Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Federal Reserve Employees Flood Cash to One Liberal Side plus Treasury Targets Iran’s Global Money Dark Web

Transcript

Federal Reserve Employees Flood Cash to One Liberal Side plus Treasury Targets Iran’s Global Money Dark Web · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Federal Reserve staff funds. I'm gonna say this again, Federal
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Reserve staff funds are going to the Democratic Party to
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: lurch them to the left. Central bank economists is backing
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: socialist politicians. Staffers at the Federal Reserve Bank system are
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: providing financial backing for the Democratic Party's radical lurks towards
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: the far left. Washington Freebeacon analysis has now unfolded political
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: donations from the FED staff have a sharp partisan tilt
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: towards Democrats. In the twenty twenty four campaign cycle, ninety
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: point three percent of contributions from FED employees went to
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: you guessed it, Democrats, according to Open Secrets. Now, the
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: site doesn't yet have a tally of the political distribution
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: of donations as campaign cycle, but the at a Reserve
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: staff for jumping in, pouring money into contested Democratic primary
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: races and supporting candidates with extreme views that are hostile
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: to free market economies and to America's traditional allies as well.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Now you think about that, and I go back to
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: this point. If you want to know just how deep
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: the anti American mindset is in our government, look at
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: the data I just gave you. Twenty twenty four, Donald
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Trump's on the ballot. The majority of Americans said we
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: were going in the wrong direction and we needed to
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: have a major change, and they decided to go away
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: from Joe Biden than Kamala Harris to Donald Trump. But
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: ninety percent of the contributions from the Federal Reserve, more
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: than ninety percent went to Democrats. And now you look
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: at the Federal Reserve. They're supposed to be in favor
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: of you, right, not the government. They're supposed to be
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: in favor of the free markets, not communism or socialism.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: But what we're witnessing is that the partisan hacks, the
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: radical left have dug into our different divisions of government,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: even the places they've dug in, like the Federal Reserve.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: The FED Reserve, by the way, is not supposed to
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: be political, but clearly they are. And so when Donald
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Trump goes to war with Powell, for example, and goes
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: to war with the FED in general, now you understand
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: exactly why. Because it is a partisan political organization where
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: more than nine out of ten of the donations that
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: are given, or more than ninety out of one hundred
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: donations are given, or over nine hundred of one thousand
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: donations given whichever way I phrase that clicks with you
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: the most, they're going to contributions to radical Democratic candidates.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: It also begs the question this, if ninety plus percent
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: of campaign contributions from Federal Reserve employees are going to Democrats,
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: does that mean that their policies are literally hostile to
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: free market economics and to American traditional values. Now among
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: the Fed staffers who surfaced in the Freebeacon Review, where
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: a guy by the name of Hampton Finer, whose LinkedIn
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: profile describes him as head of globally systematically important bank Supervision.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: That's actually a thing, okay, Head of globally systematically important
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: bank supervision, head of seventy person function responsible for on
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: site and dedicated supervision of New York based globally systematically
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: important banks. This is a job Finer. This dude donated
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: two thousand dollars in December twenty twenty five to the
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: congressional campaig Lane of Brad Lander, who's running a primary
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: against Representative Dan Goldman, the incumbent Democrat. Now Lander has
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: the endorsements of socialist Centator Bernie Sanders, the socialist mayor Mundani.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: He is running to cut off Israel's iron dome defense
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: against missile attacks from terrorists like Iran and hes blah.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Finer made previous smaller contributions to radicals like AOC, a
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: self described socialist, and other socialist candidates. There's another individual
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: that gave money, Erfan Mutuza, LinkedIn profile describes him as
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: a senior counsel at a FED division devote to enforcement
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: against unfair or deceptive acts or practices. He gave one
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty dollars the US Senate campaign of
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: a Michigan Democrat who has backed defund the police activism
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: and boasted about turning away from the American flag during
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: the national anthem. This dude, who was running for office,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: told campaign staffers he would not take a position on
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: the demise of the Iotolic Comani because there was a
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: lot of people in Dearborn who are sad.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Remember that guy.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: How about Kshav Dagra, an economic research advisor at the
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Federiserve Bank in New York who described himself in a
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: twenty fourteen bio as a citizen of the UK. He's
