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☆ Biden aides find second batch of classified documents at new location, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Aides to U.S. President Joe Biden have discovered at least one more batch of classified documents in a location separate from a think tank office he used after serving as vice president, news outlets reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. The NBC News report said the classification level, number and precise location of the additional documents was not immediately clear. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. A spokesperson for Senator Marco Rubio, the committee's Republican vice chair, said Rubio and Warner had written to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, asking for access to the classified documents. The Justice Department is separately probing Trump's handling of highly sensitive classified documents that he retained at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021.

While there is still much that is not known about the Biden documents, there are key differences between the two cases — as well as some similarities. Court papers show officials found classified documents in 14 of the 15 boxes, including 25 that were marked top secret. Justice Department investigationIn both cases, the Archives reported the discovery of classified documents to the Department of Justice. The FBI then learned Trump had not fully complied with the subpoena and still had more classified documents. McQuade posted on Twitter that the Justice Department prosecutes the mishandling of classified documents when there is an aggravating factor present.

☆ House Republicans to investigate Big Tech's communications with Biden administration
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

House Republicans are planning to launch a new subcommittee this week that will investigate communications between Big Tech companies and the Biden administration, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNBC. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who supported McCarthy in his bid for the speakership, is expected to chair the new subcommittee. The panel will investigate communications between the tech companies and the executive branch and search for signs of pressure leading to conservative censorship online. The three other companies Jordan included in the letters did not respond to previous requests for comment. Twitter later reversed the decision and its then-CEO said the actions the platform took were "wrong," changing its policies to prevent a recurrence.

☆ CIA staff made a 'suicide pact' to resign if Trump fired director Gina Haspel, former aide says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

CIA staff pledged to quit if Donald Trump fired its director, Alyssa Farah Griffin said. At the time, Trump was said to be considering replacing Gina Haspel with supporter Kash Patel. "I have been told that they tried to fire Gina Haspel, the CIA director, and install Kash Patel." "They were able to stop it," Farah Griffin told the House select committee. "But allegedly, for about 14 minutes, Kash was actually the CIA director."

☆ Putin took cancer drugs that warped his decision-making on Ukraine, Danish intel says, reviving disputed theories about his health
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Danish intelligence official said Putin was taking thyroid-cancer drugs in February 2022. He told Danish media the drugs can cause "delusions of grandeur" and may have warped his thinking. The claim was reported by the Danish newspaper Berlingske based on an interview with the head of the Russia analysis team for its national defense intelligence agency, Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste (FE). He told the newspaper that Putin was taking hormones to treat thyroid cancer in February 2022, and that it likely affected his mental capacity. The Danish official also spoke to Berlingske in guarded language, asserting that reports of Putin having had thyroid cancer were "definitely a good bet."

☆ Russia-Ukraine war has shocked Putin — and military vets like me
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( John Nagl | John Nagl Is A Retired Army Officer | Associate Professor Of Warfighting Studies At The Army War College. These Views Are His Own | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

I was mostly convinced that the brave and strong Ukrainians would fall to the inexorable logic of numbers in war. The Russian military did not plan for a prolonged fight. The Russian military also did not train for a prolonged fight. Putin’s efforts to restore the Russian military to its Soviet-era glory have been marred by corruption. The United States is again supplying arms to a brave people resisting a Russian invasion.

☆ Al Qaeda releases video it claims is narrated by leader al-Zawahiri who was believed dead -SITE
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CAIRO, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Al Qaeda has released a 35-minute recording the group claims was narrated by its leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was believed to have been killed in a U.S. raid in August 2022, SITE intelligence group said on Friday. The recording was undated and the transcript did not clearly point towards a time frame for when it could have been made. Al Qaeda has not named a successor. But Saif al-Adel, a mysterious, low-key former Egyptian special forces officer who is a high-ranking member of Al Qaeda, is seen by experts as the top contender. Reporting by Enas Alashray; Editing by Nadine Awadalla, Chris Reese, Michael Georgy and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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.

☆ Why North Korea’s missile tests are going higher and further
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +14 min

North Korea missiles Stronger, faster, higher North Korea has made steady progress in expanding its missile programme, developing weapons that can strike across the globe - or hit critical targets closer to home. North Korea has forged ahead in developing ballistic missiles, testing new capabilities, honing existing weapons and putting them into service. Like most North Korean long-range ballistic missile tests, both ICBMs were fired on lofted trajectories. Trajectories of some of North Korea’s long-range missile testsNuclear warheads South Korea and the United States have warned since early 2022 that North Korea may resume nuclear testing for the first time since 2017. Same missiles, different locationsAmong North Korea's ballistic missiles, SRBMs appear to be the most likely to be deployed, Panda said.

