From:	"Bulletin Intelligence" <FBI@BulletinIntelligence.com>
To:	"FBI@BulletinIntelligence.com"<FBI@BulletinIntelligence.com>
Subject:	[EXTERNAL EMAIL] - FBI Public Affairs News Briefing Wednesday, January 06,2021
Date:	Wed,06 Jan 2021 11:29:18 +0000
Importance	Normal

Mobile version and searchable archives available at fbi.bulletinintelligence.com. FBI News Briefing TO: THE DIRECTOR AND SENIOR STAFF DATE: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2021 6:30 AM EST ## TODAY'S TABLE OF CONTENTS LEADING THE NEWS - Intel Agencies Say Russia Was Likely Behind Hacking Of Government Departments. ## OPERATION LEGEND - Operation LeGend Resulted In More Than 6,000 Arrests. ## COUNTER-TERRORISM - Sources: FBI Won’t Classify Nashville Bombing As Terrorism. - FBI, FAA Investigate Threat To US Capitol To Avenge Soleimani. - Arizona Man Sentenced To Over 3 Years In Bomb-making Case. - Police To Bring Charges In New York City Bomb Hoax. - FBI Terrorism Task Force Aiding Bomb Threat Investigation. - Continuing Coverage: Guilty Plea In DC Private School Bomb Threat. - Islamic State Support Trial Pushed Back. ## COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE - Bail Hearing For Assange Set For Wednesday. ## CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS - Officials, Law Enforcement Prepare For Possible Violence As Trump Supports Flock To DC For Protests. - Kenosha DA Will Not Bring Charges In Police Shooting Of Jacob Blake. - FBI Says It Was Unaware Agent Was Interrogating Legislative Staffer About Conversation On Legislation. - Continuing Coverage: Wray Urged To Investigate Trump Over Georgia Call. - Attorneys For Woman On Death Row Ask Trump To Commute Sentence. - Pro-Trump Website Targeting "Enemies," Attributed To Iran, Reappears. - Sharpton: Firing Not Enough For Officer Who Killed Andre Hill. - Denver Police Seized Guns Over Threats To Colorado’s Attorney General. - Police Officer Chicago's Latest Carjacking Victim. - Man Arrested Over Concerns About Disrupting Vermont COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution. - Continuing Coverage: FBI Traced Ghislaine Maxwell Using Cell Phone Data. - Continuing Coverage: Barr Questioned Jeffrey Epstein’s Cellmate. EFTA00148578 - Man Held On Bail For Attempted Arson Of Historically Black Church. - Undercover Police Sought To Buy A Gun From Dolal Idd Prior To Fatal Shooting. - Videos Show Chicago Police Pinned A Woman Under Their SUV For Eight Minutes. - Indiana Woman Arrested In Connection To Murder. - Florida Man Sentenced Over Bank Fraud. - US Embassy Staffer Charged With Serial Rape. - *Cliven Bundy’s Son Arrested.* - Human Trafficking Organization Profiled. - Drug Case Defendant Sentenced To More Than 20 Years In Prison. - Tennessee FBI Agent Interviewed Over Human Trafficking Prevention Month. - Investigators Searching For FBI Most Wanted Fugitive In Arizona. - Michigan Residents Arrested In Connection To Bank Robberies. - Washington State Minor Located. - FBI Searching For Texas Bank Robber. - FBI Investigating Illinois Bank Robbery. - Memphis Police Department Warns Of Growing Gang Violence. ## FINANCIAL CRIME & CORPORATE SCANDALS - FBI Warns Of COVID-19 Related Fraud Schemes. - Appeals Court Upholds Corruption Conviction Of Former Texas State Judge. - Pharmacist Who Tried To Spoil COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Released. ## CYBER DIVISION - Trump Order Bans Eight Chinese Apps. - NYSE Reconsidering Plan To Allow Three Chinese Telecom Companies To Remain Listed. - San Francisco Cybersecurity Company Moves Headquarters To Florida. - Report: Ransomware Attacks To Worsen In 2021. - Government IGs Launch Cyber-Threat Interagency Report. - Cybersecurity Stocks On The Rise After Recent Hacking Attacks. *Iboss Among Cybersecurity Firms Taking Advantage Of Cloud Market Boom.* ## LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES - Continuing Coverage: Gun Background Checks, Violence Rose In 2020. ## OTHER FBI NEWS - US Attorney For The Eastern District of Virginia Resigns. - Trump Names New US Attorney For Atlanta. - Senators Urge Biden To Chose Doug Jones For Attorney General. ## OTHER WASHINGTON NEWS - GOP Senators Remain Divided On Electoral Vote Certification. - US Passes 21M COVID Cases. - NIH Scientists Work With Moderna To Study Benefit Of Smaller Doses. - Congress Using Curative COVID Test Despite FDA Warning Of False Hits. - Mississippi Says 108 Inmates Died In 2020 But Does Not Disclose Cause Of Death. - Some California Hospitals Activate Crisis Care Standards. - Florida Nursing Home Vaccinated Wealthy Donors. ## INTERNATIONAL NEWS - WHO Director-General Criticizes China For Blocking Researchers' Access. - EU Confronts Problems With Vaccine Rollout. - Germany Lengthens Lockdown, Toughens Restrictions. EFTA00148579 - UK Says One Out Of Every 50 People In England Has COVID. - *Israel Leading World In Coronavirus Vaccination.* - Palau Would Owe Vaccination Effort To Operation Warp Speed. - US Accuses Iran Of Seizing South Korean Tanker In Response To Sanctions. - Treasury Sanctions Chinese Firm Tied Iran's Steel Industry. - AP Analysis: Trump Moves Make It Harder For Biden To Engage With Iran. - Afghan Peace Talks Resume In Qatar. - Countries Along Former Soviet Borders Rebuilding Their Defenses. - At Start Of North Korean Party Congress, Kim Says Five-Year Economic Plan Failed. - Pro-Democracy Figures Arrested In Hong Kong. - Former Chief Of Major Chinese State Bank Sentenced To Death. - Saudis End Three-Year Rift With Qatar At Urging Of Trump Administration. - Socialists Take Control Of Venezuela's Congress. - Vietnam Sentences Three Journalists To Prison. - Ethiopian Police Release Reuters Cameraman. ## THE BIG PICTURE - Headlines From Today's Front Pages. ## WASHINGTON'S SCHEDULE - Today's Events In Washington. ## LEADING THE NEWS ## Intel Agencies Say Russia Was Likely Behind Hacking Of Government Departments. The CBS Evening NewsVi (1/5, story 4, 0:25, O'Donnell, 4.65M) reported “the FBI and three other national security agencies” issued “a rare joint statement saying Russia was likely behind the cyber hacking of multiple government departments.” NBC Nightly NewsVi (1/5, story 7, 0:15, Holt, 6.11M) said the agencies’ “assessment is a rebuke of President Trump’s suggestion that China might have been behind it.” Likewise, Bloomberg (1/5, Sebenius, 3.57M) says the statement “is the latest contradiction of Trump’s assessment of the hack,” and the New York Times (1/5, Sanger, Barnes, 20.6M) that it is “a clear rebuke of President Trump’s efforts” to cast blame on China. Politico (1/5, Geller, 6.73M) says the statement “had been approved two weeks ago but was delayed at the White House’s insistence, a person familiar with the matter told Politico.” The AP (1/5, Tucker) says Trump, "in a series of tweets late last month, sought to downplay the severity of the hack and raised the unsubstantiated idea that China could be responsible. Tuesday’s statement makes clear that that is not the case, saying the intrusions are likely ‘Russian in origin.’" Reuters (1/5, Menn) says the statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, the National Security Agency, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said that the hacker, "likely Russian in origin, is responsible for most or all of the recently discovered, ongoing cyber compromises of both government and non-governmental networks." The Washington Post (1/5, Nakashima, 10.52M) reports the statement "said that fewer than 10 federal entities had their networks breached, though that list includes major agencies such as the Departments of State, Treasury, Homeland Security, Energy and Commerce. U.S. officials have told The Washington Post that they think that as many as 300 government and private-sector entities at most have been compromised, though investigators are working to ascertain the scope of the hacks and to notify nongovernment entities affected." USA Today (1/5, Johnson, 12.7M) says the statement is "the most definitive accounting yet after separate statements last month by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and then-Attorney EFTA00148580 General William Barr who both pointed to the Kremlin.” CNN (1/5, Cohen, 89.21M) reports, "While top US officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have previously suggested that the hacking campaign was carried out by a Russian-backed group, Tuesday’s joint statement offers the most definitive and concrete assessment about the attack's origins from agencies investigating the incident. In short, the statement issued by the Cyber Unified Coordination Group (UCG) clearly acknowledges what US officials and experts have suspected since the data breach was first disclosed last month: the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor responsible is ‘likely Russian in origin.’" The Washington Times (1/5, Gertz, 626K) reports, "The Russian government has denied any involvement in the attack, which has raised serious questions about the security of public and private computer networks in both the U.S. and abroad. The cyberattack affected about 18,000 government and private networks, including computers at key federal agencies such as the Energy, Treasury and Commerce departments."

Yahoo! News(1/5,McLaughlin,10.87M),The Hill(1/5,5.69M),CNBC(1/5,Haselton,7.34M),Forbes(1/5,Beer,10.33M),the Financial Times(1/5,Subscription Publication,1.48M),ABC News(1/5,Barr,2.44M),TechCrunch(1/5,Whittaker,502K),the Telegraph(UK)(1/5,Murphy,249K),US News&World Report(1/5,Shinkman,1.91M),Fox News(1/5,Betz,23.99M),NBC News(1/5,Dilanian,4.91M),NPR(1/5,Myre,3.69M),NextGov(1/5,Baksh),Bloomberg(1/5,Korte,Sebenius,3.57M),the Washington Examiner(1/5,Dunleavy,888K),the Wall Street Journal(1/5,Volz,Subscription Publication,8.41M),BBC News(1/5,876K),Axios(1/5,Rummler,1.26M)and The Daily Caller(1/5,Datoc,375K)provide similar coverage.