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: donated seven hundred and fifty dollars this year to the
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: congressional campaign of Claire Valdez Valdez is a Mundanian door
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: socialist whose launch video denounced what she calls a system
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: designed to extract from working people while protecting the wealth
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: and power of the billionaire class. The video also promises
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Valdez will oppose apartheid in genocide in Palestine, so she
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: hates the Jews as well. Dagra also donated to the
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: campaign of another socialist anti Israel congressional candidate, Federal Record Show,
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: and gave twenty one hundred to the campaign of Mondani
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: for mayor City Record Show. At least seven other FED
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: employees also donated to Mendanni's campaign that we know of
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: right now. Sefana di Amiko, whose personal website describes her
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: as a policy and research advisor at the Federal Reserve
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Bank of New York, donated two earned seventy dollars to
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: the socialist campaign of Bernie Sanders in February of twenty
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: twenty six, and two hundred and fifty and twenty twenty
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: five to the campaign of Graham Platner, who launches US
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: Senate campaign in Maine with a video produced by Mendannie's
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: campaign a declaring the enemy is billionaires. Now, these are
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: the people at the Federal Reserve. They're supposed to like
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: love money, not hate capitalism. Matt Malott, an engineer at
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, donated five hundred
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: dollars to Cortes in Juno twenty twenty five. Federal campaign
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: disclosures rerecres indicate as well. Finder all of these people
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: did not respond to emails from the Freebeacon asking why
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: they gave. A New York Fed official referred the freebeaconto
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: the bank's Code of Conduct, which states an employee may
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: not engage in political activity while on duty or on
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: bank premises, but must be extremely cautious to avoid any
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: suggestion of bank sponsorship or support of such activities. Well,
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: clearly that doesn't matter, because if it did, you wouldn't
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: have more than ninety percent of all the donations from
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Federal Reserve employees going to the Democratic Party. Now, the Fed,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: by the way, has been subject to intent as it
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: should be. Political battles with President Trump and the Treasury
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: Secretary of Scott Besson sharply critical of the too late
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: chairman Drome Powell. Besson said on May third, if we
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: think about the Powell Fed, if we think about the monetary.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: Policy, ethics, and supervision. They weren't great.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: Mont there a policy, we had the worst inflation in
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: forty eight years. Ethics, we had five governors or regional
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: bank presidents have to resign for ethical problems.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: And then we had.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Three of the four largest bank failures in US history.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: And that doesn't even mention the two point five billion
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: renovation of the Fed's Washington headquarters building, which Power has defended.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Trump described as a scandal. I couldn't agree more. This
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: is exactly why we must expose all these people each
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: and every single day, because this is what they are doing.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: The Treasury Department has just come out telling US banks
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: to flag suspected.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: Iranian money laundering networks.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: The Treasury Department is wanting US banks and other financial
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: institutions to monitor what they describe as Iranian money laundering
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: networks that use their funds to smoggle sanction through shell companies,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: as well as crypto networks. The move which affects you
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: effectively deputizes the global financial system to help disrupt Iran's sanctions.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Evasion infrastructure comes as the US and Iran reached another
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: impasse over how the end the war will happen. While
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: their ceasefire has grown increasingly shaky. President Trump on Monday
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: said the Iranian seasfire is on life support after he
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: rejected Tehran's latest proposal to end the war as a
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: non starter because they want to keep and have nuclear weapons.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: The Trump administration is calling on banks now to flag
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: certain customers who may launder funds for Rand's Revolutionary Guard. Now,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: the IRGC is an essence in charge of the government.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Right now they are a declared terrorist organization. What's also
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: really interesting about what's happening is this is what should
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: have already have been happening under prior administrations. Except prior
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: administrations they decided to just look the other way. We
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: had sanctions on Iran, they just were not imposed, they
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: were not actually used. Again, prior administrations looking the other way,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: trying appeasement instead of actually saying that we are going
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: to stop Iran from doing what they were doing as
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: a state sponsored terrorism. Now, the Biden administration was actually
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: very smart. They didn't lift the sanctions on Iran. They
