[EXTERNAL EMAIL) - FBI Daily News Briefing - January 31, 2025

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January 31, 2025

Federal Bureau of Investigation
Daily News Briefing

(In coordination with the Office of Public Affairs)

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Table of Contents

IN THE NEWS

• FBI Director Nominee Kash Patel Testifies at Confirmation Hearing
• FBI Collaborates With DHS and DOJ in Federal Immigration Enforcement Efforts
• Trump Administration Shakes Up Senior FBI Ranks
• Internal Emails Offer Glimpse Into Early Days of Trump Election Inquiry
• Tulsi Gabbard, and RFK Jr. Nomination Hearings
• Collision Between Helicopter and Plane Kills 67 in Nation's Deadliest Air Disaster Since 2001

COUNTERTERRORISM

• Congressional Delegation to Review Super Bowl Security

COUNTERINTELLIGENCE

• U.S. Probes Whether DeepSeek Bypassed Chip Restrictions
• Continued Reporting: Chinese Spies Target Service Members on Social Media

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS

• New Mexico Man Indicted for Allegedly Making Death Threats Against Trump
• Manhunt Underway for Woman Linked to Killing of Vermont Border Patrol Agent
• Continued Reporting: Trump's DOJ Leading Talks With Eric Adams' Team as NYC Mayor Seeks to Have Corruption Charges Dropped
• Sheriff to Announce $25K Reward in Texas Triple Murder
• Three Indicted for Large Marijuana Operation on Navajo Nation Land
• Alabama Man Sentenced to Over 10 Years for Drug Trafficking and Gun Possession
• California Councilmember Resigns Amid Embezzlement Investigation
• Former Texas FBI Employee Sentenced to Home Confinement for PPP Fraud
• Continued Reporting: FBI Searching for Patients of `Dr. Mary' From at Least Five States Over Span of Decades
• FBI Agents Seen Near Former Mississippi Home of Teen Who Disappeared in 1992
• SLED, FBI Search Home of Former Atlantic Beach Town Manager
• California Man Sentenced to Prison for Pointing Laser at Police Helicopters
• Maryland Man Accused of Impersonating Police, Federal Agent in Alleged Theft Scheme
• Ex-California Police Officer Convicted of Sexual Assaults While on Duty
• Woman Who Assaulted Flight Attendant During Phoenix-Bound Flight Sentenced
• Washington Authorities Looking for Missing Lummi Nation Elder Last Seen Jan. 21
• Texan Guilty of Cyberstalking Ex-girlfriend
• Former Firefighter, Foster Parent Sentenced for Sex Crimes Against Children
• Former Pennsylvania Journalist Receives Federal Sentence for Soliciting Minors
• Jersey Man Charged With Enticing a Minor
• South Dakota Man Sentenced to Life in Prison on Rape, Sexual Contact Charges

CYBER DIVISION

• U.S. Cybersecurity Agency's Future Role in Elections Remains Murky Under the Trump Administration

LABORATORY

• Man Identified 33 Years After Being Found Stabbed to Death in Boston Harbor

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

• DOJ Partners With Dutch Police to Break up Heartsender Network
• Continued Reporting: FBI Seizes Major Cybercrime Forums in Operation Talent

OTHER FBI NEWS

• FBI Wrestles With a Spike in Sexual Misconduct Claims and Male-Dominated Culture
• Continued Reporting: Atlanta Family in Mistaken FBI Raid Gets Case Before U.S. Supreme Court
• Special Agent in Charge Ashley T. Johnson Leads FBI St. Louis
• Jan. 6 Rioter Pardoned by Trump Is Sentenced to 10 Years in Deadly DWI Crash
• The Iffy Transparency of Trump's Order on the JFK Assassination Files
• 'He's Going Home': New Film Documents the Fight to Free Leonard Peltier

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Israelis and Palestinians Rejoice After More Hostages and Prisoners Are Freed
• Hamas Says It Will Release First American Hostage Under Current Deal
• Iran Is Funding Hezbollah via Suitcases Stuffed With Cash, Israel Warns
• Epic Construction Site in the Saudi Desert Is a Hazard for Workers
• Kremlin Chokes YouTube Service, but Russians Find Ways Around It
• North Korean Troops No Longer Seen on Front Lines Fighting Ukraine
• In India, Concerns of Cover-Up After Stampede at Massive Hindu Festival
• Trump's Foreign Aid Freeze Causes Fear of H.I.V. Resurgence in Africa
• Syria's New President Pledges Unity in First Address
• U.S. Funding Freeze Threatens Security at ISIS Camps in Syria

