DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

The Secret Service has assigned five agents to administrative duties as a result of its investigation into the failures that led to the assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump on July 13, according to two people familiar with the situation. The agents have not been fired, and are still being paid. The Secret Service declined to comment, citing rules against publicly discussing personnel matters. Four agents placed on administrative duties are from the Pittsburgh office, and one is from Mr. Trump’s personal detail. Placement on administrative duties is different from being placed on administrative leave, which typically requires agents to turn in their badges and guns until an investigation is completed.

Persons: Donald J, Trump Locations: Pittsburgh

☆ Justice Dept. Charges Pakistani Man in Alleged Plot to Kill U.S. Leaders
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Officials said they had no evidence indicating the plot was connected to the shooting in Pennsylvania. Merchant allowed them to disrupt what they characterized as a far-ranging plot that also included stealing computer files from U.S. officials. It also included staging protests against American treatment of Muslim countries. U.S. intelligence agencies were tracking a potential Iranian assassination plot against Mr. Trump in the weeks before the assassination attempt that prompted the Secret Service to enhance security for the former president before his outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pa. It is not clear if the scheme made public on Tuesday precipitated those moves.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Asif Raza Merchant, Matthew Crooks, Merchant Organizations: U.S . Investigators, Service Locations: Iran, New York, Pennsylvania, Brooklyn, Butler, Pa

☆ Trump Agrees to Be Interviewed by F.B.I. in Its Investigation Into Gunman
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Glenn Thrush | More About Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump has agreed to be interviewed by the F.B.I. as part of its investigation into the motives of the 20-year-old man who tried to assassinate him during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, bureau officials said on Monday. “We want to get his perspective on what he observed, like any other witness,” Kevin Rojek, the head of the bureau’s Pittsburgh field office, said on a call with reporters. By week’s end, the F.B.I. offered its most definitive explanation yet, saying it was a bullet or a fragment of one, a statement it reiterated on Monday.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, “, ” Kevin Rojek, Mr, Trump’s, Christopher A, Wray, Thomas Crooks, Robert Fico Locations: Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Slovakia

☆ F.B.I. Examining Bullet Fragments Found at Trump Rally Site
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-25 | by ( Adam Goldman | Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

is examining numerous metal fragments found near the stage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., to determine whether an assassin’s bullet — or potential debris — grazed former President Donald J. Trump’s head, bloodying his ear, according to the F.B.I. and a federal law enforcement official. The bureau has asked to interview Mr. Trump as part of its broader investigation, hoping to provide insights into the shooting and possibly a more complete record of his injury, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the continuing inquiry. Unanswered questions about the object that struck the Republican nominee for president have lingered since the shooting on July 13, with Mr. Trump claiming that he was struck by a bullet — and casting his survival as an act of divine intervention. officials have been more circumspect, citing the need to analyze the evidence before determining what struck Mr. Trump — a bullet, metal shard or something else.

Persons: Donald J, Trump Organizations: Republican, Mr Locations: Butler, Pa

☆ Obama Has Been in Touch With Harris and Is Expected to Endorse Her Soon
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-25 | by ( Glenn Thrush | More About Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Barack Obama has been in regular touch with Vice President Kamala Harris since she emerged as the likely Democratic nominee to share his experiences — and is expected to endorse her soon, according to people familiar with the situation. Mr. Obama’s name had been notably absent from the succession of top Democrats lining up to support Ms. Harris after President Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday. But Mr. Obama has been active behind the scenes, serving as a sounding board to Ms. Harris and checking in with former aides who he thinks can help her cause, they said. The former president had been reluctant to endorse Ms. Harris too quickly to avoid the perception that he was overseeing her coronation, but also to give his friend and former running mate Mr. Biden time to process his wrenching decision to step aside. Mr. Obama has told people close to him that he has been impressed with the start of Ms. Harris’s campaign and amused by a spate of stories claiming that he was holding out because he had doubts about Ms. Harris, whom he has known for two decades.

Persons: Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, Obama’s, Harris, Biden, Obama, Mr Organizations: Democratic

☆ Watchdog Finds No Evidence of Political Interference in Stone Sentencing
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-24 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Justice Department’s in-house watchdog found no evidence of political interference in the reduction of a prison sentence proposed for the longtime Trump ally Roger Stone in 2020, attributing the stunning reversal to “ineffectual” leadership, according to a report released on Wednesday. The report concluded a four-year investigation into the decision by Attorney General William P. Barr in February 2020 to reduce Mr. Stone’s proposed sentence to about three years, after initially recommending seven to nine. The episode incited accusations of political interference and prompted four prosecutors in the case to resign. He denounced the sentencing recommendation as a “miscarriage of justice.”But the inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, concluded that Mr. Barr had argued that the more stringent sentence was unreasonably harsh before Mr. Trump expressed those sentiments. Mr. Barr was blindsided by a subordinate who had led him to believe the department would request a lesser prison term, Mr. Horowitz wrote.