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: just deliberately chose not to enforce the sanctions that we
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: had in Ran because they didn't want to get hit politically. Well,
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: now the Trump administration is saying, not only are we
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: going to have sanctions on Iran, but we are now
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: calling on the banks to do their job.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: Once the government says this, this changes everything in the
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: banking community. Do you want to be the bank that
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: gets busted laundering funds through Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which is
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: a terrorist organization? And that's exactly why the Trump administration
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: is saying this Now. They're also saying this includes newly
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: formed companies moving unusually large amounts of money, They said,
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: firms that route payments through multiple intermediaries, or transactions connected
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: to Iranian crypto firms.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: Now, as part of the US.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: Initiative to monitor Iranian oil sales, banks are being asked
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: to watch out for oil labeled as Malaysian blend to
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: disguise its Iranian origin, missing or falsified shipping documents, or
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: ship to ship oil transfer that obscure where cargo originally
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: came from. In other words, they're saying, ignorance in the
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: banking world is no longer bliss banks. By the way,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: many banks they don't care where the money that comes
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: to their bank actually comes from. They don't care if
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: the money is coming from a terrorist regime because they
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: make money off that money, right, they want massive depods.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: It's coming into their bank.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: So for years, banks and their's many banks out there,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: and there are shady banks, yes in the United's of
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: America that have no problem helping launder money for cartels,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: for Russia oligarchs, or for terrorist organizations and groups. In fact,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: we saw that after nine to eleven. Now, a Treasury
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network report released on Monday says oil
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: firms linked to Iran conducted roughly four billion I'm gonna
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: say that again, roughly four billion in transactions in twenty
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: twenty four alone. How is that even possible? It is
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: because the enforcement mechanisms in our banking system deliberately look
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: the other way. Because what bank doesn't want four billion
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: dollars in transactions or at least a piece of that
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: four billion dollars? And dozens of shipping companies based in Iraq,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: the United air of Emirates in Hong Kong are all
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: connected to transporting sanction Iaranian oil as well. They say
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: proceeded proceeds about seven hundred and seven million through US
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: accounts in twenty two. So they're also now saying, hey,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: if you see companies in Iraq, in the UAE, Hong
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: Kong that are doing this, you also now have an
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: obligation to report it.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: Now, along with a.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Bombing campaign in Iran, the Trump administration is now turned
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: towards an economic focused effort aimed at choking Tehran into submission.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: They do this not only through sanctions that are actually enforced,
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: but also the threat of secondary sanctions on Iran's allies,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: which is now very important. In April, and this went
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: very much unreported, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen sent a letter
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: to financial institutions in China, in Hong Kong, the UAE,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: and Oman threatening to levy sanctions and secondary sanctions for
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: doing business with Iran, and accusing those countries of allowing
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Iranian illicit activities to flow through their financial institutions. So
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: here we are the President of United States of Amya NARCA,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: yet again saying if you're helping Iran, you are on
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: our list. And if you're an American bank or any
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: bank that's connected to the US and our institutions, you
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: are also on notice that if we catch you helping
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: a terrorist regime, there will be hell to pay for it.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: And that is how the present continues to fight Iran
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: as we speak.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: For decades.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: By the way, if you go back and look at history,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: Iran had a very clear power structure. At the very
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: top was a supreme leader. Now, first it was the
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: Iatola Kommaning after the nineteen seventy nine Islamic Revolution. I
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: mentioned this, by the way, on this show before, and
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: I'm going to say it again. If you've never watched
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: the movie RG, go watch it. True story of the
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: fall of the Shaw of Iran and then what happened
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: afterwards with the American hostage crisis.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: It's an incredible movie.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: And it just gives you a lot of perspective on
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: what's happening now and how we got to where we are.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: So if you go back to seventy nine, you understand
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: the Islamic Revolution, and then for decades it was the iatola, right,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: who's in charge?
