From:"Bulletin Intelligence" <FBI@BulletinIntelligence.com>
To:"FBI@BulletinIntelligence.com" <FBI@BulletinIntelligence.com>
Subject:[EXTERNAL EMAIL] - FBI Public Affairs News Briefing Monday, April 26, 2021
Date:Mon, 26 Apr 2021 10:27:35 +0000
ImportanceNormal
Mobile version and searchable archives available at fbi.bulletinintelligence.com. FBI News Briefing TO: THE DIRECTOR AND SENIOR STAFF DATE: MONDAY, APRIL 26, 2021 6:30 AM EDT ## TODAY'S TABLE OF CONTENTS LEADING THE NEWS - Garland Signals More Investigations Into Local Police Departments Will Be Forthcoming. ## CAPITOL VIOLENCE NEWS - FBI Using Facial Recognition, Undercover Operations To Arrest Capitol Rioters. - Growing Number Of Those Arrested In Capitol Siege Probe Have Military, Law Enforcement, Or Government Ties. - Two Kansas Women Charged In Capitol Riot Probe. - FBI Arrests Man Who Boasted On Dating App Of Storming Capitol. - Texas Couple Charged With Assaulting Officers During Capitol Siege. - CNN Examines "Under-The-Radar" Case In Capitol Siege Probe. - California Man Charged With Injuring Officer During Capitol Siege. - Third Proud Boys Member Is Arrested In Capitol Siege Probe. - Capitol Siege Probes Zero In On Oath Keepers. - Judge Refuses To Release New Jersey Man Charged In Capitol Siege Probe. - Defense Contractor Employee Faces Charged In Capitol Riot Probe. - Capitol Police Officer Testifies At Trial Over Alleged Threats To Lawmakers. - Democrats Seek To Keep Capitol Siege In Public Spotlight. ## PROTESTS - Judge Sets Chauvin Sentencing For June 16. ## COUNTER-TERRORISM - New York Man Pleads Guilty To Terrorism Charge. - Virginia Man Arrested For Making Bomb Threats. - DOJ, FBI Pressured To Release 9/11 Links To Saudi Arabia. - French Authorities Detain Fourth Person In Terrorism Investigation After Fatal Police Stabbing. - Afghanistan Withdrawal Raises Questions About Guantanamo’s Future. ## COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE - Michigan Chemist Convicted Of Stealing Trade Secrets For Chinese Company. - NBC News Analysis: Trump’s Beefs With US Intel Community Simmer On Among His House Allies. EFTA00149760 - Indonesian Intelligence Official Killed In Papua. - New Zealand Denies Five Eyes Alliance At Risk. - US Airstrikes, Surveillance In Afghanistan May Be Maintained After Withdrawal. - Kash Patel Pushes Back Against Ignatius Column On Leaking Classified Information. ## CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS - Prosecutors Investigating 2018 Gaetz Trip To Bahamas. - Maxwell Pleads Not Guilty To Sex Trafficking Charges. - Decision On Releasing Body Camera Footage In North Carolina Case Could Come Monday. - Recordings Detail How Bryant Shooting Unfolded. - Judge Orders Manslaughter Case In Fatal Police Shooting Of Ghaisar Be Heard In Federal Court. - WPost Analysis: Despite Backlash Following Black Man’s Death, There Have Been Calls For Greater - Police Presence In DC Neighborhood. - Man Throws Acid On New York Woman Of Pakistani Descent. - Chinese American Man Attacked In NYC. - FBI Probing Hate Messages At Minnesota Mosque. - Iowa Woman Who Struck Children With Vehicle “Because She Thought They Were Of Middle Eastern, African Or Mexican Descent” Pleads Guilty. - Person Interrupts Racial Equity Group Meeting With Racist Slurs. - Whitmer Kidnap Plot Link Emerges In Threat Case Against New York Man. - Expert Testifies To Mental Health Report On Alleged Maryland Newspaper Gunman. - Massachusetts Man Found Not Guilty To Reason Of Insanity In Fatal Stabbing On Appalachian Trail In Virginia. - Federal Prosecutors Fight Bail Request Of Former NYPD Officer Charged In Murder-For-Hire Plot. - Former Arkansas Officer Sentenced For Theft Of Drug Money. - San Jose State Whistleblower Sues University Over Handling Of Sex Abuse Scandal. - FBI, NCMEC Ask For Help In Search For Texas Teen. - Florida Sheriff's Office Working With FBI On Case From 1994. - Michigan Man Sentenced For Child Sex Crimes After Two years On Run. - Pennsylvania Woman Sentenced For Sex Trafficking. - Virginia Man Pleads Guilty To Distributing Child Pornography. - North Carolina Man Sentenced For Receiving Child Pornography. ## FINANCIAL CRIME & CORPORATE SCANDALS - FirstEnergy Reportedly In Talks On Deferred Prosecution Agreement. - Judge Dismisses Bid To Drop Corruption Charges Against Former Arkansas Lawmaker. - Cuomo’s Office Will Not Reveal What It Told DOJ About Nursing Home Outbreaks. - Ex-South Carolina Sheriff, Deputies Convicted Of Corruption Conspiracy. - Federal Investigators Probing Alleged Problems With New York Bridge Cable Armor. - Concerns Raised About Tennessee Prison Contract. - Retired Cleveland Police Sergeant Charged With Tax Violations Involving His Security Business. ## CYBER DIVISION - Bipartisan Senate Bill Aims To Protect Critical Infrastructure Against Cyberattack. - Florida Company Managing Millions Of IP Addresses Previously Owned By Military. - U Of Georgia Grad Student Charged With Cyberstalking, Extorting Massachusetts Woman. - Neuberger Says Actions Taken Unlikely To Deter Russia From New Cyberattacks. - White House Cyber Director Nominee Seeks Closer Ties To Private Sector. - Opinion: US Must Improve Defenses In Era Of Cyber Espionage. - Malware Blamed For Extended Outages At Budget Airlines. EFTA00149761 - FBI Investigating Rwandan Diplomat For Zoom "Intrusion" On Dissident St. Mary's University. - FBI Warns About Scams As People Seek New Jobs. - Sextortion, Cyber-Crimes, And Cyberstalking Increasing. - Ransomware Gang Demanding $50M For Apple Watch And MacBook Pro Blueprints. - CIO Sherman Says DOD Zero-trust Strategy Will Be Implemented In 2021. - UK Cyber Spy Chief Says Emerging Quantum Computing Poses Risks From Adversaries. ## LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES - FBI: New Hampshire Residents Have Been Scammed Out Of Nearly $90K - Washington State Attempting To Reduce Police Shootings Via Training. - Harris Says Senate Must "Work Together" To Reach Police Reform Agreement. - Advocates Press Biden To End Death Penalty. - WPost Criticizes SCOTUS Ruling On Sentencing For Young Offenders. - Harris Calls For Congressional Action On Gun Control. ## INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Swiss Court Convicts German Financier In Fraud Case. ## OTHER FBI NEWS - FBI Names New Northwest Florida SAC. - Continuing Coverage: Rep. Wenstrup Seeks FBI Review Of Decision Labeling 2017 Congressional Shooting "Suicide By Cop." ## OTHER WASHINGTON NEWS - US Officials Warn Vaccine Hesitancy Poses Threat To Herd Immunity. - Fauci Says CDC Likely To Update Mask Guidance Soon. - Michigan Sees Younger Patients Filling Up COVID Wards. - Scientists Detect P.1 Variant In Dallas. - CDC Updates Summer Camp Guidance. - Californians Confront Mixing Of Vaccinated And Unvaccinated. - Exacerbated By Pandemic, Ambulance Services In Rural America Running Out Of Money, Volunteers. - Academy Awards Took Place In Person Despite Pandemic. - Journalist Calls On Administration To Issue Emergency Standard To Protect Workers. - White House Set To Unveil "American Families" Plan Ahead Of Biden’s Address To Congress. - Capito And Manchin Cite Progress In Infrastructure Talks. - As Companies Prepare To Bring Workers Back, Almost Half Prefer To Continue Remote Work. - Supreme Court To Hear Student First Amendment Case. - Schumer Sees August Deadline For Passing Election Reform Legislation. - WPost Analysis: FEMA “Has Grown Dramatically More Restrictive” With Aid. - SCOTUS To Hear Arguments On California Requirement That Nonprofits Disclose Donors. - Trump Organization CFO Says "Legal Side" Of Money Flow Is "Not My Thing." - Harris Says She Cannot Get To Central America "Soon Enough." - WSJournal Says Senate Democrats Ignoring Discriminative Admission Policies. ## INTERNATIONAL NEWS - Harris To Make Case For UN To Begin Preparing For Next Pandemic. - US Promises To Provide India With New Aid As Country Reaches New Daily COVID Case Record. - EU To Let Vaccinated Americans Visit This Summer. - "Severely Strained" Ontario Hospitals Taking "Unprecedented” Measures As COVID Cases Surge. - Venezuela's Wealthy, Poor Have Different Pandemic Experiences. - WSJournal Analysis: Climate Change Goals Will Require Economic Sacrifice. EFTA00149762 - WPost: Nicaraguan Democrats Deserve Better Support From The US. - Harris Says Biden Relied On Her When Making Afghanistan Withdrawal Decision. - Turkish Government Condemns US Recognition Of Armenian Genocide. - Report: Biden And Putin Could Meet In June. - Navalny Allies Continue To Protest Despite Threat Of New Charges. - French Authorities Claim Police Murderer Is A Radicalized Islamist. - Iraqi Hospital Fire Leaves 82 Dead. - Leaked Audio Shows Iranian Foreign Minister Criticizing Revolutionary Guard. - Israeli Police Struggle To Maintain Peace In Jerusalem As Tensions Rise. - Somali Capital Rocked By Violence Amid Political Standoff. ## THE BIG PICTURE - Headlines From Today's Front Pages. ## WASHINGTON'S SCHEDULE - Today's Events In Washington. LEADING THE NEWS ## Garland Signals More Investigations Into Local Police Departments Will Be Forthcoming. The Wall Street Journal (4/23, Gurman, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) reports Attorney General Garland on Friday informed leaders of the country’s biggest law-enforcement organizations that a probe into the Minneapolis Police Department won’t be the final extensive civil-rights investigation concerning a local department that the Justice Department means to commence. Garland’s meeting with the organizations marked the first of what he indicated is going to be numerous interactions between leading Justice Department officials and law enforcement as the Justice Department embarks upon a bold civil-rights agenda. Poll: Majority Of Americans Support Increased Scrutiny Of Law Enforcement. The Washington Post (4/23, Clement, Guskin, 10.52M) reports, “Six in 10 Americans say the country should do more to hold police accountable for mistreatment of Black people, far outpacing concerns about those measures interfering with how law enforcement does its job, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.” The nationwide poll additionally discovers that worries regarding “treatment of Black Americans and other minorities by the criminal justice system – which spiked last summer amid national protests after George Floyd’s killing – have eased slightly since then.” However, those worries continue to be “at the highest point in previous surveys dating back to 1988.” ## CAPITOL VIOLENCE NEWS ## FBI Using Facial Recognition, Undercover Operations To Arrest Capitol Rioters. The Washington Times (4/25, Scarborough, 626K) reports, “The number of U.S. Capitol invaders charged with crimes has topped 400, Justice Department records show, and in a recent case the FBI disclosed new twists in identifying and ensnaring a suspect.” The Times adds, “A Washington Times review of scores of law enforcement affidavits justifying an arrest show this pattern: Agents examine thousands of videos and photos taken inside the Capitol on Jan. 6. In old-school detective work, officers pick out a target and compare Capitol images to online posts from that day or previous days based on tips from the invaders’ friends, co-workers and even family. To seal the deal, FBI agents openly approach the suspect in a phone call or home visit. The targets in many cases readily admit to their actions. It is difficult to deny wronging when caught on camera.” EFTA00149763 McCarthy Defends Trump’s Response To Capitol Riot. The Washington Post (4/25, Wang, Sotomayor, 10.52M) reports House Minority Leader McCarthy “continued to defend former president Donald Trump’s response to the Jan. 6 insurrection, claiming in an interview Sunday that Trump was unaware the U.S. Capitol was being stormed until McCarthy called and urged him to tell his supporters to stop.” McCarthy told Fox News Sunday, “I was the first person to contact him when the riot was going on. … He didn’t see it, but he ended the call…telling me he’ll put something out to make sure to stop this. And that’s what he did. He put a video out later.” McCarthy also “denied that Trump has called him since to direct him not to discuss their Jan. 6 phone call with investigators.” The New York Times (4/25, Leibovich, 20.6M) says that “nearly four months after Jan. 6, Mr. McCarthy continues to defend his support for Mr. Trump’s bogus assertions that the election was stolen from him. Friends say that he knows better and is as exasperated by Mr. Trump’s behavior as other top Republicans, but that he has made the calculation that the former president’s support is essential for his ambitions to become speaker after the 2022 elections, when Republicans have a decent chance to win back the House.” ## Growing Number Of Those Arrested In Capitol Siege Probe Have Military, Law Enforcement, Or Government Ties. ABC News (4/23, Rubin, 2.44M) reports, "As authorities investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continue to pore over images and video of the riot, they’ve encountered a distressing trend: A growing number of alleged perpetrators had previously served their country." ABC News adds, "At least 52 active or retired military, law enforcement, or government service employees are among the over 400 suspects arrested for their alleged actions at the Capitol, according to an ABC News investigation based on military records, court records, interviews, and publicly available news reports. The arrests include over half a dozen ex-police officers and multiple former elected officials – and represent some of the most significant and violent charges brought in connection with the deadly insurrection." ## Two Kansas Women Charged In Capitol Riot Probe. The AP (4/25) reports from Kansas City, Missouri, “Two Kansas women arrested in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol told the FBI they expected to participate in a peaceful protest supporting former President Donald Trump that day.” The AP adds, “Court records show that Jennifer Ruth Parks and Esther Schwemmer were both arrested Friday. An affidavit filed in Parks’ case describes how the two women entered the U.S. Capitol after protesters broke into the building and remained inside for 30 minutes to an hour. Parks is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, but the charges against Schwemmer had not been released as of Sunday. ‘Parks believed she was attending a peaceful rally in support of President Donald Trump,’ an FBI agent wrote.” ## FBI Arrests Man Who Boasted On Dating App Of Storming Capitol. CNN (4/23, Cohen, 89.21M) reports, “The Justice Department has charged a Capitol rioter who was turned in by someone he matched with on the dating app Bumble, after he bragged about his exploits on January 6.” CNN adds, “According to court documents, one week after the attack, Robert Chapman of New York told one of his Bumble matches that ‘I did storm the Capitol’ and said that he ‘made it all the way into Statuary Hall.’ He also claimed that he was interviewed by members of the media. The other Bumble user replied, ‘we are not a match.’ Prosecutors said the user then quickly reached out to the FBI and provided screenshots of the conversation.” The Washington Post (4/23, Shepherd, 10.52M) reports, "Thanks to the tip, Chapman was arrested by the FBI on Thursday and charged with trespassing at the U.S. Capitol and disrupting official government operations by allegedly participating in the deadly riot. Chapman had also bragged on Facebook about being in the insurrection, the FBI said – and even changed EFTA00149764 his profile picture to a selfie in the riot.” Chapman is “not the first accused of talking about his participation on a dating app. A little more than a week after the insurrection, apps including Bumble, Tinder and Match began banning users who shared images from the riot. Some online sleuths also swiped through the apps looking for people who said they had stormed the Capitol, documented the incriminating admissions and photos and then forwarding the evidence to the FBI.” ## Texas Couple Charged With Assaulting Officers During Capitol Siege. The Dallas Morning News (4/23, Scudder, 772K) reports, “A North Texas couple who allegedly assaulted police officers with their hands during the Jan. 6 insurrection and siege of the U.S. Capitol were arrested this week and charged in federal court, authorities said.” Mark and Jalise Middleton of Forestburg, Texas “were captured on video and in photographs participating in the riot, the FBI says in a federal criminal complaint. They were arrested Wednesday and released Thursday from the Collin County jail, according to jail records. The married couple are charged with assault of a law enforcement officer, interference with a law enforcement officer during civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, unlawful entry on restricted grounds, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.” They “are the 21st and 22nd North Texans to be arrested in connection with the insurrection by the FBI’s Dallas division.” The Gainesville (TX) Daily Register (4/23) reports, “Mark Middleton was seen on police body cameras wearing a Trump beanie while pushing against the barricades and the police line with his body. As officers repeatedly ordered Mark Middleton and other rioters to ‘get back,’ Mark Middleton was heard yelling ‘expletive you!’ as he continued to push against the barricade, court records show. He also reportedly grabbed an officer’s hand or wrist and pulled the officer forward. At the same time, Jalise Middleton reportedly grabbed and striked the same officer over the barricade with her hand. She, too, was wearing a Trump beanie, officials said.” ## CNN Examines "Under-The-Radar" Case In Capitol Siege Probe. CNN (4/23, Polantz, Cohen, Rabinowitz, 89.21M) reports, “The Justice Department has built out one of its most gripping and complex investigations to date from the January 6 insurrection in a court case which has gotten far less attention than others about at least five rioters who dragged and beat police with flag poles and a crutch on the US Capitol steps. ‘Every time I look at these videos, it just chokes me up,’ federal Judge Emmet Sullivan said at a recent court hearing.” Judge Sullivan “was reacting to harrowing footage of three police officers wading into the crowd to save a pro-Trump rioter who was trampled – with the police only to be stripped of their protective gear by other members of the mob, dragged and attacked with crutches, flagpoles, batons and bare hands. This grisly assault is at the center of a major criminal case that has become a focal point among Capitol riot court proceedings in recent weeks.” ## California Man Charged With Injuring Officer During Capitol Siege. The Los Angeles Times (4/23, Winton, 3.37M) reports, “A 61-year-old Westminster man was arrested at his home early Friday on charges that he was involved