☆ What could GOP control of the House mean for U.S.-China tensions?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Megan Lebowitz | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

McCarthy also says he plans to create a House select committee on China, the first since the late 1990s. House Republicans will also investigate the origins of the coronavirus and “the CCP’s role in the spread,” the blog post said, although it is unclear whether that investigation would be part of the select committee. Tensions were further inflamed in August by Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, the first by a sitting U.S. House speaker since 1997. The most volatile issue in U.S.-China relations is the status of Taiwan, which Beijing has not ruled out seizing by force. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei, Taiwan on Aug. 3, 2022.

☆ U.S. Intelligence Agencies Unprepared for Next Global Health Crisis, House Panel Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Warren P. Strobel | Michael R. Gordon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A House report criticizes former President Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic as it spread from China around the globe in early 2020; a Massachusetts Covid-19 ward. WASHINGTON—Three years after Covid-19 began, U.S. intelligence agencies still haven’t made changes needed to provide better warnings of global health crises and support U.S. leaders when the next pandemic hits, a House Intelligence Committee report released on Thursday concludes. “The intelligence community has not recognized that health security is national security–and has not made organizational changes to make that realization manifest,” says the report on spy agencies’ response to the Covid pandemic, which has killed nearly 1.1 million Americans.

☆ 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.

☆ Saudi Arabia and China will align on everything from security to oil, but agree not to interfere on domestic issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Riyadh and Beijing were keen to stress “the importance of stability in the world oil markets,” noting that Saudi Arabia is a reliable exporter of crude oil to its Chinese partner. China also affirmed its “opposition to any actions that would interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” without adding more details. On Friday, Xi invited Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud to visit China, according to Saudi state TV. President Xi was given a warm welcome in Saudi Arabia with ceremonies on Thursday. Saudi Arabia “is pursuing a multipolar strategy of strong strategic ties,” added Shihabi.

On the surface, Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout are accused of ludicrously different crimes. Bout’s outsized importance to Russia has always been the bigger puzzle. I have seen videos of Bout in the Congo and across Africa, where he was pretty close to the conflicts there. There were suggestions too that he had served alongside senior Russians who are now close to President Vladimir Putin. This is a man who many ordinary Russians may have heard of, and he certainly is of mythological importance to the Russian elite.

☆ U.S. court dismisses suit against Saudi crown prince in Khashoggi killing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives U.S. President Joe Biden at Al Salman Palace upon his arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 15, 2022. Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, had written critically of the harsh ways of Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler. The U.S. intelligence community concluded the Saudi crown prince ordered the operation against Khashoggi. The Biden administration already had spared Prince Mohammed from government penalties in the case, again citing sovereign immunity. Rights groups and Saudi exiles argued that sparing Prince Mohammed from accountability in Khashoggi's killing would give the crown prince and other authoritarian rulers around the world a green light for future abuses.

☆ U.S. intel chief says Russia is using up ammunition in Ukraine faster than it can replace it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Russian forces in Ukraine are burning through ammunition faster than the country’s defense industry can replace it, U.S. National Intelligence Director Avril Haines said Saturday. Asked how fast Russia was using up ammunition, Haines said: “I don’t think I can give you precise numbers in this forum. Echoing previous statements from Biden administration officials, Haines said that Russia was using up precision munitions even faster than its conventional ammunition. The Biden administration previously said Russia has turned to North Korea to secure more supplies of artillery ammunition. Russian President Vladimir Putin was “surprised” at his military’s disappointing performance after its invasion of Ukraine in February, according to Haines.

☆ Secret 9/11 memo reveals Bush rewriting the history of the 9/11 attacks and the warnings he'd tuned out
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

The ten members of the 9/11 Commission got to ask him and Vice President Dick Cheney any question they wanted about the September 11th attacks. What the new memo makes clear is that the White House's lack of urgency in facing down the domestic Al Qaeda threat wasn't all that complicated. Fortunately for Bush, the 9/11 Commission Report was careful not to point the finger directly at the sitting president. Still, when set beside the newly declassified memo, their official version of history as described by the 9/11 Commission Report feels incomplete, and sanitized. On the question of whether Al Qaeda came up during the August 17 briefing, Morell said he did not remember.

☆ The CIA is looking for Russians who are 'disgusted' with the Ukraine war to recruit as spies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The CIA's deputy director of operations said last week the agency is looking for Russian recruits. Marlowe added the CIA is looking for Russians who are "disgusted" with the war in Ukraine. "He squandered every single bit of that," Marlowe said, before adding: "We're looking around the world for Russians who are as disgusted with [Putin's actions] as we are. Marlowe was speaking alongside CIA Deputy Director for Analysis Linda Weissgold in his first in-person public appearance since taking over as the CIA's espionage chief last year, according to the Journal. CIA Director William Burns appointed Marlowe as the agency's deputy director of operations in June 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported.