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: The Supreme Leader was ultimately the authority.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: That authority was even above the president, it was above parliament,
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: it was above the military. The Iatola controlled the armed forces.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: That's how it gave him the legitimacy to be able
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: to do whatever you want to do and to be crazy. Right.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Intelligence services were also under the Iola. State media was
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: also under the Iatola, Nuclear policy was also under the Iatola,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: and major foreign policy decisions did not go to the
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: President of Iran, it went to the Ayatola. Now, after
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: the Americans took out the leader the Iatola, the chaos
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: and fallout from the war with the US and Israel,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: that is where RAN's leadership structure appears more fractured and
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: honestly more than at any point in decades. It's the
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: reason why the president has also been well, honestly so
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: understanding in the negotiations and trying to keep the ceasefire.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: You're really trying to figure out who actually is in
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: charge because after the reported death, chaos within the ranks
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: and the power struggle was real. Now, officially the new
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: Supreme Leader is believed to be the son of Ali Komani,
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: but according to multiple reports, including Reuters and other international analysts,
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: there is another person that may actually be making the
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: decisions instead. Now many experts believe the real power is
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: actually shifted to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard known as the RGC,
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: and that changes absolutely everything. Now you have to understand something.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: The IRGC is not just a military organization they're more
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: than that. They're a terrorist organization. It is a political
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: empire with them as well. They control the intelligence operations
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: in Iran, they control the missile programs in Iran. They
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: also control and fund the proxy militious across the Middle East.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: They also control and have massive business interests that fund them,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: and much of Iran's internal security apparatus is run by
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: the IRGC. Now, that means it has enormous influence inside
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: of the government. It's almost a government within the government.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: But they have all the weaponry and the guns, the
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: power to blow things up. That's why many believe that
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: the RGC is much more than a military organization.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: They're running the show now. For years.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: To put in perspective, the Supreme Leader acted as the
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: referee between competing factions inside of the regime.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: Right, you had the.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: Clerics, which were the religious radicals, the nuts. You have
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: the military terry, which was really a terrorist organization. You
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: then had the hardliners and the government as well. You
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: had the pragmatists that were trying to just say, hey,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: can we calm down a little bit and live life
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: and enjoy it. We have a lot of resources. Then
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: you had Parliament and then you had the presidency. That
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: is a lot of people to deal with and a
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: lot of different perspectives that are all coming from radical ideology.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: But now analysts say the referee may be gone all together.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: Which is the most interesting point of all.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Reuters, for example, they recently reported that RAN no longer
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: has a quote single undisputed clerical arbiter at the top
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: of the system, and that wartime power has consolidated around
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: the IRGC commanders and the Supreme National Security Council. In
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: other words, what Reuters is saying is, instead of one
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: man calling the shots, you may now have a committee
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: style power structure. It's dominated by multiple generals and multiple
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: security officials. Now that is where the uncertainty becomes enormous.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: When countries have unclear chain of commands, you've got a
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: problem with decision making and slowdowns. You have confusion over
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: what decision may have even been made, and then you
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: have miscalculations that become more likely within the government, especially
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: then when it's dealing with a foreign power like the
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: United States of America or Israel. And we're already seeing
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: major signs of that, especially over the last week. One
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: report quote officials saying that negotiations.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: With Iran now take days longer.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Because there doesn't appear to be one single authority that
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: is capable of giving any answers immediately. That's impossible. So
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: that's where the danger comes in. And this is why
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: you may be asking yourself the question, why is President
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: Trump seeming so calm when dealing with the Iranians.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: Well, look at the other side of this.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: We're talking about nuclear negotiations, We're talking about negotiations on
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: the straight of war moves as is, there's also a
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: tax happening on ships in the Strait. You're talking about
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: dealing with military and militia proxies. You're talking about missile
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: strikes and potential military escalation with the United States of
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: America or Israel. So that also becomes another question. Who
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: in Iran is giving the final order? Is it the
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: IRGC commander, is the Supreme National Security Council is a
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: coalition of hardline generals? And the answer appears to be
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: this all of the above. And that's why intelligence agencies
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: around the world right now are not only watching Iran closely,
