EFTA01655577.pdf

From: FBI News Briefing To: Subject: [EXTERNAL EMAIL) - FBI Daily News Briefing - February 6, 2025 Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:15:11 +0000 Importance: Normal View in Browser Federal Bureau of Investigation February 06, 2025 Seal Federal Bureau of Investigation Daily News Briefing (In coordination with the Office of Public Affairs) Email Public Affairs to subscribe to the Daily News Briefing. Mobile version and archive available here. Table of Contents IN THE NEWS • DOJ Official Accuses FBI Leadership of 'Insubordination,' Tamps Down Talk of Revenge on Agents • New Attorney General Pam Bondi Orders Review of Trump Cases • U.S. Immigration Raids Target Illegal Immigrants in Aurora, Colorado • Continued Reporting: Kash Patel Nomination Process and Commentary COUNTERTERRORISM • Continued Reporting: New Orleans Ramps up Security for Super Bowl Just Weeks After Terror Attack • Continued Reporting: Trump's Pick to Lead the National Counterterrorism Center Has Called Jan. 6 Rioters 'Political Prisoners' • Continued Reporting: U.S. Court Convicts Founder of Neo-Nazi Group for Plot to Destroy Baltimore Power Grid • Continued Reporting: Donald Trump Reveals Dead-Man's Switch in Case of Iran Assassination • How ISIS and AI-Qaeda Are Using Al to Target American Jews • Opinion: Trump's Plan for the Cartels Isn't Tough Enough COUNTERINTELLIGENCE • Continued Reporting: Ex-Google Engineer Faces New U.S. Charges He Stole Al Secrets for Chinese Companies • Opinion: My Vote to Ban TikTok Was a Mistake, Here's What I've Learned CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS • Burglaries at Homes of Joe Burrow and Other Star Athletes Were Similar, Authorities Say • Continued Reporting: New York Man Pleads Guilty to Firing Shots Outside Albany Synagogue EFTA01655577  • DOJ Says It Will Not Bring Charges in Investigation of Project Veritas • Continued Reporting: FBI Chicago Captured of Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Arnoldo Jimenez • FBI Warn iPhone And Android Users • Continued Reporting: Trump's Top D.C. Prosecutor Vows to Wield the Law Against Those Who Get In Elon Musk's Way • FBI Joins in on Search for Missing New York Family • Man Pleads Guilty to Setting Guard Shack on Fire at FBI Chicago Office • FBI Searches Neighborhood in North Carolina • Idaho Man Hospitalized After Being Shot by Officer, FBI Leading Investigation • Weeks After FBI Raid, Feds File Forfeiture Action Against Rhode Island Immigration Lawyer's House • Secretive Christian Sect Under FBI Probe Is 'Perfect Grounds for Pedophiles' • FBI Releases Additional Pictures of Suspect in U.S. Bank Robbery in Kansas CYBER DIVISION • Critical Questions for Boards: Are You Prepared for Ransomware? • Google Confirms Gmail Attacks—Do Not Ignore FBI Warning • Law Enforcement, Victim Resilience Lead To 35% Year-Over-Year Drop In Ransomware Payments OTHER FBI NEWS • Boston's FBI, DEA Offices Say They're Helping Immigration Enforcement • Continued Reporting: Prince Andrew 'Terrified' to Visit U.S. After Fresh Calls for FBI Probe Into Epstein Scandal INTERNATIONAL NEWS • Trump Aides Defend Gaza Takeover Proposal but Walk Back Some Elements • Rwanda-Backed Rebels Have Seized Another Town in Eastern Congo • What We Know About the Mass Shooting in Sweden • Philippine Vice President Duterte Impeached Over Marcos Assassination Remark and Other Allegations • French Government Survives No-Confidence Vote • U.S. Blindsides Panama, Saying American Government Ships Will Get Free Canal Passage • Protesters Storm and Destroy a Family Home of Bangladesh's Ousted Prime Minister Hasina • Argentina to Withdraw From World Health Organization, Following Trump • Russia Indicates Talks With U.S. Over Ukraine Are Intensifying • Antisemitic Attacks Mar Australia's Legacy as a Haven for Jews OTHER WASHINGTON NEWS • Police Seek Motive After a Suspect Was Arrested for a Fatal Shooting at an Ohio Cosmetics Warehouse • Federal Workers Warned 'Majority' of Government Agencies Will Be Downsized and Thursday Is Last Day to Take Buyouts • Trump Signs Order Barring Transgender Student-Athletes From Women's Sports • Trump to Place at Least 100 EPA Environmental-Justice Workers on Leave • White House Orders CIA to Send Names as Worker Purge Expands • How Botched Alerts Turned This L.A. Neighborhood Into a Fiery Death Trap EFTA01655578  • DOGE Aides Search Medicare Agency Payment Systems for Fraud • U.S. Is Holding Migrants in Cells That Once Held Al Qaeda Suspects • Trump's New Massachusetts Prosecutor Vows to Probe Officials Impeding Immigration Arrests • F.C.C. Releases '60 Minutes' Interview With Kamala Harris • What Do President Trump's Immigration-Related Executive Orders Do? BIG PICTURE • New York Times • Wall Street Journal • Washington Post • ABC News • NBC News • CBS News • Fox News • CNN WASHINGTON SCHEDULE IN THE NEWS DOJ Official Accuses FBI Leadership of 'insubordination,' Tamps Down Talk of Revenge on Agents The Associated Press (02/05, Tucker, Richer) reported that a top DOJ official accused the FBI's acting leaders of "insubordination" in a Wednesday memo in which he sought to soothe anxiety inside the Bureau over the potential for a broad purge of agents involved in investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The memo from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said agents "who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner" while investigating the Capitol attack face no risk of being fired. According to the article, the memo also provided no reassurances for any agents found to have "acted with corrupt or partisan intent" and suggests those employees, if there are any, are at risk of discipline or even termination as part of a highly unusual review process the Trump administration is embarking upon to identify what it says is potential misconduct. The message from Bove is aimed at providing a measure of clarity after days of turmoil and uncertainty at the FBI as a result of an extraordinary DOJ demand on Friday for the names of agents who