in a violent confrontation with a police officer who suffered head injuries during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, authorities said.” Kevin Galetto, “a conservative activist and engineer, was taken into custody by FBI agents about 6 a.m. at his Orange County home and a search was conducted of the premises, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. Galetto is charged with assaulting a police officer, obstruction of law enforcement, obstruction of justice and knowingly entering a restricted building and committing physical violence, according to court documents.” KCAL-TV Los Angeles (4/23) reports, "Galetto was arrested just after 6 a.m. while federal agents executed a search warrant at his home, according to FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jason Dalton. Officer body cams captured images of a man later identified by Customs and Border Protection as Galetto on the day of the Jan. 6 attack on the capitol. Federal prosecutors say Galetto was one of the first Trump supporters to enter the Lower West Terrace tunnel EFTA00149765 entrance to the capitol building, and was recorded pushing against officers’ riot shields, losing his black Trump baseball cap in the process.” ## Third Proud Boys Member Is Arrested In Capitol Siege Probe. The Hill (4/23, Axelrod, 5.69M) reported, “A third member of the far-right Proud Boys group was arrested” last week “on conspiracy charges related to his role in the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill.” The Justice Department “announced Friday that it arrested Matthew Greene, 33, of Syracuse, N.Y., and that he made his first appearance in court Wednesday. The arrest comes months after two other New York Proud Boys members, Dominic Pezzola, 43, of Rochester and William Pepe, 31, of Beacon, were arrested on conspiracy charges. In addition to other crimes, all three men are charged with conspiracy to obstruct, influence and impede an official proceeding and conspiracy to obstruct, influence, impede and interfere with law enforcement officers who were responding to the riot at the Capitol.” ## Capitol Siege Probes Zero In On Oath Keepers. The Hill (4/25, Neidig, Beitsch, 5.69M) reports, “Federal prosecutors appear to be zeroing in on the Oath Keepers following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, making the paramilitary group a priority among the more than 400 people facing criminal charges over the rampage.” The Hill adds, “A dozen co-defendants reportedly affiliated with the right-wing militia organization are facing conspiracy and other charges over their alleged roles in the storming of the Capitol. Last week, another member of the Oath Keepers, Jon Ryan Schaffer, became the first defendant following Jan. 6 to plead guilty and agree to cooperate with law enforcement.” According to The Hill, “Legal experts believe that cooperation will be essential for federal prosecutors to build upon their cases against other members who are facing charges or go after bigger fish who may have played a role in instigating the mayhem.” ## Judge Refuses To Release New Jersey Man Charged In Capitol Siege Probe. The Burlington County (NJ) Times (4/23, Comstock, 56K) reports that US District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, DC “refused Friday to release a Sussex County man accused of storming the U.S. Capitol and assaulting a police officer during the Jan. 6 riots that sought to keep former President Donald Trump in power.” Judge Lamberth “rejected the defense’s portrayal of Scott Fairlamb, the son of a deceased New Jersey state trooper and brother of a Secret Service agent, as a family man whose actions during the Capitol Hill melee had been misconstrued. Instead, the judge sided with federal prosecutors who described the 44-year-old from Hardyston as a violent conspiracy theorist and pointed to videos that captured him assaulting and screaming at cops outside the Capitol.” ## Defense Contractor Employee Faces Charged In Capitol Riot Probe. The AP (4/23) reports from Albuquerque, New Mexico, “A Santa Fe man who works for a defense contractor faces criminal charges for his acknowledged presence inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot.” The AP adds, “Authorities say Matthew Martin, who holds a security clearance, told the FBI in an interview that he had gone to Washington after reading then-President Donald Trump’s tweets about election fraud claims and acknowledged he was inside the Capitol building during the attack. The FBI said Martin claimed Capitol guards opened the doors for people to walk into the Capitol rotunda and he later realized that the events at the Capitol were worse than he initially thought.” ## Capitol Police Officer Testifies At Trial Over Alleged Threats To Lawmakers. CBS News (4/24, McDonald, 5.39M) reports, "A U.S. Capitol Police officer testified Friday in a jury trial for a New York man accused of threatening to murder U.S. lawmakers. The officer, Special Agent Christopher Desrosiers, is believed to be the first Capitol police officer to testify in a criminal trial connected to the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6." CBS News adds, "The EFTA00149766 defendant, Brendan Hunt, did not participate in the siege in D.C. but was charged for statements he made online before and after the attacks. A video that prosecutors said he posted on” a video-sharing site “two days after the Capitol riot was titled ‘KILL YOUR SENATORS’ and urged viewers to return to the Capitol with guns to ‘slaughter’ members of Congress. Hunt’s trial will center around issues of freedom of speech, as a jury hears arguments to decide whether his alleged online posts amounted to illegal threats against members of Congress.” The AP (4/23, Hays) reports that Desrosiers “described for the jury how he was assigned to track the mob violence from nearby command center and was shocked to hear radio chatter of his colleagues ‘yelling for help.’ He testified that his team scrambled to figure out how to evacuate Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers. But the evacuation was called off when ‘a sea of backup came and we were able to re-secure the building,’ he said.” Hunt, 37, “an analyst for the New York court system, has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging, in part, that he called for the killings of lawmakers, including Democratic U.S. Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer.” ## Democrats Seek To Keep Capitol Siege In Public Spotlight. The Hill (4/24, Lillis, 5.69M) reports Democrats “are scrambling to keep the Jan. 6 insurrection in the public eye, pressing Republicans to back a months-long investigation into the deadly rampage that would shine a spotlight on former President Trump’s role in the attack.” The Hill adds that although “House GOP leaders have endorsed the concept of a bipartisan commission,” Republicans are “eager to move beyond discussions of the Capitol siege.” ## PROTESTS ## Judge Sets Chauvin Sentencing For June 16. The Minneapolis Star Tribune (4/23, Walsh, 855K) reports Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill on Friday scheduled Derek Chauvin “for sentencing on June 16 for the murder of George Floyd last year,” and he “ordered that the jurors’ identities remain under seal for at least six more months, along with the list of prospective jurors, juror questionnaires and the unredacted verdict forms containing the foreperson’s signature.” The Star Tribune says Cahill “cited ‘ubiquitous and omnipresent’ news media coverage along with intense public interest in keeping the 14 jurors’ identities private,” but he “added...jurors have been told they may identify themselves if they wish and speak with whomever they like about their experience.” Meanwhile, the New York Times (4/23, Eligon, 20.6M) reports Lisa Christensen, one of the jurors, on Friday “visited the intersection, known as George Floyd Square, for the first time,” and left “a colorful bouquet of flowers among the many items memorializing Mr. Floyd and other people killed by the police.” According to the Times, “It was in many ways a bookend to a singular experience, a front-row seat to one of the country’s most consequential police killing cases. Through 45 witnesses and the arguments of the lawyers, she sat anonymously on the 18th floor of a courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, referred to only as Juror 96.” In his Washington Post (4/23, 10.52M) column, Colbert I. King says he was “glad…Chauvin was found guilty of murder in the death of George Floyd. But my reaction was also unsettling. Feelings of relief, thanksgiving and, yes, surprise should not have entered my mind.” According to King, “That gruesome video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes was all the evidence needed for a conviction. The prosecution’s case was airtight. A jury verdict of anything less than second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter would have been a gross travesty of justice.” However, King adds “that in a country that elected Donald Trump as president, injustice is possible. And bad things can and do happen, especially when race is involved.” EFTA00149767 Washington Post (4/23, 10.52M) columnist James Hohmann argues that while “there may have been accountability for George Floyd’s murder, the criminal justice system remains incapable of solving systemic police violence on its own.” However, Hohmann says the outcome of the trial “indisputably offers a template for cultural change: Citizens should speak out when they see wrongdoing and protest, peacefully, for reform. Prosecutors should pursue charges, even when they’re harder to prove than in this case. And police leaders should not tolerate misconduct in their ranks.” He adds, “Systemic change requires new laws.” Maryland Officials To Review Cases Of Former Chief Medical Examiner Who Testified In Chauvin’s Defense. The Washington Post (4/23, Davies, Wiggins, 10.52M) reports a spokeswoman for Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) on Friday announced an investigation into “all deaths in police custody that were overseen by” David Fowler, “the state’s former chief medical examiner who testified in Derek Chauvin’s defense.” The Post adds the spokeswoman “said the office has been in internal discussions about launching a probe for the past couple of weeks and recently reached out to Gov. Larry Hogan’s office about how to proceed.” WPost: Like Chauvin Case, Probe Of Columbus Police Shooting Should "Proceed Without A Rush To Judgment." In an editorial, the Washington Post (4/23, 10.52M) says that on the same day former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found "guilty of the murder of George Floyd,” 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant “was shot and killed by an officer in Columbus, Ohio. She, like Floyd, was Black and both officers are White, and so an immediate connection was made between the two cases.” The Post adds that “what happened in Columbus was different from the incident at that now-infamous street corner in Minneapolis – and so it is important that the investigation proceed without a rush to judgment.” In his Washington Post (4/23, 10.52M) column, David Von Drehle says of the deadly police shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbis, Ohio, “It feels too soon to write because so much remains unknown. We have shards of what was shattered in Columbus, but pieces are missing, and we don’t even know which, or how many.” Von Drehle adds, “Of Ma’Khia, we have this shard that feels important, though we don’t know exactly how or where it fits. She was in foster care. Relatives describe her as an affectionate and loving person with hopes of being restored to her mother’s custody. Even so, any path to foster care is traumatic.” Poll Shows 75% Say Jury Reached Right Verdict In Chauvin Case. CBS News (4/25, 5.39M) reports on its website that a CBS News/YouGov poll of 2,527 US residents (4/21-4/24) – found that 75% say “the jury reached the right verdict in which former police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder in the death of George Floyd.” While the “majority view…spans across all racial, age and partisan groups,” 46% of Republicans said the jury reached the wrong verdict. Minnesota AG: "I Was Never Convinced We Were Going To Win." In an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes Vi (4/25, 6.38M), Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) was asked if there was a point during the Chauvin trial when he thought Chauvin would be acquitted. Ellison said, “I was never convinced we were going to win this case until we heard the verdict of guilty. I remember what happened in the Rodney King case, when I was a pretty young man, young lawyer, and I remember how devastated I felt when I heard that the jury acquitted those officers. Whenever an officer is charged with an offense, particularly when the victim is a person of color, it’s just rare that there is any accountability.” The Washington Post (4/25, Iati, Foster-Frau, Bellware, 10.52M) looks at how Minneapolis racial justice activists are moving forward in the wake of the verdict, while USA Today (4/25, Cava, 12.7M) reports that some legal experts are concerned about the increasing tendency – though still rare – to keep the names of jury members secret. ## COUNTER-TERRORISM New York Man Pleads Guilty To Terrorism Charge. EFTA00149768 Newsday (NY) (4/23, Fuller, 776K) reports that a Commack, New York man “who federal prosecutors said attempted to travel to Syria to wage ‘violent jihad’ and told investigators that he was ‘prepared to strap a bomb on and sacrifice himself’ pleaded guilty Friday to a single terrorism count.” Elvis Redzepagic, 30, “pleaded guilty during a virtual proceeding in U.S. District Court in Central Islip to attempting to provide material support a foreign terrorist organization. ‘I plead guilty,’ Redzepagic said, adding: ‘I traveled to Turkey and attempted to enter through the Syrian border with the purpose of joining [Jabhat] al-Nusra Front at around June, August 2015.’ Prosecutors said Redzepagic traveled to Turkey in July 2015 and to Jordan in 2016 in unsuccessful attempts to enter Syria in order to join either ISIS...or an al-Qaida affiliate called Jabhat al-Nusra.” ## Virginia Man Arrested For Making Bomb Threats. The Washington Post (4/23, Hedgpeth, 10.52M) reports 27-year-old Henock Seyoum Pastoor of Alexandria, Virginia "was arrested Wednesday and charged with making threats to `bomb or damage buildings’ at a Metro stop, according to a statement from Metro Transit Police.” Police arrested Pastoor at his home and searched the residence after the suspect referenced a bomb. ## DOJ, FBI Pressured To Release 9/11 Links To Saudi Arabia. The Boston Herald (4/23, Dwinell, 327K) reports, “Pressure is building on the FBI and DOJ to unseal documents pinpointing the role of the Saudi government in the September 11 terror attacks as the 20th anniversary of the attacks looms.” The Herald adds, “GOP lawmakers in DC – along with a few Democrats – wrote to both U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray to finally go public with the intel. It could expose how out of the 19 hijackers that day, 15 of them were citizens of Saudi Arabia. They were all affiliated with al-Qaeda and hijacked four jets killing nearly 3,000 that day. ‘We call on the Department of Justice to immediately declassify and publish these reports to the American public,’ wrote five House Republicans, led by U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York.” ## French Authorities Detain Fourth Person In Terrorism Investigation After Fatal Police Stabbing. The AP (4/23, Ganley, Euler) reports, “French authorities detained a fourth person Saturday as anti-terrorism investigators questioned three others, seeking to establish a motive and uncover any possible ties to extremism after a police official was fatally stabbed at a police station outside Paris.” A New York Times (4/24, Cohen, 20.6M) analysis says the recent stabbing and apparent extremist act is fueling calls among the far right in France to deport more illegal residents in France. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen told the BFM-TV news network that the country’s authorities need “to expel hundreds of thousands of illegals in France.” She said, “We need to return to reason. Support our police, expel the illegals, eradicate Islamism.” ## Afghanistan Withdrawal Raises Questions About Guantanamo’s Future. The Hill (4/25, Kheel, 5.69M) reports President Biden’s decision to “fully withdraw from Afghanistan is raising questions about what, if any, effect that will have on the future of the Guantanamo Bay detention center.” At least two prisoners who have been “challenging their detention have already updated their complaints to include Biden’s withdrawal as a reason they should be released.” Steve Vladeck, a University of Texas law professor, said of the withdrawal’s effect on Guantanamo, said, “I think the short answer is that we just don’t know. It clearly provides the remaining Guantanamo detainees with a new ground on which to challenge the legal basis for their continuing military detention, and one that is not necessarily foreclosed by existing precedent. But it’s not at all clear that courts will be sympathetic to those arguments, not just because they haven’t been to date, but because the Executive Branch is likely to argue that the conflict with al Qaeda isn’t ending just because we’re leaving Afghanistan.” EFTA00149769 # COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE ## Michigan Chemist Convicted Of Stealing Trade Secrets For Chinese Company. The Detroit Free Press (4/23, Berg, 2.16M) reports, “A Lansing chemist was convicted Thursday of conspiracy to steal trade secrets, economic espionage and wire fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.” The Free Press adds, “Xiaorong You, also known as Shannon You, was convicted after a 12-day trial of stealing trade secrets from Coca-Cola and Eastman Chemical Co. when she worked there, according to a DOJ press release. You stole trade secrets related to information about BPA-free coatings for the inside of beverage cans and set up her own BPA-free coating company in China, according to the DOJ news release. The stolen trade secrets cost nearly $120 million to develop.” You “and her Chinese corporate partner, Weihai Jinhong Group, received millions of dollars in government grants in China to support the new company, according to the release.” ## NBC News Analysis: Trump’s Beefs With US Intel Community Simmer On Among His House Allies. NBC News (4/23, Dilanian, 4.91M) reports, “Donald Trump may be gone from Washington, but House Republicans – who hope to retake control of the lower chamber in next year’s elections – continue to nurse his longstanding grievances against the American intelligence community.” NBC News adds, “At last week’s House hearing on the top threats to national security, Republican after Republican grilled intelligence agency leaders not about Russia, China or North Korea – but about a series of niche issues with which only ardent consumers of right-wing news sources would be conversant. The lawmakers made it clear that they had little trust in America’s security agencies. ‘I’m telling you, if an FBI agent came up and asked to talk to me, there’s no way in the world I would talk to them without a lawyer present. I don’t care what they wanted to know,’ Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah told FBI Director Christopher Wray.” ## New Zealand Denies Five Eyes Alliance At Risk. The Telegraph (UK) (4/23, Nicholls, 249K) reported New Zealand has “criticized as ‘ill-informed’ suggestions that the “Five Eyes” alliance is at risk amid fears over Beijing’s influence.” New Zealand earlier this week “said it was ‘uncomfortable’ with letting the so-called Five Eyes intelligence alliance – which includes New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the US and Britain – dictate its dealings with China.” New Zealand has “previously been reluctant to sign joint statements from Five Eyes partners criticizing China, including on the crackdown on Hong Kong’s democracy movement and the recent arrests of activists in the city.” But suggestions that the intelligence sharing group is “struggling over China have now been played down by Wellington and by intelligence agencies.” Neale Jones, the former Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, told The Telegraph, “New Zealand has a longstanding independent foreign policy that has continued through National and Labour administrations for many, many years.” ## Indonesian Intelligence Official Killed In Papua. Reuters (4/25) reports that, according to a statement by the army, a senior Indonesian intelligence official “was killed by a shot to the head on Sunday during an operation in the country’s easternmost province of Papua.” Brigadier General Putu Dani, who headed operations in the restive region for the country’s intelligence agency (Badan Intelijen Negara), “was shot while he was heading to the site of a shoutout with separatists.” ## US Airstrikes, Surveillance In Afghanistan May Be Maintained After Withdrawal. Defense News (4/23, Cohen, 73K) reported the head of US Central Command "said this week the US military is mulling how to position its aircraft throughout the Middle East and Asia to EFTA00149770 continue airstrikes and intelligence-gathering missions in Afghanistan, as American forces prepare to leave key installations like Bagram Air Base behind.” Appearing before the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday, Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie “told lawmakers he is drawing up options for keeping counterterrorism forces on call in the region.” McKenzie “said manned or unmanned aircraft could play a large role in any remaining presence that could peer into and respond to threats inside Afghanistan.” He made similar remarks before the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday,“I didn’t say we wouldn’t go back in to strike. But we’re not planning to go back in to reoccupy.” Afghanistan Departure Creates Challenges For Counterterrorism Operations. The Washington Times (4/25, Wolfgang, 626K) reports that, “in the next phase of the war on terrorism, President Biden is making a bet on cutting-edge technology, long-range drones and intelligence assets to keep al Qaeda, the Islamic State group and other global terrorism organizations in check while cautiously banking on cooperation from unpredictable countries in historically unstable parts of the world.” Top Pentagon officials “say the US will retain the ability to find and kill terrorist targets…but they readily acknowledge that the next-generation counterterrorism strategy is still a work in progress with many life-and-death questions yet to be answered.” The only “certainty is that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan will make the entire enterprise much more difficult.” ## Kash Patel Pushes Back Against Ignatius Column On Leaking Classified Information. The Daily Caller (4/23, Ross, 375K) reported on a column published last week by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius “taking aim at Kash Patel, a former Trump Administration official who uncovered the FBI’s abuses of the surveillance process during the Trump-Russia probe.” Patel has been “credited with coming up with the strategy while working on the House Intelligence Committee to force the FBI and Justice Department to release documents regarding the FISA warrants taken out against Carter Page.” Patel “responded to allegations [of leaking classified information] in the column in an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.” Patel “cast doubt on the veracity of the report that he is under investigation, while asserting that government officials may again have supplied Ignatius with classified information.” ## CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS ## Prosecutors Investigating 2018 Gaetz Trip To Bahamas. Prosecutors with the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section “are looking into whether a 2018 trip to the Bahamas involving Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz and several young women was part of an orchestrated effort to illegally influence Gaetz in the area of medical marijuana, people briefed on the matter told” CNN (4/23, Perez, Reid, Glover, Shortell, 89.21M), which reports they are “examining whether Gaetz took gifts, including travel and paid escorts, in exchange for political favors, the sources said.” The Daytona Beach (FL) News-Journal (4/23, Schweers, 218K) reports, “Matt Gaetz, Halsey Beshears and Dr. Jason Pirozzolo have more in common than a plane trip to the Bahamas that led to the Department of Justice launching an investigation of Gaetz and sex trafficking allegations. Gaetz sponsored the first legislation to legalize medical marijuana in Florida, Beshears’ family would profit off the law through their nursery and Pirozzolo and a partner would create a consulting firm that would lead to a stake in a major medical marijuana company.” The News-Journal adds, “Through that tight bond they rose through the ranks of the GOP apparatus. Gaetz went on to Congress in 2016 where he has continued to advocate for marijuana reforms; Beshears was appointed head of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2019; Pirozzolo became a medical marijuana entrepreneur and GOP fundraiser.” Maxwell Pleads Not Guilty To Sex Trafficking Charges. EFTA00149771 Bloomberg (4/23, Hurtado, Voris, 3.57M) reports “British socialite” Ghislaine Maxwell on Friday pleaded not guilty to new sex trafficking charges, her first public comments “since her arrest last July on sex crimes charges stemming from her time with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.” According to Bloomberg, “Prosecutors last month added another accuser to the case against her, expanded the time frame for the crimes they claim and, for the first time, charged Maxwell with sex-trafficking a minor – a 14-year-old girl they say she manipulated into engaging in sex acts with Epstein and later paid. That charge carries a maximum prison term of 40 years, 20 years longer than the gravest charge in the original indictment.” CNN (4/23, Scannell, 89.21M) reports, "Federal prosecutors filed conspiracy and sex trafficking charges against Maxwell in a superseding indictment last month, alleging she recruited and groomed a 14-year-old girl to engage in sex acts with Epstein as recently as 2004 and paid her hundreds of dollars in cash. The new charges alleged more recent conduct than what prosecutors initially charged. Last summer, Maxwell was charged by New York federal prosecutors with conspiracy and enticing minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, and the transportation of minors to engage in criminal sexual activity for allegedly grooming, recruiting and abusing underage girls from 1994 to 1997." The Wall Street Journal (4/23, O'Brien, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) and a brief ABC World News Tonight Vi (4/23, story 10, 0:17, Muir, 5.52M) segment provided similar coverage. ## Decision On Releasing Body Camera Footage In North Carolina Case Could Come Monday. NBC Nightly NewsVi (4/25, story 5, 2:15, Snow, 6.41M) reported, "A decision could come as soon as tomorrow over whether or not a North Carolina judge will release body camera video of Andrew Brown’s deadly encounter with sheriff’s deputies last week. The case [is] igniting nationwide outrage and there are increasing calls to see what really happened in Brown’s final moments.”
USA Today(4/25,Bacon,Carless,12.7M) reports Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten“says his office could ask a judge as soon as Monday to release body camera footage”in the case,but said he“would first check with the State Bureau of Investigation to ensure that releasing the video would not compromise the probe of the shooting.”The CBS Weekend NewsVi(4/25,story 5,0:20,Duncan,1.24M) had a brief update.
North Carolina Sheriff’s Office Being Pressured To Disclose Body-Cam Footage Following Deadly Police Shooting Of Black Man. The Washington Post (4/23, Bella, 10.52M) reports, “A Black man was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy in Elizabeth City, N.C., as police were attempting to arrest him Wednesday, authorities said, sparking more protests as a community is demanding answers on a police death with few details.” Local news reports indicate that no less than “three officers involved in the shooting resigned Friday.” The Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office “is being pressed to release the body-cam footage of the police encounter that killed Andrew Brown Jr., 42, after declining to share much information about the events that resulted in the shooting.” NBC Nightly News Vi (4/23, story 4, 0:28, Holt, 4.81M) provided similar coverage in a brief broadcast. The Charlotte (NC) Observer (4/23, 443K) reports, “Three Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies have resigned and another seven have been put on leave after the fatal shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. in Elizabeth City, though a sheriff’s department spokesman said the resignations were not related to Brown’s death.” Meanwhile, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) and Elizabeth City leaders have called for the disclosure of the body camera footage of the incident. Cooper on Friday tweeted, “Initial reports of the shooting in Elizabeth City and death of Andrew Brown Jr. this week are tragic and extremely concerning,” adding, “The body camera footage should be made public as quickly as possible and the SBI should investigate thoroughly to ensure accountability.” EFTA00149772 Meanwhile, on ABC World News TonightVi (4/24, story 2, 2:35, Johnson, 4.69M), correspondent Mona Kosar Abdi reported that Brown’s family is demanding that authorities disclose the body camera footage. Abdi added, “Pasquotank County sheriff says deputies were serving an arrest warrant this week for Brown on felony drug charges when he was killed at his rental home.” According to witnesses, he was attempting “to drive away when deputies opened fire. Authorities have not said what led to the shooting. Today, the family’s lawyer says the sheriff’s office told him Brown was unarmed.” On the CBS Weekend NewsVi (4/24, story 3, 1:58, Diaz, 1.74M), correspondent Christina Ruffini reported that community leaders and members have also called for the disclosure of the body camera footage. Municipal officials on Saturday indicated they are going to file a request on Monday to have the footage released. On NBC Nightly NewsVi (4/24, story 5, 2:23, Díaz-Balart, 3.44M), correspondent Kathy Park reported Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten “wants the footage released.” Park also said that the “footage has been handed over to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. And the sheriff is just waiting for confirmation, saying that releasing the footage will not undermine the ongoing investigation.” ABC: Virginia Case Is Latest Officer-Involved Shooting . ABC World News Tonight Vi (4/25, story 3, 2:35, Davis, 1.86M) reported, “While the Derek Chauvin verdict placed police interactions with Black Americans under a microscope, officer involved shootings continue. In North Carolina, there were calls for the release of police body cam footage in the police killing of Andrew Brown, Jr. … In Columbus, Ohio, Ma’Khia Bryant shot dead by police during a violent interaction. And in Virginia, Isaiah Brown shot and wounded by police after a domestic disturbance call. He remains in the hospital in critical condition tonight.” ## Recordings Detail How Bryant Shooting Unfolded. The AP (4/24, Amiri, Welsh-Huggins) says, “A routine day in a quiet Columbus neighborhood was shattered instantly Tuesday when a police officer fired four shots at 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant as she swung a knife at a young woman.” The AP adds that “hours of official police footage and bystander videos detail how one of the country’s latest deadly police shootings unfolded,” and the AP goes on to examine the events surrounding the shooting. Bryant Shooting Prompts Calls To Reassess Police Policies. On ABC World News TonightVi (4/24, story 7, 1:56, Johnson, 4.69M), correspondent Trevor Ault reported that there are “growing cries to re-evaluate police use-of-force policies” following Bryant’s death. Ault added, “Protesters hitting the streets again today, the fifth straight day since the shooting happened. Bryant’s family telling me the police need to change.” Don Bryant, a cousin of Ma’Khia, said, “They have the power right now to put some changes in the books. Regardless of the situation, we have to be able to do better in protecting life.” ## Judge Orders Manslaughter Case In Fatal Police Shooting Of Ghaisar Be Heard In Federal Court. The Washington Post (4/23, Jackman, 10.52M) reports on a judge having ordered that the manslaughter case involving a pair of US Park Police officers accused of fatally shooting Bijan Ghaisar during 2017 be heard in federal court “rather than in Fairfax County, where the officers were indicted last year.” The Post adds, “No date was set for a trial or pretrial motions, in which the officers’ lawyers said they will invoke the immunity of federal officers from state prosecution and move to dismiss the case.” WPost Analysis: Despite Backlash Following Black Man’s Death, There Have Been Calls For Greater Police Presence In DC Neighborhood. A Washington Post (4/23, A1, 10.52M) analysis says Karon Hylton, a 20-year-old Black man, was fatally hit by a van in October as he was riding a moped in Washington, DC while being EFTA00149773 tailed by police. The incident, which occurred as Hylton “steered out of an alley onto Kennedy Street,” prompted “a new round of volatile protests in the nation’s capital.” However, even while a number of people criticized “police tactics as overly aggressive and biased, others demanded more officers in a neighborhood that had been plagued by open-air drug dealing and chronic gunfire.” The Post adds, “As the nation gropes toward a reset of policing after the killing of George Floyd, life around Kennedy Street demonstrates the challenge of answering demands for reform in areas where persistent crime has left many residents fearful.” ## Man Throws Acid On New York Woman Of Pakistani Descent. The New York Times (4/23, Zaveri, 20.6M) says Nafiah Ikram in March “returned to her Long Island home,” when “a man in a hood ran up to Ms. Ikram and threw a large cup filled with battery acid in her face before sprinting off.” Now, Ikram “still has painful burns and trouble eating. Doctors have warned that her eyesight may be compromised forever by the March 17 attack.” There have been no arrests, and the Times says Ikram’s “family lives in fear, wondering who would have attacked Ms. Ikram.” The Times adds that the “attack on Ms. Ikram, who was born in the Bronx and is of Pakistani descent, came as Asian-Americans have in recent months been the victims of hate-fueled attacks in New York and across the nation.” ## Chinese American Man Attacked In NYC. The AP (4/25, Matthews) reports, “A 61-year-old Chinese American man was attacked by a man who kicked him repeatedly in the head in East Harlem” on Friday evening. The New York Police Department hate crimes task force “is investigating the attack, the latest in a troubling rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in New York and around the country.” USA Today (4/25, Ortiz, 12.7M) reports police said Yao Pan Ma “was collecting cans in East Harlem on Friday night when he was attacked from behind, knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked in the head. Surveillance video released by police appears to show the attacker stomping on the man’s head.” The New York Daily News (4/25, Kriegstein, Guse, 2.51M) reports Yao’s wife, Baozhen Chen, “said Sunday she no longer feels safe in her own neighborhood.” She said, “I feel very unsafe and I am very worried that my husband is not going to make it. I want the police to capture the person as soon as possible.” ## FBI Probing Hate Messages At Minnesota Mosque. The AP (4/25) reports from Moorhead, Minnesota, “Police are investigating hate messages that were found spray-painted on the outside of a mosque in the Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota metropolitan area.” The AP adds, “Officers were dispatched to the Moorhead Fargo Islamic Community Center, which is located in Moorhead, about 5:20 a.m. Sunday. Police said the grafiti was found in several areas on and around the building. Video surveillance from the building captured images of a suspect wearing a camouflage jacket and dark ski mask. The investigation by Moorhead police and Fargo office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is ongoing, authorities said.” ## Iowa Woman Who Struck Children With Vehicle "Because She Thought They Were Of Middle Eastern, African Or Mexican Descent” Pleads Guiltv. The New York Times (4/23, Hauser, 20.6M) reports, “An Iowa woman who tried to kill two children in 2019 by hitting them with her car because she thought they were of Middle Eastern, African or Mexican descent has pleaded guilty to attempted murder and hate crime charges, the authorities said.” Nicole Poole Franklin “made the admission to two counts of hate crime charges on Wednesday, according to federal prosecutors.” The Times adds that Poole Franklin “faces life imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the charges, the Justice Department said in a statement on Thursday.” WPost Analysis: States Decreasing Penalties For Motorists Who Hit Demonstrators. A