Morning Wire
The Democrats’ Platner Problem & The Tech CEO Who Smuggled for Iran | 6.9.26
09 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What are the latest developments in the Israel-Iran conflict?
President Trump fights to maintain the fragile ceasefire after a massive flare-up in the Middle East.
It's hard to think of any Israeli prime minister that would take a missile barrage from the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism and do nothing in response.
I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Tuesday, June 9th, and this is Morning Wire. Are Democrats willing to overlook a Nazi tattoo and now allegations of sexual misconduct to win a key Senate race?
Anti-Zionism has become the most important plank in the progressive platform.
It is now the cause du jour on the left. And the FBI uncovers a pipeline moving American tech into the hands of the Iranian regime. We talked to a reporter who was on the ground for the pre-dawn raid.
This guy was living in a $35 million Italianate estate.
It was quite a dramatic scene. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned, we have the news you need to know.
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Chapter 2: How are Democrats responding to Graham Platner's controversies?
Now, what about the economic situation on the ground in Iran? Obviously, they want to hold on to their nuclear arsenal, but with the blockade in place, they've really been strangled. I understand there's about a 77% inflation rate. That's obviously crippling. How is that affecting their willingness or ability to negotiate?
Well, this is a regime that unfortunately has a drastically different social contract with its own people than us or other members of the international community or global economy in good standing. So while these facts do matter, they're not the facts that in the very short term are governing the national security decision-making of the Islamic Republic.
So the art of the deal for this president, and really any president, is to be able to put this regime to the choice, to make those facts matter. The problem is in the short term, the Iranians are distributing that pain, taking it, and operating still as if they have a bunker mentality. It's more about missiles than money.
Chapter 3: What allegations are surfacing against Senate candidate Graham Platner?
in the very short term for them. In the medium term, long term, it's all about money. And that's why they're playing to the edge with what's left of their missile arsenal to get the Trump administration to blink, to get them to give cash up front. So far, that has not happened.
But the Iranian art of the deal is to wave a missile and hope that there's a deal that has sanctions relief and access to frozen funds on the back end. But when it comes to the nuclear side, the second part, that is, my view, is even harder to achieve.
The regime doesn't have a nuclear arsenal, thank goodness, but it does have significant fissile material, including highly enriched uranium, that I think, so long as it remains buried in Iran and the US communicates clearly that it will strike anybody that moves towards those previously declared nuclear sites, things should be okay.
But this is a regime that's proven its intent on rebuilding, repairing, and rearming anyway. So that is a band-aid. It's not a long-term solution. And I think the long-term solution relies either on extracting that uranium or having a policy that is much bigger than counterproliferation, but having a policy that is counter-regime in its entirety.
All right. Well, Benham, thank you so much for coming on.
Thank you.
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Chapter 4: What impact does anti-Zionism have on the Democratic platform?
Thank you.
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Democrats continue to largely circle the wagons around Senate candidate Graham Plattner, whose controversies have prompted outsized attention on today's primaries in Maine. Along with revelations about his Nazi tattoo and his alarming online behavior, unsettling stories from Plattner's past girlfriends have forced members of his party to defend him while also claiming to believe all women.
We should focus on acknowledging it was misogynistic, acknowledging it was wrong. I believe her. I think Graham acted shamefully. And that's what makes him different, is that he's taken accountability for that period of his life.
One lone Democrat who's pushed back on Plattner's candidacy is Senator John Fetterman, who says Democrats need to be honest about his behavior and views.
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Chapter 5: What was the significance of the recent FBI raid on an Iranian-American businessman?
You know, the same side that called all of us Nazis for 10 years, now backing a guy with an actual Nazi tattoo. The same side that chased men out of public life for things much less bad than what Graham Plattner is accused of doing. The believe all women side, the Justice Kavanaugh vigilantes, you know, the Me Too firing squad, as I call them.
The same people are now out here saying, well, he didn't hit her. He didn't punch her. He just grabbed her arm and shoved it behind her back hard enough to leave bruises and locked her in her room. We can forgive all of that.
Well, all eyes on Maine today for all of these reasons. Batia, thank you so much for coming on.
Thank you so much for having me. God bless and protect you.
Last week, federal agents raided a $35 million estate in Orange County owned by an Iranian-American businessman. He's accused of selling computer hardware to the Iranian government to be used by their military, along with other financial crimes to hide his income. Joining us now is Ben Chapman, reporter for the California Post.
He was on the scene as federal agents carried out that pre-dawn raid. He's been reporting on the allegations. Ben, thanks so much for joining us.
Thanks for having me.
So when most people think of, you know, sanctions violations, they picture paperwork and bank transfers. But your reporting describes this pre-dawn FBI raid on a $35 million mansion, allegations involving tons of technology.
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Chapter 6: How did federal agents execute the raid on the $35 million estate?
How large and sophisticated was the operation, according to federal investigators?
According to federal investigators, it was a massive operation that went on for years. Basically, what we have is a businessman, 63 years old, a dual Iranian and United States citizen named Jamshid Gomi. of Newport Beach, California, had a company that was based in Tehran. And what he was doing, according to prosecutors, was sending sensitive technology from the United States
to his business in Iran. And then at that point, the technology was distributed by the local company and sold to hundreds of different organizations in Iran, including the government, which used the technology in both military operations and in its nuclear programs.
So how was he able to accomplish this and avoid U.S. sanctions?
According to prosecutors and investigators, Mr. Gomi used fake shipping protocols to get this hardware out of the United States. So what he was doing was legally purchasing this stuff domestically, and it was primarily networking equipment, is my understanding.
And then he would create false shipping systems where he would pretend that the final destination of the technology was in the UAE, I believe, or countries in Europe. And in fact, the technology was then shipped from those destinations onto its final destination in Iran. That's the part that was illegal was the fact that he was sending this stuff to Iran because it was sensitive technology.
Do we know what mistake or what breakthrough allowed investigators to unravel this whole scheme?
The raid was actually conducted by criminal investigators with the IRS. There were definitely tax abnormalities with this guy's business. So this guy was the CEO and founder of a tech company. He lived in a $35 million mansion and he was reporting $20,000 in annual income to the IRS. So it's my guess that this may have been what tipped them off, you know?
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Chapter 7: What technology was involved in the illegal operation against U.S. sanctions?
Kind of hard to miss. You'd think these criminal masterminds would figure out that you, like, pay your taxes, man, or at least make it look close or something. We mentioned at the top you were on the scene for the raid. Anything stand out to you about the operation?
Sure. It was quite an unusual raid in the sense that it took place in an upscale and exclusive gated community above the Pacific Ocean, populated by... gigantic mansions.
It was quite a dramatic scene as this caravan of federal agents blew into this gated community and then surrounded his estate at the end of this exclusive cul-de-sac and then called over a loudspeaker with guns drawn for him to come out of the house. And they called for some time before he emerged.
The agents actually went inside and ended up apprehending him inside of the estate before they brought him outside and put him in an SUV whereupon he was taken to custody.
Well, a dramatic scene that you were there to witness firsthand. Thank you so much for reporting for us.
Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Thanks for waking up with us.
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Chapter 8: What lessons can be learned from the investigation and its aftermath?
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