In an editorial, the Washington Post (1/5, 10.52M) says protecting the government from the next cyber attack and developing a “strategy for speedy recovery from infiltration” must be "an urgent priority for the Biden administration." Top Admiral Says SolarWinds Hack Did Not Harm US-Based Nukes. The Washington Times (1/5, Glenn, 626K) reports, “America’s nuclear arsenal wasn’t compromised by a recent cyber attack that targeted thousands of sensitive computer networks used by government agencies and private companies, the Navy admiral in charge of the U.S. Strategic Command said.” According to the Times, “The hack exploited a flaw in network monitoring software produced by Texas-based SolarWinds that allowed an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor – most likely Russia – to covertly install back door access points in computer networks, officials said. ‘We believe this was, and continues to be, an intelligence gathering effort,’ according to a joint statement from the FBI, the National Security Agency, the Director of National Intelligence and other federal officials.” ## OPERATION LEGEND ## Operation LeGend Resulted In More Than 6,000 Arrests. Voice of America (1/5, Farivar, 85K) reports, “Before he stepped down last month, Attorney General William Barr touted” the results of Operation LeGend, an anti-violent crime initiative that was implemented in nine US cities last year, in which “the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and other federal law enforcement agencies teamed up with local police in these cities to crack down on violent criminals, make arrests and get firearms off the streets.” However, Voice of America reports its own police data compilation shows “homicides during 2020 were up by an average of about 40% over the previous year across the nine cities: Kansas City, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; St. Louis, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; and Indianapolis, Indiana.” The Daily Memphian (TN) (1/5, Jones) reports Operation LeGend resulted in more than 6,000 arrests, “more than 2,600 firearms seized, along with 32 kilos of heroin, more than 17 kilos of fentanyl, more than 300 kilos of methamphetamine, more than 135 kilos of cocaine and more than $11 million in drug proceeds.” EFTA00148581 The Memphis (TN) Flyer (1/5, Sells, 94K) reports US Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "We will continue our targeted enforcement actions and coordination in the future with the federal agents permanently reassigned to Memphis, as well as our LeGend Task Force model." ## COUNTER-TERRORISM ## Sources: FBI Won’t Classify Nashville Bombing As Terrorism. WSMV-TV Nashville, TN (1/5, Finley, 230K) reports, “An FBI source close to the Christmas day bombing investigation tells News4 Investigates that evidence indicates it was not an act of domestic terrorism.” Such a declaration would “come as a relief to many businesses, who feared their lack of terrorism coverage means they would be shut out of insurance money.” The Nashville (TN) Business Journal (1/5, Hutchinson, Subscription Publication, 859K) reports Nashville Chief of Police John Drake, during a question and answer session with Metro Council, “said the federal bureau’s decision had to do with the ideology of Anthony Warner, who on Christmas Day detonated a bomb on Second Avenue.” However, in a statement the FBI said, “We continue to assess the evidence collected and this remains an active investigation. At the appropriate time, we will make a final determination when we have been able to review the maximum amount of information.” The AP (1/6, Kruesi, Tucker) reports, “The FBI investigation into whether the Nashville bombing was a terrorist act has sparked criticism about a possible racial double standard,” as the agency “has resisted labeling it an act of terrorism.” Doug Korneski, the FBI agent in charge of the agency’s Memphis office, told reporters, “When we assess an event for domestic terrorism nexus, it has to be tied to an ideology. It’s the use of force or violence in the furtherance of a political or social ideology or event. We haven’t tied that yet.” However, a handful of state and city leaders argue “that authorities would have acted differently if the 63-year-old Warner had not been a white man.” Experts: License Not Needed To Obtain Materials To Build Bomb. WBIR-TV Knoxville, TN (1/5, 269K) reports that former federal investigators say that Warner “could have obtained all the materials needed to make the bomb” without a license to handle explosives. Mural Honors Police Who First Responded To Bombing. The Hill (1/5, 5.69M) reports a mural posted Sunday in Nashville on the window of a Hard Rock Café honors the six police officers who responded first to the bombing. It was organized by the group I Believe in Nashville. ## FBI, FAA Investigate Threat To US Capitol To Avenge Soleimani. The CBS Evening NewsVi (1/5, story 3, 1:55, O'Donnell, 4.65M) reported that "the FBI and FAA are looking into a breach of the air traffic control system tonight after someone broadcast a threat to attack the US Capitol over the radio frequencies used by pilots.” CBS’ Jeff Pegues added that a “chilling threat obtained exclusively by CBS News was heard by multiple air traffic controllers Monday afternoon in New York.” Unidentified Speaker: “We are flying a plane into is it Capitol Wednesday. Soleimani will be avenged.” CBS cited “sources” who said “the Pentagon and other agencies were briefed today about the digitized voice recording and believe it was designed to suggest hitting the Capitol on the same day Congress is set to count the electoral college results.” On its website, CBS News (1/5, Pegues, 5.39M) reports, “While the government does not believe the warning of an attack is credible, it is being investigated as a breach of aviation frequencies.” CBS adds, “The FBI is not commenting but said it takes ‘all threats of violence to public safety seriously.’” The Hill (1/5, Budryk, 5.69M) reports, “The message was received on Jan. 3, the first anniversary of the U.S.’ killing of Soleimani at a Baghdad airport.” Additional coverage includes Fox News (1/5, Singman, 23.99M). EFTA00148582 ## Arizona Man Sentenced To Over 3 Years In Bomb-making Case. The AP (1/5, Billeaud) reports Ahmad Suhad Ahmad “was sentenced to three years and five months in prison on convictions for heroin possession and distributing information related to explosives.” His attorney argued that Ahmad “used his Middle Eastern background to trick people into thinking he could build bombs, when none of the devices he made actually worked,” but as part of his guilty plea Ahmed “admitted that he, the confidential source and an undercover FBI agent traveled from Tucson in April 2017 to a condominium in Las Vegas, where Ahmad made two bombs and explained to the agent how to the explosive devices worked.” ## Police To Bring Charges In New York City Bomb Hoax. The AP (1/5, Sisak) reports that Louis Shenker, “a self-described American nationalist” who is “suspected of leaving a hoax explosive device in a car at” the Queens Place Mall in New York City, will face “criminal charges after turning himself in to police, authorities said Tuesday.” New York police spokesperson Detective Denise Moroney said Shenker will be charged for placing a false bomb, possession of stolen property, and abandonment of a disabled animal. The mall was evacuated Monday after the device “was found in a black Tesla parked on a ramp in a parking garage,” along with a dog. The vehicle “had a Nevada license plate and has been reported stolen in that state.” Shenker “surrendered to officers” on Tuesday, but “claimed that the suspicious device was actually a rig to charge the Tesla’s dead battery.” Additional coverage includes Fox News (1/5, Pagones, 23.99M). ## FBI Terrorism Task Force Aiding Bomb Threat Investigation. The Wenatchee (WA) World (1/4, O'Cain, 57K) reports, “Investigators are working with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Western Washington to identify” a man who called the RiverCom Dispatch business line and said there was a bomb in downtown Leavenworth. ## Continuing Coverage: Guilty Plea In DC Private School Bomb Threat. In continuing coverage, the Washington Patch (1/5, 1.44M) reports that Sonia Tabizada “pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to intentionally obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by threatening to bomb Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School” after the school announced it would begin publishing same-sex wedding announcements in its alumni magazine. ## Islamic State Support Trial Pushed Back. The AP (1/5, Selsky) reports Judge Marco Hernandez moved back the trial of Hawazen Sameer Mothafar, whose trial on allegedly producing and disseminating “Islamic State propaganda and recruiting material through social media platforms” had been scheduled to begin Tuesday, to November 1. Mothafar’s attorney, Mark Ahlemeyer, ", told the judge he needed time to determine what evidence will be presented, what pretrial motions he would file and how much investigating his team needs to do, adding that he assumed it would involve international travel.” Judge Hernandez “noted the case is complicated because of its international aspects, the requirements of classified discovery and other issues.” ## COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE ## Bail Hearing For Assange Set For Wednesday. Reuters (1/5, Holden) reports that Julian Assange, “who is currently being held in the top-security Belmarsh Prison in east London, will seek to be freed on bail at a hearing on Wednesday.” On Monday, a UK judge “rejected a request from U.S. authorities for Assange” to be extradited to the US “to face 18 criminal charges of breaking an espionage law and conspiring to hack government computers.” Judge Vanessa Baraitser “said Assange’s mental EFTA00148583 health issues meant he would be at risk of suicide if he were extradited.” If Assange’s request is granted, “he will be able to enjoy freedom for the first time in more than eight years.” The Washington Times (1/5, Blake, 626K) reports, “Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Tuesday that Mr. Assange, an Aussie by birth, is free to return once the appeals process is finished and his extradition case is completely over.” Meanwhile, “Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday that he is prepared to offer asylum to Mr. Assange.” DOJ “subsequently said it plans to challenge the judge’s ruling. In the meantime, she is slated to decide Wednesday whether to release Mr. Assange pending appeal.” Also reporting is The Hill (1/5, 5.69M). ## CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS ## Officials, Law Enforcement Prepare For Possible Violence As Trump Supports Flock To DC For Protests. The AP (1/5, Khalil, Balsamo) reports hundreds of supporters of President Trump gather in Washington, DC, “to cheer his baseless claims of election fraud a day before a congressional vote to affirm Joe Biden’s victory.” Local officials and law enforcement have been “bracing for potential violent street clashes” and many businesses boarded up their windows in case the protest devolves “into the unrest seen in May and June when dozens of businesses were vandalized.” Both the National Guard and federal agents “were on standby, in case they were quickly needed in the city this week.” Meanwhile, Trump expressed support on Twitter for the protesters and “president was expected to personally address his supporters in Washington on Wednesday during a rally on the Ellipse.” The New York Times (1/5, 20.6M) reports, “Local authorities have enhanced security and warned residents in and around the city to steer clear of potentially violent agitators.” The Times says that protestors’ “vitriol had already begun on a rainy Tuesday,” and, “after dark, groups of men wearing body armor and helmets began showing up,” some armed. Additional coverage includes the Wall Street Journal (1/5, Levy, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) and the Washington Post (1/5, 10.52M). Proud Boys Leader Tarrio Barred From DC. The AP (1/5, Balsamo, Long) reports, “A judge has banned the leader of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, from the nation’s capital after he was accused of vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church and found with high-capacity firearm magazines when he was arrested.” Enrique Tarrio is barred “from entering the District of Columbia, with very limited exceptions to meet with his attorney or appear in court.” He was arrested in Washington a the day before as he was arriving ahead of protests. He is “accused of burning a Black Lives Matter banner that was torn down from a historic Black church in downtown Washington last month.” Police say he “posted a confession on the right-wing site Parler that he had set fire to the sign.” The Washington Post (1/5, 10.52M) reports that in charging Tarrio “police relied on his statement to the news media and videos that show him crouched with others near the banner as it was being set on fire.” The Post adds, “The FBI’s Washington Field Office enhanced some of the videos to obtain a clearer look.” District police “said they also charged Tarrio with two felony counts of possessing high-capacity ammunition feeding devices, which is a legal term for a magazine that allows guns to hold additional bullets.” Additional coverage includes WTOP-FM Washington (1/5, Moore, 164K). Far-Right Forums Urge Violence During Protests. The Washington Post (1/5, Harwell, 10.52M) reports, “Far-right online forums are seething with references to potential violence and urging supporters of President Trump to bring guns to Wednesday’s protests in Washington.” Trump’s tweet promoting his baseless electoral fraud claims and promoting the January 6 protest “has become a central rallying cry,” and “talk of guns and potential violence is rife on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, the conservative social media site Parler and on EFTA00148584 thedonald.win, an online forum that previously operated on Reddit before the company banned it in June after years of racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism and calls for violence.” Pentagon Seeks To Avoid Political Entanglements. The Washington Post (1/5, Ryan, 10.52M) reports, “Pentagon leaders are bracing for any renewed presidential attempts to employ the military for political ends.” President Trump’s effort “to use expansive military force to put down widespread protests over police violence against Black citizens” in June “served as a wake-up call to many top officials at the Pentagon and in Congress about Trump’s willingness to reach for the military to advance his personal and political interests.” As part of the careful posture and “the Pentagon’s wariness in the final days of” Trump’s presidency, it emphasized that National Guard units deployed at DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s request “wouldn’t carry firearms, use armored vehicles or helicopters, or receive backup from units in other states.” David Ignatius, in a column in the Washington Post (1/5, 10.52M), writes that "senior government officials appear confident that the chaotic situation can be handled by the D.C. police, federal law-enforcement agencies and the National Guard – without requiring any use of regular-duty military troops." Police officers, joined by the guard, will establish control points near the main march sites. Officials’ assessment is “based partly on experience,” but officials also anticipate that left-wing counterprotesters will mostly not attend, lessening “the likelihood of confrontations that could escalate into bloodshed and serious disorder.” While there are concerns that after dark on Wednesday “small bands of Proud Boys and other extremists” may “go looking for trouble,” but “officials expect that the planned force would be adequate.” DC Mayor Urges Against Deployment Of "Unidentifiable Personnel." The Washington Times (1/5, Zantow, 626K) reports that in a letter to federal officials, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser urged against deploying “unidentifiable personnel” at pro-Trump rallies, writing, “Unidentifiable personnel – in many cases, armed – caused confusion among residents and visitors and could become a national security threat with no way for [D.C. police] and federal law enforcement to decipher armed groups.” Legislators Advised To Use Tunnels Amid Protests. The AP (1/5) reports the House sergeant-at-arm, in a memo to members of Congress, advised that, with “potential violence in Washington tied to protests,” they should “use underground tunnels while traveling between chambers in the Capitol and to nearby office buildings during the day.” ## Kenosha DA Will Not Bring Charges In Police Shooting Of Jacob Blake. In the lead story, NBC Nightly NewsVi (1/5, lead story, 2:25, Holt, 6.11M) reported, “There’s breaking news tonight from Wisconsin, where a prosecutor has announced there will be no charges filed against” Rusten Sheskey, “a white Kenosha police officer who shot” Jacob Blake “in the back as he leaned into a car last August.” Blake “was left paralyzed after the shooting that was captured on video and led to angry protests and even deadly violence on the streets.” NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez added that Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley “says Blake was armed with a knife, and the officer could have successfully argued self-defense.” Graveley said the officers were “called to the scene on a designated domestic abuse call” with the knowledge that there was an arrest warrant for Blake at the time. On ABC World News TonightVi (1/5, story 3, 2:00, Muir, 7.66M), Alex Perez reported that Kenosha is “bracing for more protests after” Graveley’s decision. The August 23 shooting took place “after police responded to a call about a domestic dispute,” and cell phone footage of the incident “shows 29-year-old Blake struggling with Officer Rusten Sheskey and another officer,” who “both deployed their tasers, but...were unsuccessful.” Perez reported that Blake then “appears to lean into the driver’s side of the car,” and Sheskey “opens fire” with “Blake’s three young boys in the backseat.” Graveley said, “We say with confidence, based on Blake’s admission, based on all the officers saying it, and this video evidence, he clearly is armed with a knife.” The CBS Evening News Vi (1/5, story 6, 1:50, O'Donnell, 4.65M) reported, "Tonight Kenosha, Wisconsin is on edge after prosecutors announced the police officer who shot Jacob EFTA00148585 Blake will not face criminal charges, nor will any other officers.” The August shooting “sparked unrest in Kenosha, and the National Guard is on patrol tonight.” Graveley said, “This case is really all about self-defense and can it be proven that it does not exist. It is really evidence about the perspective of Officer Sheskey.” Blake’s father, Jacob Blake, Sr., said, “We’ll find federal ways that justice will find for my son. We’re not done yet.” The AP (1/5, Richmond) reports that Graveley “announced Tuesday that he will not file criminal charges against” Sheskey, the white police officer who shot Blake “in the back in Kenosha last summer, leaving him paralyzed and setting off sometimes violent protests in the city.” The August 23 shooting, “captured on bystander video, turned the nation’s spotlight on Wisconsin during a summer marked by protests over police brutality and racism.” Over 250 arrests were made “in the days that followed, including 17-year-old Kvle Rittenhouse.” Reuters (1/5) reports that Graveley “found police officer Rusten Sheskey acted in self-defense while shooting Blake seven times at close range, saying Blake was armed with a knife and had resisted arrest, withstanding multiple Taser shots.” The decision, which also clears two other officers, “could incite more demonstrations, which have frequently broken out in the United States in recent years after police have been cleared of wrongdoing in shootings of African Americans.” Ben Crump, an attorney for Blake, tweeted, “We are immensely disappointed and feel this decision failed not only Jacob and his family but the community that protested and demanded justice.” The Washington Post (1/5, Guarino, Berman, Bellware, 10.52M) reports that witness accounts differ from Graveley’s depiction, describing Blake “trying to break up an argument between two women” and unarmed when he was shot while walking “back toward his vehicle.” The Wall Street Journal (1/5, Ailworth, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) reports that Graveley also said that no charges will be brought against Blake following a review of the incident. Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband said that a separate investigation being carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in cooperation with the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation is ongoing. Bloomberg (1/5, Joyce, 3.57M) reports that Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) “activated about 500 National Guard soldiers and airmen in an effort to ensure public safety” on Monday, ahead of the announcement. The New York Times (1/5, A1, Chiarito, Bosman, Eligon, 20.6M) reports, Evers said after the announcement, "Today's decision is further evidence that our work is not done — we must work each day in earnest toward a more just, more fair, and more equitable state and country, and to combat the racism experienced by Black Wisconsinites." The Kenosha City Council had "unanimously passed an emergency declaration Monday that would allow the mayor to implement a curfew" after the announcement, while the Kenosha County sheriff "declared a state of emergency" ahead of expected protests. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1/5, Barton, Spicuzza, Linnane, 844K) reports that Graveley “said he relied both on an investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice and on an outside assessment of that investigation, conducted by former Madison Police Chief Noble Wray,” who “served as a federal police reform specialist during the Obama administration after his retirement in 2013.” The Daily Caller (1/5, Dima, 375K) reports that Graveley said he made the decision “independent of political forces or outside winds that swirl about.” Breitbart (1/5, Pollak, 1.26M) has more on the decision. Rittenhouse Pleads Not Guilty To All Charges. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1/5, Vielmetti, 844K) reports, “More than four months after he was charged with killing two protesters and wounding a third during civil unrest in Kenosha, Kyle Rittenhouse formally entered not guilty pleas Tuesday, triggering the next phases of what is still expected to be a very drawn-out case.” The Sentinel says, “Rittenhouse has become a symbol to both sides in the national debate over race and justice, law and order, and guns.” Rittenhouse “is charged with five felonies: first-degree intentional homicide in the death of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36; first-degree reckless homicide of Anthony Huber, 26; attempted first-degree intentional EFTA00148586 homicide of Gaige Grosskreutz, 26; and two counts of recklessly endangering safety, for shots fired at others." Fox News (1/5, Ruiz, 23.99M) reports that Rittenhouse “and his legal team have argued self-defense, maintaining that he only fired his rifle after being attacked from behind.” Prosecutors allege that Rittenhouse traveled “from his home in Antioch, Ill., across state lines to nearby Kenosha, after learning of a call for militia to protect businesses during protests on Aug. 25.” The case is set to go to trial “on March 29, but the start date could be delayed. A pretrial hearing was scheduled for March 10.” ## FBI Says It Was Unaware Agent Was Interrogating Legislative Staffer About Conversation On Legislation. The Detroit Free Press (1/5, Boucher, 2.16M) reports that in a statement, the FBI said that while it interrogated Michigan state Sen. Rosemary Bayer’s chief of staff Katie Reiter about a conversation Bayer and her staff had about discussing draft legislation on tear gas, it was unaware of “Reiter’s job before coming to her home to question her.” While “Bayer suggested the FBI may have eavesdropped on the call,” Special Agent Mara Schneider, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Detroit, wrote in an email that the agency “received a complaint from a concerned citizen who overheard comments about the use of tear gas during the upcoming election.” She added, “At no time prior to that interview did the citizen or the FBI know the reported comments were made in the context of proposed legislation.” ## Continuing Coverage: Wray Urged To Investigate Trump Over Georgia Call. In continuing coverage, the Washington Examiner (1/5, Doyle, 888K) reports Reps. Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Kathleen Rice (D-NY) “urged FBI Director Christopher Wray to open a criminal investigation” over President Trump’s instructions to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger “to ‘find’ votes sufficient to alter the results of the election in the state.” However, “legal observers are split on whether Trump’s call offers sufficient basis for a federal investigation.” The Hill (1/5, Kruzel, 5.69M) reports, “It’s not clear yet if federal or state officials will heed the calls for investigations,” and such decisions “would likely involve weighing the interests of justice against the explosive political impact of prosecuting a current or recently sitting president.” The Washington Examiner (1/5, Brest, 888K) reports, “Nearly 100 Democratic members of the House have signaled their support for censuring President Trump for his phone call with the Georgia secretary of state.” Michelle Goldberg, in a column in the New York Times (1/4, Goldberg, 20.6M), writes that demanding accountability from President Trump “feels like smashing one’s head into a brick wall, but our democracy might not be able to stagger along much longer without it.” While “most excuses for not investigating or prosecuting Trump make at least some sense,” if “there is no penalty for Republican cheating, there will be more of it,” as the structure of our politics means the party doesn’t need substantial majorities to wield national power, and so Republicans “feel free to openly scheme against the majority.” Goldberg warns, “Trump and his Republican enablers have set a precedent for pressuring state officials to discard the will of their voters, and if that fails, for getting their allies in Congress to reject the results.” It shows “that you can’t rely on elections to punish attempts to subvert elections,” only the law. ## Attorneys For Woman On Death Row Ask Trump To Commute Sentence. USA Today (1/5, Timms, 12.7M) reports that lawyers for Lisa Montgomery, “the only woman on federal death row,” filed a clemency petition on Tuesday asking the President to commute her sentence to life without parole. Montgomery “was convicted of killing 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett in the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore in December 2004.” Her attorneys, Kelley Henry and Amy Harwell, have argued that congenital brain damage and multiple traumatic EFTA00148587 brain injuries "have resulted in incurable and significant psychiatric disabilities." Montgomery, who is set to be executed on January 12, "would be the ninth federal inmate put to death since the Justice Department resumed executions in July after a nearly 20-year hiatus," and the first woman since 1953. ## Pro-Trump Website Targeting "Enemies," Attributed To Iran, Reappears. The Washington Times (1/5, Blake, 626K) reports the pro-Trump website “Enemies of the People” reappeared, listing the addresses of purported “traitors” along with images of their faces in crosshairs. “The FBI and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA, ultimately determined Iranian were responsible for the original ‘Enemies’ site and related web addresses and accounts.” ## Sharpton: Firing Not Enough For Officer Who Killed Andre Hill. The AP (1/5, Amiri, Welsh) reports, “Dozens gathered at the First Church of God” in Columbus, Ohio to commemorate Andre Hill, “as family and lawmakers called for justice to be brought against the white Columbus police officer who fatally shot” Hill. The Rev. Al Sharpton said, when delivering Hill’s eulogy, “We don’t want your sympathy. We want justice.” He added that firing the officer, Adam Coy, was not enough, saying, “We cannot have a precedent that if you kill us, you just lose your job and keep living your life as you were.” Meanwhile, “Ohio’s attorney general, the U.S. attorney for central Ohio and the FBI have begun their own probes into the shooting.” ## Denver Police Seized Guns Over Threats To Colorado’s Attorney General. The AP (1/5, Slevin) reports Denver police seized the guns of Bryce Shelby, who “was under investigation by the FBI when he made plans with an undercover agent to shoot Attorney General Phil Weiser in the head after planning to obtain a getaway vehicle.” According to court records, the police used the state’s new extreme risk protection order law. The Daily Caller (1/5, Greenlee, 375K) reports, “Shelby allegedly told an undercover FBI agent what he was planning on shooting Weiser and that he didn’t mind having ‘blood on his hands.’” ## Police Officer Chicago’s Latest Carjacking Victim. The AP (1/5, Babwin) reports a Chicago police office suffered a carjacking while off duty on Monday. The city has seen carjackings more than double in 2020 compared to the year before. Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan “attributes much of the spike in carjackings and other violent crimes to the pandemic and the social unrest following” the police killing of George Floyd. ## Man Arrested Over Concerns About Disrupting Vermont COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution. VTDigger (VT) (1/5, Keays, 9K) reports Aaron Loucks was arrested “after a source turned over notes to law enforcement that ‘suggested’ a threat to vaccine distribution in Vermont.” Notes reportedly belonging to Loucks and information from a source “indicated Loucks believes the Covid-19 vaccination effort is part of a government conspiracy to control the population.” The investigation involved the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and other law enforcement agencies. ## Continuing Coverage: FBI Traced Ghislaine Maxwell Using Cell Phone Data. In continuing coverage, Newsweek (1/5, Royston, 2.67M) reports an affidavit indicates that the FBI’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation traced Ghislaine Maxwell “using her cell phone data and a fake mobile phone mast.” Newsweek adds, “The FBI had already obtained a warrant for her GPS and location data on the mobile phone but applied for an additional warrant because they had still been unable to pinpoint her exact location.” EFTA00148588 Additional coverage includes The Guardian (UK) (1/5, Milman, 5.53M) and the Independent (UK) (1/5, 1.19M). ## Continuing Coverage: Barr Questioned Jeffrey Epstein’s Cellmate. In continuing coverage, the Daily Mail (UK) (1/5, Gordon, 4.11M) reports, "Attorney General William Barr personally questioned" Efrain “Stone” Reyes, the last inmate to share a cell with Jeffrey Epstein before his suicide. ## Undercover Police Sought To Buy A Gun From Dolal Idd Prior To Fatal Shooting. The Daily Mail (UK) (1/5, Mulraney, 4.11M) reports that prior to shooting and killing Dolal Idd, “Minneapolis police was trying to buy a handgun” from him in an undercover operation, according to search warrant documents. “After the shooting, cops carried out a raid on his father’s home where the informant had also told them that they would find further firearms that Idd planned to sell illegally,” but no guns were found there. ## Man Held On Bail For Attempted Arson Of Historically Black Church. The Boston Globe (1/5, Andersen, 1.04M) reports Dushko V. Vulchev of Maine “was held on $25,000 bail Tuesday for allegedly trying to set fire to” Martin Luther King Jr. Community Presbyterian Church, a predominantly Black church in Springfield. Vulchev’s public defender, Nicholas J. Raring, said in an email that Vulchev “vehemently denies setting fire to the church” and the other crimes he’s accused of. He was arraigned on three felony counts of attempting to burn a building, three counts of malicious damage to a motor vehicle and one count of taking and stealing parts from a vehicle ## Videos Show Chicago Police Pinned A Woman Under Their SUV For Eight Minutes. USA Today (1/5, Hauck, 12.7M) reports Bodycam videos show how on Nov. 13, 2019 a Chicago police officer drove into Martina Standley, “knocking her to the ground and crushing her leg beneath the SUV for more than eight minutes as she bled in the street.” Community organizer William Calloway released the videos after a judge ordered the department to satisfy a Freedom of Information Act request for them. An investigation of the incident by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the police department’s civilian oversight agency, is ongoing and “the officers involved in the incident remain on full-duty status.” ## Indiana Woman Arrested In Connection To Murder. The What’s New LaPorte (IN) (1/5) reports Lynn Ware has been arrested in connection to the disappearance of Laura Wolfe, who was reported missing last July. The FBI joined the investigation last October, when a farmer located human remains on his property in Springfield Township. WKVI-FM Knox, IN (1/5) reports Ware "was arrested New Year's Eve." ## Florida Man Sentenced Over Bank Fraud. The Miami Herald (1/5, 647K) reports Yasmani Granja Quijada “was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft last year.” He “was arrested in June 2019 after investigators spotted him at several Harris Teeter stores in Virginia.” ## US Embassy Staffer Charged With Serial Rape. The Daily Beast (1/5, 933K) reports US Embassy staffer Brian Jeffrey Raymond is “accused of drugging and sexually assaulting at least 23 women over the past 10 years,” and he “lured at least one of his victims across international borders to Mexico from the United States for a night of abuse she barely remembers.” He “was arrested Oct. 9 in La Mesa, California, where he had been staying with his parents after abruptly quitting his job.” EFTA00148589 ## Cliven Bundy's Son Arrested. The AP (1/6) reports Cliven Lance Bundy, one of “rancher and states’ rights advocate” Cliven Bundy’s sons, has been arrested and jailed in Nevada. The arrest comes years after Cliven Lance Bundy “was sentenced to prison for 2013 felony convictions.” At that time, “he apologized for missing court dates, failing to keep in contact with probation officers and failing...to complete a one-year court-run drug diversion program.” A similar Las Vegas Sun (1/5, Torres-Cortez, 165K) article says “warrants for violating a domestic violence restraining order and resisting a public officer” led to Cliven Lance Bundy’s recent arrest. The Sun adds, “The Bundy family shot into prominence in 2014 over an armed standoff with federal agents after the Bureau of Land Management tried to round up” Cliven Bundy’s “cattle on public land near the family’s home.” ## Human Trafficking Organization Profiled. WFLX-TV West Palm Beach, FL (1/5) profiles No More Tears, which was founded by child sex abuse survivor Somy Ali. She said of her organization’s mission, “Our mission is to rescue and empower victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, victims in the LGTBQ community, animals that are abused, children that are sexually and physically abused.” ## Drug Case Defendant Sentenced To More Than 20 Years In Prison. The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (1/5, Ellis, 55K) reports Danny Ray Williams, Jr., a resident of Jonesboro, Arkansas, was recently “sentenced to nearly 23 years in federal prison” for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. The drug trafficking investigation that led to Williams’ arrest was “conducted by the FBI in conjunction with state and local authorities.” ## Tennessee FBI Agent Interviewed Over Human Trafficking Prevention Month. WATE-TV Knoxville, TN (1/5, 157K) reports about its interview with Supervisory Special Agent Neal Gruhn, who discussed the FBI’s human trafficking team. He said, “Here in the United States, both U.S. residents and foreign nationals are being bought and sold like modern day slaves. Traffickers use violence, manipulation, or false promises of well-paying jobs or romantic relationships to exploit victims. Victims are forced to work as prostitutes or to take jobs as migrant, domestic, restaurant, or factory workers with little or no pay. Human trafficking is a heinous crime that exploits the most vulnerable in society.” ## Investigators Searching For FBI Most Wanted Fugitive In Arizona. My Local News (AZ) (1/5) reports about the ongoing search for FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list fugitive Robert William Fisher, who “is wanted for the murder of his wife and two children in Scottsdale, Arizona in 2001.” Retired Arizona police sergeant Christine Burke “launched HelpSolveTheCase.com in 2010 to assist in resolving cold cases and wrongful convictions by uncovering new clues and utilizing new tools like genetic genealogy.” ## Michigan Residents Arrested In Connection To Bank Robberies. WZZM-TV Grand Rapids, MI (1/5, 232K) reports Kimathi R. Smith and Dennis L. Burger “are facing 20 years for robberies” committed last year. ## Washington State Minor Located. KHQ-TV Spokane, WA (1/5, 164K) reports that the FBI successfully located 15-year-old Angeles Revueleta-Buenrostro, who “was reported missing from her Yakima home Monday morning.” She “was located during a traffic stop on a highway near Wells,” and Eric Landeros “was