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The Justice Department is expected to announce the indictment of longtime Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, on Friday, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. It wasn't immediately clear if the indictment was related to the 2022 raid. A year after the raid — which had not previously yielded arrests or charges — Cuellar told the Texas Tribune: "There has been no wrongdoing on my part. Despite the raid, Cuellar narrowly defeated a progressive challenger, Jessica Cisneros, in his 2022 primary and went on to win re-election to his seat that November. A member of the centrist Blue Dogs and New Democrat Coalition, Cuellar was first elected to the House in 2004.

Persons: Henry Cuellar, Cuellar's, Joshua Berman, Cuellar, — Cuellar, Jessica Cisneros, Cassy Garcia Organizations: NBC News, Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus, Texas Tribune, Texans, Republican, Cuellar, Dogs, New Democrat Coalition Locations: Texas, Laredo , Texas, Azerbaijan, U.S, San Antonio

Artist Abel Ortiz (L) gives US Attorney General Merrick Garland (R) a tour of murals of shooting victims on January 17, 2024 in Uvalde, Texas. The Justice Department is planning this week to release findings of an investigation into the 2022 school shooting in which 21 people were killed. Poor coordination, training and execution of active-shooter protocol contributed to a law enforcement response that can only be described as a "failure," the report said. The 600-page findings describe a chaotic scene that should have triggered a number of coordinated responses by law enforcement officers who first arrived at the school. Steven C. McCraw, Director and Colonel of the Texas Department of Public Safety, speaks during a press conference about the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 27, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas.

Persons: Abel Ortiz, General Merrick Garland, Eric Gay, Steven C, McCraw, Michael M, Robb, Eva Mireles, Tess Mata, Rogelio Torres, Jose Flores, Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, Jackie Cazarez, Maranda Mathis, Xavier Lopez, Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, Aliahana Cruz Torres, Alithia Ramirez, Jailah Nicole Silguero, Uziyah Garcia, Navaho Bravo, Makenna Lee Elord, Annabell Rodriguez, Amerie Jo Garza, Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, Layla Salazar, Aliahna Amyah Garcia, Irma Garcia, Chandan Khanna Organizations: US, The Justice Department, AFP, Getty, Robb Elementary School, Justice Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, Santiago, Robb Elementary Locations: Uvalde , Texas

☆ How the GOP muzzled the quiet coalition that fought foreign propaganda
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Kevin Collier | Ken Dilanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

A once-robust alliance of federal agencies, tech companies, election officials and researchers that worked together to thwart foreign propaganda and disinformation has fragmented after years of sustained Republican attacks. The most recent setback came when the FBI put an indefinite hold on most briefings to social media companies about Russian, Iranian and Chinese influence campaigns. "We're having some interaction with social media companies," Wray said. "The symbiotic relationship between the government and the social media companies has definitely been fractured." Tech companies are still sharing their findings with each other, a Meta spokesperson told NBC News.

Persons: Christopher Wray, Wray, Sen, Mitt Romney, they're, Mark Warner, Warner, Hillary Clinton's, Barack, CISA, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Hunter, Mark Zuckerburg, Hunter Biden, didn't, Biden, Nina Jankowicz, Jankowicz, Jen, Jim Jordan, Kara Swisher, we're, Elon Musk, wasn't Organizations: U.S, Capitol, Washington , D.C, GOP, FBI, Force, NBC News, Senate Homeland Security Committee, Justice Department, Committee, Republican, Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security, Microsoft, Senate Intelligence, Kremlin, Internet Research Agency, Facebook, Twitter, National Security Agency, Democrats, New, Digital, Republicans, Homeland Security, Wired, Rep, Tech Locations: Washington ,, Silicon Valley, R, Utah, Russia, Iran, China, U.S, Illinois, CISA, New York, Missouri, Louisiana, Ohio, Israel

The surprise attack by Hamas on Israel suggests a massive intelligence failure as the Israeli government appeared blindsided by the infiltration of Hamas fighters across the southern border and the launch of thousands of rockets. The Hamas assault by air, land and sea also raised questions as to why U.S. intelligence agencies apparently did not see it coming, experts and former intelligence officials said. U.S. officials said that if the Israelis knew an attack was imminent, they did not share it with Washington. The additional intelligence to Israel could include information gathered from drones, eavesdropping and satellites, but the officials did not elaborate. Not since 1973 has there been such a catastrophic intelligence failure in Israel," said Marc Polymeropoulous, who worked for 26 years for the CIA, where he specialized in counterterrorism, the Middle East and South Asia.