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: but they're also trying to figure out who's really calling
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: the shots because historically authoritarian systems often become unstable, especially
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: during leadership transitions. You got the power struggles happening behind
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: closed doors. You then have very different factions competing for influence.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: You have military leaders that begin assessing and asserting themselves
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: into places where they normally wouldn't do so, trying to
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: gain power. And in Iran's case, you also have ideology.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: And then you've got religion and military power, all of
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: them colliding exactly at the same time. That is abnormal
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: for Iran. Some analysts now say Iran has shifted from
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: a clerical dictatorship to what amounts to a military security state.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: One expert described it this way, saying, quote, we've gone
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: from divine power to hard power, and that's a massive
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: transformation for any country, especially Iran, because for decades, Iran's
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: legitimacy came from religious authority, the iatolis. But now, according
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: to reports, the generals may be running the show while
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: the clerics provide symbolic legitimacy at best. And that matters
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: because military regimes often behave very differently than religious ones.
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: Military leaders tend to prioritize survival and then deterrence and
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: then power projection, and they can also be more aggressive
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: because compromise may be viewed also as weakness if you're
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: wearing a uniform. And that's why some experts believe now
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: that Iran can become even more confrontational in the months
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: or weeks or days ahead, especially on nuclear issues and
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: regional military operations that can include attax on their neighbors,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: including Israel. Now, at the same time, Iran still is
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: maintaining the appearance of a civilian government. Technically, there is
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: still a president right now. Technically there's still a parliament
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: right now, there are still ministers, and there's still diplomats,
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: but less agree. These institutions only operate within limits set
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: by the security that's been established by the Supreme Leader's office.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: So when Americans hear statements from Iran's president or foreign minister,
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: just remember it's important to understand that you may not
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: actually be listening to the ultimate decision.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: Maker at all.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: The real authority is probably sitting inside of a military
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: bunker somewhere where the IRGC commanders can basically dictate because
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: they have the true power to do, in essence, whatever
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: the hell they want in Iran. Right now, President Donald Trump,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: he is very concerned about the midterm elections, and it's
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: clear that he's trying to be president of the United
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: States of America, but he also understands that if he
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: doesn't turn into Donald Trump the campaigner right now, that
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: we could have major problems come November. Now, President Trump
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: is making it very clear that the Republicans better get
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: their act together, saying that the midterm elections are not
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: just another political fight, but in his words, they are
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: make or break for his presidency, his agenda in the
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: future direction of the country. We also are learning now
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: that behind closed doors, it's also getting really intense. Trump
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: has been warning Republicans that if they lose control of Congress,
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: Democrats will immediately move to cripple's second term with investigation, subpoenas,
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: and potentially even another impeachment effort. Democrats have said they're
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: actually willing to go further than Donald Trump and impede
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: the Vice President j d Vance and also go after
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: and try to impeach cabinet members as well. There was
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: a House Republican retreat that happened earlier this year. Trump
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: bluntly told the lawmakers, you gotta win the midterms, and
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: he warned that if Republicans lose, they'll find a reason
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: to impeach me. Now, whether you love President Trump or
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: hate him, there's no denying the political reality behind what
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: he's saying.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: This is a party, and I'm talking.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: About the Democratic Party that's made it clear they are
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: going to weaponize government to subpoena and to destroy anyone
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: that is around Donald Trump. Why because that's all they
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: have to run on. They hate Donald Trump and it
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: seems to make their base want to show up to vote.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: The White House knows that if Democrats retake the House,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: the next two years will turn into non stop political warfare.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: And it's exactly what they did back in twenty sixteen,
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, and really every year even when Joe Biden
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: was in office. There will be committee investigations. They will
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: explode overnight. I'm quoting Democrats. They've already said that hearings
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: will dominate cable news. It's not a legitimate agenda for America.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: It's a legitimate agenda destroy the presidency of the United
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: States of America. And that's why Donald Trump has been
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: aggressively pressuring Republicans to unify around a simple message. We
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: secure the border, We strengthen the economy, we lower prices,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: we restore law and order, and you compare that to
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: the radical Democrat chaos.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: The President also saying this about the midterms at the
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: White House earlier, and.
