Iran, Deterrence, and the Fight Ahead - podcast episode cover

Iran, Deterrence, and the Fight Ahead

Mar 19, 202631 min
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Episode description

In Hour 2 of The Sean Hannity Show, Sean is joined by Senator Lindsey Graham for a deep dive into Operation Epic Fury and the growing confrontation with Iran. Hannity and Graham break down the intelligence that led to the strikes, including Iran’s expanding nuclear capabilities and the mounting concern that Tehran was rapidly approaching weapons-grade enrichment. Senator Graham explains why the U.S. response was designed to cripple Iran’s military infrastructure while restoring deterrence across the Middle East. The conversation also explores the broader geopolitical implications—from the security of Israel and Gulf allies to the stability of global energy markets. Hannity presses the question many Americans are asking: what comes next if Iran refuses to back down? It’s a candid and high-stakes discussion about national security, leadership, and the long-term strategy for preventing a nuclear-armed Iran.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Speaker 1

Our two Sean Hannity show Told Free is eight hundred and nine point one Sean if you want to be a part of the program. There's now a new investigative report our friend John Solomon, Founder, editor in chief, chief investigative reporter of justinews dot com, and it's breaking on the twenty twenty election and interference from nefarious foreign actress top geopolitical foes and for example, the US Intel hid you know, election meddling in the twenty twenty election from

Trump because they opposed his policies. You know, I don't want my intelligence going to the White House where it will be used with that vulgarian in the Oval Office to support policies against China with which I personally disagree. That is not up to them. They're not elected to anything. Donald Trump is the commander in chief. The idea that anybody in the intel community could ever think if they can't pass this information on anyway, We'll get more details

of this from John Solomon. It's not the only piece of evidence pointing to the Chinese government and their election influence efforts in this country. Although much of China's activities remains classified. Justinews dot Com was able to conduct a thorough review of publicly available intelligence assessments. In other words, there's more info, they just they have it under wraps

right now. And federal indictment's foreign government warning cybersecurity from analysis that's out there, incredible evidence that the Chinese government also wanted to get a look at all of the you know, the voter roles in this country anyway, John Solomon, Editor in chief, founder, chief investigative reporter justinnews dot com. This runs deep and wide, and it has a lot of different aspects to this.

Speaker 2

Yeah, you're exactly right, Sean, It's pretty remarkable. So what do we know? First, I want to take people back in history. Just two years in twenty twenty four, one of our allies, Great Britain, learned that China had access and hacked into the voter registration database of Great Britain.

It created an enormous moment of national alarm. There were firings, there were election security measures, there were hearings and independent commissions, and Great Britain treated this as something of grave concern to the future election integrity of their system. And not only that the Biden administration reacted with anger, they actually punished China on behalf of Great Britain. But when they took those actions, and when Great Britain was in alarm our,

own intelligence community harbored its own deep dark secrets. It has known. The CIA, the DNI, the Homeland Security Department in the FBI has known since early twenty twenty spring of twenty twenty that China had also gained access to US voter registration data in America, the very data that right now Democrats say they don't even want that to

be shared with the Trump Justice Department. There are several Blue states trying to block Trump's Justice Department from reviewing that data to make sure we don't have legal aliens or non citizens on the motor roll. So it's so sensitive we don't trust our own government. But it turns out China penetrated it in America, and for the last six years we've all been kept in the dark. The way we know this is true, we were able to get a declassified document, ironically, a document declassified by the

Biden administration before it left office. It lays out the fact that China had gained access to this. We then talked to some of the intelligence analysts on the record who did this work in twenty twenty, and they confirmed that, in fact, China did gain access to multiple states of databases. Then we learned that the FBI had evidence that China sent a bunch of driver's licenses into the United States a months later. So in early twenty twenty, China acts

the databases or gains access to the databases. In the summer of twenty twenty, they were sending fake driver's licenses to shoo Ago Airport with the intention, according to the FBI documents, of creating fake ballot registration and ballot ballots that would help Joe Biden when the election. That's what the FBI's intelligence source told them, is.