Persons: Marc Polymeropoulous Organizations: NBC News ., U.S, CIA Locations: Israel, Washington, U.S, Egypt, Syria, East, South Asia

The news outlet is hyper-focused on Trump's legal jeopardy, with a team of experts ready to dissect every ruling, every filing, every comment. “MSNBC has pretty well-established themselves as the leading anti-Trump network, certainly of late,” said Jon Klein, a former CNN president and news analyst. So far this year, Fox has averaged 2.18 million viewers, MSNBC 1.51 million and CNN 639,000. It was par for the course on a day Trump's legal issues made headlines. MSNBC has assembled a team of legal experts that has appeared throughout its lineup and gained trust through familiarity.

Persons: Joe, Donald Trump, Ken Dilanian, ”, Jon Klein, “, you've, Trump, it's, Trump's, Nicolle Wallace, Missouri Sen, Claire McCaskill, Joy Reid, —, Jen Psaki's, Cyrus Vance Jr, Preet Bharara, Rachel Maddow, Jimmy Carter's, “ Donald Trump, Lawrence O'Donnell, that's, Klein, Ari Melber's, Melber, Peter Navarro, Joe Tacopina, Andrew Weissmann, Robert Mueller's, Mary McCord, ” Chuck Rosenberg, Obama, Neal Katyal, Donald Trump ”, Barbara McQuade, Joyce Vance, Weissmann, Andrew, Psaki, Ariana Pekary, “ It's, ” Klein, there's, ” Pekary Organizations: NBC, MSNBC, Trump, CNN, Social, NBC News, Fox News Channel, Nielsen, Fox, GOP, Fox News, Malaysia Airlines, Manhattan District, New, Department of Justice, District of Columbia, FBI, Drug, U.S, Supreme Locations: Russia, America, Ohio, Indiana , Michigan , Illinois, Iowa, spurts, New York, Missouri, New York U.S, Trump, U.S, Michigan, Alabama

☆ Biden admin proposes regulation to eliminate 'gun show loophole'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Ken Dilanian | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Thursday that the move is a result of the bipartisan law passed by Congress last year. The "gun show loophole" has been cited for years as a major hole in the federal background check system, allowing a vast number of private sales without background checks. The ATF currently licenses about 80,000 brick-and-mortar gun dealers, but gun sales are increasingly taking place outside that system, free of background checks. Earlier this year, Biden signed an executive order designed to expand background checks. Biden also noted that the law closed the so-called boyfriend loophole by keeping guns away from unmarried dating partners convicted of abuse.

Persons: WASHINGTON —, General Merrick Garland, Biden, Garland, Thursday's, Barack Obama, Pat Toomey, Joe Manchin Organizations: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives, Biden, Congress, Safer, ATF, NBC News, Justice Department, Sandy Hook Elementary, Senate, Republicans Locations: Washington ,, WASHINGTON, Midland, Odessa , Texas, Newtown , Connecticut

☆ Trump classified docs judge skeptical of push to delay trial past 2024 election
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump Chris Kise (C) and Todd Blanche (R) arrive at The Alto Lee Adams Sr. United States Courthouse on July 18, 2023 in Fort Pierce, Florida. The judge presiding over Donald Trump 's federal criminal case appeared skeptical Tuesday of the former president's argument that the trial over his handling of classified documents should be delayed beyond the 2024 election, NBC News reported. Walt Nauta, personal aide to former U.S. President Donald Trump, exits Fort Pierce U.S. courthouse after a hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida, July 18, 2023. Trump faces 37 criminal counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House. But on Monday, Cannon told the parties to be prepared to discuss their proposals for when the trial should start.