Persons: Department’s, Trump, Roger Stone, William P, Barr, Stone’s, Donald J, Stone, Michael E, Horowitz Locations: Russia

For Thomas Crooks, the suburban Pittsburgh nursing home where he served meals and washed dishes for $16 an hour was another solitary corner of a nearly invisible life. He was polite but distant, a former co-worker said, ate lunch alone in the break room and rarely spoke with anyone. But as western Pennsylvania geared up last week for the boisterous spectacle of hosting a rally for former President Donald J. Trump, Mr. Crooks approached his bosses with a request, law enforcement officials said: He wanted to take Saturday off. It was one of the few hints to emerge so far that the 20-year-old engineering sciences graduate was planning to become a political assassin. Mr. Trump suffered an injury to his ear, and three spectators were wounded, one of them fatally.

Persons: Thomas Crooks, Donald J, Trump, Crooks Organizations: Secret Service Locations: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Investigators found a small drone in the car owned by the gunman who tried to assassinate former President Donald J. Trump — and believe it was used to survey the site of Mr. Trump’s rally in Butler, Pa., at least once before the shooting, according to law enforcement officials. Thomas Crooks, 20, visited the area near the fairgrounds used for the rally on July 7 — six days before the event — and appears to have made another trip the morning of the shooting, according to geolocation data found on one of his two cellphones, the officials said. At some point last Saturday, Mr. Crooks seems to have flown the drone to gather footage for a layout of the Butler Farm Show grounds using a preprogrammed flight path, according to an official briefed on the situation who requested anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak about a continuing investigation. The discovery of the drone was delayed when investigators found two rudimentary explosive devices in his Hyundai Sonata shortly after Mr. Crooks — a highly intelligent and technologically sophisticated community college graduate — was felled by a sniper after bloodying Mr. Trump’s ear, killing a man in the crowd and seriously injuring two other people.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, Thomas Crooks, Crooks, —, Mr Organizations: Hyundai Locations: Butler, Pa

Federal investigators are examining the possibility that a would-be assassin scoped out the area where former President Donald J. Trump was to speak six days before the campaign rally in Pennsylvania where Mr. Trump was wounded. Mr. Crooks opened fire from a warehouse roof at the site on Saturday, grazing the former president’s right ear, killing a rally attendee and seriously injuring two others. The new details about Mr. Crooks’s possible whereabouts on July 7 mean that he might have checked out the site even before law enforcement officials did a security assessment. The Secret Service met with local law enforcement officers for a first walk-through on July 8, and finalized plans a few days later. is responsible for investigating the attempted assassination, but officials have not said whether the bureau intends to write a report.

Persons: scoped, Donald J, Trump, Thomas Matthew Crooks, Crooks Organizations: Service Locations: Pennsylvania, Bethel Park, Pa

☆ Hunter Biden, Citing Trump’s Classified Documents Ruling, Seeks Dismissal of Cases
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-18 | by ( Glenn Thrush | More About Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hunter Biden asked a federal court in Delaware on Thursday to toss out his conviction in his gun case, citing the dismissal of charges against former President Donald J. Trump in his classified documents case in Florida. On Monday, a federal judge in Florida, Aileen M. Cannon, threw out the case against Mr. Trump, saying the special counsel overseeing his prosecution, Jack Smith, had been unconstitutionally appointed. Hunter Biden, President Biden’s younger son, who has been by his father’s side in recent days as the president faces mounting calls to exit the race, also cited a concurring opinion that Justice Clarence Thomas wrote when the Supreme Court expanded presidential immunity. In it, Justice Thomas raised doubts about how Mr. Smith got his job. Those decisions have given rise to unusual alliances: President Biden called the Supreme Court’s ruling “specious” and misguided, and his administration almost immediately signaled that it would appeal Judge Cannon’s decision.