OTHER WASHINGTON NEWS

• Congressional Staffers 'Unauthorized' to Use Deepseek
• Trump Aides Hunt for 11th-Hour Deal to Dial Back Canada-Mexico Tariffs
• U.S. Probes Release of Arrested Immigrant in First Challenge to Sanctuary Cities
• Trump Takes Aim At Law Protecting Reproductive Clinics. What to Know About Face Act
• Republican Mike Rogers to Again Run for Senate in Michigan, AP Sources Say
• Trump's Sights on Acquiring Greenland Is 'National Interest': Marco Rubio
• Sean 'Diddy' Combs Hit With New Indictment in Sex Trafficking Case
• Feds Cuff More Than 900 Illegal Migrants in a Single Day
• NBA Star Terry Rozier Under Investigation in Illegal Betting Probe

BIG PICTURE

• New York Times
• Wall Street Journal
• Washington Post
• ABC News
• NBC News
• CBS News
• Fox News
• CNN

WASHINGTON SCHEDULE

IN THE NEWS

FBI Director Nominee Kash Patel Testifies at Confirmation Hearing

Trump's FBI ChiefPick, Kash Patel, Insists He Has No 'Enemies List' and Won't Seek Retribution The Associated Press (01/30, Tucker, Richer, Brown) reported that Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the FBI, insisted to deeply skeptical Democrats on Thursday that he did not have an "enemies list" and that the Bureau under his leadership would not seek retribution against the president's adversaries or launch investigations for political purposes. The article quoted Patel, who said, "I have no interest, no desire and will not, if confirmed, go backwards. There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken." The article stated that the reassurances were aimed at blunting a persistent line of attack from Democrats, who throughout the hearing confronted Patel with a vast catalog of prior incendiary statements on topics that they said made him unfit for the director's job and raised alarming questions about his belief in conspiracy theories and loyalty to the president. Patel, for his part, sought to distance himself from his own words, accusing Democrats of taking them out of context, highlighting only snippets, or misunderstanding his point. The New York Times (01/30, Goldman, Thrush, et al.) reported that in trying to distance himself from far-right associates and his own public statements, Patel went so far as to suggest he disagreed with Trump's decision to pardon Jan. 6 rioters who attacked law enforcement officials. It was a rare divergence from a president who selected him to run the nation's most powerful law enforcement agency. According to the article, Patel, who has repeatedly accused the Bureau's leadership of weaponizing its vast powers to target Trump, told the committee he believed that 98 percent of the FBI was made up of "courageous apolitical warriors for justice" who "just need better leadership." He did not explain how he determined that the other 2 percent, about 760 people out of a workforce of 38,000 employees, were supposedly partisan. Patel said his main goal as director would be to fight violent crime and protect the country from three principal national security threats — terrorism, Chinese espionage, and Iranian aggression.

Politico (01/30, Cheney) reported that Patel repeatedly refused to say that Joe Biden won the 2020 election — following similar refusals by Trump's nominee to be attorney general, Pam Bondi. "What's so hard about saying Biden won the 2020 election?" said Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee convening Patel's confirmation hearing Thursday. "President Biden was certified and sworn in. I don't know how else to say it," Patel said. The article mentioned that Democrats have hammered Trump nominees over their refusal to acknowledge Biden's victory, saying it demonstrates an implicit unwillingness to adhere to facts and to put loyalty to Trump above telling the truth. CBS News (01/30, Quinn), Washington Examiner (01/30, Datoc, Oliver), the Guardian (01/30, Lowell), Reuters (01/30, Lynch, Goudsward), NBC News (01/30, Reilly), Washington Post (01/30, Roebuck, Berman, et al.), Aljazeera (01/30, Adler, Stepansky, Speri), Forbes (01/30, Durkee), CBS News (01/30, Video), ABC News (01/30, Levine, Mallin, Pereira), New York Times (01/30, Barrett), and Newsweek (01/30, Sheth) also reported on the story.