Persons: Donald Trump Chris Kise, Todd Blanche, Lee Adams Sr, Walt Nauta, Trump, NBC's Ken Dilanian, Cannon, Aileen Cannon, Donald Trump, Jay Bratt, Bratt, David Harbagh, Joe Biden Organizations: United, Republican, NBC, Department, NBC News, Fort, Trump, White, FBI, DOJ Locations: Fort Pierce , Florida, Fort Pierce U.S, Mar

☆ Special counsel issues report criticizing FBI for launching Trump-Russia investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Ken Dilanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The special counsel who spent four years investigating the Trump-Russia probe accused the FBI of acting negligently by opening the investigation based on vague and insufficient information in a sweeping 300-page report made public Monday. The FBI responded to the report, indicating that the missteps identified by Durham have already been addressed. Durham's report examines in painstaking detail various aspects of the now infamous FBI investigation code-named "Crossfire Hurricane," which led to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Durham's investigation found that at the time, neither the FBI nor CIA had any intelligence suggesting an improper relationship between Trump and Russia. Durham appears to suggest that the intelligence information should have given the FBI pause in its pursuit of allegations involving the Trump campaign.

☆ Seven waiting at bus stop in Texas bordertown killed when struck by vehicle
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Ken Dilanian | Corky Siemaszko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A section of the Border Wall is under construction just south of the UT-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College campus next to the Rio Grande River. The 20-foot high concrete and steel wall is being built in sections throughout south Texas. Seven people waiting at a bus stop in a Texas border city were killed and a dozen more were injured early Sunday when a vehicle rammed into them in what investigators believe was an intentional act, officials said. The victims were at a stop located near a Catholic Charities facility in the city of Brownsville when they were struck, a senior law enforcement official told NBC News. One of the injured was airlifted to Valley Baptist Medical Center in nearly Harlingen, the department said.

President Joe Biden suggested on Thursday morning that officials appeared to be nearing a breakthrough in their investigation into who leaked the documents online. The Washington Post was the first news outlet on Wednesday night to report about the gaming group, and only identified him as "OG." The Post said it reviewed approximately 300 photos of classified documents that the suspect allegedly leaked, most of which the report said have not been made public. NBC News has not yet verified the details about the gaming group and that it was the source of where the classified documents were first shared. He also said that it appears that some of the classified documents had been altered from their original form.

☆ Gulf cartel apologizes after Americans are kidnapped and killed in Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Ken Dilanian | Minyvonne Burke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Gulf cartel apologized Thursday after two American citizens were killed during an armed abduction last week in Mexico. A senior law enforcement official told NBC News that U.S. authorities believe the letter is legitimate. Four Americans were shot at and kidnapped after driving into Matamoros, Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas, for a medical procedure. Video showed a gunman dragging people into a white pickup, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the matter previously said. A law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter said a woman in the group had been seeking a cosmetic medical procedure.

Wray's comments Tuesday came after Baier noted that the Energy Department had cited the FBI's earlier findings in its report. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, said earlier Tuesday that China has "always been open and transparent" about Covid. In its assessment, the Energy Department also described the "likely" laboratory-related leak as an "accident," the official added. The Energy Department is one of 18 government departments and agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said, "China obviously is very threatened by this," but "the lab leak story is not anti-Chinese.

☆ How many Chinese spy balloons did we miss and when did they start flying above the U.S.?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Dan De Luce | Ken Dilanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

There are currently five known Chinese balloon flights into U.S. territory, including two during the Biden administration and three during Donald Trump's presidency, according to the Biden administration's public statement. The congressman said he expected more Chinese balloon flights to be identified. Other countries are also examining whether Chinese balloon flights over their territory went undetected. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said his government will review the country's security in light of the Chinese balloon flight over the U.S.Australia was not aware of any Chinese surveillance balloons flying over its territory, an Australian official said. It remains unclear if new information could indicate that those balloon sightings were in fact Chinese surveillance airships.