Speaker 1

This Joe Biden's FBI that first determined.

Speaker 2

This, No, this was the Trump one because it's still twenty twenty when it occurred. So Trump won FBI, So Chris Ray is doing this, and so all of that's been kept a secret from us, and then today we just put out the last piece of it, and you mentioned it so brilliantly in your opening statement there Sewan, the CIA and intelligence community decided they weren't going to tell President Trump, they weren't going to tell the Congress.

They weren't going to tell the American public, contrary to how Great Britain reacted, solely because the analysts who handled China believed that this would help President Trump's policies. They disagreed with President Trump. They considered him make quote unquote bulgarian, so they put their political beliefs, their political party ahead of the national interest. It is such a remarkable story. Now we know that part because there's a little known

office called the Ombudsman for Analytics. That Ombudsman's job is to watch the CIA and THEDIA and all the intelligence community to make sure that their analytics are honest. And in this case, the ombudsmen said they were not. That while the community was very aggressive intelligence community in saying China was involved in the election, they ignored, underplayed, hid,

and suffocated evidence of China doing the same thing. And then he concludes, quoting from the emails of the CIA analysts, that the reason China's meddling in the election was suppressed was because the analyst in the Intelligence Committee did not like Donald Trumper's policies and they decided to thwart them by not telling our president, our commander in chief, our Congress, or the American people of these intrusions by China. It is such a remarkable story. We spent a decade you

and I talking about the deep state. Here is perhaps one of the most coajinig examples of how dangerous the deep state can be. It can keep actionable intelligence, intelligence that made Great Britain go to deat Con five on election integrity from a president, from a Congress and American people purely because of their political beliefs. That has got to be very concerning to everyone listening today.

Speaker 1

I'm trying to understand who knew what and when. In other words, this is this is one intelligence official comes up with the assessment. We only have one commander in chief at a time, we only have one president at a time. You don't get to pick and choose what information, and especially when it deals with national security that you're going to pass on to the president. And this one individual did this. How many other people likely knew?

Speaker 2

Oh, we know for certain from the reporting we've done that Chinese sorry, China experts in the FBI, the Homeland Security Department, and the CIA had concluded with certainty that China had penetrated the voter registration databases of the United States American voters by April of twenty twenty. It is irrefutable. It is in a document that has shared community wide. Now what's remarkable about that is the president is briefed twice on external elections threts, once in February, once in May.

It does not appear that he gets that level of detail. It's kept from him, at least that's what the ombudsman is suggesting in his work. So it is well known across multiple agencies, across scores of analysts, and there's consensus. They agree, they assess that this happened. They just simply don't want to tell them.

Speaker 1

Well, why would they be stupid enough to put this in writing? I mean, I find that kind of spectacularly stupid.

Speaker 2

It is remarkable, it is quite remarkable, and so they create these products. Now, in fairness, there were analysts who were very concerned that this was being buried. One of them is a guy named Christopher Porter. I interviewed him on the record in my story. Chris Porter believed that there was a cover up going on. He went to the Inspector General, went to the ombudsman in clearly was trying to get this out. But despite his efforts. It remained a secret until just a few short weeks ago

or just until recently. The intelligence analysts will write their products knowing that they're going to be highly classified, never read by Joe Sixpack, you and I or the president unless someone briefed the president. The president enough time to go through the HIA library and read things. And so even though you write it down because it's important to collect what you put in, it's legally required that you collect the information to write it. You can control who

knows what by just determining who gets it. And they kept these things off the books, They kept them from the getting to the President, the Congress. I've talked to dozens of senators excuse me, more than a dozen centators in the last week, people who are currently debating the same America actor like jod we never heard this, Like we looked at the document. We're disbelief. We weren't told.

But that's how powerful a bureaucracy can be. It can find things, write them, and then keep them from being discovered by people because of the they bury documents. Is what cash Bettel keeps talking about with all of these skiffs and secret documents and code named investigations. The deep state is very powerful, and sometimes it may come at the expense of the American public.