participated in the investigations so that officials could determine whether additional personnel action was merited. The article mentioned that many within the FBI had seen that request as a precursor for mass firings, particularly in light of separate moves to fire members of special counsel Jack Smith's team that investigated Donald Trump, reassign senior career DOJ officials, and force out prosecutors on Jan. 6 cases and multiple top FBI executives. Bove, in his memo Wednesday, accused the FBI's acting leadership of "insubordination" for resisting his requests last week "to identify the core team" responsible for Jan. 6 investigations. He said the requests were meant to "permit the Justice Department to conduct a review of those particular agents' conduct pursuant to Trump's executive order" on "weaponization" in the Biden administration. After acting Director Brian Driscoll refused to comply, Bove wrote, that he broadened the request for information about all FBI employees who participated in the investigations. Driscoll had no response to the insubordination allegation, the FBI said. The article stated that the FBI provided personnel details about several thousand employees, identifying them by unique employee numbers rather than by names. "Let me be clear," wrote Bove, who was previously part of Trump's legal team in his criminal cases. "No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties." But, he added, "The only individuals who should be concerned about the process initiated by my January 31, 2025 memo are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent, who blatantly defied orders from Department leadership, or who exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI." Reuters (02/05, Lynch), New York Times (02/05, Thrush, Goldman), Vanity Fair (02/05, Smith), NPR (02/05, Lucas), CNN (02/05, Perez, Rabinowitz), Politico (02/05, Gerstein), Newsnation (02/05, Meyer), Desert Sun (02/05, Morgen), Fox EFTA01655579 Sews (02/05, Hagstrom), the Hill (02/05, Beitsch), New York Post (02/05, Nelson), Newsweek (02/05, Whisnant, Taheri), and Newsmax (02/05, Barron) also reported on the story. Agents Say Mass Firings CouldDangerously Weaken FBI in Three Ways NBC News (02/05, Winter) reported that first-of-their-kind lawsuits, near-daily staff memos from the little-known acting FBI director, and abject fear among agents that they could lose their jobs have distracted and destabilized the FBI workforce, a half-dozen current and former federal law enforcement officials with experience in the Bureau told NBC News. According to the article, if the new administration fires or punishes agents involved in the Jan. 6 investigations it could affect the FBI in three dangerous ways, the current and former law enforcement officials said. The article mentioned that many of the agents involved in the investigations of the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, work in the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, which operates Joint Terrorism Task Forces in cities across the country with federal and local law enforcement agencies. Those agents investigate terrorism threats both from inside the United States and from overseas groups, such as ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah. So the potential removal of thousands of those agents — some estimate the number of counterterrorism agents could be over 4,000 — poses a major threat to the FBI's ability to combat terrorist threats, the current and former officials say. Punishing thousands of Jan. 6 case agents could also damage FBI operations not related to terrorism, the current and former officials say. Agents from smaller FBI field offices, for example, were also brought in to work on Jan. 6 cases. Dismissing those agents could affect smaller FBI field offices that investigate misconduct by local law enforcement agencies, corporations and public officials. The article noted that retaliation against agents who worked on Jan. 6 investigations could also have a chilling effect on FBI agents' desire to investigate future cases involving the second Trump administration. The current and former officials say they wonder whether FBI officials would be willing to investigate, for example, a person in Trump's personal orbit. Firing agents would also be likely to damage efforts to retain veteran agents and recruit new ones, the current and former officials say. Agents fired for their work on Jan. 6 cases would be unable to get hired by other federal law enforcement agencies, the officials say. If they managed to get hired by local police departments, it would most likely be for less pay and lower retirement benefits. The Wall Street Journal (02/05, Gurman, barber, Viswanatha), WVEC (ABC-13) (02/05, Gooding), the Christian Science Monitor (02/05, Gass, Babcock), and CNN (02/05, Video) also reported on the story. Continued Reporting: FBI Agents Sue DOI, Allege Retaliation Over Jan. 6 Cases The Center Square (02/05, Guerra) reported that FBI agents involved in the Jan. 6 Capital riot investigations have filed lawsuits against the DOJ, challenging its efforts to survey and identify personnel who participated in high- profile inquiries such as the riot and handling of classified documents at Mar-a-logo. The FBI Agents Association, a non-profit organization that supports and protects both current and retired FBI agents, represents one group. FBIAA President Natalie Bara and attorney Chris Mattei held a virtual press conference to discuss the legal action they are taking to prevent the DO1 from releasing the names of FBI employees involved in the Jan. 6 investigations. Bara noted that releasing the names could endanger agents and their families. The second lawsuit, a class action filed by nine FBI agents, alleges that Acting Attorney General James McHenry and other top DOJ officials are engaging in politically motivated retribution. The lawsuit states, "plaintiffs reasonably believe and fear that the information gathered in the survey will also be used to target them for retaliatory