arrested and charged with kidnapping and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.” KTVK-TV Phoenix (1/5, 390K) reports that Arizona police "are also looking for 36-year-old Daniel Ovante, who is suspected of having arranged for Revueleta-Buenrostro to be taken from EFTA00148590 Yakima to Phoenix." ## FBI Searching For Texas Bank Robber. KTRK-TV Houston (1/5, 314K) reports that the FBI Violent Crime Task Force “is seeking Houstonians’ help in identifying the ‘Dynamite Desperado,’ responsible for a bank robbery in the Galleria area Monday.” The suspect “gave the teller a ‘threatening note’ demanding money.” ## FBI Investigating Illinois Bank Robbery. The Naperville (IL) Patch (1/5, 1.44M) reports that the FBI is investigating the January 4 robbery of the Fifth Third Bank in Naperville. The suspect’s vehicle “was pursued on eastbound I-88, where it was last seen approaching I-294.” The Chicago Sun-Times (1/5, 970K) reports that the FBI “hasn’t released photos of the suspects.” The Chicago Daily Herald (1/5, Rohr, 360K) also reports. ## Memphis Police Department Warns Of Growing Gang Violence. The Memphis (TN) Flyer (1/5, Hill, 94K) reports Memphis Police Deputy Chief Michael Hardy and Major Frank Winston spoke Tuesday at the Memphis City Council meeting, where they “gave a presentation that outlined where local gang activity is concentrated and demonstrated their expertise on the subject.” The pair “said gangs in the Memphis area are generally managed under three major umbrella organizations: Folk Nation, People Nation, and Latino Gangs.” ## FINANCIAL CRIME & CORPORATE SCANDALS ## FBI Warns Of COVID-19 Related Fraud Schemes. USA Today (1/5, Phillips, 12.7M) reports, “For the past year, federal law enforcement agencies have received tens of thousands of complaints of fraud tied to the coronavirus pandemic.” FBI Financial Crimes Section Chief Steven Merrill said, “We’ve been concerned about fraud schemes regarding the vaccine as soon as the vaccine went from an idea to reality … The one thing that we’ve learned throughout this pandemic is that when there’s money to be made, criminals will figure out how to do it.” He added, “We want to make sure that the public understands that the information they should be getting about the vaccine should not be coming from an advertisement or unsolicited information; it should be coming from an official government website.” Warned against “medical providers asking patients to undergo unnecessary tests and procedures, bad actors seeking personal information from unsuspecting victims in order to fraudulently bill Medicare, fraudsters asking people to pay out of pocket to obtain vaccines, and marketing representatives offering wholesale shipments of vaccines in exchange for fees.” Reuters (1/5, Bellon) reports, “Scams include emails promising entry to supposedly secret lists for early vaccine access and robocallers impersonating government agencies.” Message boards on the dark web offer purported COVID-19 vaccines for sale. The Houston Chronicle (1/5, Forward, 982K) reports indicators of fraud include "advertisements for paying for early access to the vaccine or requests for patients to pay out of pocket to get the vaccine or to enter personal medical information," offers for additional medical testing or procedures when obtaining a vaccine, "as well as marketers offering to sell or ship doses of a vaccine, domestically or internationally, in exchange for payment of a deposit or fee." ## Appeals Court Upholds Corruption Conviction Of Former Texas State Judge. KRGV-TV Harlingen, TX (1/5) reports, "The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of former” Texas state District Judge Rudy Delgado. The court rejected Delgado’s arguments that his conviction wasn’t supported by the evidence. The FBI recorded EFTA00148591 conversations between attorney Noe Perez, a federal informant, and Delgado, "who accepted cash during conversations about pending cases." ## Pharmacist Who Tried To Spoil COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Released. USA Today (1/5, Vielmetti, 12.7M) reports Steven R. Brandenburg, a “pharmacist suspected of intentionally spoiling 500 doses of COVID-19 vaccine at a Wisconsin hospital,” was released from jail Monday. Grafton was concerned “the vaccines could change people’s DNA, an unfounded claim that has been debunked.” At a hearing, “Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol told Circuit Judge Paul Malloy that the hospital had ‘walked back’ some of the information on which police had relied, that the vials in question have not since been destroyed, but are still in the hospital’s possession and might even still be viable.” If the vaccine remains okay, “Gerol said, the most he could charge Brandenburg with would be attempted criminal damage to property, a misdemeanor.” ## CYBER DIVISION ## Trump Order Bans Eight Chinese Apps. The Wall Street Journal (1/5, Restuccia, McKinnon, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) reports President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday banning transactions with eight apps tied to China including the Alipay payment platform owned by Ant Group Co. and the WeChat Pay app owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd. In the order, Trump said the apps can access users’ private information which the Chinese government could use to “track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, and build dossiers of personal information.” Reuters (1/5, Alper, Shepardson) reports, “The order released by the White House names ‘Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay, and WPS Office.’” The Washington Post (1/5, Whalen, 10.52M) says Trump’s order “will take effect in 45 days, after the start of the Biden administration, leaving its fate unclear.” The New York Times (1/5, Swanson, 20.6M) provides similar coverage. ## NYSE Reconsidering Plan To Allow Three Chinese Telecom Companies To Remain Listed. Reuters (1/5, McCrank, Alper, Li) reports, “The New York Stock Exchange [NYSE] is reconsidering its plan to allow” China Mobile Ltd, China Telecom Corp Ltd, and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd “to remain listed.” NYSE “said late Monday it reversed an decision announced just last week to delist” the three telecom companies “after consulting with regulatory authorities in connection with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.” The change in plans “was due to ambiguity over an executive order issued by President Donald Trump barring investment in firms Washington says are tied to the Chinese military, and whether the three firms were banned under the order,” according to an unnamed source. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin called NYSE President Stacey Cunningham “on Tuesday to tell her he disagreed with the exchange operator’s decision to reverse course on the delistings, a separate source said.” The New York Post (1/5, Manskar, 7.45M) reports, “The companies were among 35 firms that the Trump administration has sought to cut off from US investors under the president’s November executive order because of their links to the Chinese military.” The three companies “issued statements saying they had noted the stock exchange's latest move and would release information in line with regulations,” adding “that investors should pay attention to investment risks.” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Monday “said American political forces were ‘wantonly suppressing foreign companies’ listed in the US.” Hua said, “We hope the United States will respect the market and rule of law and do things conducive to upholding order in the global financial market, protecting investors' lawful rights and interests, and promoting the steady development of the global economy.” EFTA00148592 Bloomberg (1/5, Zhao, Tu, 3.57M) reports that the NYSE “gave no reason for its decision…saying only that it had consulted ‘relevant regulatory authorities’ about Trump’s executive order, signed in November as part of his administration’s push to check China’s growing economic power.” Bloomberg reports that the shift “came as a surprise and sparked confusion among officials at the U.S. Treasury and State departments, and National Security Council.” The New York Times (1/5, Rappeport, Mozur, 20.6M) says the “sudden reversal...sowed confusion and reflected the ongoing fighting within the Trump administration about how hard a line to take against China during President Trump’s final davs in office.” The Wall Street Journal (1/5, Osipovich, Subscription Publication, 8.41M), The Hill (1/5, Castronuovo, 5.69M) and TechCrunch (1/5, Ha, 502K) also report. ## San Francisco Cybersecurity Company Moves Headquarters To Florida. The San Francisco Business Times (1/5, Coffey, Subscription Publication, 895K) reports that OPSWAT “announced Monday it is relocating its corporate headquarters to Tampa, Florida” from San Francisco. The cybersecurity company’s CEO, Benny Czarny, said the move “signals rapid growth but also our commitment to providing the best-in-class infrastructure protection to our global customers.” OPSWAT’s move is part of a “corporate exodus” from the San Francisco area, “with many companies moving their headquarters outright out of California or opening regional headquarters in states such as Texas, Denver, Arizona, Tennessee, Florida and North Carolina.” Czarny added, “we are excited to strengthen our East Coast presence and join Tampa’s emerging technology and cybersecurity ecosystem.” ## Report: Ransomware Attacks To Worsen In 2021. According to Fox News (1/5, Crothers, 23.99M), ransomware attacks “may be even worse” in 2021 after wreaking havoc in 2020. The outlet says the “ransom payment jumped 31% to $233,817 in the third quarter from the second quarter, according to a report from Coveware.” The report said, “The biggest change over the past 6 quarters is [criminals] now realize that their tactics scale to much larger enterprises without much of an increase in their own operating costs,” adding the “profit margins are extremely high and the risk is low.” Index Engines vice president of marketing and business development Jim McGann said, “Cybercriminals are deploying advanced technology, including machine learning, to aid them in penetrating security defenses.” ## Government IGs Launch Cyber-Threat Interagency Report. NextGov (1/5, Baksh) reports that the Commerce Department’s IG “is required to create an interagency report on the most recent two-year period in collaboration with” other IGs in the IC “and other appropriate federal agencies under the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, according to a Dec. 14 memo alerting Commerce’ chief information officer.” The IG’s office will “begin assessing agencies’ information-sharing practices.” Previous reports “have focused on weak private-sector information sharing with the government or vice versa.” But the 2015 law “also governs how well information is being disseminated within the federal government, and on that front, a key government contractor has already weighed in with a scathing review.” IGs from departments including DOD, DOE, DHS, DOJ, and Treasury, as well as Commerce and ODNI, will participate in the interagency report. ## Cybersecurity Stocks On The Rise After Recent Hacking Attacks. CNBC (1/5, 7.34M) discusses Jim Cramer’s “top cybersecurity picks,” which include CrowdStrike, Zscaler, and Okta. Cramer emphasized NortonLifeLock. The rise in cybersecurity stocks is “not really surprised due to recent corporate headlines.” Microsoft, for instance, disclosed “a massive security breach with hackers accessing the company’s source code in that SolarWinds hack last month, which included a breach of cybersecurity company FireEye.” EFTA00148593 ## Iboss Among Cybersecurity Firms Taking Advantage Of Cloud Market Boom. The Wall Street Journal (1/5, Uberti, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) reports that shifting to remote work due to the pandemic has helped cybersecurity firms raise funds. For instance, Iboss Inc. raised $145 million, with plans to grow its sales and marketing teams. Iboss is eyeing the growing cloud computing sector, hoping the trend continues after the pandemic, according to co-founder and CEO Paul Martini, who commented, “The next 24 to 36 months are really important.” ## LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES ## Continuing Coverage: Gun Background Checks, Violence Rose In 2020. In continuing coverage, Mother Jones (1/5, Cohen, 889K) reports, “Nearly 40 million firearms were sold in 2020, according to FBI data,” a record for “guns sold in a single year since the FBI started tracking background checks conducted through its National Instant Criminal Background Check System in 2000.” Additionally, “as gun sales soared in 2020, so did gun violence.” ## OTHER FBI NEWS ## US Attorney For The Eastern District of Virginia Resigns. The AP (1/5, Barakat) reports G. Zachary Terwilliger, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, announced he is resigning to join the Vinson and Elkins law firm. The Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch (1/5, Green, 401K) reports, "With President-elect Joe Biden taking office later this month, Terwilliger said Monday that 'I think it just makes a lot of sense, rather than wait.'" ## Trump Names New US Attorney For Atlanta. Politico (1/5, Gerstein, 6.73M) reports that President Trump “has replaced the top federal prosecutor in Atlanta with another Trump-appointed prosecutor from southern Georgia, bypassing a top career prosecutor.” According to Politico, “Trump’s move came after the U.S. attorney in Atlanta, Byung ‘BJay’ Pak, abruptly resigned Monday.” Politico reports that Justice Department officials have “declined to say whether Pak resigned voluntarily or was asked to do so.” Politico adds, “Trump’s installation of a new leader in the U.S. attorney’s office in Georgia’s largest city comes as he continues to rail against the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for failing to move aggressively against what he has baselessly alleged was rampant fraud in the November election in Georgia and in other swing states.” Additional coverage includes The Hill (1/5, Castronuovo, 5.69M) and Fox News (1/5, Rambaran, 23.99M). ## Senators Urge Biden To Chose Doug Jones For Attorney General. HuffPost (1/5, Terkel, Reilly, Robillard, 363K) reports that, according to two congressional sources, “at least 14 Democratic senators have sent a letter to President-elect Joe Biden recommending” former Sen. Doug Jones for attorney general. ## OTHER WASHINGTON NEWS ## GOP Senators Remain Divided On Electoral Vote Certification. The Senate and House will meet in joint session on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. for the formal certification of the Electoral College vote for president and vice president. Reports say Republicans remain split over whether, and to what extent, to challenge results in close states won by Joe Biden, with more GOP senators, including some who are usually allied with EFTA00148594 President Trump, saying Tuesday that they will not block certification. Coverage also highlights the role of Vice President Pence, who is scheduled to preside over the event. David Muir said on ABC World News TonightVi (1/5, story 2, 3:45, 7.66M), “Congress is now set to certify the presidential election results and tonight, new pressure from President Trump on [Pence] to reject the electors. This comes after that recorded phone call – the President pressuring Georgia’s Secretary of State to find 11,780 votes, saying there’s ‘nothing wrong with saying...you recalculated.’” On Tuesday, Trump “tweeted about the Vice President, saying, ‘The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.’” ABC’s Jonathan Karl said, “That’s just not true. Pence has no actual power to change or reject any electoral vote. And one of Trump’s longtime lawyers is saying as much, directly contradicting the President.” Jay Sekulow: “I actually don’t think that’s what the Constitution has in mind. If that were the case, any vice president could refuse any election.” Norah O’Donnell said on the CBS Evening NewsVi (1/5, story 2, 2:55, 4.65M) that Trump “is still insisting the election was stolen from him, even as Congress is set to confirm Joe Biden’s win. The President plans to address supporters tomorrow here in Washington.” CBS’ Weijia Jiang: “The President has privately and publicly pressured Mr. Pence to stop Congress from approving the election results. … But election law expert David Becker said it’s up to members of Congress to approve the Electoral College’s count affirming Mr. Biden’s win, not the Vice President.” Becker: “The Vice President’s role during this joint session of Congress is entirely ceremonial. He basically operates like a host at the Oscars would. His role is to open up envelopes and count what’s in there.” Kristen Welker said on NBC Nightly NewsVi (1/5, story 3, 2:20, Holt, 6.11M) that Trump “falsely tweet[ed Tuesday], ‘The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.’ But under the Constitution, Pence cannot change the election results. His role tomorrow will be largely ceremonial. A person close to him telling NBC News, ‘Don’t expect any surprises,’ quote, ‘The Vice President thinks it is his job to follow the Constitution and the law.’” Politico (1/5, Kumar, 6.73M) reports Trump “has privately acknowledged he lost the presidency” and “recognizes Congress will formally certify the results on Wednesday. To one person, Trump even confided he was ‘just disappointed we lost.’ … Sometimes, Trump does still lapse back into the belief that maybe, just maybe, he could somehow eke out a win, most often when listening to his small group of lawyers. … But mostly, he is continuing his fight to subvert the election for a Trumpian reason: to keep the attention on himself and give his supporters what they want, according to the people who have spoken with him.” According to the AP (1/5, Mascaro, Jalonick, Freking), Republicans “who are orchestrating a last-gasp attempt to overturn” Biden’s victory “have not settled on a full strategy ahead of Wednesday’s joint session. … Those Republicans leading the longshot effort in Congress are still deciding the details of their strategy.” The New York Times (1/5, 20.6M) reports Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) are expected to object to the certification of Arizona’s electors, Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) to those of Georgia, and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) to those of Pennsylvania. The challenges “were all but certain to fail amid bipartisan opposition. But their decision to join House Republicans in seeking to overturn the election ensured that Congress would be thrust into a caustic debate over the results.” The Washington Post (1/5, 10.52M) reports that until Tuesday, Cruz “had declined to identify a specific state whose electors he will challenge.”