Speaker 1

We know how high up it goes or is this just a work of one or a few analysts to be determined.

Speaker 2

There is a large body of evidence that we are asking Director Ratcliffe, Director Gabbert to declassify that would allow us to see how high up and who knew what when. It is highly likely that the CIA director at the time, Gena Haspell, would have to have known, given that this

was a National Intelligence Council assessment. Usually the CIA director is brought to that and I have photos I may share these some of your staff of Gena Haspal sitting in a meeting with President Trump in February of twenty nineteen and again in May. I was sorry February of twenty twenty and May of twenty twenty, where these two

election briefings were given. We need to find out whether they kept it from her, but most likely to see IA director almost certainly would have been told of this assessment, given the fact that there's an official product. We don't know about Christopher Ray. We do know that when the FBI discovered the driver's licenses and the alleged plot by China to maybe fake some to fake some ballots that would be voted for Joe Biden to try to help

Joe Biden win the election. That they knew that this evidence ran contrary to what Chris Ray told timas he had said no foreign intrusions by China. They actually say it in an email. They write it, Hey, this is going to contradict Chris Ray, the director's testimony. Let's pull it back. And they pulled the intelligence report back so that people can't talk about it. We do know at

least the people below Chris Ray knew it. Now, whether Chris Ray knew it or whether they kept him in the dark to be determined, but it is pretty a widespread I've interviewed many intelligence experts in people who were in the community at that time. They're like, oh, yeah, we all knew it. We just kept quiet about it. And I've interviewed some bying there are people and they're like, we were kind of amused that President Trump's own team kept us from him while he was in office, given

his concerns about China. So the Biden people knew it, they kept quiet. Lots of career people knew it, because I've interviewed those people. It is remarkable that it stayed a secret for six years.

Speaker 1

Unbelievable, unbelievable. I mean, I just I cannot believe that we have what we call the deep state, and these are people that are supposed to be patriotic, They shouldn't be serving a political agenda. And it's time and time and time and time again. And I know what frustrates my audience because I'm in tune with what they're saying, and I feel their frustration because you have come on this program time after time, You've broken story after story.

You show evidence upon evidence upon evidence, and then nothing usually happens to the people involved, or we find out in the case of like James Comey stature limitations of long since past, and then they go for, you know, whatever remaining low hanging fruit unless they can somehow eventually put together a grand conspiracy case. Right that frustrates people

at you know, at an incredible level. The last time you were on this program, you were telling that it wasn't just arctic frost, that there were how many separate work but five separate investigations with various code names that are in fact, you know, looking into the people that are opponents of a particular political agenda or those that support Donald Trump. What's the status on that.

Speaker 2

Well, we hope soon the most interesting of them, the one that's really the most murky and dark and west well kept secret, is soon to be declassified. Round River Cash Betel, the FBI director, a little busy today's up on the hill testifying alongside of Telsey Gabbert and John

Rakoff to see I, INDI and I directors. But if those get to classify, that I think will be one of the most shocking investigations because that investigation was driven by speech deliminers, meaning what you said, what you spoke with your words in the country that's supposed to have a First Amendment determined whether the FBI considered you a threat in subjected you potentially and.

Speaker 1

In other words, if you want to after zero experience Hunter and Barisma and no experience in oil gas energy, but got paid millions in the quid pro quo, you're not getting the billion unless you unless you fired the prosecutor. I have we talked about that. Were we targeted? Was I targeted? Were you targeted?

Speaker 2

Oh, we don't know the names who were targeted yet, but we do know that the some of the speech diliminters involved Hunter Biden, the Biden family in Ukraine. Hopefully soon will know that. Now I know personally that I was subjected to a criminal investigation because in twenty twenty two, my lawyer has had a.

Speaker 1

Criminal investigation for what is no more honest human being on earth?

Speaker 2

Yeah, for reporting on Hunter Biden. And they believed I was getting my information from Russian sources longer to Brete Giuliani and the lawyers around President Trump. They they got a little lesson. They got a schooling that day because they realized I got my stuff from the FBI's files. And the second they realized I got myself from very concrete sources government documents, they close that down and thanks. Maybe they were going to bring me before the grand jury,

said out, you don't to before a grand jury. You're done, and I walked away. But you know, I had to hire a lawyer to defend what turned out to be very accurate, honest reporting.