discharge due to the Trump administration's perception of their loyalties. Donald Trump has made repeated public pronouncements of his intent to exact revenge upon persons he perceives to be disloyal to him by simply executing their duties in investigating acts incited by him and persons loyal to him." KSTU (Fox-13) (02/05, Carlisle), Newsweek(02/OS, Clark), and CTPost (02/05, Lockhart) also reported on the story. Sen. Chuck Grassley Says High-Level Justice, FBI Firings Justified The Quad City Times (02/05, Watson) reported that U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley does not take issue with firings of high-level FBI and DOJ officials, he told reporters on Wednesday. But low-level employees following orders should not be held responsible, he said. Grassley, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, noted on a call with reporters on Wednesday a memo to the workforce from high-level justice official that stated FBI agents "who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner" while investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol are not at risk of being fired. "The purpose of the FBI is law enforcement and using people within the department for political purposes of weaponization of politics should be not a part of their operation," Grassley told reporters on Wednesday. "Now I blame this on the seventh floor of the FBI. It's not something that the FBI agents at the grassroots of Iowa or any other state are responsible for." Fox News (02/05, Video) also reported on the story. EFTA01655580 New Attorney General Pam Bondi Orders Review of Dump Cases The Associated Press (02/05, Richer, Tucker) reported that new Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday ordered a review of the federal prosecution of Donald Trump as she unveiled a series of directives designed to overhaul a DOJ the president claims is biased against conservatives. Hours after she was sworn in at the White House, Bondi called for the creation of "weaponization working group" that will scrutinize the work of special counsel Jack Smith, who charged Trump in two criminal cases. The group will also review "unethical prosecutions" stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, among other things, according to the memo. The article mentioned that the memo satisfies the longstanding contention of Trump and his allies that the DOJ under the Biden administration had become "weaponized" against conservatives, even though some of its most high-profile probes concerned the Democratic president and his son, and there's been no evidence to support the idea that the prosecutions against Trump were launched for a partisan purpose. It was one of 14 directives signed by Bondi designed to roll back Biden administration policies and align the Justice Department with the priorities of a White House determined to exert control over federal law enforcement and purge agencies of career employees it views as disloyal. The article added that Bondi was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas earlier Wednesday alongside Trump in the Oval Office. It the first time that Trump had participated in a second-term swearing-in of a Cabinet member, underscoring Trump's intense personal interest in the operations of the department that investigated him during his first term and indicted him after he left office in 2021. Trump praised Bondi's record as a prosecutor and said she will restore "fair, equal and impartial justice" at the department. Bondi enters with the department roiled by the firings of career prosecutors and senior FBI officials, along with the highly unusual scrutiny of thousands of agents involved in the sprawling Jan. 6 investigation. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said in a memo to the workforce Wednesday that FBI agents "who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner" are not at risk of being fired. The only employees who should be concerned, Bove wrote, "are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent." "There is no honor in the ongoing efforts to distort that simple truth or protect culpable actors from scrutiny on these issues, which have politicized the Bureau, harmed its credibility and distracted the public from the excellent work being done everyday," Bove wrote. The Washington Post (02/05, Roebuck, Stein), NBC News (02/05, Doshi, McCulloch), the Hill (02/05, Samuels), Politico (02/05, Gerstein, Orden), UPI (02/05, Hughes), Newsweek (02/05, Whisnant), Washington Examiner (02/05, Oliver), Bloomberg (02/05, Strohm), New York Post (02/05, Nelson), Washington Times (02/05, Howell), Daily Mail (02/05, Earle), CBS News (02/05, Rosen), Epoch Times (02/05, Stieber), Independent (02/05, Rissman), Wall Street Journal (02/05, Barber, Gurman), Fox News (02/05, Singman), CNN (02/05, Rabinowitz, Perez, Reid), NPR (02/05, Lucas), NBC News (02/05, Video), and Fox News (02/05, Video) also reported on the story. U.S. Immigration Raids Target Illegal Immigrants in Aurora, Colorado Reuters (02/05, Brooks) reported that officers from several U.S. federal agencies searched for illegal immigrants on Wednesday in Aurora, the Colorado city with a large migrant population where President Donald Trump laid out his immigration policies during his campaign. Federal officials said they were targeting over 100 alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang with prison origins that has expanded throughout the Americas. According to the article, the Denver field office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said on social media that it partnered with the FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and U.S. Marshals Service to carry out the operations. Some residents say Tren de Aragua has infiltrated Aurora, a city in the Denver suburbs. Local officials have called assertions about Tren de Aragua's reach and activities in Aurora false and incendiary. On Wednesday, ICE Acting Director Caleb Vitello, speaking at the site of one of the Aurora operations, said in a video posted on social media the raids were taking place to target alleged gang members and that "as long as there are bad guys in the streets we're going to be out here arresting them." Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, said in a statement his state would work "with federal law enforcement agencies in apprehending dangerous criminals to make Colorado safer for everyone." Polis added that he wants to see more transparency from the federal government about the immigration actions being taken in Colorado, in part to lessen the fears and uncertainty felt by immigrants. The New York Post (02/05, Taer), USA TODAY (02/05, Hughes, Jervis), Daily Wire (02/05, Jewell), Newsweek (02/05, Gooding), Colorado Sun (02/05, Brown, Prentzel), Colorado Newsline (02/05, Woodruff), Axios (02/05, Hernandez, Alvarez), Denver Post (02/05, Tabachnik, Boyanton, et al.), ABC News (02/05, El-Bawab, Barr), CBS News (02/05, McRae), Washington Examiner (02/05, Hallas), and Fox News (02/05, Arias) also reported on the story. Continued Reporting: Kash Patel Nomination Process and Commentary EFTA01655581 Dems"Delay Tactic' to 'Malign' Patel and Stall FBI Confirmation Dismissed as 'Baseless' by Top Senate Leader Fox News (02/05, Deppisch) reported that the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee criticized Democrats on the panel this week for their attempts to schedule a second confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump's FBI director nominee, Kash Patel, describing the effort Tuesday night as a "delay tactic" designed to stall Patel from taking the reins of the sprawling law enforcement agency. According to the article, in a statement Tuesday night, Grassley criticized what he described as the "baseless" attempt by Sen. Dick Durbin, (0-IL), and other Democrats on the panel to push for a second hearing, noting that Patel testified for more than five hours before the committee and disclosed to the panel "thousands of pages" of records, as well as nearly 150 pages of responses to lawmakers' written questions. "No one was convinced by the minority's baseless efforts to mischaracterize and malign Kash Patel," Grassley said. "It's additionally outrageous to assert that a nominee should come before the Senate to answer for government actions that occurred prior to their time at an agency." "Further hearings on his nomination are unnecessary," Grassley concluded. He said the committee still intends to vote on Patel's confirmation as FBI director as early as next week. Grassley's remarks come after Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat, urged Grassley to delay Patel's confirmation vote Tuesday, citing what he described as "apparent falsehoods" in Patel's testimony last week, as well as the "recent removals and reassignments of FBI career civil servants." The letter, signed by all 10 Democrats on the panel, urged Grassley to delay Patel's confirmation vote until Patel agreed to testify for a second time under oath about the recent removals and reassignments of FBI civil servants; and until DO1 agrees to provide the panel with volume two of former special counsel Jack Smith's final report that refers or pertains to Patel's testimony or actions, among other things. Spectrum News (02/05, Gannon), and Just the News (02/05, Severi) also reported on the story. Was Kash Patel Aware ofFBI Firings in Advance? MSNBC (02/05, Rubin) reported that in the wake of FBI director nominee Kash Patel's confirmation hearing last week, senators of both parties posed written questions to him to further explore his past comments, particularly with respect to the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021, and, perhaps more significantly, assess his response to a slew of recent firings within the FBI. According to the article, MSNBC has obtained those questions — known as "questions for the record" or "QFRs" — and Patel's answers, which comprise 174 pages and reflect inquiries from a dozen members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. According to a source familiar with Patel's nomination process, his responses were provided to the committee on Monday. In his responses, Patel repeatedly denied any involvement in or direction of any of the FBI firings that have taken place since President Donald Trump's inauguration, including those that have occurred since Patel's Jan. 30 confirmation hearing. The article stated that when asked more broadly whether, for example, he discussed with anyone on the Trump transition team or in the current administration the demotion or removal of officials who were still with the FBI as of Trump's inauguration, Patel responded, "Not that I recall." Similarly, when asked whether he knew before his Jan. 30 testimony that "scores of senior FBI officials and rank-and-file agents assigned to the federal cases against President Trump and the Jan. 6 defendants have been told to resign or be fired," Patel replied, "Not that I recall." Patel's responses remained the same — "Not that I recall" — when asked whether, at the time of his Jan. 30 testimony, he was aware of personnel decisions impacting specific, named individuals or "any other plans to dismiss any FBI personnel" or conduct evaluations or reviews of those FBI personnel who worked on Jan. 6 cases or those related to Trump. The Washington Times (02/OS, Wasinger), San Antonio Express-News (02/05, Spinks), Just the News (02/05, Whedon), and the Economic Times (02/05, Staff Writer) also reported on Kash Patel Back to Top COUNTERTERRORISM Continued Reporting: New Orleans Ramps up Security for Super Bowl Just Weeks After Terror Attack The Associated Press (02/05, Brook) reported that after a New Year's Day terror attack struck New Orleans' historic French Quarter, city officials say they are confident in the security plans they have in place for Sunday's Super Bowl. More than 125,000 visitors — including President Donald Trump — are expected to converge on the Big Easy this week for days of revelry capped off by the clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles at the