Kash Pate!Says Warrant Requirementfor Section 702 Searches Isn't Practical Politico (01/30, Gerstein) reported that "Get a warrant" has become a battle cry for many conservative and liberal critics of federal government surveillance programs — but President Donald Trump's pick for FBI director said Thursday he opposes such a requirement. The article quoted Patel, who said, "Having a warrant requirement to go through that information in real time is just not comported with the requirement to protect American citizens. It's almost impossible to make that function and serve the national, no-fail mission." According to the article, under questioning by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Patel said that ability has been misused, but he opposes making investigators go to a court before doing such searches, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have proposed. Patel said he had experience using that sort of data to save Americans being held hostage abroad. "The issue has been those that have been in government service and abused it in the past. And so we must work with Congress to provide the protections necessary for American citizens," Patel said. In a ruling unsealed earlier this month, a federal judge said the use of 702 data in a criminal case is unconstitutional. The 702 provision is set to expire next year, with a major battle expected in Congress over renewing it. NextGov (01/30, Kelley, Dimolfetta) also reported on the story.

Pate!Explains Proposal to Move More FBIEmployees Throughout the Country The Washington Times (01/30, Picket) reported that Patel told the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday that his comment about turning the FBI's Washington headquarters into a museum was meant to convey his belief that more employees should be deployed across the U.S. According to the article, Patel made the comments, to the shock of the Washington, D.C., establishment, in a past online podcast interview. When pressed about the remark by Sen. Christopher Coons (D-DE), Patel said that his statement about closing the agency's Hoover Building was intended to highlight a larger point about where the 38,000 FBI employees should be working. He said that "7,500 FBI employees work in the Washington Field Office in Hoover Building alone, if you increase that aperture just slightly to encompass the national capital region, that is 11,000 FBI employees work in the national capital region?' the article quoted Patel, who said, "A third of the workforce for the FBI works in Washington, D.C., I am fully committed to having that workforce go out into the interior of the country, where I live, west of the Mississippi and work with sheriff's departments and local officers, and having one agent prevent one homicide, and having one agent in Washington prevent one rape, and I will do that over and over and over again, because the American people deserve the resources, not in Washington, D.C., but in the rest of the country."

Kash Pate! Vows to Investigate Anti-Catholicism Within the FBI During Confirmation Hearing The National Review (01/30, Lynch) reported that Patel, sat for a confirmation hearing Thursday where lawmakers focused on high profile instances of FBI misconduct and Patel's inflammatory political commentary. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) brought up an FBI memo listing Catholic parishes the bureau believed harbored extremists and could offer opportunities for recruiting informants. The article noted that the memo, which was leaked by former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin, targeted "Radical Traditionalist Catholics" and was authored by the FBI's Richmond field office. Appearing before Congress in July of last year, then-FBI Director Wray refused to tell Representative Jim Jordan who specifically authored the memo. Wray initially argued that the memorandum reflected the views of the single field office that released it, though Jordan has disputed the claim, citing internal Bureau communications which suggest multiple offices were involved in crafting the memo. "Mr. Patel, would you commit to me that you will, if you are confirmed, that you will finally and officially withdraw this memo and make it clear that this is not only unacceptable, but that it is an absolute violation of the First Amendment;' Hawley asked. "If I am confirmed, Senator, yes;' said Patel, a devout Hindu. Hawley followed up by asking Patel if he will oversee an investigation into who authored the memo and how it came about. "Senator you have my commitment to investigate any matter such as this one that are important to Congress," Patel replied. Fox News (01/30, Miller) also reported on the story.

Kash Pate! Vows to 'Do Everything' to Help GOP Senator Expose Epstein Files

Fox News (01/30, Shaw) reported that Patel, pledged Thursday to work with a top Republican senator on exposing who worked with Jeffrey Epstein in trafficking and exploiting children. The article noted that Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), quizzed Patel about how he would handle the Epstein case. The sex-trafficking financier died in 2019 while awaiting trial. Nearly 200 names that had previously been redacted from court documents in a lawsuit against his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell were made public last year. However, Blackburn said there is still more to be known, including the names of those who flew on his plane and accomplices. "I want to talk to you about the Epstein case. I have worked on this for years trying to get those records of who flew on Epstein's plane and who helped him build this international human trafficking sex trafficking ring," she said. "Absolutely, Senator," Patel responded. "Child sex trafficking has no place in the United States of America. And I will do everything, if confirmed as FBI director, to make sure the American public knows the full weight of what happened in the past and how we are going to counterman missing children and exploited children going forward," he said. The Daily Beast (01/30, Gardner) also reported on the story.

