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Alex Jones Ordered to Pay Sandy Hook Victims’ Families Nearly $1 Billion  (Elizabeth Williamson, New York Times)
A jury in Connecticut awarded damages to the families of eight victims killed in the 2012 shooting and an F.B.I. agent who responded to the scene. Jones had already been found liable for defamation after he spent years falsely describing the shooting.

Texas Secretary of State: Alex Jones ‘Unleashed Hell on Our Election People’  (Chloe Folmar, The Hill)
Texas Secretary of State John Scott (R), in an interview with Texas Monthly published Monday, decried the “absurd” amount of threats faced by election workers in recent years, pointing the finger at conspiracy theorists such as Alex Jones.
“The Infowars guy has unleashed hell on our election people,” Scott said.
Law enforcement officials have pointed to a worrying trend of rising threats against election personnel and infrastructure, particularly in the wake of the 2020 election, which former President Trump and many of his supporters have falsely said was skewed by voter fraud.

Enemy Above the Gates  (Diego Laje, Signal)
Drones are free to roam, but many in law enforcement and intelligence worry about the ramifications.

Secret Service Agents’ Request to View Communications on Seized Phones Rejected: Report  (Chloe Folmar, The Hill)
The Secret Service’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Program rejected agents’ requests to obtain a record of the communications found on their personal phones last week.
A letter sent on Wednesday viewed by NBC News informed the agents that their requests had been denied.
“The agency has determined that regulation does not require a records disclosure accounting to be made in connection with your request,” it read.
The agents who inquired about receiving records appealed to the Privacy Act, which protects individual records from public disclosure.

How to Conduct a Cybersecurity Audit Based on Zero Trust  (Paul Kirvan, Techtarget)
This checklist offers guidance on how to prepare for a zero-trust cybersecurity audit and helps document how well cybersecurity controls are performing based on CISA’s ZTMM.

U.S. Influence Operations: The Military’s Resurrected Digital Campaign for Hearts and Minds  (Renee DiResta and John Perrino, Lawfare)
In a battle the United States can’t withdraw from, a coordinated campaign of truth, authenticity, and transparency is key to victory.

Biden’s New Counterterrorism Policy Guidance Further Entrenches the Forever War  (Oona Hathaway, Just Security)
President Joe Biden has reportedly signed a new classified policy memorandum for conducting counterterrorism drone strikes outside conventional war zones. While its aim of reducing risks to civilians is admirable, the memorandum contains notable exceptions and loopholes. These topics will be covered by others who are reflecting on the new policy over the coming week. Here, however, I want to speak to a different concern: the way in which the new counterterrorism policies have been formulated and publicized.

California Doesn’t Know How Many Died in Record Heat Wave  (Los Angeles Times)
The state’s ongoing struggle to account for heat wave illnesses and deaths — despite promises to improve monitoring — has frustrated some public health experts who say the lack of timely information puts lives in jeopardy.