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☆ Special counsel John Durham concludes FBI never should have launched full Trump-Russia probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Zachary Cohen Devan Cole Tierney Sneed Evan Perez Hannah Rabinowitz Jeremy Herb Marshall Cohen | Zachary Cohen | Devan Cole | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

“Strzok, at a minimum, had pronounced hostile feelings toward Trump,” Durham wrote, while quoting in a footnote previously known texts between Strzok and Lisa Page, then an FBI attorney. Witness testimony exposed the FBI’s overreliance on the dossier as it sought court approval to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser in 2016. Mixed results over 3+ yearsBarr tapped Durham in 2019 to review the origins of the Russia probe, and the scope of Durham’s work grew over the years. Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which inherited the initial Russia probe, released a detailed accounting of Russia’s effort to interfere in the 2016 election. Mueller found no evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but investigators documented numerous contacts between Trump associates and Russians.

John Durham, the Trump-era special counsel who for four years has pursued a politically fraught investigation into the Russia inquiry, accused the F.B.I. of a “lack of analytical rigor” in a final report made public on Monday that examined the bureau’s investigation into whether the 2016 Trump campaign was conspiring with Moscow. Mr. Durham’s 306-page report appeared to show little substantial new information about the F.B.I.’s handling of the Russia investigation, known as Crossfire Hurricane, and it failed to produce the kinds of blockbuster revelations impugning the bureau that former President Donald J. Trump and his allies had once suggested that Mr. Durham would find. Instead, the report — released without substantive comment or redactions by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland — repeated previously exposed flaws in the inquiry, including from a 2019 inspector general report, while concluding that the F.B.I. suffered from a confirmation bias as it pursued leads about Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia.

☆ Takeaways from special counsel John Durham’s report on FBI’s Russia-Trump probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Zachary Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Special counsel John Durham released his final report on Monday in which he casts doubt about the FBI’s decision to launch a full investigation into connections between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. The report does not ultimately fulfill the expectations set by former President Trump and his allies who have long claimed that it would prove the FBI’s investigation was nothing more than a political witch hunt. That finding was at the core of Durham’s most scathing criticism of the FBI’s decision to launch a full investigation. “Strzok, at a minimum, had pronounced hostile feelings toward Trump,” Durham wrote, while quoting in a footnote previously known texts between Strzok and Lisa Page, then an FBI attorney. Witness testimony exposed the FBI’s overreliance on the dossier as it sought court approval to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser in 2016.

☆ FBI disrupts hacking tool that Russian spies used to steal information from foreign governments
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The FBI announced Tuesday that it has disrupted a network of hacked computers that Russian spies have used for years to steal sensitive information from at least 50 countries, including NATO governments. It’s the latest move by the Justice Department to more aggressively target foreign spying and criminal rings using custom-built FBI tools. The Russian hacking group that the FBI targeted, known as Turla, is widely believed by experts to be one of the most elite cyber-espionage units in the Russian intelligence services. In 2018, Turla hijacked an Iranian hacking tool to gain access to the network of an unnamed Middle Eastern government, according to researchers. The US and allies’ advisory confirmed that daily Turla hacking operations occur at an FSB facility in Ryazan.

☆ They Saw the Horrific Aftermath of a Mass Shooting. Should We?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Jay Kirk | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

Jeff decided that he and Sam would be the only two permitted to have phones inside, in order to limit photographs. It was something Jeff learned to do from the nurses at Bristol Hospital a million years ago when he was a paramedic. He had already made the mistake when one fluttered out as he was dumping an uneaten lunch into the trash. They would set up staging tables in the tent for mass processing of the evidence, nothing they’d ever done at this scale. The problem was that during these interruptions it was not as if they could just step outside for a break.