Speaker 1

Tell you what, well, when you get this information, we're just on the clock here, but we'll bring you back and we'll give a full accounting of it. Why do I suspect your names at the top of the list, and I'm probably down by like number twelve. I don't know, well your name's been I mean maybe a what's that.

Speaker 2

Department was monitoring you? So we know that's true.

Speaker 1

As people only knew half of what we have to deal with that we don't talk of a lot about. But anyway, John Solomon, justinnews dot com great reporting. As always, will continue to follow the story in any updates you have, I clickbreak, I pack will continue straight ahead. Eight hundred and nine four one Shawn is a number.

Speaker 3

The Dens want to stand on the step singing terrible songs and cursing out Trump. You know you have one guy over this shout and ever wonder if these people ever go to work me too? Throughout This is the Sean Hannity Show.

Speaker 1

Now, Linda, we've been spending a lot of time California. You know, they're they're insane taxes, the mass exodus, this referendum that's coming up in California that would be retroactive to January, and all these billionaires are making a mass exodus. I mean, the top six alone are going to cost that state billion tens and tens of billions of dollars. We have talked at length about the state of New York and this latest proposal fifty death tax for the City of New York only, I mean New York City,

non New York State. New York City has a higher proposed budget under Marxist Kami Mamdani than the entire state of Florida. And it's they don't have They have lousy schools, they have lousy infrastructure, they don't have law and order. He's all part of the defund dismantled no bail law madness. Of course, I don't like his views or his wife's views when it comes to Israel and the Jewish community, and how his wife in particular saw October the seventh

pretty repulsive to me. But with all that said, you know New York and I'm going to play for you in a minute. Kathy Hokl, the governor, Now all of a sudden, she's like, well, we'd like the people to come back to New York and they all go down to Palm Beach. But this is her thing, Lee Seldon go down to Florida and all these other conservative trump go down to Florida where you belong. She tells them listen.

Speaker 4

And we're here to say that the era of Trump and Zelden and mon Ro. Just jump on a bus and head down to Florida, where you belong. Okay, get out of town. Get out of town because you don't read, you don't represent our values. You are not New Yorkers.

Speaker 1

And then, of course, famously, then Governor Andrew Cuomo made the statement, you were not in New Yorker if you're pro gone and pro wife and anti gate nobody, I'm no conservative and knows anti gay. Okay, put that aside. You know you're not in New Yorker. There's no place for you in the state in New York. Here's what he said.

Speaker 5

Their problem is not me and the Democrats. Their problem is themselves. Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right to life, a pro assault weapon, anti gay? Is that who they are? Because if that's who they are, and if they are the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York since that's not who New Yorkers are.

Speaker 1

Then he said, tax, the Ridge tax, the Ridge tax the rich. We did and the rich start leaving, God forbid, here's that cut.

Speaker 6

We have one of the most progressive tax codes in the United States, which is a good thing, which means the richer you are, the more you pay. However, that presents a very fragile economy because then you are relying on a very small number of people for the vast amount of your tax dollars. One percent of the tax pay nearly half of all the taxes. One percent pay nearly half of all those taxes. Those one percent are

the richest people in the state. They're the richest people in the country, and they are the most mobile people in the country. And you see the chart on the bottom, top one percent, about forty six percent, top five percent, sixty three percent of all the revenue, top ten percent, seventy four percent of all the revenue. Tax the rich tax, the rich tax the rich. We did now, God forbid the rich leave.