USA Today(1/5,Garrison,12.7M)says“13 Republican senators and perhaps more than 100 House members will look to exert enormous federal power in choosing a president that would be unprecedented in modern American history. ... Trump loyalists in the Senate and House have cast the joint session as the moment where the truth will finally come out-a fact-finding mission-about voter fraud allegations that have been debunked in court over the past two months.”Roll Call(1/5,Tully-McManus,McPherson,130K)says“the GOP effort will likely extend the process into the night-and possibly the next day。”

EFTA00148595 The Los Angeles Times (1/5, 3.37M) writes, “If the Senate upholds an objection and the House does not, or vice versa, the objection does not succeed and the votes are counted. … So why are Republicans doing this? Mostly because Trump has asked them to as part of his effort to falsely portray the 2020 election results as invalid.” The Washington Post (1/5, Nakamura, 10.52M) writes that “since his defeat in the November election, Trump’s critics have warned that his scorched-earth effort to invalidate the outcome amounts to a new level of danger: the first attempted coup d’etat in U.S. history to illegally maintain power.” However, CNN (1/5, Raju, Herb, 89.21M) reports on its website, “a growing number of Republicans are balking at efforts to reject the Electoral College votes.” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) writes in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette (1/5, 309K), “Objecting to certified electoral votes won’t give the president a second term. With Democrats in control of the House, Republicans have no chance of invalidating even a single electoral vote, much less enough votes to deny Joe Biden a majority in the electoral college. Instead, these objections would exceed Congress’ constitutional power, while creating unwise precedents that Democrats could abuse the next time they are in power.” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) writes in the Manhattan (KS) Mercury (1/5, 30K), “I am a conservative Republican. Therefore, I must strictly adhere to the United States Constitution. … To vote to reject these state-certified electoral votes would be to act outside the bounds of the Constitution, which I will not do.” Axios (1/5, Treene, 1.26M) reports Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) also plans to certify Biden’s win. Fox News (1/5, Singman, 23.99M) reports on its website that Sens. John Boozman (R-AR), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Mitt Romney (R-UT), and Roger Wicker (R-MS), among others, have also “said that they will vote to certify the Electoral College count.” Pence Reportedly Told Trump He Has No Power To Block Certification. The AP (1/5, Miller, Colvin) says Pence “finds himself in the most precarious position of his tenure as he prepares to preside over Wednesday’s congressional tally of Electoral College votes.” According to the AP, Pence, “whose proscribed role is largely pro forma, is under intense pressure from the president and legions of supporters who want the vice president to use the moment to overturn the will of the voters in a handful of critical battleground states.” Reuters (1/5, Mason) reports, “Trump ramped up pressure on Pence on Tuesday to block Congress’ certification of the November election results. … But the vice president, a loyal lieutenant during the four years of Trump’s often chaotic presidency, has no plans to attempt to do so, even as he seeks to show support for the Republican president’s quest.” The New York Times (1/5, 20.6M) reports Pence told the President on Tuesday “that he did not believe he had the power to block congressional certification” of Biden’s victory “despite Mr. Trump’s baseless insistence that he did.” Pence’s message, “delivered during his weekly lunch with the president, came hours after Mr. Trump further turned up the public pressure” on Pence “to do his bidding when Congress convenes Wednesday.” However, The Hill (1/5, Samuels, 5.69M) reports Trump denied the Times account. He “called the report ‘fake news’ and insisted he and Pence were ‘in total agreement that the Vice President has the power to act’ to decertify results of the Electoral College.” CNN (1/5, Liptak, 89.21M) reports on its website that Pence “has previously sought to explain his ceremonial role to the President in the hopes of easing pressure on himself in the lead-up to the January 6 joint session of Congress. A person close to him said Tuesday he would ‘follow the law and Constitution.’” Politico (1/5, Niedzwiadek, Cheney, 6.73M) reports Pence “was also tangentially involved in a minor imbroglio Tuesday about whether he would show up on the Capitol at all Wednesday, leaving the duties” to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), the Senate president pro tempore. However, “both the vice president and Grassley’s offices moved quickly to defuse the speculation.” The Washington Post (1/5, Dawsey, 10.52M) says Pence and his team “have begun anticipating the ire of President Trump – likely to come in the form of angry tweets – in the aftermath” of Wednesday’s certification. EFTA00148596 WPost Analysis: Wednesday Session Marks Start Of “More Challenging Era” For McConnell. The Washington Post (1/5, 10.52M) reports that “a new chapter” in Senate Majority Leader McConnell’s “14-year run as Senate Republican leader is set to begin in dramatic fashion Wednesday, with the GOP majority hanging in the balance and his members badly split on a fundamental question of democracy. … McConnell appears to be entering a more challenging era – a return to a period of GOP jockeying and infighting likely to be further complicated by Trump’s continued presence.” McConnell will be the first to speak on any challenges Wednesday, providing “an opportunity to make an early and definitive statement that Trump lost and it is time to move on. … Yet any gesture rejecting Trump’s claims will inflame the GOP’s hard-right base and stoke a conflict inside his own ranks.” Federal Judge Dismisses Trump’s Bid To “De-Certify” Georgia Results. Bloomberg (1/5, 3.57M) reports that on Tuesday, President Trump “failed again to invalidate his election loss in Georgia and allow the state’s Republican-led legislature to declare him the winner.” Bloomberg says US District Judge Mark H. Cohen in Atlanta “denied Trump’s motion to ‘de-certify’ [Biden’s] victory in the state.” According to Bloomberg, “The ruling came in a Dec. 31 lawsuit filed by Trump that rehashed claims of voter fraud previously made by his campaign and allies in dozens of other cases that were universally rejected by courts.” The New York Times (1/5, Feuer, 20.6M) also covers the ruling. Mitchell Resigns From Law Firm Following Trump Call To Georgia Officials. The New York Times (1/5, 20.6M) reports attorney Cleta Mitchell, who has been “advising [Trump] in recent weeks,” has resigned from her law firm “after it was revealed that she participated in the call where Mr. Trump pressured Georgia officials to help him reverse the state’s election results.” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1/5, 844K) reports a statement from Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner read in part, “Cleta Mitchell has informed firm management of her decision to resign from Foley & Lardner effective immediately. Ms. Mitchell concluded that her departure was in the firm’s best interests, as well as in her own personal best interests.” The Washington Post (1/5, Kranish, 10.52M) says Mitchell “is a onetime Democratic member of the Oklahoma legislature who became a Republican and has made a Washington career representing GOP candidates, committees and causes, culminating with her work after the election advising Trump.” Navarro Says Democrats Employed “Conscious Strategy To Tip This Election” To Biden. In an appearance on the Brian Kilmeade Show (1/5), Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Navarro said Democrats focused “on two prongs of attack. One was to dramatically increase the absentee and mail-in ballots specifically in the battleground states, and at the same time, they wanted to dramatically decrease the level of ballot verification.” Navarro continued, “There was a conscious strategy to tip this election in favor of Biden using sometimes legal means, but at times, clear bending and breaking rules.” Scottish Leader Says Trump Cannot Travel There At Time Of Inauguration. The New York Times (1/5, Landler, Haberman, 20.6M) reports, “Trump has not said where he plans to go after leaving the White House on Jan. 20. But the leader of Scotland made clear on Tuesday that Mr. Trump is not welcome in her country.” First Minister Nicola Sturgeon “said that under newly imposed virus restrictions, which prohibit all but essential travel, a visit by the president to one of his Scottish golf resorts, Trump Turnberry, would not be acceptable.” The Times says rumors that Trump “would head for Scotland flared after a Scottish paper reported that an American military version of a Boeing 757 – sometimes used by Mr. Trump – was scheduled to land at a nearby airport” on January 19. The Independent (UK) (1/5, 1.19M) reports Sturgeon said, “We are not allowing people to come in to Scotland without an essential purpose right now and that would apply to him, just as it applies to anybody else. Coming to play golf is not what I would consider to be an essential purpose.” The Washington Post (1/5, Booth, 10.52M) says “the White House batted away the speculation. ‘Anonymous sources who claim to know what the President is or is not considering EFTA00148597 have no idea. When President Trump has an announcement about his plans for Jan. 20 he will let you know,' White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a written statement." ## US Passes 21M COVID Cases. On the CBS Evening NewsVi (1/5, story 5, 3:20, 4.65M), Norah O’Donnell reported the US has “just passed 21 million confirmed cases. And after one to have the deadliest weeks of the pandemic, the US death toll now tops 356,000.” Jonathan Vigliotti added one “major concern now is that new variant of the virus, over 50% more contagious, found in California, Florida, Colorado, New York, and now Georgia.” The AP (1/5, Kirka, Charlton) also highlights that a growing number of countries “are reporting cases of [the] new, more contagious variant that has already swept across Britain.” In addition, the Washington Post (1/5, A1, Nirappil, Wan, 10.52M) reports the US now has “record numbers of Americans hospitalized with the coronavirus, straining a health-care system bracing for a post-holidays surge that has the potential to further stress hospitals.” The Post adds, “More than 131,000 covid-19 patients were hospitalized nationwide as of Tuesday, eclipsing the record set in the last week of 2020. Facilities across the West and South are especially burdened.” Arizona Has Highest Rate Of COVID Cases Nationwide. On ABC World News TonightVi (1/5, story 4, 3:55, Muir, 7.66M), Matt Gutman reported Arizona has “the highest rate of infections in the country. Patients driving as far as six hours to find an open ICU bed.” The New York Times (1/5, Robertson, Smith, 20.6M) also reports that from “more than a month, from early June until mid July,” Arizona had “added cases at the highest per capita rate in the country,” and now “is again in dire shape, with a higher rate of new cases than any other state.” According to the Times, “Hospitalizations and deaths have surpassed records. Over the last week, the state has averaged more than 8,000 cases a day, more than double the summer peak.” ## NIH Scientists Work With Moderna To Study Benefit Of Smaller Doses. On NBC Nightly NewsVi (1/5, story 4, 2:15, 6.11M), Lester Holt said that the US COVID vaccine roll out is sparking “growing frustration over the slow pace, [with] just 273,000 vaccinated [Monday].” Tom Costello reported on long waits in Florida to receive the vaccine, and added that one California hospital “had to vaccinate local jail staff and nursing home residents within hours after the hospital freezer failed, putting all of its vaccine doses in jeopardy.” Costello added, “Nationwide, 12,000 vaccination sites are up and running, an increase from 1,000 three weeks ago.” However, the New York Times (1/5, A1, Stolberg, LaFraniere, 20.6M) reports that federal officials “and drugmakers, faced with a slower-than-expected rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, are racing to find ways to expand the supply, looking at lowering the required dosage and extracting more doses from the supplies they have.” The Times adds that scientists at the National Institutes of Health and Moderna “are analyzing data to see if they can double the supply of the company’s coronavirus vaccine by cutting doses in half” as part of a “long planned” study that has become “increasingly urgent in the face of looming shortages as the country tries to fight off a surging pandemic.” In another article, the New York Times (1/5, Stolberg, 20.6M) reports John Mascola, the Director of the Vaccine Research Center at the NIH, indicated that “the research, which also involves scientists from Operation Warp Speed, the government’s vaccine initiative, could take about two months.” The Times says “the prospect of doubling the supply of Moderna doses was first raised on Sunday by Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the head of Operation Warp Speed, who said...that data from Moderna’s clinical trials demonstrated that people between the ages of 18 and 55 who received two 50-microgram doses showed an ‘identical immune response’ to the two 100-microgram doses.” EFTA00148598 Fauci Says US Could Soon Be Giving At Least 1M COVID Vaccinations A Day. The AP (1/5, Neergaard) reports NIAID Director Fauci on Tuesday predicted the US “could soon be giving at least a million COVID-19 vaccinations a day despite the sluggish start...even as he warned of a dangerous next few weeks as the coronavirus surges.” Fauci told the AP, “Any time you start a big program, there’s always glitches. I think the glitches have been worked out.” With the holidays over, Fauci added, “once you get rolling and get some momentum, I think we can achieve one million a day or even more.” The Hill (1/5, Axelrod, 5.69M) also reports that Fauci called “Joe Biden’s plan to inject 100 million Americans with the vaccine in his first 100 days ‘a very realistic, important, achievable goal.’” Adams Says States Should Proceed To Vaccinate “Other Priority Groups” Beyond Healthcare Workers. The New York Times (1/5, Goodnough, 20.6M) reports that amid a slow rollout of vaccines, Surgeon General Adams “urged the states on Tuesday not to stick rigidly to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines about whom to vaccinate first” if healthcare workers are not getting the vaccine. On NBC’s Today, Adams argued, “If the demand isn’t there in 1a, go to 1b and continue on down. If the demand isn’t there in one location, move those vaccines to another location.” Adams said, “Your headline today really should be, ‘Surgeon General tells states and governors to move quickly to other priority groups.’” Asked on NBC's TodayVi (1/5, 1.98M) about current challenges in distributing vaccines, Adams said, "We need to continue to do a better job of matching up supply and demand at the local level. Some states are doing a really good job," noting that others "still haven’t distributed more than 25% of their vaccines." Messonnier Predicts Delays In Vaccinations Will Improve Soon. STAT (1/5, Joseph, 262K) reports Nancy Messonnier, Director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, on Tuesday “predicted...delays in the administration of the shots would improve soon, even as public health experts have piled up complaints about the slow rollout and about the gap between the number of doses distributed versus those actually going into people’s arms.” Messonnier said, “I really expect the pace of administration to go up pretty massively in the next couple weeks.” Cuomo: New York In Talks To Increase Its Vaccine Allotment. Bloomberg (1/5, 3.57M) reports that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) revealed on Tuesday that the state is “talking to the federal government about an increase in its weekly 300,000-dose vaccine supply as it prepares to boost distribution.” However, “So far, only about 900,000 vaccines have been distributed for a cohort of 2.1 million health-care workers, Cuomo said Tuesday at a virus briefing. ‘You’d need another four weeks of allocations before you can get out of health-care workers, roughly, roughly, before you finish 1A and then move to 1B,’ Cuomo said, describing the state’s tiered distribution system.” According to Bloomberg, “The 1B category includes essential workers and members of the general public over the age of 75.” Hogan Outlines Plans To Accelerate Vaccine Rollout. The Baltimore Sun (1/5, Wood, Stole, 