The FBI has infiltrated and disrupted a major cybercriminal group that extorted schools, hospitals and critical infrastructure around the world, a law enforcement official told NBC News. As of Thursday morning, its website on the dark web showed a message saying it had been seized by an international law enforcement coalition, including the FBI and Justice Department. The FBI had secretly gained access to Hive’s network for months and provided victims keys to unlock their data, the law enforcement official said. Previous ransomware attacks have resulted in the release of sensitive information about law enforcement officers and schoolchildren. But as is often the case with such groups, Hive’s core group spoke Russian, said Allan Liska, a ransomware analyst at the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

Those confidentiality interests include not divulging information on ongoing investigations, Urierte said. Jordan sent Garland a letter demanding information on that investigation last week. Longstanding Department policy prevents us from confirming or denying the existence of pending investigations in response to congressional requests or providing non-public information about our investigations,” the letter said. Without prioritization, requests will take longer to resolve and will be more likely to yield irrelevant information," the letter said. The committee responded in a tweet later Friday, saying, "Why’s DOJ scared to cooperate with our investigations?"

Three active-duty U.S. Marines were arrested and charged this week with breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the latest in a line of current or former members of the military associated with the riot. All three men have been enlisted in the Marines for more than four years, according to a Marine Corps spokesman. Micah Coomer, circled in red, Dodge Dale Hellonen, circled in blue, and Joshua Abate at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. "We are aware of an investigation and the allegations," a Marine Corps spokesperson said. "The Marine Corps is fully cooperating with the appropriate authorities in support of the investigation."

The U.S. has arrested a Russian national and founder of a cryptocurrency exchange on charges of allegedly laundering more than $700 million, the Department of Justice said Wednesday. Anatoly Legkodymov, the founder of Bitzlato, a Hong Kong-registered cryptocurrency exchange that touted its lax approach to verifying customers’ identity, was arrested in Miami Tuesday night. The Treasury Department also declared Bitzlato a “Primary Money Laundering Concern,” an extreme measure rarely used against financial institutions. “If the U.S. Treasury Department designates a financial institution as a ‘Primary Money Laundering Concern,’ the goal is to isolate them,” Redbord said. “Being cut off from the U.S. financial system, not being able to transact in U.S. dollars, is essentially a death sentence.”

Passengers stuck at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago greeted the latest air travel disruption with a collective shrug. And our nation’s economy depends on a best-in-class air travel system. "We call on federal policymakers to modernize our vital air travel infrastructure to ensure our systems are able to meet demand safely and efficiently," he said. "An FAA system outage is causing ground stops at AUS and other airports across the country," the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport said in a tweet. Air France said all of its U.S.-bound flights were operating as planned and were not affected by the FAA computer outage.

WASHINGTON — Aides to President Joe Biden have discovered at least one additional batch of classified documents in a location separate from the Washington office he used after leaving the Obama administration, according to a person familiar with the matter. The initial discovery of classified documents in an office used by Biden after his vice presidency was first reported on Monday by CBS News. It also was not immediately clear when the additional documents were discovered and if the search for any other classified materials Biden may have from the Obama administration is complete. Two sources familiar with the matter said less than a dozen documents with classified markings were found at the office. Trump's possession of over 100 documents with classified markings despite have been subpoenaed for their return is the subject of a federal criminal investigation by the Justice Department.

WASHINGTON — There were less than a dozen documents with classified markings found in the office used by President Joe Biden while he was out of office, two sources familiar with the matter tell NBC News. The White House on Monday confirmed a CBS News report that a “small number of documents” with classified markings that appeared to be from the Obama administration had been found at a think tank tied to Biden. The acknowledgment launched a flurry of criticism from Republicans and former President Donald Trump, whose Florida home was raided last year in search of documents he had removed from the White House. The sources who confirmed the number of documents found in the Biden office spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details about the ongoing investigation. In all, federal investigators recovered over 300 documents with classification markings from Trump.