President Donald Trump's FBI Director Nominee Vows to Re-Establish Memphis Field Office The Memphis Commercial Appeal (01/30, Finton) reported that Patel, vowed on Thursday to keep a field office active in Memphis. Patel's assurance, if confirmed, came after Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), voiced concern over the move that the FBI made last October. According to the article, in August, then-Director Wray visited the Memphis and Knoxville field offices. During that visit, a press release from the FBI said Wray discussed consolidating the Memphis and Knoxville field offices as one in Nashville. The move would centralize the FBI, but Wray said that there would still be "a strong presence" in Memphis. In place of the field office, the Memphis branch would become a resident agency. The article noted that resident agencies are generally described as "smaller offices" by the FBI. Despite the change, Joe Carrico, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Tennessee division, said in October that about 4S0 FBI employees would remain in Memphis and that only a few leadership positions moved to Nashville.

The Rolling Stone (01/31, Ramirez), Independent (01/31, Kilander), Washington Post (01/30, Hohmann), National Review (01/30, McCarthy), Fox News (01/30, Staff Writer), New York Post (01/30, Nelson, King), NPR (01/30, Johnson), New York Times (01/30, Goldman), CNN (01/30, Cohen), NPR (01/30, Lucas, Moore), CYBERSCOOP (01/30, Starks), BBC (01/30, Faguy), Roll Call (01/30, Tarinelli), CNN (01/30, Video), Politico (01/30, Fuchs), Washington Times (01/30, Picket, Dinan), the Hill (01/30, Irwin), Fox News (01/30, Ruiz), Fox News (01/30, Deppisch ), Fox News (01/30, Shaw), Business Insider (01/30, Metzger), Washington Post (01/30, Becker. Roebuck, et al.), Times of India (01/31, Staff Writer), Law.com (01/30, Saul), Politico (01/30, Fuchs, Cheney), MSNBC (01/30, Schneider), and the New York Post (01/30, McCarthy, Galvin) also reported on Kash Patel and his nomination hearing.

FBI Collaborates With DHS and DOJ in Federal Immigration Enforcement Efforts

Fox News (01/30, Ruiz) reported that the FBI is on the ground working alongside agents from the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement bodies conducting a nationwide crackdown on criminal aliens ordered by President Donald Trump. The article quoted acting Director Brian Driscoll, who said, "I've talked to every single one of our special agents in charge of all SS of our divisions. I know that every single one of them has reached out to their DHS counterparts to offer assistance and support. So we here at the FBI are really leaning forward to assist DHS the best that we can, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder." The article stated that the FBI's presence bolsters Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and other partner agencies with the Bureau's vast resources, including tactical teams and its intelligence network. Those resources worked alongside DHS agents in New York City earlier this week, helping identify and capture dozens of "the wont of the worst" suspects, including a 2S-year-old suspected Tren de Aragua gang member. He is believed to have been involved in a violent incident in Colorado before police found him Monday in a Bronx apartment across the street from a school. The article noted that in El Paso, Texas, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, ICE and agents from its Enforcement Removal Operations wing were seen on the ground as part of a mission that led to the capture of a suspect accused of running a stash house for human smugglers. the article continued to quote acting Director Driscoll, who said, "Our best chance to protect Americans, whether it's from the threats posed by groups like ISIS or in our efforts to dismantle groups like Tren de Aragua, the best way to do that is to put our heads together, our tools together, our efforts together with OHS, but also with all of our United States intelligence community and law enforcement partners around the country." In a series of targeted raids in Chicago, the FBI provided not just intelligence and tactical SWAT team members, but also legal experts to help round up illegal immigrants with suspected criminal ties. In New York, they provided "advanced tactical support" and helped set up a crisis management coordination center covering the whole city. "We are and will remain postured to support DHS the best that we can over here at the FBI," acting Director Driscoll said. Operations across the country over the past seven days have netted roughly 5,500 suspected criminal aliens, according to figures released by ICE. The New York Times (01/30, Sadurni, Marcius), El Paso Times (01/30, Martinez), KFOX (Fox-14) (01/30, Esquivel), KVIA (ABC-7) (01/30, Oza), KDBC (CBS-4) (01/30, Esquivel), and WJBK (FOX-2) (01/30, Dupnack, Vrabel) also reported on the story.

