Extradition and Final Thoughts on Fraud Case

And we're live on Match Day as Doug reaches for a buffalo wing. He's got it. Oh, and he's gone for a can of Pepsi too What a finish There's no doubt about it. It just tastes better Match Days deserve Betsy It's Monday, the twenty ninth of June. We are almost finished with this month. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the US and Iran are trading strikes once again with the regime now targeting American bases in the Gulf. We'll have the latest, and we'll ask the obvious question, why is anyone still pretending that there's a ceasefire . Later in the show, Israel agrees to withdraw from two positions in southern Lebanon under a new U. S. brokered framework agreement , but Hezbollah is already rejecting the deal as a surrender of Lebanese sovereignty. Apparently, the Iranian controlled Hezbollah is under the impression that they are the Lebanese government. Plus, we'll have the latest on the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, where the death toll continues to cl imb as rescue efforts continue. And in today's back of the brief, we'll tell you how Somali intelligence helped U. S. authorities arrest the alleged ringleader or one of the ringleaders of a massive Minnesota fraud case after locating him in Mogadishu . But first, today's PDB spotlight . If you had any doubt that there was a serious lack of understanding in the recently signed memorand um of understanding between the US and Iran, well the past few days should have cleared that up. For several days now the U. S. and Iran exchanged military strikes across the Persian Gulf, with Tehran expanding its retaliation beyond commercial shipping, directly targeting U. S. military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait. Both countries reported intercepting incoming Iranian missiles and drones. There were no reported casualties or signific ant damage. Even so, the attacks represent yet another dangerous escalation in what was supposed to be a period of de escalation. The latest round of fighting traces back to Thursday, when U. S. officials say Iran attacked a commercial vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran was upset because the Singapore registered vessel wasn't following the regime's instructions for how they insist the traffic moved through the strait . So the IRGC, the Revolutionary Guard Corps, they threw their teddy out of the crib by launching several one way attack drones at the Singapore vessel and others. Washington responded Friday with strikes against Iranian military infrastructure along the Strait, including air defense systems, communications sites, drones storage facilities, and assets associated with laying naval mines. On Saturday, according to U . S. military officials, Iran struck another commercial tanker near the strait with a drone , prompting yet another wave of American air strikes against targets along Iran's southern coast. Now, the conflict has widened . Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced Sunday that it had launched attacks against the U. S. Naval headquarters in Bahrain and Ali Al Salam Air Base in Kuwait. Gulf officials say they intercepted the incoming project iles before they could inflict significant damage , but the message from Tekhran was unmistakable. They are not interested in a free and open strait of Hormuz and will continue attempting to exert control over the waterway . President Trump responded with some of his strongest rhetoric since the ceasefire began to unravel. Writing on truth social after Saturday strikes, the president said that American aircraft had hit Iranian missile and drone facilities for violating the ceasefire again , before warning that quote, there may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started . If that happens, he said the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist . Despite the increasingly heated rhetoric, neither side appears eager to abandon diplomacy altogether. Let me rephrase that. Neither side wants to abandon the appearance of engaging in diplomacy. Instead, what we're witnessing looks increasingly like a familiar pattern, l aimited military confrontation designed to establish leverage ahead of possible next round of negotiations. The central dispute of course still remains the Strait of Hormuz. Under this month's memorandum of understanding , Iran agreed to facilitate the safe passage of commercial shipping through the waterway, ending the blockade that had severely disrupted global energy markets. But the regime has interpreted that language very differently than Washington. Iran now argues that it has the sole authority to direct maritime traffic through the strait, ordering ships to transit Iranian waters rather than alternative routes closer to Oman and the UAE . As mentioned, when some vessels ignored those instructions, Iran responded by firing on them with drones. The United States, in turn, has answered each attack with increasingly expansive military strikes, intend ed to degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping. Unfortunately for the Trump administration, the strait isn't the only point of friction here. Iran continues to insist that any final agreement must preserve its nuclear program and eventually allow Tehran to generate revenue from commercial traffic moving through the Hormuz Strait. At the same time, fighting has continued in Lebanon, where Hezbollah has already rejected a new U. S. brokered framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon that was signed just two days ago, and we'll have more details on that a little later in the show. Taken together, those disputes illustrate a broader reality. The memorandum of understanding, or whatever we're calling it, signed earlier this month might have, might have suspended the war to a degree, but it has not resolved any of the underlying disagreements that caused the conflict in the first place. Questions surrounding freedom of navigation, Iran's nuclear ambitions, Hezbollah, sanctions relief, and regional security remain unanswered. For now, both Washington and Tehran appear to be trying to keep the fighting contained. But every new exchange of missile and drone strikes raises the same question. Why pretend that there's a ceasefire in place where neither side has ceased firing and the Iranian regime refuses to act on the MOU's requirements. All right, coming up next, a new Israeli Lebanese government agreement is already under pressure after Hezbollah rejects the deal, which should surprise no one . And we'll have the latest from Venezuela as the death toll from this week's earthquakes continues to climb. I'll be right back . Hey, Mike Baker here. Well, fourth of July is right around the corner. Yeah , and this year it's the nation's two hundred and fiftieth birthday. So celebrate right with America's favorite foods from Gold Belly. Now Gold Belly is the official food marketplace of America's two hundred and fiftieth, bringing iconic local favorites straight to your door. 