☆ Four out of the five US metro areas with the lowest unemployment are in Florida. Here’s why
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington, DC CNN —Four out of the five US metropolitan areas with the lowest unemployment rates are in Florida, thanks to the state’s growing population, robust tourism activity and increased business investment. Jacksonville, Tampa and Orlando all had unemployment rates below 2.7% that month. Florida was also the fastest growing state as a percentage during that period, the first time it has notched that top spot since 1957. “Florida is pro-cyclical, so when unemployment is low, it’s going to be even lower in Florida and vice versa,” Pintea said. Some studies have argued that generous unemployment programs keep unemployment higher for longer by disincentivizing workers from searching for a new job.

☆ FBI Headquarters Decision Pits Maryland Against Virginia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Eric Bazail-Eimil | Sadie Gurman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The J. Edgar Hoover Building, headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in Washington, D.C. , whose replacement location is to be chosen soon. WASHINGTON—After more than a decade of delay and escalating political volleys across the Potomac River in recent months, the agency that manages the federal government’s real estate is close to picking the location of a new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters campus in the capital’s suburbs. The decision to replace the deteriorating J. Edgar Hoover Building in downtown Washington has set off a heated competition between elected officials representing Virginia and Maryland, the two states vying to secure the future site to house at least 7,500 bureau employees and the bureau’s leadership, along with the economic development that will come with it. Maryland’s two potential sites are in Greenbelt and Landover, while Virginia’s is in Springfield.

☆ A Federal Tool Could Soon Make It Easier to Compare Credit Cards
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Ann Carrns | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If a card’s rate depends on the applicant’s credit score — as most do — banks must report the lowest and highest rates charged, as well as the median A.P.R. (Credit scores are three-digit numbers that summarize your credit history; higher is better.) Now, the 25 biggest card issuers have to answer questions about all of their credit cards, not just their most popular offerings. The bureau is seeking more information about each card — asking, for instance, if it is a “secured” credit card, which requires a security deposit to establish a credit limit and is often used by people with limited credit histories or low credit scores. More than a dozen commercial websites already offer credit card comparison tools.

☆ FBI Director Says Covid Pandemic Likely Caused by Chinese Lab Leak
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Michael R. Gordon | Warren P. Strobel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

FBI Director Christopher Wray said the Chinese government has been trying to ‘thwart and obfuscate’ the investigation. WASHINGTON—FBI Director Christopher Wray said Tuesday that the Covid pandemic was probably the result of a laboratory leak in China, providing the first public confirmation of the bureau’s classified judgment of how the virus that led to the deaths of nearly seven million people worldwide first emerged. “The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan,” Mr. Wray told Fox News. “Here you are talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab.”

☆ Supreme Court to Consider Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Jess Bravin | Andrew Ackerman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The CFPB was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul. WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court said Monday it would review an appeals court decision striking down the independent funding system Congress designed for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a ruling that conflicted with other lower-court rulings and placed a cloud over the regulator’s activities. The CFPB was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul, and was intended to safeguard consumer welfare following the financial crisis. Conservatives have challenged the agency’s legitimacy on various grounds, and in 2020 the Supreme Court struck down a provision preventing the president from removing the CFPB director without cause.

☆ Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Consumer Bureau’s Funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Jess Bravin | Andrew Ackerman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The CFPB was created as part of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul intended to safeguard consumer welfare. WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court said it would review an appeals court decision striking down the independent funding system Congress designed for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a ruling that conflicted with other lower-court rulings and placed a cloud over the regulator’s activities. The CFPB was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul, and was intended to safeguard consumer welfare following the financial crisis. Conservatives have challenged the agency’s legitimacy on various grounds, and in 2020 the Supreme Court struck down a provision preventing the president from removing the CFPB director without cause.

☆ Mystery aerial objects may have benign purpose-White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FBI/Handout via ReutersWASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. intelligence community is considering the possibility that three mysterious unidentified objects shot down by U.S. fighter jets were tied to a commercial or otherwise benign purpose, the White House said on Tuesday. John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, told reporters that the United States still had no firm grasp on the origin of the three objects. He said there was no indication that the trio of objects were tied to China's spy balloon program. A U.S. fighter jet on Feb. 4 shot down a high-altitude Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina after it transited the United States. Kirby confirmed that the fighter jet that shot down the object over Lake Huron missed with an initial missile and it landed in the lake.