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: Then I said, yeah, he's a dumb guy. And then
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: I said he's a Democrat.
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: And I don't know.
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: If people are gonna like that term or not. It
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: maybe catches on and maybe it doesn't, but it's true
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: that policies are insane and they would drive our country
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: into ruin. And we've got to do great in the midterms,
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: and if we don't, they will do everything they can
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: to destroy our country. There's something wrong with them. The
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: flow of deadly fenonel across our border is down, by
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: the way by over sixty percent, which is a record
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: nobody ever thought it was even possible, And coming in
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: by sea, it's down by ninety seven percent. And again
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: we're trying to find the three percent because we can
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: incided them to be among the bravest people anywhere in
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: the world. Anybody willing to get into one of those
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: votes after what they've witnessed, we would consider them to
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: be among the bravest in the world. These gains have
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: been the result. And what a job our military and
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: others are doing.
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: With respect is.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: That right, Paul? With respect to drugs coming in by sea,
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: meaning drugs coming in by water, by the ocean, by
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: the say, a lot of people don't know what I
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: mean by sea.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: President Trump talking at the White House and again making
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: it clear the control of the House is literally going
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: to come down to just a handful of districts in
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: states like Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin, the swing states.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: In many of those races, President Warrens will be decided
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: by suburban swing voters who have bounced back and forth
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: between Republican candidates and Democratic candets over the last several
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: election cycles. Trump is also facing another challenge presidents are
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: always encounter in the midterms. There is a voter complacency.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: The team that's in charge usually they stay home because
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: they feel like everything's fine, and the team that hates
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: the leadership in Washington, they show up. They're focused, they're angry,
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: and they want to get rid of conservatives. When your
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: side wins the White House, some supporters actually, well, they relax,
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: right the opposition is energized and as we know from
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: the Democratic leaders, they're angry now. Democrats are already organizing
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: around abortion rights, healthcare costs, and accusations, of course, that
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: Trump is abusing his executive power. Republicans now fear that
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: there's a real enthusiasm gap. I'm one of those, and
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: that's why Donald Trump is making it very clear he
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: may not be on the ballot come November, but his
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: agenda certainly is. He's essentially telling Republicans, if you want
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: this presidency to succeed, you have to treat the midterms
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: like a presidential election. And behind the scenes, the stakes
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: are enormous. Trump's entire legislative agenda depends on Congress. We're
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: talking about things that matter to everyday Americans, the most
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: incredible tax cuts of our lifetime, energy independence and expansion
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: in the US, immigration reform, judicial appointments, which have been
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: phenomenal for President Trump. Budget fights, yes, the President saying
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: we're spending too much money, getting rid of waste fraud
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: and of use and military spending, which Democrats always hate.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: You even have the fight over the Save Act, electional
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: law changes. All of it becomes dramatically harder if Democrats
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: regain power in many ways. Donald Trump is now saying
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: the twenty twenty six is literally the firewall protecting the
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: rest of his presidency. And there's another major factor here
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: as well. Republicans like to stay home when they're in
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: power historically, and what the President is saying is the
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: Democrats aren't going to stay home, so you shouldn't either.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Make sure you share this podcast with your family and friends,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: put it up on social media wherever you are, and
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: we appreciate you listening every day.
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: We'll see you back here tomorrow.