629K) reports Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) “announced actions Tuesday to speed up the [vaccine] process, while cautioning against assigning blame.” The Sun adds Hogan “said he had ‘productive’ conversations Tuesday with CVS CEO Lerry Merlo and Walgreens President John Stanley,” and said he contacted HHS Secretary Azar “on Tuesday ‘to express our serious concerns about the pace of the federal nursing home/pharmacy program.’” According to the Sun, Hogan also “pledged that vaccines soon would be administered so quickly that the state would be using up its doses of vaccines before the next shipments arrive.” In addition, the Washington Post (1/5, Cox, Tan, Fadulu, 10.52M) reports that Hogan announced he will “deploy the state’s National Guard to hasten local health departments’ inoculation of medical workers, while threatening to take away unused vaccines from hospitals slow to administer them.” The Hill (1/5, Weixel, 5.69M) provides similar coverage. California Has Only Administered A Third Of Its Available Vaccine Doses. The AP (1/5, Ronayne) reports that "distribution hiccups and logistical challenges have slowed the EFTA00148599 initial coronavirus vaccine rollout in California,” and “so far only about 1% of California’s 40 million residents have been vaccinated.” According to the AP, “The 454,000 doses of vaccine that have been administered in California represent just a third of the more than nearly 1.3 million received in the state so far.” The AP says that “even as he acknowledged the state must do better,” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) “sought to shift some responsibility for the slow rollout, noting ‘the vaccines don’t arrive magically in some state facility.’” ## Congress Using Curative COVID Test Despite FDA Warning Of False Hits. Politico (1/5, Lim, Ferris, 6.73M) reports that the House and Senate have been "screening members and staff with a Covid-19 test that the Food and Drug Administration says is prone to false results – complicating the already difficult task of stemming coronavirus outbreaks on Capitol Hill.” According to Politico, the Office of the Attending Physician “has been offering the test, made by Curative, to members, staff and reporters on Capitol Hill since at least November,” but its accuracy is “in doubt, after the FDA took the unusual step Monday of alerting health care providers and patients that the test poses a `risk of false results, particularly false negative results." ## Some California Hospitals Activate Crisis Care Standards. On NBC Nightly NewsVi (1/5, story 6, 1:55, Holt, 6.11M), Miguel Almaguer reported California’s healthcare system is “in critical condition,” and “at least one LA hospital has activated its crisis care standards, allowing the medical center to ration care. As COVID cases cripple and overwhelm ERs, residents in southern California are being urged to only call 911 in an extreme emergency. And now in a stunning directive, EMS teams in Los Angeles County are being asked to conserve oxygen as paramedics have been told not to transport patients who can’t be resuscitated.” The New York Times (1/5, Patil, 20.6M) also says California deployed the US Army Corps of Engineers and the California Emergency Medical Services Authority to deliver and refill oxygen tanks. In addition, the Times reports Los Angeles County officials “said a person is being infected every six seconds in the county and one in five residents currently tested was infected with Covid-19.” Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times (1/5, Cosgrove, 3.37M) reports Los Angeles County “hit another disturbing milestone Tuesday, exceeding 11,000 COVID-19 deaths.” Los Angeles County has “reported nearly 1,300 deaths since Dec. 30, according to health officials, including 237 on Tuesday, according to data compiled by The Times.” ## Mississippi Says 108 Inmates Died In 2020 But Does Not Disclose Cause Of Death. The New York Times (1/5, Griesbach, 20.6M) says the Mississippi Department of Corrections “reported that 108 people died in its prisons in 2020, a toll that was significantly higher than a year earlier,” but the department as of Monday “had not disclosed whether any of those deaths were caused by the coronavirus, though more than 1,400 inmates have been infected since the pandemic’s start, according to state data.” ## Florida Nursing Home Vaccinated Wealthy Donors. The Washington Post (1/5, Boburg, 10.52M) reports Keith Myers, the CEO of MorseLife Health System, “a high-end nursing home and assisted-living facility” in West Palm Beach, Florida, has made “scarce coronavirus vaccines – provided through a federal program intended for residents and staff of long-term-care facilities – available not just to its residents but to board members and those who made generous donations to the facility, including members of the Palm Beach Country Club, according to multiple people who were offered access, some of whom accepted it.” The Post adds the vaccinations, “in appearing to rely on a program run by chain pharmacies for nursing home residents and staff, may have violated national immunization guidelines, as well as state protocols.” EFTA00148600 # INTERNATIONAL NEWS ## WHO Director-General Criticizes China For Blocking Researchers’ Access. The Wall Street Journal (1/5, Hinshaw, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) reports the World Health Organization on Tuesday criticized China, with the agency utilizing a news conference to convey disappointment that China has yet to provide authorization to United Nations investigators to look into the coronavirus pandemic's origins. The AP (1/5, Keaten) reports WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus “said...he was ‘very disappointed’ that China has still not authorised the entry of a team of international experts to examine the origins of the coronavirus,” and “said members of the international scientific team began departing from their home countries over the last 24 hours as part of an arrangement between WHO and the Chinese government.” Reuters (1/5) says that “the 10-strong team had been due to set off in early January as part of a long-awaited mission to probe early cases of the coronavirus.” ## EU Confronts Problems With Vaccine Rollout. The New York Times (1/5, Santora, 20.6M) reports European officials “promised that mass vaccinations will bring an end to the suffering,” but the bloc is facing “shortages of needles in Italy, Greece and other countries,” while Spain “has not trained enough nurses,” and France “has only managed to vaccinate around 7,000 people.” The Times adds Poland “was rocked by scandal after it was revealed that celebrities were given preferential treatment,” and Germany faces “calls...to take control over vaccine purchases from European Union authorities.” According to the Times, “Nearly every country in Europe has complained about burdensome paperwork. And then there is the Netherlands, which has not even begun its campaign.” ## Germany Lengthens Lockdown, Toughens Restrictions. The AP (1/5, Grieshaber) reports the German government “said Tuesday it is extending the country’s lockdown by three weeks until Jan. 31.” Chancellor Angela Merkel “said it was ‘absolutely necessary’ to maintain restrictions, particularly in light of a more infectious variant of the virus that emerged in England.” Following a videoconference with Germany’s state governors, Merkel said, “We must reach a point where we can once again follow the chains of infection.” The AP adds that Merkel “said that restrictions on social contacts will be tightened. People will be allowed to meet only one person outside their own household.” Moreover, “authorities across Germany will allow people in areas with more than 200 new infections per 100,000 residents over seven days to travel only 15 kilometers (just over nine miles) from their hometown unless they have a good reason to go further.” ## UK Says One Out Of Every 50 People In England Has COVID. Bloomberg (1/5, 3.57M) reports that according to the British government, in excess of one million individuals in England are now infected with the coronavirus. Official survey results indicated that one out of every 50 people in England has COVID, with that ratio in London being one in 30. Prime Minister Boris Johnson “unveiled the statistics as he vowed to speed up the government’s vaccination program, in order eventually to lift the latest lockdown,” which Johnson “put the country into” on Monday. On ABC World News TonightVi (1/5, story 5, 1:15, Muir, 7.66M), James Longman reported that on Tuesday, “there were more than 60,000 new cases in just one day, the most ever in Britain.” According to the AP (1/5, Kirka), the UK “is facing a long, bleak winter as cold, wet weather and a more contagious variant of the coronavirus,” which has “put unprecedented strain on the nation’s hospitals and force record numbers of patients to wait 12 hours or more, sometimes on ambulance gurneys, before receiving treatment.” The New York Times (1/5, Castle, Santora, 20.6M) reports that with “more than a million confirmed cases in the week EFTA00148601 ending Jan. 2, or 2 percent of England’s population, Britain is in a race against time to distribute vaccines.” ## Israel Leading World In Coronavirus Vaccination. On NBC Nightly NewsVi (1/5, story 5, 1:30, Holt, 6.11M), Richard Engel reported Israel “is rolling out the COVID vaccine far more quickly and efficiently than any other nation by far.” According to Engel, “Israel has immunized 1.3 million people, about 12% of the population, with the Pfizer vaccine. And of the top priority group including those over 60 or in fragile health they’ve given the first shot to 55%.” However, the Los Angeles Times (1/5, Tarnopolsky, 3.37M) reports that while Israel’s “extraordinary achievement” is being “hailed by public health experts at home and abroad, and one that could propel it toward coveted herd immunity more rapidly than almost any nation,” the country faces “criticism for leaving behind the nearly 5 million Palestinians under its control in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, who are expected to wait considerably longer for mass inoculation.” ## Palau Would Owe Vaccination Effort To Operation Warp Speed. The Washington Post (1/5, Berger, 10.52M) reports Palau, a “tiny island nation” that is “partnered with the United States under a ‘free association’ agreement,” could soon “vaccinate nearly its entire population against the coronavirus. If it succeeds, it will have Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. vaccine development and distribution plan, to thank.” The Post adds that Palau’s isolation has “served as a shield during the coronavirus pandemic: Palau has not recorded a single case of covid-19, the illness caused by the virus,” and this week, “after receiving 2,800 doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine through the U.S. program Saturday, the country swiftly began a mass vaccination plan for its population of 18,000.” ## US Accuses Iran Of Seizing South Korean Tanker In Response To Sanctions. The New York Times (1/5, Kwai, Choe, 20.6M) reports that South Korea “will send a delegation to negotiate the release of a ship and its 20-member crew after the vessel was seized by Iranian forces.” According to the Times, Iranian officials “said the ship was detained in the Persian Gulf by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps because it had violated environmental protocols and was polluting the sea,” but the seizure happened “as Tehran has sought to pressure the government in Seoul to release about $7 billion in revenues from oil sales that remain frozen in South Korean banks since the Trump administration tightened sanctions on Iran.” The Times reports that “news outlets linked to the Revolutionary Guards ran front-page headlines on Tuesday linking the seizure of the ship to negotiations with South Korea on releasing the frozen funds.” The Washington Post (1/5, 10.52M) reports that the State Department called the seizure “part of a clear attempt to extort the international community into relieving the pressure of sanctions.” Iran “rejected that characterization, even as it repeated its demand for Seoul to return money that has been frozen by its banks due to U.S. sanctions.” Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei told reporters, “We’ve become used to such allegations…but if there is any hostage-taking, it is Korea’s government that is holding $7 billion which belongs to us hostage on baseless grounds.” Reuters (1/5, Cha) says Iran’s “ability to challenge shipping in the Gulf is one of its main points of leverage in what is expected to be a difficult negotiation when the Biden administration takes office.” Bloomberg (1/5, Motevalli, 3.57M) reports that South Korea “ordered its naval destroyer ROKS Choi Young to waters near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.” ## Treasury Sanctions Chinese Firm Tied Iran’s Steel Industry. Reuters (1/5) reports that on Tuesday, the US "blacklisted a Chinese company that makes elements for steel production, 12 Iranian steel and metals makers and three foreign-based sales agents of a major Iranian metals and mining holding company, seeking to deprive Iran of EFTA00148602 revenues.” Reuters says the Treasury Department “named the China-based company as Kaifeng Pingmei New Carbon Materials Technology Co Ltd. (KFCC), saying it specialized in the manufacture of carbon materials and provided thousands of metric tonnes of materials to Iranian steel companies between December 2019 and June 2020.” Treasury Secretary Mnuchin released a statement reading, “The Trump Administration remains committed to denying revenue flowing to the Iranian regime as it continues to sponsor terrorist groups, support oppressive regimes, and seek weapons of mass destruction.” ## AP Analysis: Trump Moves Make It Harder For Biden To Engage With Iran. The AP (1/5, Burns, Baldor) reports in an analysis that Joe Biden is “facing an increasingly uncertain situation when it comes to Iran,” due to its “provocative moves…and less-than-coherent actions by the outgoing Trump administration.” In “the past week alone, President Donald Trump’s team has dispatched B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf in response to alleged Iranian attack planning and reversed an order to bring home the USS Nimitz, the only U.S. aircraft carrier in the region.” The AP adds that on Monday, Iran “announced it had resumed advanced uranium enrichment in violation of the 2015 nuclear deal.” According to the AP, “This combustible combination coming just two weeks before [Biden’s] inauguration threatens to derail or at least delay Biden’s hopes to return the U.S. to the nuclear accord that Trump withdrew from in 2018.” In a separate story, the AP (1/5) reports that “later comments Tuesday by the head of Iran’s civilian nuclear program suggested Tehran’s current production of uranium enriched to 20% wouldn’t reach levels needed for a nuclear weapon for over two years, potentially giving time for negotiations under” Biden. Reuters (1/5, Cha) says Biden “aims to revive the nuclear agreement, but any thaw is likely to pose a diplomatic challenge.” Reuters continues, “Since Trump abandoned the deal, Iran has taken steps that violate it; Biden says Iran must be fully compliant before the deal can be restored, while Iran says Washington must first lift the sanctions.” ## Afghan Peace Talks Resume In Qatar. The Washington Post (1/5, Constable, 10.52M) says that on Tuesday, “Afghan delegates flew to Qatar...to reopen peace talks with Taliban leaders amid a rash of mutual recriminations, mixed signals from U.S. officials and a continued spate of assassinations targeting prominent civilians.” Also Tuesday, Zalmay Khalilzad, “the U.S. diplomat who brokered a separate U.S. deal with the Taliban in February, arrived in Kabul” from Qatar. According to the Post, “While both Afghan and Taliban officials have issued recent statements saying they were committed to the talks…their messages were tinged with anger and blame that boded ill for the new round.” The Post adds that “some observers in Kabul predicted that the talks, which are resuming after a two-week holiday hiatus, would probably collapse.” The Wall Street Journal (1/5, Amiri, Donati, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) provides similar coverage. ## Countries Along Former Soviet Borders Rebuilding Their Defenses. The Wall Street Journal (1/5, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) reports countries along the former borders of the Soviet Union are alarmed by Russia's aggressive foreign policy under Vladimir Putin and are moving to rebuild their defenses. The Journal focuses in particular on Sweden, which remained neutral during the Cold War but is now strengthening its ties with the US. ## At Start Of North Korean Party Congress, Kim Says Five-Year Economic Plan Failed.