Washington Post (4/23, Bump, 10.52M) analysis discusses Florida, Iowa, EFTA00149774 and Oklahoma having “passed a law reducing the penalties that people might face for striking protesters with their vehicles.” Regarding Iowa, the Des Moines Register reports that part of a measure approved by the state House would give “civil immunity to drivers of vehicles who injure someone who is blocking traffic while engaging in disorderly conduct or participating in a protest, demonstration, riot or unlawful assembly without a permit.” ## Person Interrupts Racial Equity Group Meeting With Racist Slurs. The AP (4/22, Eaton-Robb) reports, “A person interrupted a video conference meeting of a racial equity task force in Fairfield, Connecticut, with racist slurs, including some directed at Black members of the group, police said Friday.” The AP adds, “They’re trying to identify the person who joined the Thursday evening meeting of the city’s Racial Equity and Justice Task Force shared their screen to show images of enslaved people in addition to making racist remarks.” Fairfield Police Chief Robert Kalamaras indicated that the incident is being probed as a possible hate crime. ## Whitmer Kidnap Plot Link Emerges In Threat Case Against New York Man. The Detroit News (4/24, Snell) reports from Detroit, “A New York man charged in a series of acts of threatening violence searched online for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the location of gun stores in the days leading up to the U.S. Capitol insurrection, according to federal court records.” Jonathan Joshua Munafo, 34, of Albany, New York “was arrested and charged with communicating an interstate threat in the latest case alleging extremism in Michigan. The case was unsealed Friday, six months after the FBI said agents thwarted a plot to kidnap and kill Whitmer involving at least 14 people who are facing state and federal charges. FBI Special Agent Richard Trask, one of the lead agents in the Whitmer kidnapping case, revealed the new allegation involving the governor in a court filing Friday that describes a broader probe involving Munafo and threatening phone calls earlier this year.” Deadline Detroit (4/24) runs a similar piece based on the News' reporting. ## Expert Testifies To Mental Health Report On Alleged Maryland Newspaper Gunman. The AP (4/23, Witte) reports from Annapolis, Maryland, “A key expert for prosecutors in the Capital Gazette shooting testified Friday that the gunman’s methodical planning both for the attack and for after it indicate he is legally sane and criminally responsible for killing five people at the newsroom in Maryland three years ago.” Dr. Gregory Saathoff, “a forensic psychiatrist and a chief consultant for the FBI, testified at a pretrial hearing before the second phase of Ramos’ trial, now set for late June before a jury to determine whether he is criminally responsible. Ramos already has pleaded guilty but not criminally responsible due to insanity.” Saathoff “described his analysis of Ramos’ ability to organize and conceal plans for the attack at the newspaper office in Annapolis, as well as his flexibility to adjust as he carried it out, as primary indicators he was not insane.” The Baltimore Sun (4/23, 629K) reports, “Before, during and after the horrific murders, the Capital Gazette shooter left behind a series of clues about his motivation and his mental state, the prosecution’s psychiatric expert testified Friday.” The Sun adds, “The man who killed Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters harbored a grudge against the news organization for years before planning the attack and choosing a time, Dr. Gregory Saathoff said. The gunman conducted surveillance on a cold winter day and purchased a shotgun, smoke grenades and barricades. He racked up roughly $90,000 in credit card debt and waited for his cat to die before carrying out his plot.” Ramos “drove about 30 minutes from his apartment in Laurel in a rental car, following traffic laws, parked the Kia Rio in a space outside the office building in Annapolis, locked his vehicle and carried out the attack as planned, Saathoff said in the final hearing before the trial scheduled to begin in June.” EFTA00149775 ## Massachusetts Man Found Not Guilty To Reason Of Insanity In Fatal Stabbing On Appalachian Trail In Virginia. The Washington Post (4/24, Jackman, 10.52M) reports, “A man who terrorized a group of hikers on the Appalachian Trail in Southwest Virginia in 2019, stabbing two people, one of them fatally, has been found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a psychiatric hospital until he is no longer a danger to society.” James L. Jordan, 32, “admitted that he fatally stabbed Ronald S. Sanchez Jr., 43.” Jordan “was arrested and charged with murder, but by July 2019 he had been found incompetent to stand trial.” Doctors “found that he suffered from schizoaffective disorder and acute psychotic symptoms, and concluded that he was ‘unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his acts,’ according to court records. Both federal prosecutors and the federal public defender reached an agreement that Jordan should plead not guilty by reason of insanity.” The Springfield (MA) Republican (4/25, Croteau, 592K) reports, “Federal court records in Virginia show a judge on Thursday accepted Jordan’s plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Jordan will now be committed indefinitely to a psychiatric facility. He will not be released until a judge rules that he would not be a danger to society.” The Columbia (SC) State (4/25, Aldridge, 330K) reports, “On Thursday, Jordan was found not guilty solely by reason of insanity to all counts of the indictment,” in the U.S. District Court of Western Virginia, court records show.” ## Federal Prosecutors Fight Bail Request Of Former NYPD Officer Charged In Murder-For-Hire Plot. The New York Post (4/23, Rosenberg, 7.45M) reports, “Federal prosecutors are opposing ex-cop Valerie Cincinelli’s release as she awaits sentencing on a charge stemming from a plot to assassinate her estranged husband and her boyfriend’s teen daughter.” Cincinelli, 36, “copped to one count of obstruction earlier this month as part of a plea deal and faces up to 57 months in prison under sentencing guidelines. Long Island federal prosecutors agreed to drop the two murder-for-hire counts against her. Citing the lessened charge and her two years of time served thus far, Cincinelli’s lawyer James Kousouros asked that she be released pending sentencing,” but “prosecutors countered that Cincinelli’s violent conduct called for her to remain behind bars.” ## Former Arkansas Officer Sentenced For Theft Of Drug Money. The AP (4/23) reports from Little Rock, Arkansas, “A former northeast Arkansas sheriff’s lieutenant has been sentenced to prison for stealing more than $30,000 in a drug sting operation, according to federal court records.” Allen Scott Pillow, 56, “was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for theft of government funds after pleading guilty to the charge in December. FBI agents received a tip that Pillow might be abusing his position at the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, then set up a fake drug scene in a rented vehicle in Paragould with $76,000 cash in a backpack inside the vehicle, according to prosecutors. The FBI then asked Pillow to investigate by saying it was part of an out-of-state narcotics investigation. Pillow later reported finding $45,600 inside the backpack, along with a glass drug pipe that was also left in the vehicle.” ## San Jose State Whistleblower Sues University Over Handling Of Sex Abuse Scandal.
USA Today(4/23, Jacoby, 12.7M) reported that the San Jose State University swim coach “who blew the whistle on sexual abuse allegations against the school’s the sports medicine director has sued the university and several top administrators.” Sage Hopkins,“who filed the lawsuit last month, alleges SJSU and its administrators covered up the abuse claims while engaging in a retaliatory campaign to discredit him. He is seeking damages in excess of $25,000.” Hopkins is the “second official to file suit in connection with the scandal implicating Scott Shaw,the
EFTA00149776 school’s former head athletic trainer.” SJSU's former deputy athletic director Steve O’Brien “filed his own claim against the school in March.” The San Francisco Chronicle (4/25, Kroichick, 2.44M) reports that “a university spokesman, in an email to The Chronicle on Sunday, said SJSU was reviewing the claims made by Hopkins in his 32-page complaint.” The spokesman wrote, “Allegations of retaliation are taken very seriously, investigated and addressed consistent with university policy.” ## FBI, NCMEC Ask For Help In Search For Texas Teen. KAVU-TV Victoria, TX (4/24) reports the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the FBI are asking for help locating Kristen Galvan, a Montgomery County, TX teenager who disappeared in January 2020. FBI Special Agent Bethany Morris said, “Because Kristen is a possible victim of human trafficking, this means her life could be in danger. … Kristen will be 17 years old on April 23, 2021. Kristen’s family and friends miss her terribly.” ## Florida Sheriff's Office Working With FBI On Case From 1994. The West Volusia (FL) Beacon (4/25, Hertz, 56K) reports the Volusia County, FL Sheriff’s Office is offering a $50,000 reward for information about the murder of 15-year-old Laralee Spears in DeLand, FL in 1994. The Sheriff’s Office “is working with the FBI to investigate new technology that could be employed” in the case. WOFL-TV Orlando, FL (4/25, 109K) reports on its website that Spear got off a school bus and was abducted, shot, and killed within just over two hours. ## Michigan Man Sentenced For Child Sex Crimes After Two years On Run. WWTV-TV Cadillac, MI (4/23, 34K) reports Matthew Dietz of Alpena, MI was sentenced to “up to 15 years in prison for second degree sex crimes against a child” and two counts of accosting a child for immoral purposes. Police “attempted to question Dietz in September 2018, but Dietz stole a vehicle and left the area.” The FBI offered a reward for Dietz and he was located this month. ## Pennsylvania Woman Sentenced For Sex Trafficking. The LNP Media (PA) (4/23, 77K) reports Melissa Madera of Reading, PA was sentenced to 15 years in prison for “two counts of sex trafficking minors and one count of distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography.” The victims were 15- and 17-year-old girls. The FBI investigated the case. ## Virginia Man Pleads Guilty To Distributing Child Pornography. The Bristol (VA) Herald Courier (4/23) reports Jordan Seth Gross of Whitewood, VA “pleaded guilty Friday to distributing child pornography to an undercover FBI agent.” Gross used the messaging app KIK for his crimes. FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Richmond Division Stanley Meador said, "The innocence of young children should be nurtured, not tarnished via sexually explicit behavior, and then marketed through websites for the entertainment of predators." ## North Carolina Man Sentenced For Receiving Child Pornography. The Charlotte (NC) Observer (4/23, Fowler, 443K) reports Quinlan Drake Scism of Kings Mountain, NC “was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography.” Scism was already under FBI investigation when “the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by park rangers at Crowders Mountain [State Park],” who had seen Scism entering and leaving a women’s restroom. ## FINANCIAL CRIME & CORPORATE SCANDALS EFTA00149777 ## FirstEnergy Reportedly In Talks On Deferred Prosecution Agreement. The AP (4/23, Gillispie) reports from Cleveland, “FirstEnergy Corp. is cooperating with the U.S. Department of Justice while negotiating a deferred prosecution agreement over its role in secretly funding a $60 million bribery scheme to secure a $1 billion bailout for two Ohio nuclear power plants, company officials said Friday during an earnings call. Such an agreement generally involves requiring a company to admit to wrongdoing, agree to initiate reforms, cooperate with prosecutors, pay a fine and promise not to commit additional crimes. ‘We’re going to deal with and fully cooperate with the DOJ,’ FirstEnergy President and CEO Steven Strah said. ‘The resolution discussion we spoke of today are constructive and are a positive development for our company.’” The AP adds, “Akron-based FirstEnergy has been accused of spending millions to win a $1 billion legislative bailout for two Ohio nuclear plants, which were operated by a wholly-owned company subsidiary when the bill passed in July 2019.” ## Cuomo’s Office Will Not Reveal What It Told DOJ About Nursing Home Outbreaks. The AP (4/23, Villeneuve) reports that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office “said it won’t reveal what it told the U.S. Justice Department about COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes, partly because doing so would be an ‘invasion of personal privacy.’” The Justice Department last year “asked the governors of several states, including New York, to turn over certain, basic statistics related to deaths and infections inside nursing homes. That federal request, initially made in August and later expanded in October, followed reports by The Associated Press and other news organizations that the state’s official nursing home death toll was likely a significant undercount. Cuomo’s began sending records to federal investigators last year. But his office has now denied a request from The Associated Press for copies of those documents.” ## Judge Dismisses Bid To Drop Corruption Charges Against Former Arkansas Lawmaker. The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (4/23, Ellis, 55K) reports, “A ruling Tuesday by U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. has put an end to hopes of a former state senator and chairman of the state Republican Party to avoid a trial on bribery, wire-fraud and conspiracy charges contained in an indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in January 2019.” Gilbert Baker, 64, of Conway, “is scheduled to go to trial in federal court July 26 over allegations that he acted as a middleman in an effort to bribe former Faulkner County Circuit Judge Michael Maggio,” who, in July 2013, “lowered a $5.2 million jury verdict against the owner of Greenbrier Nursing and Rehabilitation Center to $1 million...on July 10, the day after 10 $3,000 checks written by the nursing home’s owner, Michael Morton, arrived at the home of Baker, a friend and political ally of Maggio.” ## Ex-South Carolina Sheriff, Deputies Convicted Of Corruption Conspiracy. The Hilton Head Island (SC) Packet (4/23, Monk, Dys, 105K) reports from Columbia, South Carolina, “Former Chester County Sheriff Alex “Big A” Underwood and two of his former top deputies were found guilty by a federal jury late Friday of numerous corruption charges related to a wide-ranging conspiracy.” According to the Packet, “The former deputies, Deputy Chief Robert Sprouse, 46, and Lt. Johnny Neal, 41, also were found guilty of various charges contained in a 17-count indictment issued last September. That indictment contained more charges than the two previous indictments in his case. All three also were found not guilty of a few charges contained in the indictment, but the guilty verdicts far outweighed them.” The Charleston (SC) Post and Courier (4/23, Wilks, Cranney, 299K) reports, "Chester’s first Black sheriff, who was suspended from office in 2019 amid a federal civil rights investigation and then lost re-election last year, now faces up to 36 years in federal prison after convictions for wire fraud, conspiracy, civil rights violations and theft of government property. Two of Underwood’s ex-deputies, Johnny Neal and Robert Sprouse, were also found guilty after a nine-day trial in Columbia. The trio will be sentenced later, likely in two or three months. They will remain free on bond until they are sentenced." According to the Post and Courier, "The EFTA00149778 verdicts punctuate one of the largest public corruption cases brought against S.C. law enforcement officials in recent memory. Many of the issues first came to light when The Post and Courier featured Underwood in a string of investigative stories in 2019." ## Federal Investigators Probing Alleged Problems With New York Bridge Cable Armor. The New York Post (4/25, Golding, 7.45M) reports, “Federal authorities are investigating claims that anti-terror cable shields on the Kosciuszko Bridge are falling apart as the result of a botched job by an allegedly crooked contractor, The Post has learned.” According to the Post, “The Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office obtained a subpoena for documents from Hardwire LLC, which is locked in a related court battle against ex-employee Irwin ‘Skip’ Ebaugh IV and his company, Infrastructure Armor LLC, according to a source familiar with the matter. Hardwire alleges in a nearly $40 million civil suit that it lost out on a job to protect the bridge’s cables from bomb blasts and fire after Ebaugh swiped its trade secrets and used them to underbid his former employer. The probe grew out of an earlier investigation by the FBI in Maryland into Hardwire’s claim that Ebaugh stole its trade secrets, according to a source familiar with the matter.” ## Concerns Raised About Tennessee Prison Contract. The Nashville Tennessean (4/23, Tamburin) reports, "Allegations that a senior leader in the Tennessee prison system steered a lucrative state contract to a company that gave him a job raise ‘red flags’ about fairness, according to an expert in government procurement." The Daily Herald adds, "An ongoing lawsuit accuses the Tennessee Department of Correction and other state employees of allowing 'indisputable public corruption' and then trying to cover it up. The agency’s chief financial officer, Wes Landers, gave the health care giant Centurion inside information about a contract to provide psychological care for inmates, according to private emails obtained by The Tennessean. After sharing notes and internal state documents, the official took a job as a vice president at Centurion. Centurion got the $123 million contract." ## Retired Cleveland Police Sergeant Charged With Tax Violations Involving His Security Business. The Cleveland Plain Dealer (4/23, Caniglia, 1.22M) reports, “A retired Cleveland police sergeant has been accused of tax violations in a federal indictment that involves his security business.” Harry Gant, 70, of Mentor, Ohio “will appear for an arraignment Thursday before U.S. District Judge James Gwin on four charges of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns. The indictment alleges that Gant failed to report his total income for the calendar years 2014 through 2017. The charges do not indicate how much Gant failed to disclose. They added only that he did not report `gross receipts generated by the operation of [his] business.’ The indictment said Gant’s actual income `substantially exceeded the amounts reported.'” ## CYBER DIVISION ## Bipartisan Senate Bill Aims To Protect Critical Infrastructure Against Cyberattack. The Hill (4/23, 5.69M) reports, Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Ben Sasse (R-NE) on Friday “introduced legislation intended to protect critical infrastructure from cyberattacks and other national security threats.” The National Risk Management Act “would require the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to conduct a five-year national risk management cycle.” This effort “would involve CISA identifying and compiling the major risks to critical infrastructure in a report sent to the president and Congress, with the president then detailing to Congress how the administration was tackling these threats.” Florida Company Managing Millions Of IP Addresses Previously Owned By Military. EFTA00149779 The Washington Post (4/24, Timberg, Sonne, 10.52M) reports that with media attention on ex-President Trump departing from “office on Jan. 20, an obscure Florida company discreetly announced to the world’s computer networks a startling development: It now was managing a huge unused swath of the Internet that, for several decades, had been owned by the U.S. military.” The Post also reports that Global Resource Systems subsequently “kept adding to its zone of control. Soon it had claimed 56 million IP addresses owned by the Pentagon. Three months later, the total was nearly 175 million.” The development is attributable to the Defense Digital Service (DDS), a Pentagon unit that “reports directly to the secretary of defense.” DDS Director Brett Goldstein “said in a statement that his unit had authorized a ‘pilot effort’ publicizing the IP space owned by the Pentagon.” Goldstein said, “This pilot will assess, evaluate and prevent unauthorized use of DoD IP address space.” The AP (4/24, Bajak) reports that “some cybersecurity experts have speculated that the Pentagon may be using the newly advertised space to create ‘honeypots,’ machines set up with vulnerabilities to draw hackers. Or it could be looking to set up dedicated infrastructure — software and servers — to scour traffic for suspect activity.” ## U Of Georgia Grad Student Charged With Cyberstalking, Extorting Massachusetts Woman. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (4/23, Abusaid, 1.46M) reports, “A University of Georgia graduate student was arrested Friday after authorities said he cyberstalked a Massachusetts woman for more than a year and a half and extorted her for sexually explicit images.” Gary E. Leach, 23, “faces two federal charges following the FBI’s monthslong investigation and was expected to appear in court Friday. Prosecutors said the UGA student began cyberstalking the woman in late 2019 when he obtained explicit photos and videos in exchange for money that he never paid her. He’s accused of secretly recording their private video calls and threatening to release the recordings to the woman’s family if she didn’t continue sending him sexual content on Instagram, authorities said.” ## Neuberger Says Actions Taken Unlikely To Deter Russia From New Cyberattacks. CNN (4/24, Marquardt, Cohen, Sands, 89.21M) reports the White House’s top official “on the response to the massive SolarWinds hack says the sweeping measures announced by the Biden Administration against Russia are unlikely on their own to prevent Moscow’s malicious cyber activity against the US and did not dispute that the hackers responsible for the massive breach are still lurking on American networks.” Deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger “told CNN in an interview that expelling Russian hackers from US government networks and getting them to re-consider their malign behavior is going to take time, more comprehensive dialogue and fundamental changes to American cybersecurity.” Neuberger “didn’t deny that Russian hackers are active inside those networks and made clear she hasn’t yet seen a significant change in Russia’s malicious behavior in cyberspace.” Neuberger “declined to say whether any unseen actions have been taken.” Opinion: Sanctions Against Russia For Attacks Could Backfire. In a commentary in Insider (4/25, 2.74M), Emily Taylor, the CEO of Oxford Information Labs, writes, “The reprisals [against Russia] represent a clear break from the Trump Administration. … It was an impressive show of solidarity and combined intelligence capabilities, but whether it had the desired deterrent effect is less than clear. It may have perversely fed the harmful narrative of Russia’s strength at cyber dirty tricks.” She contends, “The inclusion of an act of cyber espionage, SolarWinds, as a justification for international law responses may do more harm than good, given Washington’s own cyber intelligence activities. … The sanctions don’t seem to have had much long-term impact on the markets.” She concludes, “As the new US Administration sets out its Russia policy more clearly, last week brought us a show of strength and resolve on cyber, coupled with an olive branch in the area of traditional arms control: a proposed summit between the two leaders.” EFTA00149780 ## White House Cyber Director Nominee Seeks Closer Ties To Private Sector. The Washington Post (4/23, Riley, 10.52M) reported in its Cybersecurity 202 column that, “in one of his first public appearances since being nominated as White House cyber director, former National Security Agency Deputy Director Chris Inglis said one of his top priorities would be to establish a collaborative environment for the private sector and federal agencies to share cyber threats and intelligence.” The sharing of cybersecurity threats “between the government and private sector has become a top national security issue in the wake of two massive hacks.” Inglis “spoke yesterday at the virtual Billington Cybersecurity Defense Summit, and endorsed a recommendation made by the bipartisan congressional Cyberspace Solarium Commission of which he is a part.” Inglis “cautioned, however, that creating a joint collaboration infrastructure will ‘jump the shark’ if the government doesn’t precede it by building relationships with the private sector.” ## Opinion: US Must Improve Defenses In Era Of Cyber Espionage. In a commentary in Newsweek (4/23, 2.67M) reports, Eric O’Neill, national security strategist at VMware Security Business Unit, wrote, “The evolution of the DOD’s cyber strategy should have enhanced the US’ ability to directly counter foreign cyber espionage offenses before they reached the US. After all, espionage relies on subterfuge and illusion. … Our Defend Forward strategy failed to understand the changing role of espionage in cyberattacks.” He contends, “To prevent such attacks in the future, the US must further unshackle US cyber capabilities to increase threat hunting and deploy more present and operational counterintelligence fed from US spy agencies. Key to this effort will be truly activating the power of threat intelligence.” He concludes, “We need Defend Forward to hunt threats before the threats hunt us. And to deter future attacks, we need to improve cooperation and communication between the private and public sector so that we all understand the gravity of successful cyber espionage.” ## Malware Blamed For Extended Outages At Budget Airlines. The AP (4/23) reported atechnology provider “says a malware attack triggered a dayslong outage that has caused reservations systems to crash at about 20 low-cost airlines around the world.” The company, Radixx, “said it noticed ‘unusual activity’ around its reservations program on Tuesday.” A spokeswoman for Radixx’s parent, Southlake, “said Friday that the company was beginning to restore service to airline customers.” Kristin Hays “said the company reported the incident to the FBI.” Radixx “said its system operates separately from those used by some larger airlines that are Sabre customers.” Radixx “said customer information was not compromised.” ## FBI Investigating Rwandan Diplomat For Zoom “Intrusion” On Dissident St. Mary’s University. The San Antonio Express-News (4/23, Christenson, 685K) reported the FBI is investigating “accusations that a Rwandan diplomat in Washington crashed a St. Mary’s University Zoom class, apparently to snoop on the family of Paul Rusesabagina, a famous dissident imprisoned in that country.” Rusesabagina became known for “saving 1,268 people during the country’s horrific 1994 genocide, a role dramatized in the 2004 Hollywood film `Hotel Rwanda.’” Last summer, he was “duped by a friend in Dubai into getting on a private plane to Rwanda and was jailed, accused of aiding an armed opposition group.” An international campaign “has been trying to secure his release.” St. Mary’s President Tom Mengler “said in a university news release that the Rwandan government used a spy ‘to listen in’ on an April 6 videoconference class involving students, staff and guests.” ## FBI Warns About Scams As People Seek New Jobs. CNN (4/24, Elamroussi, 89.21M) reported the FBI is "warning job seekers about scammers who post fake job listings and profit from applicants during the process." The FBI "said in a recent EFTA00149781 statement the bogus job posts appear on popular online job boards, where scammers impersonate legitimate employers looking for potential hires.” Security experts “say various forms of scam and fraud have risen during the pandemic, including scammers touting fake products and services to consumers frightened by the virus.” Other tactics include “hacking people’s personal information and blackmailing them for direct payments.” Cyber criminals pose as “real employers and interview applicants, eventually asking them for their personal information and payments,” according to the FBI. The FBI said in its statement, “Cyber criminals executing this scam request the same information as legitimate employers, making it difficult to identify a hiring scam until it is too late.” ## Sextortion, Cyber-Crimes, And Cyberstalking Increasing. AP (4/24) reports that, according to the FBI’s 2020 Internet Crime Report, cyber criminals during the past year “used phishing, spoofing, extortion, and various types of Internet-enabled fraud to target the most vulnerable in our society at a record-breaking rate.” In general, the number of complaints “received by the FBI’s Internet Complaint Center in 2020 rose 69%, to almost 800,000.” The FBI “said in recent years there has been ‘a huge increase in the number of cases involving children and teens being threatened and coerced by adults into sending explicit images online – a crime called sextortion.’” Raj Parekh, the acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said, “We must work together to empower our children to speak up immediately when something does not look right. Please spread the word and tell your loved ones and others to look out for these online predators.” ## Ransomware Gang Demanding $50M For Apple Watch And MacBook Pro Blueprints. Forbes (4/23, Winder, 10.33M) reported a “notorious cybercrime gang behind the REvil ransomware operation claims to have stolen the schematics for new Apple Watch and MacBook Pro products, among other confidential documents related to major brands.” Bleeping Computer reports that Apple supplier Quanta Computer “was the target of the ransomware attack.” It “said the ransom demand was initially made of Quanta, but when the company didn’t communicate with the attackers, they switched to Apple to demand payment of a $50 million ransom.” REvil has already “published several documents on the dark web ‘Happy Blog’ it uses.” Quanta has released a brief statement that “neither confirms nor denies the scale of the ransomware attack.” It looks like Apple “may not be the only business that REvil may turn to for a ransom payment.” ## CIO Sherman Says DOD Zero-trust Strategy Will Be Implemented In 2021. FedScoop (4/23) reported acting CIO John Sherman “announced Thursday the DOD plans to release a zero-trust architecture strategy 2021, adding to a growing list of new zero-trust-related documents to come this year from the DOD.” While few details “were shared about the nature of the strategy, Sherman stressed that reaching a zero-trust framework to improve the cybersecurity of DOD networks is pivotal.” A strategy could “set in motion changes to how the department establishes its security posture by organizing networks around the zero-trust principles of segmenting a network and limiting users’ access to only the data they need.” Sherman said during the Billington CyberSecurity Defense Summit, “I think we are at one of these inflection points here. Our current approaches are not going to take us into the future here.” ## UK Cyber Spy Chief Says Emerging Quantum Computing Poses Risks From Adversaries. Reuters (4/23) reported Britain’s top cyber spy “said on Friday that quantum computing was coming closer but that it posed a potential risk as adversaries could use such computing power to breach modern encryption and potentially look backwards to steal secrets.” GCHQ Director Jeremy Fleming said after a lecture at Imperial College London, “Quantum computing is coming EFTA00149782 closer – its still some way off depending on who you talk to.” He said, “That means we need to get ahead of the curve – we need to be designing quantum-resistant algorithms, we need to be designing quantum-proof cyber security approaches such that we’re prepared for the future when it comes but so we’re also prepared for those adversaries who might use a quantum computer to look back at things that we currently think are secure.” Reuters (4/22) reported Britain’s top cyber spy “said on Friday the West must urgently act to ensure China does not dominate important emerging technologies and gain control of the ‘global operating system.’” In an unusually blunt speech, Fleming “said the West faced a battle for control of technologies such as artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and genetics.” Fleming said at Imperial College London, “Significant technology leadership is moving East. The concern is that China’s size and technological weight means that it has the potential to control the global operating system. We are now facing a moment of reckoning.” ## LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES ## FBI: New Hampshire Residents Have Been Scammed Out Of Nearly $90K. The New Hampshire Union Leader (4/25, Feely, 100K) reports, “Granite State residents have been scammed out of nearly $90,000 by callers claiming they are from the FBI or other government agencies, federal officials said.” According to the Union Leader, “The FBI Boston Division reports seeing an increase in scammers targeting New Englanders through unsolicited telephone calls in which the caller claims to be a representative of a government agency, including the FBI. ‘Nobody wants to be the subject of a law enforcement investigation, and scammers are using that to their advantage to try and intimidate people into just handing over their hard-earned money. We’re asking you not to fall for it,’ said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division.” ## Washington State Attempting To Reduce Police Shootings Via Training. The CBS Weekend NewsVi (4/24, story 4, 2:29, Diaz, 1.74M) cited how there were six fatal police shootings in the US during “the 24 hours after Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder in the death of George Floyd.” Correspondent Kris Van Cleave went on to report on how Washington State is attempting to address that statistic via training. He highlighted “a policing strategy the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission calls de-escalation.” Van Cleave added that the CJTC “now pairs de-escalation with new active bystander training for all new recruits, teaching new officers to take action if they see a colleague violating policy or using excessive force with the goal of avoiding another tragic death. Part of an effort to flip the script on how law enforcement in the state operates.” ## Harris Says Senate Must "Work Together" To Reach Police Reform Agreement. Police reform was a major topic on Sunday morning political talk shows, with Vice President Harris telling CNN’s State Of The Union Vi (4/25, 683K), “As an Administration, we have made our position clear, but it is for the folks in the Senate to work together to resolve whatever may be differences of opinion about the details of the legislation. But I think there’s no question that the American people in a bipartisan way realize and want that there will be some reform of the system.” Several Republicans touted the legislation offered by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), on CNN's State Of The Union Vi (4/25, 715K), said, "I definitely support Sen. Scott's efforts. ... He as redoubled his efforts and is working across the aisle. I think the time is now. I think there's a real – and it's probably past due – but a real want to get this done, and I think to get it done right. But we have got to make sure that we are still recruiting in and have the possibilities of having what is a core, I think, function of our government, which is a law enforcement that protects us." EFTA00149783 Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), on Fox News SundayVi (4/25, 919K), said, "We would have had police reform in the last Congress, but Chuck Schumer and Kamala Harris made a conscious effort to block Tim Scott’s reform bill. They filibustered Tim Scott’s bill because they didn’t want Tim Scott and President Trump to get credit for it. There’s no reason we shouldn’t have done it last time. We will try again. Qualified immunity is a very big deal. If you want to destroy policing in America, make sure that every cop can be sued when they leave the house. There’s a way to find qualified immunity reform, take the cop out of it.” Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), on ABC’s This Week Vi (4/25, 2.44M), said, “I think what we ought to do is let’s find best practices. I think if you go back to what Tim Scott proposed, let’s have more transparency so we can find out what’s working and what’s not working. In his bill, we had incentives to stop chokeholds as an example. … I always listen to everybody’s proposal, but what I’m not going to do is put our law enforcement community in a position that they’ve got to second-guess themselves when they’re trying to make sure people are staving safe.” Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), on ABC’s This WeekVi (4/25, 2.44M), said, “We’ve been having information conversations with one of the caucuses in the House called the Problem Solvers, which is a bipartisan caucus, along with Sen. Scott and Sen. [Cory] Booker. … What’s most important is that we come up with ways to hold police officers accountable, so we will stop seeing these videos.” On Fox News SundayVi (4/25, 919K), Bass said,“I don’t know if I’m willing to blow up the deal [over qualified immunity]. … If Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott can show us some other way to hold officers accountable because this has been going on for decades. And officers right now are not really held accountable.” The Hill (4/25, 5.69M) covers Bass’ remarks. Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), on CBS’ Face The NationVi (4/25, 2.46M), said, “Every day gives us an opportunity for progress, and I am hopeful that the Senate will meet this moment. … I think we’re closer than a lot of people realize. One of the sticking points centers around qualified immunity, but I believe that we can do just about anything that we have the political will to do.” Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R), on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures (4/25), said, “We’re going to hear a very positive, a very forward-looking vision from Sen. Tim Scott. … I’m excited about what he’s going to have say about the vision of this country and how Republicans can align with that vision for the working men and women of this country. I think that’s incredibly important as we move forward.” DeWine Touts Ohio Police Reform Proposal. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), on CBS' Face The NationVi (4/25, 2.46M), said, "I think there’s a clear pathway in regard to police reform. I think there are things that we all can come together on, Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative. We have a bill in front of the state legislature that we presented that calls for a lot more police training, more uniform police training. … We presented a bill to the legislature that would provide funding for body cameras for police departments. Another pathway clearly is there, and that is to treat police as professionals. What do I mean by that? We have the state licensing boards for doctors, for lawyers, for nurses. We should do the same thing for police." Politico (4/25, Bice, 6.73M) covers DeWine's comments. Graham Says US Is "Not A Racist Country." CNN (4/25, Cole, 89.21M) reports on its website that Graham “denied on Sunday that there is systemic racism in the US, claiming ‘America’s not a racist country. … Citing the elections of former President Barack Obama, who is African American, and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is both Black and South Asian, Graham told Fox News that ‘our systems are not racist. America’s not a racist country,’ adding: ‘Within every society you have bad actors.’” NYTimes Analysis: Decades-Old SCOTUS Decision Guides Current Policy. The New York Times (4/25, Kirkpatrick, 20.6M) looks at the role played by “doctrine set forth by the Supreme Court three decades ago and now deeply ingrained” in police culture – “that judges EFTA00149784 and juries should not second-guess officers’ split-second decisions, no matter how necessary a killing may appear in hindsight” – has impacted recent high-profile police shooting cases. ## Advocates Press Biden To End Death Penalty. CNN (4/25, Carrega, 89.21M) reports on its website, “As President Joe Biden nears the milestone of his first 100 days in office, anti-death penalty advocates are growing frustrated with his silence and inaction on a campaign promise to end capital punishment.” While there have been no federal or state executions since Biden took office, “about 2,500 men and women sit on death row in federal and state prisons across the country – and advocates say that, in the absence of an executive order from the White House, a state can at any moment schedule executions or the Justice Department can decide to calendar a federal inmate’s death date.” ## WPost Criticizes SCOTUS Ruling On Sentencing For Young Offenders. In an editorial, the Washington Post (4/25, 10.52M) criticizes the Supreme Court’s ruling on sentencing young offenders to life in prison without the possibility of parole, writing that “the justices ruled that states are not obligated to make a legal finding that a juvenile defendant is ‘permanently incorrigible’ before imposing life without parole – even though common sense, and some of the court’s own past words, suggest that’s what locking a child up forever means.” The Post urges state legislatures to act, concluding, “No human being should be pronounced irredeemable at the age of 15.” ## Harris Calls For Congressional Action On Gun Control. Vice President Harris, on CNN’s State Of The Union Vi (4/25, 683K), discussed the Administration’s position on gun control. Harris said, "As an Administration, we have taken action. The President issued executive orders, for example, on ghost guns. There is only so much, however, that a President can do through executive action. This President, Joe Biden, has a long-standing history of speaking very clearly and unambiguously about the need for smart gun safety laws, back from the time that he was in the Senate through today. ... Congress has to act." ## INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ## Swiss Court Convicts German Financier In Fraud Case. Reuters (4/23, Staff) reports, “German financier Florian Homm was convicted by a Swiss court on Friday of breach of trust and multiple forgery of documents in a fraud case that had led to millions of dollars in losses for investors. The 61-year-old former hedge fund manager was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 36 months in jail, of which half was suspended, the court said.” Reuters adds, “Authorities had accused Homm of orchestrating a market manipulation scheme to artificially improve the performance of his funds, a fraud that led to at least $170 million in losses for investors. Homm disappeared in 2007 from his luxury villa on the Spanish island of Majorca after, according to U.S. authorities, dumping tens of millions of dollars’ worth of his own shares in his company Absolute Capital Management Holdings Ltd and causing huge losses to investors. He was caught in Italy in 2013 after Italian police, acting on an FBI tip, followed Homm’s former wife and son.” ## OTHER FBI NEWS ## FBI Names New Northwest Florida SAC. WMBB-TV Panama City, FL (4/23, Calhoun) reports from Panama City, Florida, "The FBI has named a new leader for the Panhandle. Gilberto ‘Gil’ Balli will tackle terrorism, trafficking, public corruption, and other federal crimes as the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI EFTA00149785 Jacksonville Resident Agency branch.” WMBB-TV adds, “Balli previously served as a supervisory special agent for the FBI Dallas Field Office where he oversaw violent gang matters, FBI officials wrote in a news release. Prior to that role, Balli led investigations into terrorism matters, public corruption, violent crime, organized crime and drug trafficking, and provided guidance and support for FBI undercover operations nationwide. Mr. Balli brings more than 24 years of law enforcement experience to the ASAC position, having first served as a Customs and Border Protection border patrol agent before joining the FBI in 1998.” ## Continuing Coverage: Rep. Wenstrup Seeks FBI Review Of Decision Labeling 2017 Congressional Shooting "Suicide By Cop." The Washington Times (4/23, Mordock, 626K) reports, “A Republican lawmaker who witnessed the 2017 shooting at a congressional baseball practice is demanding a new investigation into how the FBI determined the incident was ‘suicide by cop.’” The Times adds, “In a letter sent last week, but revealed Friday, Rep. Brad Wenstrup, Ohio Republican, wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray that the bureau’s conclusion ‘defies logic.’ He said the attack should have been deemed as domestic terrorism. ‘The conclusion defies logic and contradicts publicly known facts about the perpetrator and the attack,’ Mr. Wenstrup wrote.” Wenstrup “also accused the FBI of running a shoddy investigation, including failing to interview key witnesses” Fox News (4/22, Ruiz, 23.99M) reports, "On June 14, 2017, a man armed with an SKS rifle and a 9mm handgun opened fire at a baseball practice where 24 Republican members of Congress and over a half-dozen other people had gathered the day before their annual fundraising ballgame against the Democratic team. Authorities later identified him as an anti-Trump, anti-Republican supporter of Bernie Sanders who frequently bashed the GOP on social media and had written numerous letters railing against conservatives to his hometown newspaper in Illinois. He’d been living out of his van, parked near the scene of the attack in Alexandria, Va., for nearly two months." ## OTHER WASHINGTON NEWS ## US Officials Warn Vaccine Hesitancy Poses Threat To Herd Immunity. The Wall Street Journal (4/25, Corse, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) reports NIH Director Collins and NIAID Director Fauci on Sunday warned that vaccine hesitancy could prevent the country from reaching herd immunity and stopping the spread of COVID. The New York Times (4/25, Paz, Kannapell, Pietsch, 20.6M) reports US vaccination rates “are falling...despite the spread of highly contagious virus variants that are fueling a national caseload that remains high enough to underscore concerns of the potential for a new surge.” Although the Times adds “experts aren’t sure why vaccination rates have begun falling, or whether vaccine hesitancy, an issue before the Johnson & Johnson pause, is entirely to blame,” Lilia Luciano reported on the CBS Weekend News Vi (4/25, lead story, 2:30, Duncan, 1.24M) that a new CBS News poll “finds just more than half of the people surveyed who are hesitant to get a shot feel more testing is needed. Forty percent of those reluctant worry about side effects. 36% about blood clots, and 35% don’t trust the government.” Meanwhile, Bloomberg (4/25, Krasny, Hamilton, 3.57M) reports an NBC News poll “released Sunday showed that 82% of Democrats had already been vaccinated or plan to be as soon as possible, against 45% of Republicans. Almost one-quarter of Republicans said they won’t get vaccinated and another 10% said they’ll do so only if required.” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), on CNN’s State Of The Union Vi (4/25, 715K), discussed vaccine hesitancy in the context of recent comments by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI). Capito said, “I believe that we should all have confidence to not just protect ourselves but our communities and our neighbors. We should get vaccinated, and I wouldn’t say that only Republicans have hesitancy, I think that there are some folks that are unsure, and when we EFTA00149786 saw what happened over the last week with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, that really sort of chills people that were maybe waiting. So, no, I disagree with my fellow senator. I think we ought to move forward.” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), on CBS’ Face The Nation Vi (4/25, 2.46M), also discussed the problems of vaccine hesitancy. DeWine said, "I’m worried. We’ve seen our vaccination rate go down about half of what it was three weeks ago, so that’s a concern. But we’ve vaccinated about 40%, at least for the first shot, 40% of our total population. We just need to continue to move forward. If you look at those 65 and over, we’re over 23, 24%. So we’re doing pretty well. But we have to continue to go forward. The game is not over yet. So I’m concerned about it.” Public Health Officials Emphasize Safety Of J&J Vaccine. On NBC Nightly NewsVi (4/25, lead story, 2:55, Snow, 6.41M), Sam Brock reported US health officials are on “a full court press to assure the public that the vaccine is effective, and extremely low-risk.” He added the effort comes as “a fragile American psyche [is] butting up against a race to get shots in arms.” The Hill (4/25, Bowden, 5.69M) reports Collins “said Sunday that the risk of a serious blood clotting issue posed by the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine was truly rare, and disagreed with calls from some for it to not be administered to women.” On NBC’s Meet The PressVi (4/25, 2.84M), Collins said the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for the CDC “met for an entire day on Friday and went over all of the data, documenting a total of some 13 cases of this rare form of blood clotting out of some eight million doses of the J&J vaccine that had been administered. And the strong conclusion of that group was that the vaccine should go forward, it should be made available to everybody, but there should be a fact sheet that provides the information to everybody to understand what the nature is of this potential very rare side effect so that everyone is aware of the facts. I think that was the right decision.” Fauci, on ABC's This Week Vi (4/25, 2.44M), argued he does not think the pause of the J&J vaccine will result in more hesitancy. Fauci said that Americans and people around the world "know that the CDC and the FDA are the gold standard for safety in the evaluation of efficacy. I think in the long run what we’re going to see...is that people will realize that we take safety very seriously." He added, "If anyone has any doubts about the safety of the other vaccines, including J&J, we can now say, we take this very seriously. We’ve looked at it, and now let’s get back and get people vaccinated and that’s what we’re going to be doing, getting as many people vaccinated as we possibly can, as quickly as we can because we have a very, very effective vaccine for the people here and throughout the world." CDC: 8% Of People In US Have Skipped Second Doses Of COVID Vaccines. The New York Times (4/25, Robbins, 20.6M) reports that according to the CDC, “more than five million people, or nearly 8 percent of those who got a first shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, have missed their second doses.” The Times adds that as the US tries to encourage many people to receive a first dose, many health officials are also “confronting an emerging challenge of ensuring that those who do get inoculated are doing so fully.” On NBC Nightly News Vi (4/25, story 7, 2:05, Snow, 3.29M), Guad Venegas said the reasons that people “skip their second shot vary. Some face scheduling issues with a number of vaccine suppliers canceling second dose appointments because they ran out of supply. Others worry about side effects, or think the first shot is effective enough.” Venegas added the Administration “says 8% is relatively low compared to other multi-dose vaccines, some believing 80% efficacy after the first dose was enough.” On ABC World News TonightVi (4/25, lead story, 2:45, Davis, 1.86M), Trevor Ault reported Surgeon General Murthy has issued “a new plea...urging Americans to help each other get the shot.” Murthy: “Help them make an appointment to get vaccinated because that’s ultimately how we’re going to protect each other and our communities.” EFTA00149787 On the CBS Weekend NewsVi (4/25, story 2, 1:55, Duncan, 1.24M), medical contributor David Agus argued that health officials “have no choice” but to regain the trust and confidence in vaccines. He said, “We have to do it. Leaders are going to have to step up and explain the data, explain the benefit of the vaccines, explain what happened with this very, very small number of incidents with the J&J vaccine and every other vaccine, and develop a path forward, because we have to vaccinate the country to come out of this pandemic.” He added, “If we all don’t do it, we will be in trouble. And the virus will continue to spread. And especially people who are immune-suppressed and can’t respond to the vaccines will be in trouble. So we are going to come together and the nation will as one get vaccinated and move on.” However, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, on CBS’ Face The Nation Vi (4/25, 1.92M), said, “I think we are seeing a hopeful trend across the country. Cases are clearly declining. The positivity rate is about 3.3% right now. Hospitalizations are falling as well, which is a good indication. And even in hard-hit areas like Michigan, which had late epidemics, late surges, you’re seeing cases start to come down.” He added these declines are “being driven by vaccinations and greater levels of population-wide immunity, not just from vaccination, but also from prior infection. There’s been a lot of Americans who’ve had this infection and have a level of immunity from their prior disease.” ## Fauci Says CDC Likely To Update Mask Guidance Soon. Fox News (4/25, Aitken, 23.99M) reports on its website that NIAID Director Fauci believes the CDC “will soon provide updated COVID-19 guidance on using face masks in outdoor settings, calling it ‘common sense’ to do so.” The New York Post (4/25, Salo, 7.45M) reports that on ABC’s “This Week,” Fauci said, “I think it’s pretty common sense now that outdoor risk is really, really quite low.” Fauci added, “If you are a vaccinated person, wearing a mask outdoors, obviously, the risk is minuscule.” According to the Post, Fauci also “said new studies about the low risk outdoors will likely shape new guidance.” ## Michigan Sees Younger Patients Filling Up COVID Wards. The New York Times (4/25, Mervosh, 20.6M) says that in Michigan, “which is experiencing by far the country’s most dangerous outbreak, more younger people are being admitted to hospitals with the coronavirus than at any other time in the pandemic.” The Times adds hospitals in the state “are now admitting about twice as many coronavirus patients in their 30s and 40s as they were during the fall peak, according to the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.” The Times says that while “a majority of Michigan residents age 65 or older have been fully vaccinated, greatly reducing the risk to the most vulnerable and leading to fewer hospitalizations among the oldest age groups,” it does “not explain rising hospitalizations among people younger than 60, including those in their 20s and 30s.” According to the AP (4/25, Eggert, Tanner, Williams), "Doctors, medical professionals and public health officials point to a number of factors that explain how the situation has gotten so bad in Michigan. More contagious variants, especially the mutation first discovered in Britain, have taken root here with greater prevalence than other states. Residents have emerged from harsh, lengthy state restrictions on dining and crowd sizes and abandoned mask wearing and social distancing, especially in rural, northern parts of the state that had largely avoided severe outbreaks. The state has also had average vaccine compliance." ## Scientists Detect P.1 Variant In Dallas. The Dallas Morning News (4/25, Torralva, 772K) reports the P.1 strain, “a more contagious variant of the coronavirus that was first identified in Brazil has reached Dallas, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers say.” The Morning