Persons: Hunter Biden, Donald J, Trump, Aileen M, Cannon, Jack Smith, Biden’s, Clarence Thomas, Justice Thomas, Smith, Biden, Cannon’s Locations: Delaware, Florida

On Today’s Episode:Biden Called ‘More Receptive’ to Hearing Pleas to Step Aside, by Carl Hulse, Michael S. Schmidt, Reid J. Epstein, Peter Baker and Luke BroadwaterBiden Tests Positive for Covid, by Michael D. ShearJ.D. Vance Plants His Appalachian Roots in the 2024 Race, by Michael C. BenderAt R.N.C., Senators Berate Secret Service Director Over Assassination Attempt, by Jonathan SwanGunman’s Phone Had Details About Both Trump and Biden, F.B.I. Officials Say, by Glenn Thrush, Jack Healy and Luke BroadwaterA Blind Spot and a Lost Trail: How the Gunman Got So Close to Trump, by David A. Fahrenthold, Glenn Thrush, Campbell Robertson, Adam Goldman and Aric TolerAn Algorithm Told Police She Was Safe. Then Her Husband Killed Her, by Adam Satariano and Roser Toll Pifarré

Persons: Biden, ‘, Carl Hulse, Michael S, Schmidt, Reid J, Epstein, Peter Baker, Luke Broadwater, Michael D, Michael C, Bender, Jonathan Swan, Glenn Thrush, Jack Healy, David A, Campbell Robertson, Adam Goldman, Aric, Adam Satariano Organizations: Vance, Trump, Biden, F.B.I

officials told members of Congress on Wednesday that the gunman who tried to kill former President Donald J. Trump used his cellphone and other devices to search images of Mr. Trump and President Biden, along with an array of public figures. The disclosures, made during private briefings to lawmakers by the F.B.I. and the head of the embattled Secret Service, offered the most complete portrait so far of a would-be assassin with no criminal history, or even clearly discernible political beliefs, who came close to killing Mr. Trump. Several former classmates have said they never heard the gunman express any particular political ideology. But Vincent Taormina, a former classmate who said he attended middle school and high school with the gunman, said in an interview that Mr. Crooks showed a general disdain for politicians in both parties.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden, Thomas Matthew Crooks, Vincent Taormina, Crooks Organizations: Democratic National Convention Locations: Bethel Park, Pa

About an hour before a gunman let loose a volley of bullets that nearly assassinated a former president, the law enforcement contingent in Butler, Pa., was on the verge of a great policing success. Among the thousands of people streaming in to cheer former President Donald J. Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday, local officers spotted one skinny young man acting oddly and notified other law enforcement. The suspicious man did not appear to have a weapon. Remarkably, law enforcement had found the right man — Thomas Matthew Crooks, a would-be assassin, though officers did not know that at the time. Twenty minutes before violence erupted, a sniper, from a distance, spotted Mr. Crooks again and took his picture.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, — Thomas Matthew Crooks, Crooks Locations: Butler, Pa

But the Secret Service, the agency charged with protecting Mr. Trump, did not stop him from taking the stage. Image Secret Service snipers surveilling the surrounding area before Mr. Trump began to speak. But that created a blind spot, outside the security perimeter but well within rifle range of Mr. Trump. was able to finally access Mr. Crooks’s cellphones and other electronic devices, agents could see that he had searched for images of Mr. Trump as well as President Biden, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and even F.B.I. Mr. Crooks also had at typed in “major depressive disorder” and searched for dates and places for appearances for both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, — Thomas Matthew Crooks, Crooks, Eric Lee, Marsha Blackburn, Biden, Alejandro N, Mayorkas, Kimberly A, Cheatle, Butler, Kristian Thacker, ”, Richard Goldinger, General Merrick B, Garland, Christopher A, Wray, Trump’s, Crooks’s, Pittsburgh’s WTAE, Doug Mills, Mr, —, Edward Natali, Crooks “, Natali, “, bloodying, Corey Comperatore, Eduardo Medina, Jeanna Smialek, Chelsia Rose Marcius, Mark Walker, John Ismay, William K Organizations: Service, Republican, Secret, New York Times, Secret Service, Biden Sunday . Homeland, ABC News, The New York Times, The Times, AGR International, Mr, Police Department Locations: Butler, Pa, Tennessee, ” Butler County, Bethel Park, Butler County, Washington, New York

On Today’s Episode:Biden Asks America to ‘Lower the Temperature’ After Trump Shooting, by Michael D. ShearHere’s What Is Known About the Suspect Who Tried to Assassinate Trump, by Campbell Robertson, Jack Healy, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Glenn ThrushAfter Shooting at Trump Rally, Officials Say R.N.C. Security Is ‘Ready To Go,’ by Julie Bosman, Ernesto Londoño and Dan SimmonsIsrael Struck Twice in Its Attack on Al-Mawasi, Videos and Photos Show, by Riley MellenPromised Cures, Tainted Cells: How Cord Blood Banks Mislead Parents, by Sarah Kliff and Azeen Ghorayshi