☆ Intel community escapes major criticism by Jan. 6 committee for missing 'foreseeable' Capitol violence
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Ryan J. Reilly | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dilanianmug.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The appendix also states what is widely known: A lot of information was publicly available that suggested Jan. 6 would be violent, and law enforcement wasn’t prepared for the violence it faced. “Federal and local law enforcement authorities were in possession of multiple streams of intelligence predicting violence directed at the Capitol prior to January 6th,” the appendix said. Instead, as NBC News first reported, staffers on various teams, including the "blue" team looking at law enforcement failures, were informed that chapters they prepared would be curtailed. The final report centers on former President Donald Trump and what the committee believes is his criminal culpability for the Jan. 6 attack. The report revealed that the FBI was collecting alarming reports from around the country but didn’t start looking at them closely until Jan. 5.

WASHINGTON — The House Jan. 6 committee found that law enforcement agencies gathered “substantial evidence” of potential violence at the Capitol as Congress met to formalize Joe Biden's election as president, a member of the panel said at its final meeting Monday. But the executive summary of the committee's final report doesn’t address questions of why the FBI, U.S. Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies didn’t do more to increase security that day. The executive summary, released Monday, avoids criticizing or reaching conclusions about law enforcement and intelligence shortfalls in the lead-up to the attack, which many law enforcement experts have called the biggest intelligence failure since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. A representative for the committee didn’t respond to a request for comment about the decision not to include more information about the role law enforcement played ahead of the Capitol attack. The committee's executive summary discusses information that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies received in the days before Jan. 6, saying some of the intelligence was shared with partners like the Capitol Police.

☆ U.S. should've spied on Chinese health officials who were hiding what they knew about Covid, Congress says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dilanianmug.Jpg | Ken Dilanian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

U.S. intelligence agencies began warning that Covid-19 could become a pandemic just weeks after the coronavirus was first reported in China, but they missed an opportunity to better understand its spread because they didn’t quickly begin spying on Chinese health officials who were hiding what they knew, says a newly declassified report by the House Intelligence Committee. The report partly vindicates the CIA and other U.S. spy agencies, noting that they raised the specter of a pandemic well before the World Health Organization declared one on March 11, 2020. And it adds to the body of evidence showing that then-President Donald Trump misled the public about what he was hearing from advisers about the seriousness of the virus. Investigators said they were “unable to corroborate” reports by NBC News and ABC News that U.S. spies collected raw intelligence in November indicating a health crisis in Wuhan, China. The report says the first intelligence report mentioning the virus that would become known as coronavirus or Covid-19 came on the day of the first media report about it.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed the DOJ's request, which was first reported by The Washington Post. The request comes after Trump's lawyers recently discovered at least two documents with such markings in a storage unit in West Palm Beach, Florida. That search turned up over 100 documents with such markings, including some marked top secret, in a storage room in Mar-a-Lago and in Trump's office there. Judge Beryl Howell's hearing on the DOJ’s request, and the legal arguments underpinning it, are being kept under wraps because they involve grand jury proceedings. Corcoran drafted the June letter certifying all documents with classification markings had been returned, NBC News has previously reported.

In the 2005 Nicolas Cage movie “Lord of War,” the character loosely based on Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout evades his American law enforcement pursuers, apparently saved by the CIA. Now he is on his way back to Russia after a high-profile prisoner exchange that saw WNBA star Brittney Griner free early Thursday. Under federal sentencing rules, Bout could have been released from prison in five years. Bout, a former Soviet military officer who became rich as an arms dealer, has always maintained his innocence. His U.S. lawyer, Steve Zissou, says the whole operation was unfair, because Bout had been retired and living in Moscow.

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