Trump Administration Shakes Up Senior FBI Ranks

The New York Times (01/30, Goldman, Barrett) reported that a handful of senior FBI employees have been told to resign in a matter of days or be fired, as the Trump administration moves to shake up the agency's upper ranks, according to people familiar with the discussions. The article stated that the steps came as Kash Patel, the president's nominee to lead the agency, sought to assure lawmakers during a contentious, hourslong Senate confirmation hearing that he would not begin a campaign of retribution or look backward by pursuing perceived rivals. It is unclear whether he was informed of the decisions. The employees given the apparent ultimatum had been promoted under former Director Wray, who stepped down as FBI director this month. In an email to colleagues, one of the senior agents said he had learned he would be dismissed "from the rolls of the FBI" as soon as Monday morning. "I was given no rationale for this decision, which, as you might imagine, has come as a shock," he wrote. CNN (01/30, Perez, Cohen) reported that the senior officials are at the executive assistant director level or special agent in charge level and include those who oversee cyber, national security, and criminal investigations. According to the article, the leadership changes have drawn internal consternation, in part because these officials didn't have anything to do with prosecutions of Donald Trump, which have been the focus of the president's ire. The article added that Trump has falsely accused agents of abuse in their court-ordered search of his Mar-a-Lago home and of their treatment of Capitol rioters and that some agents say the criticism belies the fact that FBI agents and supervisors can't choose which assignments they are given as part of their job. The FBI workforce is broadly conservative, and many agents initially had qualms about being assigned to the Capitol attack and Trump cases, viewing the prosecutions as heavy-handed, people familiar with the matter say. Some DOJ lawyers leading January 6 cases complained that they believed agents sometimes slow-walked some of their work. NBC News (01/30, Dilanian, Richards), the Guardian (01/30, Mackey, Fong, et al.), Washington Post (01/30, Stein, Roebuck), Fox News (01/31, Shaw, Spunt), USA TODAY (01/30, Chambers), and KGW (NBC-8) (01/30, Video) CBS News (01/30, Triay, Milton, Legare) also reported on the story.

Internal Emalls Offer Glimpse Into Early Days of Trump Election Inquiry

The New York Times (01/30, Feuer, Goldman) reported that a series of internal FBI emails released on Thursday showed that agents and officials followed standard procedure nearly three years ago when they opened the historic criminal investigation into Donald J. Trump's attempts to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election. According to the article, the emails were released by the Senate Judiciary Committee in the middle of a contentious hearing for the nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, at which Republicans sought to paint the FBI as a politicized agency that improperly went after targets like Trump. The article stated that the emails showed that FBI investigators took normal bureaucratic steps and precautions when opening the extraordinarily sensitive inquiry into Trump's attempts to overturn the election using slates of electors pledged to him in states he had actually lost. According to the article, the emails also revealed the names of several FBI agents and Bureau officials who worked on the Trump investigation. The article noted that it is rare for the FBI or the DOJ to disclose the names of specific agents working on cases — particularly at a time when public servants are facing rampant threats. Fox News (01/30, Singman), and the Washington Times (01/30, Picket) also reported on the story.