Persons: Biden, Michael D, Trump, Campbell Robertson, Jack Healy, Nicholas Bogel, Burroughs, Glenn Thrush, Julie Bosman, Ernesto Londoño, Dan Simmons Israel, Riley Mellen, Blood Banks, Sarah Kliff Organizations: Trump, Trump Rally Locations: ‘

☆ Investigators Unlock Gunman’s Phone in Search of Motive for Trump Shooting
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The motives of the young man who tried to assassinate former President Donald J. Trump remain a mystery, even after the F.B.I. gained access to his cellphone on Monday and began analyzing its contents for clues, law enforcement officials said. The gunfire grazed the former president’s ear, killed a bystander and seriously injured two other people. The F.B.I., in a statement on Monday, cautioned that the investigation was still in the early stages. Technicians are in the middle of analyzing all of the gunman’s electronic devices, not just his phone, for his communications, browser history and social media activity, officials added.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Thomas Matthew Crooks Organizations: Technicians Locations: Pennsylvania, Quantico, Va

A U.S. marshal on a Supreme Court security detail shot and wounded an armed man who tried to carjack him early Friday near Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s home in northwest Washington, according to court documents. The marshal was sitting in an unmarked federal vehicle when a silver Toyota minivan pulled over next to him, according to court documents. Flowers through the window four times, hitting him in the mouth, according to the court documents. A second U.S. marshal from another vehicle also responded and fired his weapon, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Flowers was charged with armed carjacking, carrying a pistol without a license, and possession of a large-capacity ammunition-feeding device.

Persons: Sonia Sotomayor’s, Flowers Organizations: Supreme, Toyota, Metropolitan Police Department Locations: U.S, Washington

☆ A Wish From All Sides to Move On Ends With Liberty for Assange
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As negotiations to end the long legal brawl between Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, and the United States reached a critical point this spring, prosecutors presented his lawyers with a choice so madcap that a person involved thought it sounded like a line from a Monty Python movie. His path to freedom, he was told, would pass through one of the two American-held islands in the blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Mr. Assange, who feared being imprisoned for the rest of his life in the United States, had long insisted on one condition for any plea deal: that he never set foot in the country. The U.S. government, in turn, had demanded that Mr. Assange plead guilty to a felony for violating the Espionage Act, which required him to appear before a federal judge. In April, a lawyer with the Justice Department’s national security division broke the impasse with a sly workaround: How about an American courtroom that wasn’t actually inside mainland America?

Persons: Julian Assange, Monty, Assange Organizations: WikiLeaks, Justice Department’s Locations: United, Guam, Saipan, United States, U.S, America

☆ What to Know About Julian Assange and His Plea Deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Julian Assange spent his youth in Australia during the 1980s in a state of chaotic, perpetual motion. It would eventually place him on the edge of global disruption in an era of backlash against the national security and political establishments. This week, Mr. Assange, the 52-year-old founder of WikiLeaks, boarded a private jet from London for the long flight to a U.S. courtroom in Saipan. He is expected to plead guilty early Wednesday to a single count of illegally obtaining and disseminating national security information. Mr. Assange is expected to be freed immediately, after the U.S. Justice Department agreed to accept the five years he has already served at Belmarsh prison in Britain.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange Organizations: WikiLeaks, U.S . Justice Department Locations: Australia, Melbourne, London, U.S, Saipan, Britain

On Today’s Episode:Assange Agrees to Plead Guilty in Exchange for Release, Ending Standoff With U.S., by Glenn Thrush and Megan Specia4 Scenarios for Next Phase in Gaza War, With ‘Intense’ Fighting Set to End, by Patrick KingsleyIsrael’s Supreme Court Rules the Military Must Draft Ultra-Orthodox Jews, by Aaron BoxermanSurgeon General Declares Gun Violence a Public Health Crisis, by Ellen BarryJudges Block Parts of Biden’s Student Loan Repayment Plan, by Tara Siegel Bernard and Zach Montague

Persons: Assange, Glenn Thrush, Megan Specia, Patrick Kingsley Israel’s, Aaron Boxerman, Ellen Barry, Tara Siegel Bernard, Zach Montague Organizations: U.S Locations: Gaza