Speaker 1

Now, this is what's fascinating. They chase everybody out, They beg you to go. People leave, you know when you have you know, JP Morgan chase more employees in Texas than you do in New York. And it's so identified with New York. It tells you everything. Now, this guy's proposing dropping the estate threshold from se seven point five million seven hundred and fifty thousand. You can't even own a closet to live in in New York City for

that amount of money. And he wants fifty percent of all the money you've been taxed on, and he wants to confiscate it when you die. It's a death tax on top of a forty percent federal death tax, on top of her ten percent state tax. And you know, Kathy Hogel, our tax bases are eroding. Businesses are leaving because of the tax rate. I'm like, oh, you're just figuring that out now. Because Wall Street South, every big business, every private equity firm, every investment firm, every big bank

has a massive presence in South Florida. And all these companies are escaping and they're taking with them mass a massive amount of money. And these states are going to be going bankrupt. The City of New York, I'm telling you, is it going to be headed towards bankruptcy. It as a matter of when not if. Is Kathy Hogl you know, now finally identifying the problem, but she was begging, you know, conservators to leave.

Speaker 4

What I want to make sure we are smart about is having a system in place where it's not just taxing for the sake of taxing, and being conscious of the facts that I need people who are high net worth to support the generous social programs that we want to have in our state. Right now, there are some patriotic millionaires who've stepped up.

Speaker 7

Okay, cut me the checks.

Speaker 4

I mean, just if you want to be supportive, But maybe the first step should be go down to Palm Beach and see what you can bring back home. Because our tax base has been eroded. So I philosophically don't have a problem. It is like I have to look at the fact that we are in competition with other states who have less of a tax burden on their corporations and their individuals, and I would say remote work

changed everything. There are people who could only work in an office in manhatt and work in New York State, and they were captives to our state. They were within a state. We saw that that's not the case. I mean, you know Wall Street businesses looking at Texas. They're not going there because they have a nicer governor. I know that for sure, But they're going there because of the tax rate.

Speaker 1

No, they're going because they like the governor too, Like they like my Governor. Governor de Santa's two of the best governors in the country. He still doesn't get it. I'm just asking high network people to please support our social safety net and go down to Palm Beach and ask all your friends to come up here so we can take more of their money. There comes a tipping point, Governor, and with all due respect, you begged people to leave,

and now you want their money. And guess what, You're not going to be able to get your hands on it because there's not one wealthy company or person that I know that doesn't have a complete exit strategy, hiring our accountants and lawyers to make sure that the cut is is so acute that you can't, you know, come in there with with your your tax people. That's why, Linda, when people say to me, well, you only have to spend six months in a day and you're a resident of Florida, right, I'm like wrong.

Speaker 8

Well, in fairness, Sean, you might be a little bit wrong here because as memory serves, you were asked. You were asked to stay.

Speaker 5

Sean.

Speaker 9

We know you're mad at us, and you have every right to be occupy Wall Street. Governor Cuomo, that weird smell New York has made a lot of big mistakes, but we're gonna change.

Speaker 1

Just please stay stay, stay loser, Yo, Sean.

Speaker 7

Man, you can't leave. We need you, don't.

Speaker 1

I will lose la accent if you'll stay.

Speaker 7

Let's that beer and watch the game. How's that?

Speaker 9

We'll make Sex and the City tours, Sean and the City Tours.

Speaker 2

You don't go.

Speaker 1

Say we're in love. We'll marry women instead.

Speaker 7

We'll stop saying hello food.

Speaker 1

Who was still abbibi?

Speaker 5

Pipeline We'll run it through Central Park, no problem.

Speaker 8

The city depends upon job readers like New Sewan, so we're going to give you the perks you deserve.

Speaker 9

We'll name a street after Reagan health. We'll name them all after Reagan.

Speaker 1

Worried about your commute home?

Speaker 2

No problem?

Speaker 7

This patriot is now running directly to Sean's out. Take a note, please stay, stay, Stay.

Speaker 5

Stay, say mister Hannah, he stay.

Speaker 7

Who would we text to this money was gone?

Speaker 1

Who would be imposed socialism upon?

Speaker 7

Stay?

Speaker 9

Can't taking stay in your first and second homes.

Speaker 7

Don't disappear forever by an.

Speaker 2

Pleez mister.

Speaker 9

Jeez, or you need friend and say to you and the rest of humanities.

