some of these 51 spies and analysts are now media contributors offering commentary on national security, mostly on CNN. and MSNBC. What does this say about America's spies when they could be so wildly wrong and then not admit fault? And what does this say about America's media, knowing that they're paying people for analysis

that, well, those people couldn't even get basic facts right about a suspect laptop? That's what I'm thinking about on this story, and that's what I'll be covering in future briefs. Next quick story, 68 attendees of a fancy party in D.C. tested positive for COVID. the party called the gridiron club is an annual event for politicians and reporters it's a big deal for them turns out it was a super spreader event people who have tested positive include the agriculture secretary joe biden's sister the attorney general the commerce secretary the mayor of new york anyway why does it matter what does this story matter to you well we just talked about the risk of covid complications obesity and age were the two biggest concerns now i want you to think about this about half

of the U.S. Senate is age 65 or older. The House of Representatives is a bit younger with an average age of 58 years old. Those are record numbers, by the way, the oldest Congress we've had in 20 years. Joe Biden, of course, is 79. It may be ageist to say this, but it's also the truth. We have a bunch of old people running our country, and they're all very high risk for all kinds of viruses, COVID included. So let's see how hot this outbreak gets in our nation's capital. And with that, and gentlemen, you have your morning brief. I'm Brian Dean Wright. Follow me on Twitter, if you would. My handle is at Brian Dean Wright. That's Brian with a Y, right with the W. I will see you again tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. for the latest edition of the President's Daily Brief. And as I leave

you this morning, I remind you of the creed of every good spy at Langley and every smart American throughout the country. It's from John, Chapter 8, verse 32. And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free. Good day. 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 home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usa.com slash bundle.

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