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That's fastgrowing trees dot com code pdb now is the perfect time to plant and use code pdb to save today. Offers valid for a limited time, terms and conditions may apply. Welcome back to the PDB. While the fighting between the U. S. and Iran continues to dominate headlines, Washington is also trying to prevent another front from spiraling out of control. On Friday, the Trump administration announced a new U. S. brokered framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon, the Lebanese government, that is, not Hezbollah. It was seen as a modest first step toward reducing tensions along their shared border and eventually reaching a broader peace and security agreement. Now the centerpiece of the deal is relatively limited. Israel has agreed in princi ple to withdraw from two small areas in southern Lebanon and transfer responsibility for those positions to the Lebanese armed forces. Now those areas would serve as so called pilot zones, testing whether Lebanon's milit ary can maintain security and prevent Hezbollah fighters from reestablishing a presence there after Israeli forces leave . Now, not to be cynical , but this has been tried in the past L,e andban theese armed forces have proven either unwilling or unable to assert control over the Iran backed Hezbollah forces. The agreement also establishes a U. S. facilitated military coordination group between Israel and the Lebanese government, while Washington has pledged an additional one hundred million dollars in humanitarian assistance for Lebanon. Longer term, the goal is more ambitious. Lebanon's government would ultimately disarm Hezbollah, assume full control of southern Lebanon, and lay the groundwork for a lasting peace agreement with Israel , which may well happen about the same time as pigs fly. Secretary of State Marko Rubio welcomed Friday's signing as a major milestone, but he also cautioned that it represents, in his words, quote, the beginning of the beginning. In other words, this isn't a peace treaty, of course, it's an attempt to determine whether one is even possible . Earlier this month, leaked provisions of the Trump administration's memorandum of understanding with Iran suggested that a broader US Iran agreement could include language requiring the permanent end of fighting in Lebanon. That raised concerns in both Jerusalem and Beirut , that Iran, and by extension Hezbollah, could gain leverage over Lebanon's future as part of Washington's negotiations with the Iranian regime . This new framework appears designed to send the opposite message. By negotiating directly with Israel and Lebanon, the administration is signaling that Lebanon's security will be determined in trilateral talks with Washington, not as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Iran. Now whether that approach succeeds is another question entirely . Within hours of the agreement being signed, Hezbollah leader Nayim Khasem publicly rejected it, calling it quote humiliating, shameful, and a surrender of Lebanese sovereignty. Most importantly, Hezbollah rejected one of the agreement's central assumptions that Israel's eventual withdrawal should be linked to Hezbollah's disarmament. Instead, Kasem vowed that Hezbollah would continue what he called its resistance against Israel and insisted the group would not surrender its weapons. Kasem then said quote, We'll continue dragging the people of Lebanon into conflicts as long as Iran tells us to. EU OK, fine. I made up that quote, but that doesn't necessarily make it an inaccurate representation of the situation. At the same time, Israeli officials are making clear that they aren't planning a rapid departure. Prime Minister Netanyahu has emphasized that Israel will maintain a broader security zone inside Southern Leban on until Hezbollah is disarmed, while other senior officials have suggested Israeli forces could remain there for an extended period of time , which is a bit redundant , since it will be an extended period of time before Hezbollah is disarmed, if in fact that ever happens. To show just how fragile the situation remains, Israeli strikes continued in southern Lebanon on Saturday, reportedly killing one person and wounding two others, even as the ink on the agre ement was still drying. Ultimately, the agreement's success doesn't hinge on Israel withdrawing from two relatively small pieces of territory . It depends on something much bigger and more complex , whether the Lebanese state can finally establish authority over areas that have long been dominated by Hezbollah . Those two pilot zones are in many ways a test case of course if Lebanon's government and military can't secure those limited areas without Hezbollah reasserting itself, then the prospects for a broader peace agreement and for reducing Iran's influence inside Lebanon are minimal at best. All right, turning now to the continued fallout from those devastating earthquakes in Venezuela. The race defined survivors is becoming increasingly desperate. Fears that the death toll could climb into the tens of thousands contin ue to hang over the rescue effort. In a broadcast on state television later confirmed by the Associated Press, the leader of Venezuela's National Assembly, Johes Rodriguez, said at least one thousand four hundred thirty people have now been killed . Another three thousand three hundred people have been injured while tens of thousands remain unaccounted for the back to back magnitude seven point two and seven point five earthquakes struck the country's northern coast just this last Wednesday . Rescue crews continue working around the clock and so far authorities say two hundred and forty three people have been pulled alive from beneath collapsed buildings . Aid agencies on the ground said that the first forty eight to seventy two hours after a major earthquake offer the best chance of finding survivors trapped beneath the rubble . Now , five days later, rescuers are confronting the harsh reality that those odds continue shrinking with each passing day . That's why specialized American search and rescue teams have become such an important part of the response. Teams from Virginia, California, and Florida arrived in Venezuela on Friday, carrying equipment designed to cut through layers of collapsed concrete and to listen for