☆ Assange Agrees to Plead Guilty in Exchange for Release, Ending Standoff With U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, agreed to plead guilty on Monday to a single felony count of illegally obtaining and disclosing national security material in exchange for his release from a British prison, ending his long and bitter standoff with the United States. Mr. Assange, 52, was granted his request to appear before a federal judge at one of the more remote outposts of the federal judiciary, the courthouse in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, according to a brief court filing made public late Monday. It was a fitting final twist in the case against Mr. Assange, who doggedly opposed extradition to the U.S. mainland. The islands are a United States commonwealth in the middle of the Pacific Ocean — and much closer to Mr. Assange’s native Australia, where he is a citizen, than courts in the continental United States or Hawaii. Shortly after the deal was disclosed, WikiLeaks said that Mr. Assange had left London.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange, doggedly, ” Matthew J, McKenzie Organizations: WikiLeaks, United, Australia “, Justice Locations: United States, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, Britain, U.S, Assange’s, Australia, Hawaii, London

☆ Boeing May Evade Criminal Charges for Violating Settlement
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Mark Walker | Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The department has not made final decisions or ruled out bringing charges, or some other solution, the people said. But it is considering offering Boeing what is known as a deferred prosecution agreement, which is often used to impose monitoring and compliance obligations on businesses accused of financial crimes or corruption, as opposed to trying to convict the company. The agreement, if it is offered, might stipulate that Boeing install a federal monitor to oversee safety improvements, according to the people familiar with the situation. Federal prosecutors said in May that Boeing had violated a previous deferred prosecution agreement by failing to set up and maintain a program to detect and prevent violations of U.S. anti-fraud laws. The settlement was reached in 2021, after Boeing admitted in court that two of its employees had misled federal air safety regulators about a part that was at fault in the two crashes.

Persons: Max Organizations: Boeing

☆ Hunter Biden Is Expected to Appeal Conviction on Gun Charges
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-12 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hunter Biden is expected to appeal his felony conviction for falsifying a federal firearms application, likely arguing that the judge in the case violated his constitutional rights in her instructions to the jury, according to people in his orbit and legal experts. Mr. Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell has also signaled that any appeal would be based on the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in 2022 that vastly expanded gun rights, a ruling that spawned legal challenges to the part of the federal firearms form at the center of the Biden case. In Mr. Biden’s case, it included a question asking buyers about their drug use. There is still a possibility that David C. Weiss, the special counsel in the case, will seek a plea agreement before the tax trial begins, and would have leverage in negotiations now that Mr. Biden is already a convicted felon, according to former prosecutors. Mr. Biden might have greater incentive to reach a deal to avoid another public airing of his personal ordeal beyond what was presented in Wilmington last week.

Persons: Hunter Biden, Biden’s, Abbe Lowell, Biden, David C, Weiss Locations: Wilmington, Del, Los Angeles

☆ Here’s What Hunter Biden Was Convicted Of
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Glenn Thrush | More About Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The crimes stem from the purchase of a handgun by Mr. Biden at one of the low points of his troubled life. He had been addicted to crack cocaine, bouncing in and out of rehab, was divorced, using prostitutes and having money problems. The New York Times reported last year that Mr. Biden later recounted to friends going into the gun store on a whim and buying the .38 because he thought spending time at a shooting range would help him avoid using drugs. In purchasing the gun, Mr. Biden had to fill out a form for a federal background check. In response to a question on the form about whether he was using drugs, Mr. Biden said he was not — an assertion that prosecutors successfully persuaded the jury was false.

Persons: Hunter Biden, Biden Organizations: New York Times

☆ Live Updates: Hunter Biden Convicted of 3 Felonies
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Glenn Thrush | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“I don’t think the average American would have been charged with the gun thing,” Senator Lindsey Graham said. The prosecution in the Hunter Biden case is plunging into a day of wrenching testimony about his personal life — a day after airing damaging details of his addiction — to prove a legal pinpoint: that he improperly checked a single box on a federal gun application. “I don’t think the average American would have been charged with the gun thing,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, told reporters this week. Why are you pursuing this one?”Lawyers for Hunter Biden agree. “Nobody is above the law,” Derek Hines, a top deputy to Mr. Weiss, said on Monday, adding, “not even Hunter Biden.”

Persons: Lindsey Graham, Hunter Biden, David C, Weiss, Mr, Biden, “, Biden’s, Trey Gowdy, ”, Weiss’s, Beau —, ” Derek Hines Organizations: Republican, Fox News Locations: South Carolina, Los Angeles

Search resuls for: "Thrush"

25 mentions found