"There is no, again, no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. "We have not yet been able to definitively assess what these most recent objects are," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said at a news briefing. At Friday's White House briefing, Kirby said: "There is no U.S. surveillance aircraft in Chinese airspace. I'm not aware of any other craft that we're flying over into Chinese airspace." "This is the latest example of China scrambling to do damage control," Adrienne Watson, another White House national security spokesperson, said in a statement.

☆ Biden says Chinese spy balloon not a major security breach
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FBI/Handout via ReutersWASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden, under fire from some lawmakers, said on Thursday he did not view a Chinese spy balloon that transited the United States before it was shot down in the Atlantic Ocean to have been a major security breach. "It's not a major breach," Biden said. Biden on Feb. 2 ordered the balloon shot down once it crossed into the northwestern United States, but acquiesced to the U.S. military's request to not act until it was over water. The 200-foot-tall (61-meter) balloon, along with its undercarriage of electronic gadgetry, was shot down by a U.S. fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4. Some Republicans and Democrats have complained that Biden should have had the balloon downed sooner.

☆ Georgia officials seek public's help to identify dismembered woman found last month
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Antonio Planas | Antonio Planas Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

A woman whose dismembered body was found last month in southeast Georgia still hasn't been identified, and officials are asking for the public's help to determine who she was. The woman was found Dec. 2 in the woods of a hunting club in the city of Riceboro in Liberty County. “Additional remains were discovered within a three-mile radius on the hunting club property in Liberty County, as well as McIntosh County. The woman was about 5-10, weighed between 185 pounds and 200 pounds and had brown hair and eyes. Anyone with information is urged to call the bureau’s office in Statesboro at 912-871-1121 or the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office at 912-876-4555.

☆ The Blue State Exodus Continues
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Texas and Florida make up about 15% of the U.S. population but accounted for 70% of its population growth this past year. That’s one of the revealing facts in the Census Bureau’s annual assessment of U.S. migration released last week. The biggest news is that the exodus from progressive-led states hasn’t slowed even as Covid lockdowns eased. The U.S. population grew by about 1.2 million between July 2021 and July 2022, with foreign immigration accounting for a million of the total. Yet the Census Bureau found that some states still lost population because migration to other states exceeded foreign immigration.

☆ Beware the ‘pig butchering’ crypto scam sweeping across America
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Josh Campbell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —The FBI says America has a “pig butchering” problem. “We’re talking about a cryptocurrency investment scam that is sweeping the country.”The term pig butchering refers to an unsuspecting victim — the “pig” — being tricked by scammers into forking over money for a promised high rate of return. Once criminals “fatten up” their victims’ digital wallets, they steal the money, Rosen says. “Online criminals’ scams are only limited by their imagination, and they have an impeccable sense of timing,” says Fisher. “They will not make you pay in advance to collect your money.”There were approximately 60 fake sweepstakes victims in New Mexico alone last year whose collective losses totaled $1 million, he says.

Timothy York knows what works to treat his decadeslong opioid addiction: Suboxone, a medication that effectively quiets cravings. Since York arrived in federal prison in 2008, he has been held in a series of facilities awash with contraband drugs and violence. Yet the federal prisons are treating only a fraction — less than 10% — of the roughly 15,000 prisoners who need it, according to the bureau’s estimates. Some say the issues stem from a culture at the bureau that is skeptical of addiction medication and pits staff against prisoners. He was using an underground supply of Suboxone at USP-Coleman, the federal prison in Florida where he was incarcerated, but it was erratic.