-Nisi Gabbard, and RFK Jr. Nomination Hearings

The Associated Press (01/30, Mascaro) reported that President Donald Trump's most controversial Cabinet nominees — Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel — flooded the zone Thursday in back-to-back-to-back confirmation hearings that were like nothing the Senate has seen in modern memory. According to the article, the onslaught of claims, promises, and testy exchanges did not occur in a political vacuum. The whirlwind day all unfolded as Trump himself was ranting about how diversity hiring caused the tragic airplane-and-helicopter crash outside Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport. And it capped a tumultuous week after the White House abruptly halted federal funding for programs Americans rely on nationwide, under guidance from Trump's budget pick Russ Vought, only to reverse course amid a public revolt. The article noted that Gabbard is seen as the most endangered of Trump's picks, potentially lacking the votes even from Trump's party for confirmation for Director of National Intelligence. But her hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee offered a roadmap toward confirmation. It opened with the chairman, Sen. Tom Cotton, (R-AK), swatting back claims that Gabbard is a foreign "asset," undercover for some other nation, presumably Russia. He said he reviewed some 300 pages of multiple FBI background checks and she's "clean as a whistle." The article added that Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the panel, questioned whether she could build the trust needed, at home and abroad, to do the job. Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, defended her loyalty to the U.S. She dismissed Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), when he asked whether Russia would "get a pass" from her. "Senator, I'm offended by the question," Gabbard responded. Pressed on her secret 2017 trip to meet with then-Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has since been toppled by rebels and fled to Russia, she defended her work as diplomacy. The article stated that Gabbard may have made some inroads with one potentially skeptical Republican. Sen. Susan Collins asked whether Gabbard would recommend a pardon for Edward Snowden. The former government contractor was charged with espionage after leaking a trove of sensitive intelligence material and fled to residency in Russia. Gabbard, who has called Snowden a brave whistleblower, said it would not be her responsibility to "advocate for any actions related to Snowden." The article mentioned that Kennedy faced a second day of grilling to become Health and Human Services secretary, this time at the Senate Health Committee, as senators probed his past views against vaccines and whether he would ban the abortion drug mifepristone. But what skeptical Democratic senators have been driving at is whether Kennedy is trustworthy, echoing concerns raised by his cousin Caroline Kennedy that he is a charismatic "predator" hungry for power. "You've spent your entire career undermining America's vaccine program," said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) "It just isn't believable that when you become secretary you are going to become consistent with science." The New York Times (01/30, Barnes, Mazzetti, Levenson), Bloomberg (01/30, Drozdiak, Dennis), NBC News (01/30, Luce), New York Times (01/30, Staff Writers), Axios (01/30, Kight), Wall Street Journal (01/30, Volz, Gurman, Whyte), New York Post (01/30, Nelson, Christenson, et al.), ABC News (01/30, Peterson, Bruggeman), Fox News (01/30, Colton), National Review (01/30, Fahlberg), CNN (01/30, Lillis), Washington Examiner (01/30, Brest, Roth), NBC News (01/30, Kapur), USA TODAY (01/30, Anderson, Meyer, et al.), Epoch Times (01/30, Thornebrooke), Politico (01/30, McHugh), NBC News (01/30, Video), and CBS News (01/30, Video) also reported on the story.

Collision Between Helicopter and Plane Kills 67 in Nation's Deadliest Air Disaster Since 2001 The Associated Press (01/30, Baldor, Copp, et al.) reported that a midair collision between an Army helicopter and a jetliner killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft, officials said Thursday, as they scrutinized the actions of the military pilot in the country's deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century. At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the helicopter apparently flew into the path of the American Airlines regional jet late Wednesday while it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, just across the river from Washington, officials said. The plane carried 60 passengers and four crew members, and three soldiers were aboard the helicopter. President Donald Trump told a White House news conference that no one survived. Air crash investigations can take months, and federal investigators told reporters they would not speculate on the cause. The article noted that National Transportation Safety Board investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder from the Bombardier CRJ700 airplane, agency spokesperson Peter Knudson said. They were at the agency's labs for evaluation. The plane was found upside-down in three sections in waist-deep water, and first responders were searching miles of the Potomac, John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation's capital said. The helicopter wreckage was also found. Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and the mangled wreckage of the plane's fuselage. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the plane was making a normal approach when "the military aircraft came into the path" of the jet. The article added that Wednesday's crash was the deadliest in the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines flight slammed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, New York, just after takeoff from Kennedy Airport, killing all 260 people aboard and five people on the ground. The last major fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, along with one person on the ground, bringing the total death toll to SO. The Associated Press (01/30, Golden, Collins), Associated Press (01/30, Foley, Mustian, Biesecker), Independent (01/31, Liddell, Rissman, Bedigan), News Nation (01/31, Ramsey, Dempsey, et al.), Axios (01/30, Saric, Habeshian), CNN (01/30, Rigdon, Stiles, et al.), USA TODAY (01/30, Petras, Padilla, et al.), Fox News (01/30, Price, Whitten, Koch), Reuters (01/30, Staff Writer), Aljazeera (01/30, Staff Writer), People (01/30, Baker, Adams), Reuters (01/30, Kawoosa, Zafra, et al.), and the New York Post (01/30, Nava, Galvin, et al.), CNN (01/30, Regan, Romine, et al.), Washington Post (01/30, Dormido, Kirkpatrick), New York Times (01/30, Robertson, Smith, et al.), Fox News (01/30, Betz, Shaw, et al.), CBS News (01/30, Tanyos, Freiman, et al.), ABC News (01/30, Pereira, Deliso, Shapiro), USA TODAY (01/30, Cann, Ortiz, et al.), NBC News (01/30, Staff Writer), the Guardian (01/30, Lamb, Beckett, et al.), BBC (01/30, Guinto, FitzGerald), NBC News (01/30, Lebowitz, Uribe, Blackman), Wall Street Journal (01/30, Staff Writer), and NPR (01/30, Diaz, Lewis)) also reported on the story.

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