Caesars Superdome to crown this season's NFL champion. According to the article, following the truck-ramming attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens more along Bourbon Street, one of the city's most famous thoroughfares, alleged security lapses triggered multiple lawsuits and investigations. But the city, the NFL and law EFTA01655582 enforcement officials insist that after more than a year of preparations, they are ready to play host. "We're going above and beyond what we've seen in the past when we've hosted previously," Mayor LaToya Cantrell said. "We know we're safer than we've ever been before." Super Bowl events will sprawl across neighborhoods far beyond the stadium, said Homeland Security Investigations New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Eric DeLaune, who is leading federal coordination of security. Federal agencies from the FBI to the Secret Service are bringing in rooftop snipers and will position armored SWAT vehicles around the stadium, the French Quarter and downtown, DeLaune said. Continued Reporting: Trump's Pick to Lead the National Counterterrorism Center Has Called Jan. 6 Rioters 'Political Prisoners' NBC News (02/05, Luce) reported that President Donald Trump's pick to oversee U.S. intelligence on terrorism threats is a retired Green Beret who has called Jan. 6 rioters "political prisoners" and has had ties to a man police say was a member of the far-right group known as the "Proud Boys." According to the article, the selection of Joe Kent as director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) is part of a wider effort by the administration to place trusted loyalists and partisan activists in senior government positions in intelligence, law enforcement and diplomacy. Trump and his supporters have said the intelligence community sought to undermine the president in the past and needs a radical overhaul. The National Counterterrorism Center oversees U.S. government intelligence on terrorist threats and retains a database of all known and suspected terrorists. Kent served in Army Special Forces, undertaking 11 combat deployments during a 20-year career, and later worked at the CIA. He lost his wife, a Navy cryptologist, in a terrorist bombing in Syria in 2019. The article mentioned that Kent ran unsuccessfully for Congress twice in Washington state, in 2022 and 2024. Campaign finance documents show that Kent in 2022 made payments for "campaign consulting" to Graham Jorgensen, who was identified as a Proud Boy in a 2018 law enforcement report. The Proud Boys are viewed as "an extremist group with ties to white nationalism" by the FBI, and authorities say they played a significant role in the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. The group has denied any connection to racist elements and says it is a fraternal group opposed to political correctness. In a post on Truth Social, Trump praised Kent. "As a Soldier, Green Beret, and CIA Officer, Joe has hunted down terrorists and criminals his entire adult life," Trump wrote. "Above all, Joe knows the terrible cost of terrorism, losing his wonderful wife, Shannon, a Great American Hero, who was killed in the fight against ISIS." The Guardian (02/05, Wilson) also reported on the story. Continued Reporting: U.S. Court Convicts Founder of Neo-Nazi Group for Plot to Destroy Baltimore Power Grid The Jerusalem Post (02/05, Starr) reported that a U.S. court has convicted the founder of a neo-Nazi group who planned to destroy the Baltimore power grid in an attempt to accelerate racial violence, the Dal said Tuesday. Brandon Russell, 29, the founder of Atomwaffen Division (AWD) and a resident of Orlando, could receive a 20-year prison sentence for conspiracy to damage an energy facility, it said. He had recruited Maryland resident Sarah Beth Clendaniel, and from 2022-2023, they planned to damage electrical infrastructure that could have caused more than $75 million in damages, it added. Continued Reporting: Donald Trump Reveals Dead-Man's Switch in Case of Iran Assassination Newsweek (02/05, Orton) reported that President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he has left orders for Iran to face total destruction if it attempts to assassinate him, as federal authorities continue to track threats from Tehran. "If they did that, they would be obliterated," Trump told reporters while signing an executive order aimed at intensifying U.S. sanctions on Iran. "I've left instructions—if they do it, they get obliterated. There won't be anything left." According to the article, Trump's remarks come amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran, as federal officials continue to monitor threats against him and former members of his first administration. Iranian officials have long vowed retaliation for Trump's 2020 decision to authorize a drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force. In recent years, U.S. intelligence agencies have reported multiple Iranian plots targeting Trump and other former top officials. Trump was wounded in a July assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. U.S. officials later confirmed that intelligence agencies had been tracking threats from Iran ahead of the event, though they stated at the time that there was no evidence Iran was involved in the shooting. Trump issued the warning to Iran during the signing of an executive order reinstating the "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran. This strategy aims to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions by reducing its oil exports to zero. The order directs the U.S. Treasury and State Department to EFTA01655583 implement stringent economic sanctions and enforcement mechanisms targeting entities that violate existing sanctions. How ISIS and AI-Qaeda Are Using Al to Target American Jews Newsweek (02/05, Sager) reported that a digital safety coalition said that artificial intelligence (Al) has enhanced content for lone-wolf terrorist attacks by ISIS and Al-Qaeda against Jewish communities in the United