News adds that while vaccines “are less effective against” the P.1 variant, “researchers say the appearance of the Brazil variant in Dallas underscores the importance of vaccinations as another line of defense against the coronavirus.” EFTA00149788 ## CDC Updates Summer Camp Guidance. Reuters (4/25) reports the CDC on Saturday updated its guidance for summer camps to allow children “attending summer camp [to] get within 3 feet...of each other but should wear masks to limit the spread of COVID-19.” Reuters says the new guidance had been “eagerly awaited by parents as the end of the school year approaches.” ABC World News Tonight Vi (4/25, story 8, 0:20, Davis, 1.14M) provided similar coverage in a brief report. ## Californians Confront Mixing Of Vaccinated And Unvaccinated. The San Francisco Chronicle (4/25, Allday, 2.44M) reports California “is in a sort of twilight period of the pandemic, public health experts...say, as more people who are fully vaccinated start dropping their guard and resuming old social habits, while a significant portion of the population has yet to get a single shot.” However, the Chronicle adds the “mingling” of Californians who are vaccinated and those who are not is “creating some tricky social situations, reminiscent of the start of the pandemic. ... The fully vaccinated are throwing house parties and letting their masks slip down to their chins in public. They’re inviting unvaccinated friends to dine inside restaurants and go to movie theaters – activities that are allowed now, but still pose risks.” ## Exacerbated By Pandemic, Ambulance Services In Rural America Running Out Of Money, Volunteers. The New York Times (4/25, Watkins, 20.6M) reports the ambulance crews "that service much of rural America have run out of money and volunteers, a crisis" made even worse "by the demands of the pandemic and a neglected, patchwork 911 system." This situation is especially "acute in Wyoming, where" so far, "at least 10 localities in the state are in danger of losing ambulance service, some imminently, according to an analysis reviewed by the New York Times." ## Academy Awards Took Place In Person Despite Pandemic. The Los Angeles Times (4/25, Rottenberg, 3.37M) reports, “Pandemic or no pandemic, the show must go on – and when it comes to Hollywood’s biggest night, Zoom just won’t cut it.” The Times says the delay of the Oscars to Sunday comes as “the motion picture academy is determined to put on as glitzy and glamorous a telecast as possible – red carpet twirls, teary acceptance speeches and all – while strictly abiding by the latest COVID safety protocols.” The Times adds attendance “is far smaller than usual” while testing “is still required and attendees have been asked to stick to a low-risk lifestyle for 10 days before the show, avoiding crowded gyms, restaurants and the like. Temperatures will be checked on site.” Meanwhile, attendees “won’t be required to wear masks when they’re on camera but will be asked to put them on during commercial breaks.” ## Journalist Calls On Administration To Issue Emergency Standard To Protect Workers. In an op-ed for the New York Times (4/25, 20.6M), journalist Eyal Press calls on the Administration to issue “an emergency temporary standard that would require employers to protect workers from exposure to the coronavirus by taking actions such as instituting mask-wearing requirements and social-distancing rules.” By doing so, Press argues, “the Biden administration would affirm that the health and safety of all working-class people matter.” Under former President Donald Trump, “the term ‘working class’ came to be associated with people who flocked to his rallies – that is, with white men in MAGA hats. But the Black and Latino essential workers who risked their lives during the pandemic...are no less a part of the working class.” ## White House Set To Unveil “American Families” Plan Ahead Of Biden’s Address To Congress. EFTA00149789 The Washington Post (4/25, Stein, 10.52M) reports that ahead of President Biden’s joint address to Congress on Wednesday, the White House “is preparing to unveil a roughly $1.8 trillion spending and tax plan...that includes many of President Biden’s campaign promises but also reflects the daunting challenges facing the administration as it tries to transform the U.S. economy.” The “American Families Plan” calls for “devoting hundreds of billions of dollars to national child care, prekindergarten, paid family leave and tuition-free community college, among other domestic priorities.” The Post adds that in a “potential last-minute change, White House officials as of Friday were planning to include about $200 billion to extend an increase in health insurance subsidies through the Affordable Care Act exchanges, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal discussions.” E. J. Dionne writes in the Washington Post (4/25, 10.52M) that Biden “is banking on his ability to use populist economics (relief checks, upward pressure on wages, a ‘Buy America’ campaign to bring home more manufacturing work, confining tax increases to corporations and those earning more than $400,000 annually) to win back Trump voters whose dissatisfactions are primarily economic.” His policies “have thus far won support in the polls from about a third of Republicans and a substantial majority of lower-income Republicans (in the case of the relief act).” Biden, Dionne writes, “clearly knows what his presidency is about. And he can have confidence that his political strategy and the substance of what he is doing are mutually reinforcing.” ## Capito And Manchin Cite Progress In Infrastructure Talks. The Wall Street Journal (4/25, Leary, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) reports Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) indicated there has been progress in talks over infrastructure legislation but were clear they do not support President Biden’s $2.3 trillion plan. On CNN’s State Of The Union Vi , Manchin argued legislation should be targeted toward conventional infrastructure and spending on other priorities should be split off. Manchin said, “I do think they should be separated. Because if you start putting so much into one bill, which we call an omnibus bill, it makes it very, very difficult for the public to understand.” Politico (4/25, Bice, 6.73M) says Manchin told CNN the $600 billion counteroffer from Republicans is “a good start. It really is, and I’m glad they did it. … We just have to look to see if we have gotten everything in there that we need. … And we will be working on that together. So, I’m very, very pleased with that. And this is the way we start negotiations. And they have put their best foot forward, but it’s a starting point. … And it’s not the finishing line.” Also on CNN’s State Of The Union Vi, Capito said, “The President asked for our plan, and we thought it was really important to put a marker in to show what we thought was important, what’s going to be the job-creating infrastructure plan, and how much it would be.” Capito “said Republicans are ‘open’ to moving the price tag on their infrastructure plan” and there is “no reason we shouldn’t be able to get to an agreed amount at this point.” Graham: “There’s A Deal To Be Done On Infrastructure.” Bloomberg (4/25, Czuczka, Yang, 3.57M) says Republicans “may be ready to back as much as $900 billion in infrastructure spending,” according to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Graham told Fox News Sunday, “There’s a deal to be done on infrastructure.” Graham suggested that rather than raising the corporate tax rate to 28%, he is willing “to not pay for some of the infrastructure spending, because I think it over time pays for itself.” Graham said, “There’s probably an 800 to 900 billion-dollar infrastructure bill that we could all agree on. … Watch Joe Manchin. I think there’s a sweet spot on infrastructure where we can find pay-fors that won’t hurt the economy.” ## As Companies Prepare To Bring Workers Back, Almost Half Prefer To Continue Remote Work. NBC Nightly NewsVi (4/25, story 10, 2:25, Snow, 3.29M) reported while “companies are starting to bring people back” some employees “say they simply aren’t ready for the way work EFTA00149790 used to be.” NBC’s Kristen Dahlgren added that a Gallup poll in January “showed almost half of US workers prefer to continue remote work.” ## Supreme Court To Hear Student First Amendment Case. The Washington Post (4/25, Barnes, 10.52M) reports that the Supreme Court will hear a First Amendment-focused case this week, and it revolves around a SnapChat message sent by student Brandi Levy in 2017. She wrote, “F--- school, f--- softball, f--- cheer, f--- everything,” and the message was eventually seen by the cheerleading team coach, who “decided to suspend her from the squad for a year.” While Supreme Court decisions regarding freedom of speech for students “have been few, and lean toward school administrators,” the Post says Levy’s case “is different” because it “concerns speech far beyond the schoolhouse gate, made online and on a weekend, unconnected to a school event.” ## Schumer Sees August Deadline For Passing Election Reform Legislation. The Hill (4/25, Choi, 5.69M) reports Senate Majority Leader Schumer “said on Sunday that the deadline for passing major election reform legislation `probably by August.’” In an interview which was to broadcast Sunday night, Schumer was asked “about the timeline for passing the For the People Act – known as both H.R.1 and S.1 for being the first bill introduced this session in both the House and Senate.” Schumer said that “it’s probably by August or so. We’re consulting the experts, when is the latest that S.1 can undo some of the despicable and frankly racist changes that these Republican legislatures have made or trying to make in the way people vote.” ## WPost Analysis: FEMA "Has Grown Dramatically More Restrictive" With Aid. The Washington Post (4/25, Dreier, 10.52M) has an front-page feature on the challenges one Iowa woman faced in getting federal assistance after “a freak inland hurricane that blew through in August 2020.” The Post writes, “The reality is that even as millions of Americans will soon be turning to FEMA as disasters worsen, the agency has grown dramatically more restrictive with the help it gives out.” ## SCOTUS To Hear Arguments On California Requirement That Nonprofits Disclose Donors. USA Today (4/25, Fritze, 12.7M) reports the Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday “in a challenge to disclosure requirements that could make it easier for donors to spend anonymously.” The case involves a California mandate “that nonprofits disclose their top contributors to state regulators.” USA Today says “two conservative groups,” the Americans for Prosperity Foundation and the Thomas More Law Center, argue the requirement “violates the Constitution by subjecting the donors to threats of violence from political opponents and, thereby, chilling the exercise of their First Amendment rights.” USA Today says “groups working to reduce the influence of money in politics fear a broad ruling by the high court in favor of privacy could weaken disclosure requirements in elections, making it easier for big donors to influence the outcome of political campaigns anonymously.” ## Trump Organization CFO Says "Legal Side" Of Money Flow Is "Not My Thing." The New York Daily News (4/25, Crane-Newman, Dillon, 2.51M) reports Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who is “now in the crosshairs of prosecutors diving into Donald Trump’s business dealings, frankly claims he steers clear of the ‘legal side’ of the money flow.” The Daily News cites “previously unreported deposition documents” from June 2015 in which Weisselberg, “who has micromanaged the organization’s finances for decades, shrugged off interest in or knowledge of the legalities of Trump’s till.” He said, “That’s not my thing.” Weisselberg “said his tendency to micromanage had its limits when legal matters were involved, at least in 2015.” EFTA00149791 ## Harris Says She Cannot Get To Central America "Soon Enough." The New York Post (4/25, Moore, 7.45M) reports Vice President Harris said in an interview that aired on CNN’s State Of The Union Vi Sunday that “she can’t get to Mexico and Central America ‘soon enough’ to meet with leaders there.” Harris “said [she] has talked virtually with the presidents of Mexico and Guatemala – Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Alejandro Giammattei – but so far has not met them face-to-face.” Harris said, “And we have a plan to actually have another meeting coming up soon. We’re working on the plan to get there. We have to deal with COVID issues, but I can’t get there soon enough, in terms of personally getting there.” But Harris “did not say when she would tour the border.” The Post reports Harris “said she convened a meeting with Biden Cabinet officials,” including Secretary of State Blinken and Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, “to discuss how the administration can assist farmers in areas of Mexico and El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that have been hard hit by the back-to-back hurricanes and other natural disasters like global warming.” Fox News (4/25, Fordham, 23.99M) reports on its website that Harris “blamed the former Trump administration and said the situation at the southern border” will not be “solved overnight.” Harris said, “The kind of work that has to happen is the diplomatic work that we have been engaged in, including my calls to the President of Mexico, the President of Guatemala. … But it’s not going to be solved overnight. It’s a complex issue. Listen, if this were easy, it would have been handled years ago.” Harris argued, “This is about the Western Hemisphere. We are a neighbor in the Western Hemisphere, and it is also about understanding that we have the capacity to actually get in there if we are consistent. Part of the problem is that under the previous administration, they pulled out essentially a lot of what had been the continuum of work, and it essentially came to a standstill.” Politico (4/25, Bice, 6.73M) reports Harris “said the task to lead these efforts was not assigned by President Joe Biden, but that he asked her ‘to carry on the work that he did’ as vice president under former President Barack Obama.” Harris “noted that parts of the federal government like the Commerce and Agriculture departments will be rolling out policies to help, and that she plans to work with community-based organizations in countries such as Mexico and Guatemala to make conditions better and give citizens a reason to stay in their countries.” Fox News Poll: 52% Disapprove Of Biden’s Performance On Immigration. Fox News (4/25, Blanton, 23.99M) reports on its website that the latest Fox News survey found that “by a stark 46-15 percent margin, voters say U.S. border security is worse today than it was two years ago.” Voters “give President Biden his worst job ratings on border security and immigration. By an 18-point margin, more disapprove (52 percent) than approve (34 percent) of his performance on immigration. Views are nearly identical on border security, as just over half disapprove (51 percent vs. 35 percent approve).” Fox News adds that 67% are “extremely or very concerned” about “illegal immigration” and 65% are “extremely or very concerned” about “the treatment of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.” Rick Scott Says He Wants Legal Immigration, Democrats Want A Campaign Issue. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), on ABC’s This Week Vi (4/25, 2.44M), “I live in an immigration state, but I believe in legal immigration. If you look at what Joe Biden’s done...he stopped building the wall. … The Democrats don’t want to do anything. I believe we have got to figure out how to take care of the DACA kids, we have to create security at the border. … I have been in DC for a little over two years. I had a bill that every Republican signed off on to improve Temporary Protective Status, and Democrats blocked it on the floor twice, and part of it was to give TPS to Venezuelans, which are fleeing Maduro. Would they talk to me about it? No. … They had no interest in getting anything done. They wanted to have an issue for a campaign.” Border Patrol Footage Shows Migrants Being Lowered Down Border Wall Into US. NBC Nightly NewsVi (4/25, story 8, 0:20, Snow, 3.29M) reported on "shocking new video of a dangerous border crossing from Mexico into California. Footage from US Border Patrol cameras shows a smuggler being lowered to the ground with a small child on his back. Next, a EFTA00149792 woman holding her toddler is sent down the 30-foot wall with a piece of rope. Agents took all of them into custody.” ## WSJournal Says Senate Democrats Ignoring Discriminative Admission Policies. The Wall Street Journal (4/25, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) argues that Senate Democrats displayed their political hypocrisy last week when the Senate voted on the Asian hate crimes bill. While the Democrats championed their legislation, they roundly rejected a GOP amendment that would have banned federal funding for universities in instances of discriminative admission policies. ## INTERNATIONAL NEWS ## Harris To Make Case For UN To Begin Preparing For Next Pandemic. The AP (4/25, Madhani) reports Vice President Harris "will make the case before United Nations members on Monday that now is the time for global leaders to begin putting the serious work into how they will respond to the next global pandemic." The AP says that Harris, "according to the excerpts, will broadly outline how the administration thinks the U.S. and other nations should consider focusing their attention," which include "improving accessibility to health systems, investing in science, health workers and the well-being of women, and surging capacity for personal protective equipment and vaccine and test manufacturing." The AP adds that UN Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield on Monday "intends to call on nations to 'build the pandemic preparedness architecture for the future.'" ## US Promises To Provide India With New Aid As Country Reaches New Daily COVID Case Record. The Washington Post (4/25, A1, Schemm, Parker, Sullivan, 10.52M) reports that with the US “under growing pressure to offer more assistance to India as it struggles to contain a devastating coronavirus outbreak,” Administration officials “promised Sunday to provide new aid, including the materials for making vaccines.” The US promise “came hours after Indian authorities announced another global record in new daily cases Sunday, and the most covid-19 deaths the country has suffered in a 24-hour period.” The Post adds the National Security Council “said the United States would provide vaccine materials, drugs, test kits, ventilators and personal protective equipment.”