Speaker 8

Remain in the States, and that fills you with hats as the same.

Speaker 7

Anyway, on second thought, who gives.

Speaker 2

A what you do?

Speaker 1

I mean right, that was Broadway Stars, Nathan Lane, you ever did Nathan Lane and all wonderful people. They were begging me to stay, and then he says, ye, get the hell out of here. We don't care. We'll name every street after Reagan. It's pretty funny. That actually is fret funny. And that was the Jersey Boys that were singing, which is pretty cool.

Speaker 2

So that.

Speaker 1

See, I do have a sense of humor when people make fun of me.

Speaker 8

Well, you actually have a great sense of humor when people make fun of you. Other people get very bent out of shape, but you do not.

Speaker 1

I don't care.

Speaker 8

I don't And for those of you who don't remember who are listening, I have been here long enough that Sean used to have a hate hotline and we used to get calls and then he would play them on the air. Some of them were too vile to play, but I was like, really, this is what we're doing.

Speaker 1

Yeah, by the way, we should bring back the hate. Hannity, No, what do you think?

Speaker 8

No, Yeah, the world it's got enough hate. Let's do something positive.

Speaker 1

Please, you're the one with the hate list, not me.

Speaker 8

Yes, I have thirteen people I hate. Doesn't mean I will spread that around to millions.

Speaker 1

All right, quick break to our phones. We'll go when we get back. Eight hundred and nine to four one, Shawn our number. If you want to be a part of the program.

Speaker 3

You're on the Sean Hannity Show, a place where free speech and the First Amendment are still alive and well.

Speaker 1

Liberalism is a failed ideology.

Speaker 3

Get your dose of independence and liberty every weekday right here with Sean John Hannity.

Speaker 1

Let's set a busy phones. Eight hundred and nine one, Shawn. Roberto, my free state of Florida. Roberto, how are you great?

Speaker 10

Thank you, Thank you, my close. I appreciate it. Just two things I wanted to run by you, if I may. One of our founding fathers in our frame when they created the Second Amendment. There were geniuses in doing that.

If you look at all these countries like Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, all these socialists, communist country they don't allow citizens to possess weapons, and that's where the citizens are so oppressed and they can't do anything unless the United States soil them mount and so the Second Amendment to me is one of the brightest idea that a founding fathers ever had, even though I was warning Cuba, but I'm an American citizen arrived here in nineteen fifty nine.

Speaker 1

Once they disarmed the people, remember, and we're seeing this now a little bit. It's problematic for the people that are standing up against the Iranian regime. Is you can't win a revolution with a slingshot. And whether there's plans to arm the people, I don't know. I'm not that

that in the know on it. I would imagine there probably is, but there's coming a moment and I would say, you know, watch the next two, three, four weeks, and I think this thing's going to wrap up, and then it's going to be in the hands of the people in Iran, and then they will decide they will be the masters of their own destiny. And this will be the opportunity of a generation. As President Trump said, seize it,

and as Netnyahu said, be ready for it. And my hope and prayer, I do believe God created every man, woman and child for the purpose of living free and fulfilling the talents that he put inside all of us, and that is the natural state of mankind. It was our framers and founders talked a lot about it, that we're endowed by our creator with inalienable rights, and it is that natural inclination desire. It's in every human's DNA to be free, and so many people on the face

of this earth don't live in freedom. Anyway, my friend, I appreciate your call. Eight hundred and nine point one. Shawn is on number. You want to be a part of the program, all right, when we come back the latest on the Save Act. We've been checking in with a lot of senators and I'd love to see this happen.

I'd love to see Republicans fight. I'd love to see them convince people, and hopefully the American people will get behind those people that see the importance of proof of citizenship and voter ID if you're going to vote, and it's just voter integrity. All Democrats Republicans have complained about not having both over the years. This is the chance to fix it, and Chuck Schumer's losing his mind as per usual. Anyway, we'll get the latest update from Senator

Eric Schmidt of Missouri. On the other side, we'll also get your calls in eight hundred and ninety four one sewn. As we continue

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