States. "The trend is unmistakable," Marc Ginsberg, a former U.S. ambassador and the president of the Coalition for a Safer Web, said. "That is a whole new level of threat that I don't think anybody understands or appreciates how sophisticated the penetration operation has really become." According to the article, following the anniversary of October 7, the Coalition for a Safer Web found numerous ISIS and Al-Qaeda websites accompanied by generative Al videos, programs and memes of Gaza's destruction and injured Palestinians. The content is manipulated to appeal to potential lone-wolf recruits in the U.S. to start retribution against Israel's supporters in the U.S., particularly the Jewish community. Since mid-2024, ISIS and AI-Qaeda have been upgrading their propaganda by incorporating generative Al programs, according to Ginsberg and his team's research. The Al programs create a "super stylized" version of extremist web content. It also allows terrorist groups to manipulate algorithms and breach social media content, inciting antisemitic operations. "Generative Al has been hijacked by ISIS and Al-Qaeda in their respective campaigns to achieve global dominance over the other, to leverage the Gaza war, to incite and recruit domestic based U.S. nationals and not to attempt to infiltrate any personnel actually from their operations into the U.S.," Ginsberg said. The article mentioned that there is a surge In terror plots against U.S. Jewish targets since late 2024. The article noted that the FBI and Canadian authorities arrested 20-year-old Muhammad Shazeb Khan, a Pakistani citizen, while he was en route to a planned mass shooting in support of ISIS at a Jewish center in Brooklyn on September 4, 2024. The shooting would have coincided with the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel. The article added that the Houston FBI Counterterrorism Task Force arrested Anas Said on November 8. The 28-year-old Houston native was taken into custody for conspiring with ISIS web designers to plot a mass casualty attack against a Houston Jewish installation. Opinion: Trump's Plan for the Cartels Isn't Tough Enough An opinion piece by the New York Times (02/05, Freeman) stated that Trump is right about the immense power of Mexico's transnational drug cartels and the grave threat they pose to American lives. The author added that they agree that weakening and dismantling the cartels should rank at or near the top of U.S. foreign policy priorities. The author argued that the problem with Trump's plan to take them on is that it's not tough or serious enough. The author mentioned that Trump devoted some of his first hours back in the Oval Office to the threat of the cartels, including signing an executive order to designate some of them as terrorist organizations. The author claimed that the cartels are not terrorist groups like Al Qaeda or ISIS. Cartels like Mexico's two largest, the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation cartel, do not want to overthrow the state or remold society in their image. They have a less ambitious goal: limitless profits. The author provided the opinion that if Trump and those around him are serious about weakening the cartels, they need a serious plan. They need to see the cartels for what they truly are: predatory multinational businesses. He needs a strategy to hit them where it hurts — in the pocketbook. Back to Top COUNTERINTELLIGENCE Continued Reporting: Ex-Google Engineer Faces New U.S. Charges He Stole Al Secrets for Chinese Companies Decrypt (02/05, Edwards) reported that a former Google engineer faces up to 175 years in jail after being accused of stealing trade secrets in a DOJ indictment. Linwei (Leon) Ding, 38, was charged by a federal grand jury in San Francisco with seven counts of economic espionage and a further seven counts of theft of trade secrets. Ding, who was arrested in March 2024 and is currently under investigation by the FBI, is accused of having uploaded proprietary data on Google Al supercomputer hardware infrastructure and software to his personal account. The Dal claims he was doing this to benefit Chinese firms and, ultimately, "the PRC government and instrumentalities." Ding had allegedly been in talks with the chief technology officer of a Chinese tech company since June 2022 and is accused of uploading more than 1,000 Google documents to his personal cloud account between May 2022 and 2023. According to the DOJ, details about Google's SmartNIC, Tensor Processing Unit and Graphics Processing Unit chips were all stolen, while Ding is accused of leaking software built for next-gen Al EFTA01655584 innovations. The court documents state that the trade secrets "contain detailed information about the architecture and functionality of TPU chips and systems and GPU systems, the software that allowed the chips to communicate and execute tasks, and the software that orchestrated thousands of chips into a supercomputer capable of training and executing cutting-edge Al workloads." NTD (02/05, Fang), and Regtech Times (02/05, Deshmukh) also reported on the story. Opinion: My Vote to Ban TikTok Was a Mistake, Here's What I've Learned An opinion piece by Fox News (02/05, Hunt) stated that the author regretted for voting to ban TikTok. The author said they understood the concerns surrounding TikTok as a Chinese-owned platform and the potential risks associated with foreign access to American data, and they condemn foreign interference in our digital infrastructure, but that we must confront an uncomfortable truth: our government has also collected personal data on its citizens. The author noted that former Director Wray admitted to Congress that the FBI abused its powers to spy on Americans over 250,000 times. The author claimed that for conservatives who believe in a strong America, platforms like TikTok and X remain vital spaces for free speech, and that we must break the cycle of censorship and ensure that every American has the right to express their beliefs without fear of being silenced or "canceled." The