Domestic Extremists & Cryptocurrency | The FBI’s List of Most Wanted Extremists | Targeting Election Officials, and more

After a Deadly 2009 Attack, the CIA’s Hunt for Zawahiri Became Personal  (Washington Post)
It was one of the darkest days in CIA history: Seven operatives killed after being lured by a rogue informant into a deadly trap. In the years since, memories of the 2009 disaster in eastern Afghanistan helped to animate the intelligence agency’s global search for an elusive terrorist believed to have played a key role in the officers’ deaths. That terrorist was Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda leader killed on Saturday, in a strike carried out by the CIA. Nothing in official U.S. statements describe Zawahiri’s death as payback for the American losses in Khost, Afghanistan, some 12 years earlier. But many former and current intelligence officers say that’s exactly how it felt. The CIA, per usual practice, has not publicly acknowledged any part in firing the missile that struck Zawahiri as he stood on his balcony in an apartment building in Kabul, the Afghan capital. But since Monday, confirmation of the 71-year-old Egyptian’s death has triggered an emotional response within the agency’s Langley, Va., headquarters, and also with former colleagues, friends and family members of those who were killed or wounded in 2009.

Police Forces on Alert for Revenge Terror Attacks After Al Zawahiri Killing  (Nicky Harley, The National)
Police forces have been warned to be on alert for terrorist attacks after the killing of Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri. His death in a drone strike in Kabul at the weekend has led to fears that attacks could take place in retaliation. Former UN terrorism expert Hans Jacob Schindler, director of the Counter Extremism Project, issued a warning to nations to remain vigilant. “Zawahiri’s death is a significant counter-terrorism success, but it should not be cause for anyone to let their guard down,” he said. “He is most likely to be succeeded by Saif Al Adel, a revered figure within the terrorist organization and potentially a bolder operative than Zawahiri. “Zawahiri was killed in Kabul, which is fully under the control of the Taliban, in a house owned by the acting minister of interior. This demonstrates how close the relationship between the Taliban and Al Qaeda has remained, despite Taliban assurances to the contrary. “The next Al Qaeda leader is therefore in a good position to organize a base of operations there. It is not at all unlikely that we will see terrorists training in Afghanistan and working toward large-scale, spectacular terrorist attacks.” On Tuesday, the US State Department warned Americans travelling abroad of potential violence after US forces killed the Al Qaeda chief.

Sunak Defines ‘Vilification of the UK’ As Extremism in Terrorism Policy Proposal  (Lizzie Dearden, The Independent)
Rishi Sunak has announced plans to include the “vilification of the United Kingdom” into an official definition of extremism. In a series of policy proposals on terrorism, the Conservative leadership candidate also claimed he would “refocus” the Prevent programmed on Islamist extremism. The controversial scheme, which has been accused of both ineffectiveness and over-reach, has been under independent review for three-and-a-half years. The review has missed numerous deadlines and the Home Office has not yet published a final report by William Shawcross, the former head of the Charity Commission. The government also set up the Commission for Countering Extremism but then ignored a flagship report that set out a definition of hateful extremism in October 2019. “There is no more important duty for a prime minister than keeping our country and our people safe,” Mr Sunak said. “Whether redoubling our efforts to tackle Islamist extremism or rooting out those who are vocal in their hatred of our country, I will do whatever it takes to fulfil that duty. The announcement appeared to misunderstand how Prevent, which aims to stop terror offending and divert people away from terrorist ideologies, operates and conflate its scope with non-violent extremism.

Rishi Sunak Should Be Careful What He Wishes to Ban  (Ian Acheson, CapX)
What is extreme hatred of Britain? Yesterday, enduring a five-hour rail journey to London – a first class customer on third-world infrastructure – I might have strayed over the line myself. Today, leadership candidate Rishi Sunak has suggested that this is the nebulous benchmark for referral to our counter terrorism Prevent programmed. This had predictable reaction in the Twittersphere. There was the usual ‘full house’ of fascism bingo and a torrent of subversive derision. Who would decide what extreme vilification was? How could a sentiment shared by a large portion of the country, fed up with how broken it has become, be treated?  How would Prevent cope with legions of nihilistic teenagers referred in after being grounded for backchat? There’s little meat on the bones, of course. This is a leadership campaign and the runes say Sunak is falling behind so perhaps, as online one wag had it, this is a last desperate pitch to the ‘bowls clubs of Kent’ where drowsing members remain to be harvested. But there is a serious point here about proportionality and preventing terrorism. Violent extremists of any ideology who attack liberal democracies like to have their work done for them. It’s a ‘force multiplier’ that always seeks to amplify their violence into an over-reaction by the state.

CISA Official: Never Seen This Level of Targeting Election Officials in 30 Years of Work  (The Record)
As government agencies work to bolster the security of U.S. voting systems, one of the country’s top election officials said the level of digital targeting and physical threats directed toward election workers has reached the highest point in her 30-year career. 
Kim Wyman, senior election security advisor for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), appeared Wednesday alongside Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing about how election workers are being protected. The Justice Department started a task force centered around threats toward poll workers and the committee sought information about the group’s findings. 
The issue has gained national prominence since Wandrea Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, appeared in front of the House Jan. 6 committee and spoke passionately in June about the variety of threats they faced from supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump following his loss in the 2020 Presidential Election.