the faintest sounds beneath the debris. Anthony Marone, the Los Angeles County Fire Chief, told The New York Times that fire units from L Count.y A and. Fairfax County, Virginia are the only departments in the U. S. trained to deploy on international rescue missions. The LA County team alone consists of seventy three personnel and brings heavy machinery and highly sensitive listening devices capable of detecting survivors beneath collapsed structures, which are rarely available in disaster zones outside the U. S. The broader American response has continued to expand as well. The State Department is leading the federal effort, while US Southern Command continues transporting emergency supplies into the country. Beyond the immediate search and rescue mission, Washington has also pledged one hundred fifty million dollars in emergency humanitarian assistance . But even with support arriving, ground crews are still racing against time as the scale of the destruction becomes increasingly apparent. When the earthquakes first , U struck. S. the Geological Survey issued a red alert warning that the disaster had the potential to become catastrophic, estimating the eventual death toll could range from ten thousand to more than one hundred thousand people . Based on population density and the vulnerability of local infrastructure. That challenge has exposed growing frustration inside Venezuela. Residents in some of the hardest communities told the Associated Press that they saw relatively few government rescue crews during those critical first days after the disaster. As a result, many families and volunteers began searching collapsed buildings on their own rather than waiting for state assistance. Authorities have since restricted access to Laguera, the region suffering the worst destruction, arguing that limiting civilian traffic will allow emergency crews to operate more effectively. The Venezuelan government says it has distributed food and water to survivors in Laguara, but many residents argue that the overall response is still falling short . And for families still searching for missing loved ones, the new restrictions have only deepened an already growing sense of frustration. All right, coming up in the back of the brief. An international manhunt comes to an end as Somali intelligence helps the U. S. capture the alleged leader of a major Minnesota fraud scheme. More on that when we come back . Hey, Mike Baker here with a word about personal health and weight loss. Now, everybody's talking about weight loss injections, right? Because the results have been so dramatic. They work by lowering blood sugar and reducing appetite. But what if you're looking to lose weight? 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Here's a little tune to help you remember . Same drive, different day . Don't you wish you were getting ? Pack your beds and come on through Texas, Ohio, Alaska, we're up there too. Comfort in . It's calling your name . Save on the state. Oh , and free waffles are yours to claim. Well, I hope you like my little song book to rack attacks . com . In today's back of the brief, years after hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars were allegedly siphoned from a federal child nutrition progr am during the COVID era, one of the case's leading fugitives has finally been found, not in the U. S. , but in Somalia . That years long investigation culminated Friday when U. S. prosecutors announced the arrest of Abdikherm Abdelachi Eidla, one of the alleged architects behind Minnesota's massive feeding our future fraud scheme in Mogadishu. For years, federal investigators have been working to unravel what prosecutors describe as the largest pandemic relief fraud case ever prosecuted in the U. S. While dozens of defendants were arrested and brought before American courts, prosecutors allege one of the scheme's top organizers slipped away as the investigation closed in. That pursuit ultimately brought together the FBI and Somalia's National Intelligence and Security Agency. Now, neither government has revealed exactly how investigators tracked ed Eyed L down, but from the Justice Department's perspective, the message is, alleged fraudsters are never beyond the reach of American law. Prosecutors say the fraud itself was staggering. Some of you may recall that ed Finge Mar Future, a Minnesota nonprofit , is accused of exploiting a federal child nutrition program created during the pandemic, allegedly stealing roughly two hundred fifty million dollars in taxpayer money that was supposed to help feed children. Prosecutors say the money was diverted through shell companies, fake meal sites, fraudulent invoices, kickbacks, and bribery. In twenty twenty two, federal prosecutors charged forty seven people in what the Justice Department is called the largest pandemic relief fraud case ever. And prosecutors say Idla is the alleged second command to convicted ringleader Amy Bach , accusing him of recruiting participants into the scheme, accepting bribes disguised as consulting fees, creating fraudulent meal sites using stand in owners , and inventing supplier companies to build a government for food that was never delivered. All this took place under the nose of the watchful eye of Minnesota state officials. Officials allege Idla helped turn a program intended to feed children during a national emergency into a criminal enterprise. As for Bach, the scheme's ringleader, she's been sentenced to more than forty years in federal prison. Idla is expected to face extradition proceedings before ultimately being returned from Somalia to Minnesota to stand trial . And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Monday, the twenty ninth of june. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at the firsttv dot com . And I hope you had the opportunity to watch the latest episode of our weekend show. That of course would be the PDB situation report. If not, do not despair. You can catch it and past episodes on our YouTube channel. I hope you check that out and just search up at President's Daily Brief there on YouTube . And of course, the show is also available wherever you get your podcast stuff. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the BDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed , stay safe , stay cool Best thing that's ever happened to you financially, go. Easy. Sold my car on Carvana. Amazing offer. Really? I hit two hundred on the scratcher. Did the scratcher come to your house and hand you a check? No. How many scratchers did you hit to get that? I hit a button on carvana dot com once. Okay, that's fair. It's like the lottery except you always win. Not like the lottery