author closed by saying that as leaders, we must adapt to the realities of the modern world, recognizing that platforms like TikTok are not merely distractions, but potent tools for communication, activism, and education. Back to Top CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS Burglaries at Homes of Joe Burrow and Other Star Athletes Were Similar, Authorities Say The Associated Press (02/05, Collins) reported that the men charged with a burglary at Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow's house took photos of themselves flashing some of the spoils — nearly $300,000 worth of jewelry, watches, designer luggage and glasses. The article disclosed that one of them wore necklaces with pendants showing the number 9 and "JB9," Burrow's jersey number. The article noted that one of the men tried to delete the photos from a cellphone as police pulled them over in Ohio, but investigators were able to recover the pictures and included some of them in a new federal complaint filed by an FBI agent that was unsealed Wednesday. The investigation has spanned several states and led to the arrests of six people. According to the article, federal authorities say it's a story involving South American burglary crews that have been targeting upscale homes around the country and a fencing operation run out of a New York City pawn shop. The article clarified that in court documents, investigators haven't publicly connected the Dec. 9 burglary at Burrow's home in Cincinnati to other thefts reported at other high-profile athletes' houses, but the complaint released Wednesday said there were similarities in many of the break-ins and the investigation is ongoing. On Wednesday, three of the four men already accused by local authorities of burglarizing Burrow's home were indicted by a federal grand jury in Cincinnati on charges of transporting stolen goods interstate and falsifying records related to the same burglary. The article added that additionally on Wednesday, two other men charged with running a fencing operation in New York City selling stolen items from burglaries around the country pleaded not guilty through their attorneys in federal court in Brooklyn. Investigators alleged one of the men was linked through phone records to one of the men charged in the Burrow home theft. The article outlined that those two men, Dimitriy Nezhinskiy and Juan Villar, were identified by authorities in court documents released Tuesday. Prosecutors said a large amount of suspected stolen property was found at the two men's pawn shop in Manhattan and at storage units in New Jersey belonging to Nezhinskiy. The article further revealed that in the criminal complaint released Wednesday, an FBI agent wrote that authorities tracked the suspects in the theft at Burrow's home to a hotel in Fairborn, Ohio, near Dayton, using cellphone location data and license plate readers. Investigators said they matched data from cell towers to the locations of a vehicle of interest identified by the license plate readers. Local prosecutors said four men were later taken into custody during a traffic stop — Jordan Francisco Quiroga Sanchez, 22; Alexander Esteban Huaiquil- Chavez, 24; Bastian Alejandro Orellana Morales, 23; and Sergio Andres Ortega Cabello, 38. Sanchez, Morales and Cabello were indicted by the federal grand jury Wednesday. CNN (02/05, Harvey, et al.) highlighted that the FBI said, "These homes are targeted for burglary due to the perception they may have high-end goods like designer handbags, jewelry, watches, and cash." CBS News (02/05, Gainer), ABC News (02/05, Katersky, Deliso), The New York Post (02/05, Schnitzer, Fitz-Gibbon), Fox News (02/05, Price), New York Daily News (02/05, Annese), The Cincinnati Enquirer (02/05, Hodges, Grasha), ESPN (02/05, Baby), NewsNation (02/05, Ingle, Noone), Sports Illustrated (02/05, Heitman), NBC Sports (02/05, Florio), Athlon Sports (02/05, Merkerson), Inki (02/05, Staff EFTA01655585 Writer), NBC News (02/05, Video), CBS News (02/05, Video), Fox News (02/05, Video), WXIX (FOX-19) (02/05, Goffinet), WXIX (FOX-19) (02/05, Video), WPIX (CW-11) (02/05, Video), WLTW (NBC-5) (02/05, Dietz, Johnson), and WABC (ABC-7) (02/05, Staff Writer) also reported on the story. Continued Reporting: New York Man Pleads Guilty to Firing Shots Outside Albany Synagogue New York Daily News (02/05, Wilkinson) reported that an upstate New York man pleaded guilty Tuesday to firing two shotgun blasts outside a Jewish synagogue in Albany on the first night of Hanukkah in 2023. Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, 29, had been arrested at the scene outside Temple Israel on Dec. 7, 2023, after the gunfire sent the synagogue into lockdown. According to the article, Alkhader shouted "Free Palestine!" outside the house of worship and later told federal investigators that "events in the Middle East have impacted him." The article pointed out that he opened fire exactly two months after Hamas attacked Israel, sparking the brutal and ongoing war in Gaza. The article quoted U.S. Attorney Carla Freedman, who said in a statement, "The defendant's violent, antisemitic and terrifying act targeted the Temple Israel congregation, the larger Jewish community, and the right of every person to practice their religion without fear of violence." The article indicated that Alkhader pleaded guilty to obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by threat of force, brandishing a firearm during a crime and conspiring to purchase a firearm unlawfully. He faces a minimum of seven years in prison at his sentencing hearing in June. The article detailed that more than 60 children were inside Temple Israel at a daycare when Alkhader opened fire, according to investigators. No one was wounded by the blasts, and Alkhader's gun jammed before he could fire a third shot. The article mentioned that the firearm conspiracy charge was added because Alkhader acquired the weapon from another man, Andrew Miller, who illegally bought it for him in November 2023. Miller copped to