OUR PICKSWhy Foreign Interference in U.S. Elections is Growing | FBI Director Says America Faces Many Elevated Threats | Surge in Migrants Crossing at America’s Northern Border, and more
· From Cybercrime to Terrorism, FBI Director Says America Faces Many Elevated Threats ‘All at Once’
Wray says he is “hard pressed to think of a time in my career where so many different kinds of threats are all elevated at once”
· A Bookshop Cancels an Event Over a Rabbi’s Zionism, Prompting Outrage
Shortly before a talk between a Jewish author and a liberal rabbi, a manager at Powerhouse Arena in Brooklyn barred the rabbi from participating, saying, “We don’t want a Zionist onstage.”
· The Green Economy Is Hungry for Copper—and People Are Stealing, Fighting, and Dying to Feed It
With the possible exception of gold, no other metal has caused as much destruction as copper. In the coming years, we’ll need more of it than ever
· Why Foreign Interference in U.S. Elections is Growing
The Founding Fathers warned that extreme partisanship risks inviting foreign machinations into the American political system
· Privacy Protections of the Stored Communications Act Gutted by California Court
A California court of appeal has eviscerated statutory privacy protections that prevent providers from disclosing the content of user communications
· Warrantless “Defensive” Searches of FISA Section 702 Data Violate the Fourth Amendment
The government’s frequent abuses of Section 702 authority have caused bipartisan outrage
· Neo-Nazi Terrorist Group Using Steve Bannon Account to Radicalize People
Group is covertly seeding violent propaganda on to mainstream social media channels, report finds
· Riots Show How the UK’s Far Right Has Changed
Will the disorder come to be seen as a one-off outburst quickly faced down by the public and police, or as a display of power by a newly dangerous far right?
From Cybercrime to Terrorism, FBI Director Says America Faces Many Elevated Threats ‘All at Once’ (AP / VOA)
The country is facing heightened threats from many corners at a time when law enforcement agencies are struggling, FBI Director Christopher Wray said in an exclusive interview, adding that he is “hard pressed to think of a time in my career where so many different kinds of threats are all elevated at once.”
Wray spoke Wednesday with The Associated Press while visiting the Minneapolis field office to talk about partnerships between law enforcement agencies and also with other entities. His remarks come as the FBI confronts heightened concerns over terrorism, both domestic and international, as well as Chinese espionage and intellectual property theft and foreign election interference.
“I worry about the combination of that many threats being elevated at once, with the challenges facing the men and women in law enforcement more generally,” Wray said at the office in the suburb of Brooklyn Center. “And the one thing that I think helps bridge those two challenges is partnerships. That’s how we get through. It is by all working together.”
Wray’s assessment of an elevated threat landscape is consistent with alarm bells he has sounded for months. Soon after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in Israel, Wray began warning that the rampage could serve as an inspiration to militants, “the likes of which we haven’t seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate years ago.”
The FBI has also scrambled to deal with security concerns related to the United States’ southern border, with officials revealing in June that eight people from Tajikistan with suspected ties to the Islamic State group were arrested and were being held on immigration violations.
Officials are also dealing with the specter of foreign election interference. The FBI and other federal agencies announced Monday that Iran was responsible for a hack targeting the Trump campaign and for an attempted breach of the Biden-Harris campaign, part of what officials portrayed as a brazen and aggressive effort to interfere in American politics.