☆ Child tax credit: Democratic lawmakers make last-ditch effort to enhance benefit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Tami Luhby | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Buoyed by the steep drop in child poverty last year, a group of Democratic lawmakers and progressive advocates are pushing hard to restore at least part of the enhanced child tax credit that stabilized many families’ finances in 2021. GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, a longtime advocate of the child tax credit, crafted an enhanced version earlier this year, along with fellow Republican Sens. The 2021 enhancementThe American Rescue Plan made three significant changes to the child tax credit for 2021. A reduction in child povertyThe expansion lifted 2.1 million children out of poverty in 2021, according to the Census Bureau. It helped drive child poverty to 5.2%, a drop of 46%, according to the bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure.

☆ The CFPB Engages in Legal Deception
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Adam J. White | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

But the CFPB, which Congress established in the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, is engaging in some false advertising of its own. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in October that the bureau’s unprecedented power to fund itself is unconstitutional. The Constitution prohibits agencies from spending from the federal Treasury without “appropriations made by law.” The CFPB does exactly that. The Dodd-Frank Act authorizes its director to decide unilaterally how much the agency needs to spend and to demand that the Federal Reserve transfer the funds to the agency. The Fifth Circuit recognized that this self-funding power violates the Constitution and undermines one of the basic pillars of republican self-government.

☆ Jan. 6 committee staffers told preliminary plan for final report would focus largely on Trump, not on law enforcement failures, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dilanianmug.Jpg | Ken Dilanian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

The final report — much like the committee’s hearings — seems to be shaping up to be “all-Trump,” one source said. The “blue team” examined the preparedness and response of law enforcement agencies. Some staffers remain hopeful that members of the Jan. 6 committee might push back on the current plan and incorporate their research into the final report. The committee needs to release its final report before a new Congress is seated in January. Congress has oversight over and controls the funding of federal law enforcement agencies.

☆ CFPB Funding Is Ruled Unconstitutional
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The originalist legal revolution continues to pay dividends, and the latest evidence is a bombshell appellate ruling on Wednesday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) funding scheme is unconstitutional. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s attempt to end-run political accountability for financial regulators has suffered a direct hit. In 2010, before she was a Senator, Ms. Warren designed the CFPB to be insulated from Congress and the President, and it passed as part of Dodd-Frank. In 2020 the Supreme Court struck down the law’s limit on the President’s ability to remove the CFPB director. But Democrats also severed its budget from Congressional appropriations by giving it an automatic funding draw on the Federal Reserve.

As in Danchenko’s trial, Durham failed to convict Sussmann of making false statements to the FBI. And therein lies the reason underlying Durham’s losing trial record. On Monday, during Durham’s closing argument against Danchenko, the special prosecutor made a point of rebuking the FBI’s 2016 investigation. The Hartford Courant reported her concern about “pressure from Barr ... to produce results before the election.”Durham, however, stuck with Barr. And Barr’s energetic attempts after Jan. 6 to rehabilitate his image cannot erase his sad final legacy as a Trump enabler.

☆ CFPB Funding Method Found Unconstitutional by Federal Appeals Court
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Andrew Ackerman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—A federal appeals court found the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded through an unconstitutional method, a ruling that threw out the agency’s regulation on payday lenders and struck a blow against how the agency operates. The ruling, by a three-judge panel of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, found the CFPB’s funding structure violated the Constitution’s doctrine of separation of powers, which sets the authority of the three branches of government. Congress has the sole power of the federal purse, and the bureau’s funding structure undercuts that authority, the court said.

☆ Treasury Lays Groundwork for Ownership Registry, but Questions Remain
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Providing ExemptionsAnother key issue addressed by FinCEN’s rule relates to which companies will have to submit beneficial ownership information. Lawmakers reasoned that ownership information for such companies already would be readily available, but the large carve-outs have sparked questions from some quarters. They will be given 30 days to report beneficial ownership information. The road aheadFinCEN’s work establishing the beneficial ownership database is far from done. The beneficial ownership law requires companies to certify their reports are accurate and imposes penalties for people who willfully provide false information.

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