his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced to 14 months behind bars. A DOJ press release also quoted FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig Tremaroli, who said, "Mr. Alkhader's plea confirms his deliberate and premeditated intentions to illegally acquire a gun and use it to bring terror to the Temple Israel community as they were preparing to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. Thanks to the swift actions of the Temple Israel community and our law enforcement partners, justice has been served. The FBI remains steadfast in our mission to ensure all our communities can live without fear of hateful violence." WGY (FM-103.1) (02/05, Staff Writer) also reported on the story. DOJ Says It Will Not Bring Charges in Investigation of Project Veritas The New York Times (02/05, Schmidt, Goldman) reported that the DOJ said on Wednesday that it would not bring charges against anyone affiliated with the group Project Veritas over their role in trying to publish the contents of a diary that had been stolen from Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s daughter in the final weeks of the 2020 election campaign. The article stated that the prosecutors, who made their announcement in a one-paragraph letter to a judge overseeing the matter, did not say why they were declining to bring additional charges in the long running investigation. In court filings in related cases, the DOJ had laid out evidence of the group's involvement in the effort to acquire and publish the diary, and had fought in court for access to evidence that investigators had obtained from the group's operatives. The article detailed that the investigation had raised difficult legal questions about the extent to which the First Amendment protected the publication of stolen materials. But it was unclear whether the decision was part of a larger pattern by the DOJ since President Trump took office to walk away from cases involving his allies. According to the article, Project Veritas and its founder, James O'Keefe, have long been favorites of Trump's and gained attention by using sting operations and undercover videos to seek to embarrass liberal groups and mainstream news organizations, among others. The article clarified that the investigation started in the final days of the 2020 campaign when federal prosecutors at the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan began examining how the group had obtained a diary that Biden's daughter Ashley had kept. The group tried to publicize the diary's contents in an attempt to undermine Biden's candidacy. During the investigation, court filings in the case said, the authorities learned that Project Veritas had paid for the diary. The article mentioned that in 2021, FBI agents with warrants searched the homes of several Project Veritas operatives. In response, members of the group went to court trying to stop federal prosecutors from using the evidence, setting off the yearslong court battle. The article noted that about a year later, two people pleaded guilty in connection with their roles in stealing the diary and selling it to the group. One of those individuals, Robert Kurlander, had his sentencing delayed on Wednesday until May. Continued Reporting: FBI Chicago Captured of Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Arnoldo Jimenez USA Today (02/05, Alund) reported that in 2012, less than 48 hours after she was married, police found Estrella Carrera dead in the bathtub of her Illinois apartment. Still wearing her wedding dress, officials reported at the time, EFTA01655586 she had been stabbed more than a dozen times. The article stated that days later, a judge in Cook County, Illinois signed an arrest warrant for Carrera's newlywed husband, Arnoldo Jimenez in connection his wife's slaying at her Burbank home. The article highlighted that after being on the run for almost 13 years, the FBI announced, Jimenez has been found and taken into custody in Mexico in connection to Carrera's "gruesome" killing. At the time of his arrest, Jimenez was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. The article quoted Burbank Police Department Deputy Chief William Casey, who said in a statement following Jimenez' Friday arrest in Mexico, "The FBI and Burbank Police Department were committed to bringing justice for Estrella Carrera and her family." The article detailed that according to the FBI, on May 12, 2012 - one day after the couple wed - Jimenez allegedly stabbed his wife to death in his black, four-door, 2006 Maserati. An FBI agent told CBS News Jimenez stabbed his wife 18 times. The article indicated that he then reportedly dragged her body into the bathroom tub of her apartment, the FBI said. A motive in the slaying was not immediately known. The article outlined that Jimenez was charged with first-degree murder, and on May 15, 2012, a judge issued a warrant for his arrest. Two days later, according to a news release issued by the FBI last week, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued a federal arrest warrant for Jimenez after prosecutors charged him federally with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. The article confirmed that FBI, an FBI legal attaché in Mexico City, and federal court officials collaborated to locate Jimenez, arrested by agents of the Fiscalia General de la RepUblica (Mexico's Attorney General's Office) in conjunction with Interpol. The article added that Jimenez remained in custody Wednesday pending extradition proceedings, the FBI told the reporting outlet. His extradition hearing date was not immediately known on Wednesday. Patch (02/05, Swanson) also reported on the story. FBI Warn iPhone And Android Users Forbes (02/05, Doffman) reported that the FBI is warning smartphone users to beware the threat from dangerous calls that will cost you a significant amount of money if you make a mistake. The article explained that the FBI's warning focuses on scam calls pretending to from banks or technical support, that trick users into moving mo