Bloomberg(4/25,Czuczka,3.57M) reports President Biden on Sunday tweeted,“Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, we are determined to help India in its time of need.”In addition，CNN(4/25,Collins,Liptak,Atwood,Wright,Hoffman,89.21M) reports on its website that the White House announced the US Development Finance Corporation“will fund a‘substantial expansion of manufacturing capability for BioE,the vaccine manufacturer in India,enabling BioE to ramp up to produce at least 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2022,”andUSA Today(4/25,Bacon,Culver,Ortiz,12.7M) reports that the Administration is deploying a team of CDC and USAID experts to assist India。
Reuters (4/25, Shalal) reports Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), the Congressional India Caucus Vice Chair, “welcomed the announcement” but urged Biden to “give India the United States’ unused COVID-19 vaccines doses from AstraZeneca.” Khanna said the Administration should “use the U.S. military and get as much oxygen and AstraZeneca doses to India as fast as we can.” According to Reuters, NIAID Director Fauci “told ABC News on Sunday such a move was ‘something that certainly is going to be actively considered.’” Meanwhile, the New York Times (4/25, Rogers, Stolberg, 20.6M) states that the Administration’s “abrupt shift...came after” National Security Adviser Sullivan “held a call earlier in the day with Ajit Doval, his counterpart in India, and as the Indian government reported EFTA00149793 more than 349,000 new infections, a world record for a single day,” and Axios (4/25, Falconer, 1.26M) reports that Secretary of State Blinken had “tweeted late Saturday the U.S. was ‘working closely’ with India’s government. ‘We will rapidly deploy additional support to the people of India and India’s health care heroes,’ he added.” On ABC World News Tonight Vi (4/25, story 2, 2:20, Davis, 1.86M), Julia Macfarlane said India is “gasping for breath,’ in the words of one overwhelmed nurse. The country’s second wave is now the world’s deadliest surge. In the capital Delhi, hospitals overwhelmed, out of oxygen, shutting the door to people battling the virus. Other centers using cardboard for beds, or forced to treat people on gurneys outside, even in rickshaws. The rate of infections shattering world records for the fourth day in a row. More than 2,700 dead in just 24 hours, and nearly 350,000 new cases today. And some experts say the real number may be even ten times higher than what’s reported. Overwhelmed crematoriums working around the clock to keep the pace, but the wave of bodies keeps coming. Mass cremations and funeral pyres now lighting the streets in New Delhi.” On the CBS Weekend News Vi (4/25, story 3, 2:00, Duncan, 1.24M), Elizabeth Palmer said “critically ill COVID patients” are even dying as they wait to receive treatment at hospitals. She added India “currently...accounts for nearly half the new COVID cases on Earth every day.” On NBC Nightly NewsVi (4/25, story 2, 2:15, Snow, 6.41M), Matt Bradley reported that "for the fourth day in a row, India broke another world record in daily new COVID infections, nearly 350,000 Sunday. An aggressive mutant variant no match for the country’s underfunded medical system." The AP (4/25, Saaliq, Hussain) reports the 349,691 new cases on Sunday "brought India’s total to more than 16.9 million, behind only the United States. The Health Ministry reported another 2,767 deaths in the past 24 hours, pushing India’s fatalities to 192,311.” The Wall Street Journal (4/25, A1, Agarwal, Li, Bhattacharya, Subscription Publication, 8.41M), the New York Post (4/25, Moore, 7.45M), and the New York Daily News (4/25, Shahrigian, 2.51M) provide similar coverage. India Restricts Social Media Post Critical Of Pandemic Response. The New York Times (4/25, Singh, Mozur, 20.6M) reports the Indian government on Sunday “said it ordered Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to take down dozens of social media posts critical of its handling of the pandemic.” The Times adds the government “said that the posts could incite panic, used images out of context, and could hinder its response to the pandemic.” According to the Times, “The order was aimed at roughly 100 posts that included critiques from opposition politicians and calls for Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, to resign.” ## EU To Let Vaccinated Americans Visit This Summer. In an interview with the New York Times (4/25, Stevis-Gridneff, 20.6M), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday announced fully vaccinated American tourists this summer will be able to visit the European Union. The Times reports the rapid “pace of vaccination” in the US, “and advanced talks between authorities there and the European Union over how to make vaccine certificates acceptable as proof of immunity for visitors, will enable the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, to recommend a switch in policy that could see trans-Atlantic leisure travel restored.” Von der Leyen said, “The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines.” She added, “This will enable free movement and the travel to the European Union.” ## "Severely Strained” Ontario Hospitals Taking “Unprecedented” Measures As COVID Cases Surge. The Washington Post (4/25, Coletta, 10.52M) reports, “Severely strained hospitals in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, are undertaking unprecedented measures to cope as a variant-drive resurgence of the coronavirus tears through much of the country.” The Post adds Ontario Premier Doug Ford is “under fire for failing to heed warnings that predicted such a EFTA00149794 scenario, ignoring the advice of scientific advisers and presiding over a clumsy inoculation drive that has failed to get doses to those most at risk of infection.” ## Venezuela's Wealthy, Poor Have Different Pandemic Experiences. The Washington Post (4/25, Herrero, Faiola, 10.52M) reports that across Latin America, “the haves and the have-nots are living and dying in two radically different pandemics,” but “perhaps no single country is witnessing a larger gap than the ‘Workers’ Paradise’: Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuela.” While doctors in the country “say the need for patients to source their care privately, or to purchase their own medical supplies for use in bare-bones public hospitals, is leaving untold numbers of poor Venezuelans to die during the pandemic,” wealthy Venezuelans are “able to buy oxygen tanks, IV drips, saline solution, needles and other costly supplies, then hire nurses to provide 24-hour care at home.” ## WSJournal Analysis: Climate Change Goals Will Require Economic Sacrifice. The Wall Street Journal (4/25, Forero, Hua, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) examines the proposed climate change goals revealed at the virtual conference last week, and it reports that International Renewable Energy Agency climate analysts have assessed the total cost of climate reduction to fall near $115 trillion in investments by 2050. While the US may have the economic ability to overhaul its energy requirements, China and India are the largest threats to the overall goal because each country primarily relies on coal. ## WPost: Nicaraguan Democrats Deserve Better Support From The US. The Washington Post (4/25, 10.52M) criticizes the US and other regional actors for the lack of action over Nicaragua, which has been suffering from a series of political crises since April 2018. While Nicaraguan democracy activists have fought and protested against President Daniel Ortega’s “dictatorial rule,” the US and other Central American governments have not moved to respond. The Post argues that the forthcoming Nicaraguan presidential election provides an opportunity for the US and its allies to reverse Nicaragua’s democratic regression. ## Harris Says Biden Relied On Her When Making Afghanistan Withdrawal Decision. Politico (4/25, Bice, 6.73M) reports Vice President Harris spoke on CNN’s State Of The Union on Sunday, and she “was asked about being the last person in the room regarding major decisions, something that Biden has said is important to him in his working relationship with the vice president.” Harris “confirmed that was the case regarding the move to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by Sept. 11,” and said, “He is someone, who I have seen over and over again, make decisions based on what he truly believes … is the right thing to do.” Miller: US Has Initiated Withdrawal Plans In Afghanistan. The AP (4/25, Gannon) reports Gen. Austin Miller held a news conference in Kabul on Sunday, and he “said...that the U.S. military has begun closing down operations in the country and that Afghanistan’s security forces ‘must be ready’ to take over.” Austin said in his remarks, “I often get asked, how are the security forces, can the security forces do the work in our absence? And my message has always been the same. They must be ready. They must be ready.” The New York Times (4/25, Gibbons-Neff, 20.6M) reports Miller “added that ‘certain equipment’ must be withdrawn from Afghanistan, ‘but wherever possible’ the United States and international forces will leave behind matériel for the Afghan forces.”
Reuters(4/25) reports Miller“said he was acting on orders” based on President Biden’s decision“to end America's longest war, deeming the prolonged and intractable battle in Afghanistan no longer aligned with American priorities.”Miller said to reporters，“I’ve had the opportunity to talk to Taliban members with the Taliban Political Commission,and I’ve told them a return to violence, an effort to force a military decision, would be a tragedy for Afghanistan and the Afghan people.”CNN(4/25,Duster,Robertson,89.21M) reports Miller said，“If the
EFTA00149795 Taliban attack, US or any coalition forces, we will have a forceful response if our forces are attacked.” Fox News (4/25, Aitken, 23.99M) reports on its website that the briefing comes as Taliban forces continue to “ramp up bombings in the region.” The Afghanistan Interior Ministry has “reported that the Taliban conducted 62 bomb blasts and six suicide bombings in the last 11 days, killing 63 civilians and wounding 180 more.” Axios (4/25, Saric, 1.26M) provides additional coverage of Miller’s press briefing. ## Turkish Government Condemns US Recognition Of Armenian Genocide. Reuters (4/25) reports that the Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin condemned President Biden’s recognition of the Armenian genocide in remarks made to Reuters on Sunday. He said, “There will be a reaction of different forms and kinds and degrees in coming days and months.” Kalin “did not specify whether Ankara would restrict U.S. access to the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, which has been used to support the international coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, among measures it may take.” ## Report: Biden And Putin Could Meet In June. Reuters (4/25) reports that, according to an anonymous Kremlin source, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Biden could meet in June. The article claims Biden “had offered Putin to meet on June 15-16 in a European country,” and it adds Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “said on Sunday that Biden’s proposal for the summit has been received ‘positively’ and is now under consideration.” ## Navalny Allies Continue To Protest Despite Threat Of New Charges. Reuters (4/25) reports that allies of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny “pledged on Sunday to continue their actions despite the prospect of being outlawed under extremism charges.” Moscow City Court “is expected to rule in a few days on a request from a Moscow prosecutor to officially outlaw the backbone of Navalny’s political movement...on the grounds that it is an extremist group.” A ruling in the government’s favor “would give the authorities the legal power to arrest and jail [Navalny's] supporters and block their bank accounts simply for being activists in the foundation.” ## French Authorities Claim Police Murderer Is A Radicalized Islamist. The New York Times (4/25, Cohen, 20.6M) reports French antiterrorism prosecutor Jean-François Ricard addressed the investigation into the murder of an unidentified French police officer, and he identified the murderer as Jamel Gorchene, who was “portrayed...as an immigrant with a ‘troubled personality’ whose radicalization went unnoticed by the French intelligence services.” Ricard added that Gorchene “had watched videos ‘glorifying martyrs and jihad immediately before he acted.’” The latest killing has “contributed to a firestorm of criticism of President Emmanuel Macron’s government as being too lax” on the threat of religious violence. ## Iraqi Hospital Fire Leaves 82 Dead.
ABC World News TonightVi(4/25, story 7,0:20,Davis,1.14M) reported that the US “is offering assistance to Iraq after a catastrophic fire at a hospital treating COVID-19 patients” left 82 patients dead.NBC Nightly NewsVi(4/25,story3,0:15,Snow,6.41M) reported that the fire was“sparked by an exploding oxygen cylinder,”and many victims“were on ventilators and unable to escape.”The AP(4/25,Kullab) reports that the flames“swept through the intensive care unit of the Ibn al-Khatib Hospital,which tends exclusively to COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms,and it left 110 individuals injured.
The New York Times (4/25, Hassan, Arraf, 20.6M) reports Iraqi Maj. Gen. Khadhim Boha blamed the fire’s rapid spread on a combination of flammable materials used in the construction EFTA00149796 of the building as well as a lack of standard fire prevention systems. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Khadimi “called the fire a crime and ordered an investigation within 24 hours into possible negligence at the hospital.” The Washington Post (4/25, Salim, Loveluck, 10.52M) reports Iraqi President Barham Salih “described the tragedy as a ‘wound for the whole nation” The Wall Street Journal (4/25, Adnan, Malsin, Subscription Publication, 8.41M) reports Prime Minister Mustafa al-Khadimi has called on the Health Ministry to inspect every hospital in the country in order prevent another incident, and he suspended the health minister and the governor of Baghdad as the investigation continues. ## Leaked Audio Shows Iranian Foreign Minister Criticizing Revolutionary Guard. The New York Times (4/25, Fassihi, 20.6M) reports that a newly leaked audiotape has surfaced, and it “offers a glimpse into the behind-the scenes power struggles of Iranian leaders.” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is featured, and he “departed from the reverential official line on Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani,” who was assassinated by the Trump Administration. Zarif said Suleimani “undermined him at many steps, working with Russia to sabotage the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and adopting policies toward Syria’s long war that damaged Iran’s interests.” ## Israeli Police Struggle To Maintain Peace In Jerusalem As Tensions Rise. The AP (4/25, Federman) reports that Jerusalem has become the scene of historic levels of tension and violence after "Jewish extremists...staged a provocative march to Jerusalem’s walled Old City chanting `death to the Arabs.’” The latest violence began after Israel decided to “barricade a plaza outside of Jerusalem’s Old City during the holy month of Ramadan,” and Hamas responded to Israeli security measures by launching a series of rockets on southern Israel. ## Somali Capital Rocked By Violence Amid Political Standoff. The AP (4/25, Barise) reports that gunfire “erupted in Somalia’s capital on Sunday between soldiers loyal to the government and others angry at the country’s leader as tensions spiked over President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s extended stay in power.” The “mutinous soldiers,” who remained in uniform, “took up key positions in northern Mogadishu.” They “were believed to have entered the city from military bases outside Mogadishu,” and a majority of them “belong to the clan of former presidents Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.” The New York Times (4/25, Walsh, Mohamed, 20.6M) reports that the violence “followed months of tense talks between President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and opponents who accuse him of making an unconstitutional power grab.” The negotiations “collapsed after Mr. Mohamed failed to hold presidential and parliamentary elections by February, as scheduled, and then two months later signed a law extending his term in office by two years.” ## THE BIG PICTURE ## Headlines From Today's Front Pages. ## Wall Street Journal:
West Looks Past Covid-19 And Sees Economic Resurgence
SPAC Insiders Can Make Millions Even When The Company They Take Public Struggles
India's Covid Surge Is Most Ferocious Yet. 'Spreading Like Wildfire.'
Never Caught A Foul Ball At An MLB Game? This Is Your Best Shot.
Five Days In The Office? For These Startups, The Future Of Work Is Old School
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Washington Post:
Cheerleader's Fleeting Message Makes A Mark
'ASSISTANCE NOT APPROVED'
Cases In India Set Another Global Record
CEO Sold Stock Prior To Vaccine Trouble
Vaccination Gender Gap Reveals Peril For Black Men
## Financial Times:
India Airlifts Medical Supplies From Abroad As Covid 'Shakes Nation'
Credit Suisse Shareholders Seek Removal Of Risk Chief After Twin Scandals
How Draghi's Italy Became 'Model European'
UK And European Banks Plan To Slash Business Trips After Pandemic
## Story Lineup From Last Night’s Network News: ABC: J&J; COVID-India; Virginia-Isaiah Brown Shooting; Biden-First 100 Days; Oscars; Indonesia-Sub Found; Baghdad-Hospital Fire; CDC-Summer Camp Guidelines; UPS-Driver Helps 4 Year Old; Best Actress Nominee Interview. CBS: Vaccines-Skipping 2nd Dose; J&J; COVID-India; Biden-First 100 Days; North Carolina-Andrew Brown Shooting; Best Live Action Short Nominee Interview; Climate Series-Salmon Run; Pacific Coast Highway; Oklahoma-Resident Has Felony Charge For VHS Rental; NFL-Gronkowski World Record; Philadelphia-Vaccine Superhero Pharmacist. NBC: J&J; COVID-India; Baghdad-Hospital Fire; Indonesia-Sub Found; North Carolina-Andrew Brown Shooting; Biden-First 100 Days; Vaccines-Skipping 2nd Dose; Border Crisis; NASA-Mars Helicopter; COVID-Returning To Workplace; Subway Baby Book. ## Network TV At A Glance:
J&J-7 minutes,35 seconds
Biden-First 100 Days-7 minutes,5 seconds
COVID-India-6 minutes,35 seconds
## WASHINGTON'S SCHEDULE ## Today's Events In Washington. ## White House: - President Biden — Receives the President's Daily Brief. - Vice President Harris — Holds virtual bilateral meeting with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei. ## US Senate: - Senate debates OMB deputy director nominee – Senates convenes and proceeds to executive session to resume consideration of the nomination of Jason Scott Miller to be Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director for Management Location: U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC; 3:00 PM ## US House: - House of Representatives meets in pro forma session Location: U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC; 12:00 PM ## Cabinet Officers: • No public schedules released. ## Visitors: • No visitors scheduled. ## General Events: EFTA00149798
• U.S. Supreme Court hearing on whether U.S. bears responsibility for U.S. Navy waste site on Guam-U.S. Supreme Court hearings:‘Guam v. United States’(Whether Guam or the U.S. will bear financial responsibility for clean-up of a hazardous waste site created by the U.S. Navy on the island of Guam?) *‘Americans for Prosperity v. Becerra’,‘Thomas More Law Center v. Becerra’(consolidated)(Whether the California Attorney General Office’s policy requiring charities to disclose the names and addresses of their major donors is legal?);10:00 AM
- Wilson Center discussion on Estonia’s role in sustainable development in the Arctic (virtual) – ‘Supporting Sustainable Development in the Arctic: Estonia’s Role in Advancing Arctic Collaboration’ Wilson Center webinar, on ways to promote collaboration to address the critical issues facing the Arctic, especially in the areas of research, environmental protection, and sustainable development. Speakers include Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for European Affairs Amb. Mart Volmer, Special Envoy for Climate and Energy Policy Amb. Kaja Tael, Estonian Academy of Sciences President Tarmo Soomere, University of Tartu’s Aimar Ventsel, former U.S. Ambassador for Oceans and Fisheries David Balton, and U.S. Arctic Research Commission Chair David Kennedy; 10:00 AM - Dem Rep. Andy Kim discusses U.S.-South Korea relations (virtual) – George Washington Institute of Korean Studies hosts virtual event with Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who discusses `U.S.-ROK Relations: Challenges and Opportunities in the Biden Administration'; 10:00 AM - BPC discussion on reforming Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery grants (virtual) – `State and Local Perspectives on Reforming CDBG-DR’ Bipartisan Policy Center task force on disaster response reform webcast, with leaders in managing Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery grants and disaster recoveries exploring their recent experiences with the program and key policy issues involved in reforming it. Speakers include Texas General Land Office Commissioner George Bush, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Dane Eagle, California Department of Housing and Community Development Chief Disaster Recovery Officer Maziar Movassaghi, and New York City Mayor’s Office of Housing and Recovery Director Amy Peterson; 11:00 AM - Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese; 12:00 PM Copyright 2021 by Bulletin Intelligence LLC Reproduction or redistribution without permission prohibited. Content is drawn from thousands of newspapers, national magazines, national and local television programs, radio broadcasts, social-media platforms and additional forms of open-source data. Sources for Bulletin Intelligence audience-size estimates include Scarborough, GfK MRI, comScore, Nielsen, and the Audit Bureau of Circulation. Data from and access to third party social media platforms, including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others, is subject to the respective platform’s terms of use. Services that include Factiva content are governed by Factiva’s terms of use. Services including embedded Tweets are also subject to Twitter for Website's information and privacy policies. The FBI News Briefing is published five days a week by Bulletin Intelligence, which creates custom briefings for government and corporate leaders. We can be found on the Web at BulletinIntelligence.com, or called at (703) 483-6100. EFTA00149799