Reuters(1/5, Shin) reports as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un opened the ruling Worker's Party congress on Tuesday, he "said his five-year economic plan had failed to meet its goal 'on almost every sector."" Kim said, "The previous five-year plan was due last year but it tremendously fell short of goals on almost every sector." Bloomberg(1/5, 3.57M) reports Kim said the party would explore a "new path" for making a "big leap forward."

EFTA00148603 The New York Times (1/5, 20.6M) says Kim’s comments come “amid deepening economic trouble caused by the one-two punch of international sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic.” Similarly, the AP (1/5, Kim) says the congress “could be crucial, coming as it does amid what some experts see as the most fraught moment of Kim’s nine-year rule.” ## Pro-Democracy Figures Arrested In Hong Kong. The AP (1/5, Soo) cites local media reports which say “about 50 Hong Kong pro-democracy figures were arrested by police on Wednesday under a national security law, following their involvement in an unofficial primary election last year held to increase their chances of controlling the legislature.” The New York Times (1/5, 20.6M) says the arrests “marked the largest roundup yet under the security law, which the central Chinese government imposed on Hong Kong in June to quash dissent after months of fierce anti-Beijing protests. The move on Wednesday suggested that the authorities were casting a wide net for anyone who had played a prominent role in opposing the government.” The Washington Post (1/5, Yu, 10.52M) reports, "Several arrested and charged under the law have been denied bail, meaning the pro-democracy activists arrested Wednesday could be held indefinitely until formal hearings, which could take weeks." ## Former Chief Of Major Chinese State Bank Sentenced To Death. The New York Times (1/5, Stevenson, 20.6M) reports that Lai Xiaomin, “the former chief of a big Chinese state lender, was sentenced to death on Tuesday for bribery, corruption and bigamy, in a rare and dramatic example of Beijing’s use of capital punishment for economic crimes.” Lai “was found guilty by a court in the coastal city of Tianjin of receiving some $277 million in bribes,” and “was among the highest-profile figures to fall from grace amid a sweeping crackdown on corruption by Xi Jinping, China’s top leader.” The Times adds that “the unusually harsh sentence could send a signal that Mr. Xi is not ready to ease his anticorruption campaign, which he began shortly after he took control of the Communist Party in late 2012.” Bloomberg (1/5, 3.57M) reports that “capital punishment is unusual for corruption in China,” and says “the move underscores the ruling Communist Party’s increasingly tough stance on corruption among government cadres and corporate executives, which has seen more than 1.5 million government officials punished.” ## Saudis End Three-Year Rift With Qatar At Urging Of Trump Administration. The AP (1/5, Batrawy, DeBre, Nabil) reports that on Tuesday, “Gulf Arab leaders signed a declaration...to ease a rift with Qatar, following Saudi Arabia’s decision to end a 3 1/2-year embargo of the tiny energy-rich country that deeply divided regional U.S. security allies and frayed social ties across the Arabian Peninsula.” In addition, Saudi Arabia “said it was restoring full diplomatic relations with Qatar, although it was not clear how soon the step would be followed by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, which had joined the kingdom in isolating the country over its regional policies.” According to the AP, “The diplomatic breakthrough followed a final push by the outgoing Trump administration,” and “also came as Saudi Arabia seeks to unify Arab ranks ahead of the incoming administration...which is expected to take a firmer stand toward the kingdom and re-enage with Iran.” The New York Times (1/5, Specia, 20.6M) says “few details were immediately available” about the deal, which was “signed at a regional summit meeting in Al Ula, Saudi Arabia, by representatives from that kingdom and the five other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.” According to the Times, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, “speaking during the meeting, said the agreement emphasized ‘solidarity and stability in the Gulf.’” Reuters (1/5, Yaakoubi) reports that the deal “followed mediation efforts by the United States and Kuwait, and a U.S. official has said Qatar would suspend legal cases related to the boycott.” Reuters notes that White House senior adviser Jared Kushner attended the regional gathering in Al Ula on Tuesday. According to Reuters, the Trump Administration “has been pushing for a resolution EFTA00148604 to the dispute that Washington sees as hindering efforts to contain Iran,” and Kushner was “making phone calls on the emerging deal until the early hours of Monday.” The Wall Street Journal (1/5, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) provides similar coverage. ## Socialists Take Control Of Venezuela's Congress. The AP (1/5, Rueda, Goodman) reports “allies of President Nicolas Maduro retook control of Venezuela’s congress Tuesday, the last institution in the country it didn’t already control.” The ruling socialist party “swept legislative elections last month boycotted by the opposition and denounced as a sham by the U.S., the European Union and several other foreign governments.” Incoming assembly president Jorge Rodriguez “vowed to ‘exorcise’ from the legislative palace all vestiges of its previous occupants, who he accused of plotting from its neo-classical chamber Maduro’s violent overthrow with the help of foreign mercenaries and the Trump administration.” ## Vietnam Sentences Three Journalists To Prison. In what the New York Times (1/5, 20.6M) calls “the latest crackdown on independent thought” in Vietnam, “where the authorities are busy stamping out dissent ahead of an important meeting by the ruling Communist Party later this month,” three journalists were sentenced to prison on Tuesday, “including a prominent reporter who had written for foreign news organizations and advocated press freedom in the one-party state.” The reporter, Pham Chi Dung, “was sentenced to 15 years on charges of making and disseminating propaganda against the state. … Two other journalists, Nguyen Tuong Thuy and Le Huu Minh Tuan, were sentenced on similar charges in the same Ho Chi Minh City court. They received 11 years each.” ## Ethiopian Police Release Reuters Cameraman. Reuters (1/5) reports Reuters cameraman Kumerra Gemechu was released by Ethiopian police Tuesday after he was detained “without charge for 12 days. Police had told his lawyer Melkamu Ogo that their lines of inquiry included accusations of disseminating false information, communicating with groups fighting the government, and disturbing the public’s peace and security,” but Melkamu “said he had seen no evidence.” ## THE BIG PICTURE ## Headlines From Today's Front Pages. ## Wall Street Journal:

Tight Georgia Runoff Races Leave Senate Control In Balance

Hong Kong Police Arrest Dozens Of Opposition Politicians Over Alleged Subversion

NYSE Takes Heat After Flip-Flop On Chinese Companies

Russian Aggression Spurs Neighbors To Rebuild Defenses

Frank Gehry's Luxury New York City Skyscraper Has Everything – Except Enough Tenants

Saudi Arabia To Cut Oil Production Sharply In Bid To Lift Prices

## New York Times:

Pence Said To Have Told Trump He Lacks Power To Change Election Result

Warnock Beats Loeffler In Georgia Senate Race

Warning Of Shortages, Researchers Look To Stretch Vaccine Supply

Jacob Blake Shooting: No Charges Against Officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin

One Hospital System Sued 2,500 Patients After Pandemic Hit

‘I Will Get Up’: A Hard New Year Greets A World In Waiting

Washington Post: EFTA00148605 West And South Feel Pressure As Hospitalizations Hit Record With Senate Control At Stake, Georgia Votes He’s Not On Ballot, But Trump Looms Large In Voters’ Minds A Final Test Of Pence’s Loyalty To Trump McConnell Is Assured A Turbulent Road Ahead ## Financial Times: Trump Pressures Pence To Overturn US Election Result Microsoft Looks To Make 2021 The Year Of Teams Gojek And Tokopedia In Advanced Talks To Form $18BN Tech Group ## Washington Times:

Democrats On Verge Of Stunning Sweep In Georgia Senate Runoffs

Trump Presses Pence To Upend Electoral College: ‘The Vice President Has The Power’

Greens Rip EPA’s New ‘Secret Science’ Rule As Last-Ditch Attempt To Hamstring Biden Tighter Budgets Force Marines To Speed Embrace Of Ambitious Overhaul

Immigration Loophole, Often Ripped By Trump, Finally Confirmed By DHS Data

Side Effects: US Sees 400,000 More Deaths In 2020 As COVID Wreaks Havoc

## Story Lineup From Last Night’s Network News: ABC: Georgia-Senate Runoff; Election Certification; Wisconsin-No Charges In Jacob Blake Case; COVID Surge; UK-Lockdown; NFL-COVID; American Airlines-Emotional Support Animal Ban; Stepdad Adopts Stepson. CBS: Georgia-Senate Runoff; Election Certification; Iranian Threat; Russia-Cyber Hack; COVID Surge; Wisconsin-No Charges In Jacob Blake Case; NFL-COVID; Amazon-Boeing Jets; Grammys; Alex Trebek Farewell. NBC: Wisconsin-No Charges In Jacob Blake Case; Georgia-Senate Runoff; Election Certification; Vaccines; Vaccines-Israel; COVID Surge; Russia-Cyber Hack; Maryland-Rep. Raskin’s Son; COVID Protocols; Powerball; Man Helps Family Who Lost Everything In Fire. ## Network TV At A Glance: Georgia-Senate Runoff – 9 minutes, 35 seconds COVID Surge – 9 minutes, 10 seconds Election Certification – 9 minutes, 0 seconds Wisconsin-No Charges In Jacob Blake Case – 6 minutes, 15 seconds ## Story Lineup From This Morning’s Radio News Broadcasts: **ABC:** Georgia-Senate Runoff; Election Certification; Vaccines; COVID-Variants. CBS: Georgia-Senate Runoff; Biden-Georgia Runoff; COVID-Variants; Russia-Cyber Hack; Wisconsin-No Charges In Jacob Blake Case. FOX: Georgia-Senate Runoff; Election Certification; Wisconsin-No Charges In Jacob Blake Case. NPR: Georgia-Senate Runoff; Wisconsin-No Charges In Jacob Blake Case; DC-Pro Trump Protests. ## WASHINGTON'S SCHEDULE ## Today's Events In Washington. ## White House: - President Trump — Will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings. The President will depart for the Ellipse at 10:50 AM to deliver remarks at a Save America Rally. EFTA00148606 - Vice President Pence — Presides over a joint session of Congress to count Electoral votes. ## US Senate: - Closed Briefing: Intelligence Matters Location: CVC 217, U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Washington, DC; 10:00 AM - Senates convenes and begins a period of morning business Location: U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC; 12:30 PM - Joint session of Congress convened to certify presidential election result – Congress meets in a joint session to count the Electoral College votes, presided over by Vice President Mike Pence, who announces the result before declaring who has been elected as president and vice president * Several Republican lawmakers, in both the House of Representatives and Senate, have said they intend to object to certain state electors, though any challenges are unlikely to succeed as they need to be passed by both the full Senate and Democrat-controlled House * Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election by over seven million votes ahead of President Donald Trump and Vice President Pence, with an Electoral College victory of 306 – 232, making Trump the first one term president since George H.W. Bush * Biden and Harris are sworn in 20 Jan Location: U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC ## US House: - House of Representatives meets for legislative business Location: U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC; 12:00 PM - Joint session of Congress convened to certify presidential election result – Congress meets in a joint session to count the Electoral College votes, presided over by Vice President Mike Pence, who announces the result before declaring who has been elected as president and vice president * Several Republican lawmakers, in both the House of Representatives and Senate, have said they intend to object to certain state electors, though any challenges are unlikely to succeed as they need to be passed by both the full Senate and Democrat-controlled House * Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election by over seven million votes ahead of President Donald Trump and Vice President Pence, with an Electoral College victory of 306 – 232, making Trump the first one term president since George H.W. Bush * Biden and Harris are sworn in 20 Jan Location: U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC ## Cabinet Officers: • No public schedules released. Visitors: • No scheduled visitors. This Town: - Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes and economic forecast published – Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes published. Summary of quarterly economic projections made by Federal Reserve Board members and Reserve Bank presidents also included * The FOMC decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0-0.25% at its last meeting in December as it continued to deal with the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the U.S. economy; 2:00 PM

• Operation Warp Speed logistics chief discusses vaccine rollout (virtual) – U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation holds a `Path Forward: Navigating the Return to Work’ event with Operation Warp Speed Supply, Production, and Distribution Head Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Paul Ostrowski, who discusses the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine rollout; 2:00 PM

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