☆ Trump's White House blocked government websites aimed at helping Americans vote, fighting human trafficking, easing homelessness, and stopping fraud, federal records show
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Federal agencies asked the Trump White House to approve dozens of new ".gov" websites. Such custom ".gov" website domains enhance government agencies' ability to effectively provide and market services to an American public that's all but universally connected to the internet. On December 23, 2019, the CIA asked Trump's White House to approve the website domain DataTransport.gov. Chiu/APBlock and delayIn at least one case, Trump's White House denied a website request — the United States Agency for International Development-sponsored ProsperAfrica.gov — that Biden's White House later approved. In March 2021, Office Management and Budget officials denied Insider's FOIA request, stating that "no responsive records were located."

☆ U.S. moves to shield Saudi crown prince in killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The U.S. intelligence community concluded Saudi Arabia’s crown prince had approved the killing of the widely known and respected journalist, who had written critically of Prince Mohammed’s harsh ways of silencing of those he considered rivals or critics. The Biden administration statement Thursday noted visa restrictions and other penalties that it had meted out to lower-ranking Saudi officials in the death. Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, and DAWN sued the crown prince, his top aides and others in Washington federal court over their alleged roles in Khashoggi’s killing. Prince Mohammed serves as Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler in the stead of his aged father, King Salman. The Saudi king in September also temporarily transferred his title of prime minister — a title normally held by the Saudi monarch — to Prince Mohammed.

☆ U.S. moves to shield Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Khashoggi killing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Biden administration declared Thursday that the high office held by Saudi Arabia's crown prince should shield him from lawsuits for his role in the killing of a U.S.-based journalist, a turnaround from Joe Biden's passionate campaign trail denunciations of Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the brutal slaying. The State Department on Thursday called the administration's decision to try to protect the Saudi crown prince from U.S. courts in Khashoggi's killing "purely a legal determination." The State Department cited what it said was longstanding precedent. Saudi officials killed Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The U.S. intelligence community concluded Saudi Arabia's crown prince had approved the killing of the widely known and respected journalist, who had written critically of Prince Mohammed's harsh ways of silencing of those he considered rivals or critics.

☆ 2 little-known intel agencies are helping US partners keep an eye on Russia's and China's frontline forces
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Two little-known US intelligence agencies have made significant contributions to countering Russia in Ukraine. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office have gathered and distributed valuable information about Russian activity. Little-known intel agenciesA National Reconnaissance Office payload is launched into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in September 2017. US Air Force/Senior Airman Ian DudleyThe US response to Russia's war in Ukraine has pulled the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office out of the shadows. NRO satellites have many customers, but the NGA is probably the most reliant on the satellites operated by the NRO.

☆ Europe has kicked out over 400 suspected Russian spies this year alone, British intelligence chief says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Europe booted over 400 Russian officials suspected of being spies this year, the MI5 chief said. Ken McCallum said this gave a "most significant strategic blow" to Russia's intelligence agencies. "Alongside the wave of expulsions, the other part of that template is staying the course and preventing Russian intelligence restocking," McCallum said. "In the UK's case, since our removal of 23 Russian spies posing as diplomats, we have refused on national security grounds over 100 Russian diplomatic visa applications." Russian spies and operatives have been suspected of carrying out attacks like bombings, poisonings, sabotage, and assassination attempts for years, and Europe has tried to combat Moscow's increasingly hostile activities in other countries.

☆ Why China doesn't actually want to invade Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Biden is trying to reassure Beijing but also trying to deter them from using military force to coerce Taiwan." Biden, however, has gone further, repeatedly asserting that he would respond to a Chinese invasion by committing US troops. For China, the Taiwan threat gives them negotiating leverage with the US and influence over Taiwan's domestic politics. If Congress passes the Taiwan Policy Act, Taiwan will get $6.5 billion in taxpayer money to buy more US-made weaponry. The sanctions that would likely follow an invasion of Taiwan would quickly and severely restrict the country's supply of meat.

The sources say Justice Department officials are looking carefully at a cross section of past cases involving the mishandling of classified material. Though his comments were about the separate Jan. 6 investigation, Justice Department officials said they apply broadly. Experts say the public evidence in the Mar-a-Lago case seems unambiguous. Less clear is whether there are aggravating factors — such as whether the Justice Department can prove Trump obstructed justice by failing to turn over documents despite a grand jury subpoena. Martin’s lawyers said he was a hoarder, and prosecutors concluded that he had not given classified information to anyone.

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