RE: [EXTERNAL EMAIL] - [EXTERNAL] DOJ News Briefing for June 1, 2023
Department of Justice
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June 01, 2023
Department of Justice
Daily News Briefing
IN THE NEWS
• U.S. Files Civil Action Lawsuit On Jim Justice's Son Over Unpaid Civil Penalties
JANUARY 6 INVESTIGATION
• Trump White House Aides Subpoenaed in Firing of Election Security Expert
MAR-A-LAGO SEARCH
• Prosecutors Have Recording Of Trump Discussing Sensitive Iran Document
• Continued Reporting: Prosecutors Scrutinize Handling of Security Footage by Trump Aides in Documents Case
NATIONAL SECURITY
• 'Fox Hunt' Trial Starts, Targeting China Program To Repatriate Dissidents
• Fewer U.S. Companies Applied to Export Sensitive Technology to China Last Year
• Iran Steps Up IAEA Cooperation Even as Uranium Stockpile Surges
• Suspected Chinese Spies, Disguised As Tourists, Tried To Infiltrate Alaskan Military Bases
• North Korean IT Workers Help Spy From UAE and Russia, UN Says
CIVIL RIGHTS
• Justice Department Should Investigate Beatings at Georgia Jail, Attorney Says
• ESSA Bank Paying $3M to Settle RedliningAccusations in Philadelphia Area
• Former Texas Sheriff's Deputy Sentenced for Using Excessive Force
• Oklahoma High Court Strikes Down 2 Abortion Bans; Procedure Remains Illegal in Most Cases
• Limits on Politics, Race Discussion in North Carolina Gov't Worker Hiring, TrainingAdvance
• Louisiana Lawmakers Reject Resolution That Opponents Say Target Diversity, Equity Efforts in Schools
• Biden Proclaims June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Denounces Oppression
• Continued Reporting: Education, Justice Depts Say Discrimination in School Discipline Remains 'Significant Concern'
CIVIL LAW
• FTC Charges Amazon With Privacy Violations Over Alexa and Ring Cameras
• DMC, Former And Current Owners To Pay $29.7M Settlement In Alleged Medicare Kickback Scheme
• Judge Rejects Boeing Request To Block Pain And Suffering Damages For Crash Victims Who Died Upon Impact
• PG&E Reaches $50M Settlement In Fatal 2020 Fire As Charges Dismissed
• Continued Reporting: Manson Follower Leslie Van Houten Should Be FreedAppeals Court Says
CRIMINAL
• Sen. Bob Menendez Met Businessman Under Scrutiny in Federal Probe
• Grand Jury Charges Ex-GOP Candidate With Election Interference In Shootings At Lawmakers' Homes
• 'Felt Like A Year': Worshipper Describes Fear During Gunman's Deadly Attack On Pittsburgh Synagogue
• Alex Murdaugh Pleads Not Guilty — For Now — To Federal Wire Fraud And Money Laundering Charges
• Former 'Family Feud' Contestant Timothy Bliefnick Guilty In Wife's Slaying
• Texas Girl's Killer Faces New Murder Charges, With More Possible, Police Say
• Jury Selection Begins As Parkland School Resource Officer Scot Peterson Faces A Rare Trial Over Police Conduct In A Mass Shooting On Campus
• Federal Judge Halts Missouri Execution Of Man Convicted In Jail Break Killings
• Danny Masterson Convicted Of 2 Counts Of Rape, 'That '70s Show' Actor Faces 30 Years To Life
• Trump Asks Judge in Hush-Money Case to Step Aside
• Tim Martin And Joanna Smith Indicted for National Gallery Art Attack With Declare Emergency
• Three DrugTraffickers Found Possessing Methamphetamine Sentenced to Federal Prison
• 2 Sentenced In Texas For $2.5MContainer Homes Fraud
ANTITRUST
• American Airlines Says It Will Appeal a RulingThat Would Break up a Partnership With JetBlue
ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES
• A Poisonous Cold War Legacy That Defies a Solution
• Continued Reporting: Sackett Decision Shrinks Federal Regulation of Wetlands
TAX
• Continued Reporting: California Construction Company Owner Guilty of Employment Tax Crimes
IMMIGRATION
• Revised DACA Program to Be Debated Before Texas Judge Who Previously Ruled Against It
• 3 More GOP Governors Sending National Guard Troops to US-Mexico Border
• U.S. Plans to Admit Nearly 40,000 Asylum-Seekers per Month Through Mobile App
• Conservative Judge Offers Defense of 'Alien' in Immigration Case
• Tucson Man Convicted After Lying to U.S. Immigration Officials
OFFICE OF TRIBAL JUSTICE
• U.S. DOJ Sues Northern Wisconsin Town Over Road Dispute With Lac du Flambeau Tribe
• Bipartisan Bill Would Allow Tribes In Maine To Benefit From Federal Law, Stops Short Of Sovereignty
• Arizona Governor UrgingBiden To Designate Tribally Proposed Monument At Grand Canyon
OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
• Trump Attacks Democratic 'Persecutors' as Massachusetts Attorney Rachael Rollins Resigns Over Leaks
BANKRUPTCY COURTS
• Continued Reporting: An Appeals Court Gave the Sacklers Legal Immunity. Here's What the Ruling Means.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI)
• Seventeen Friends, a Limo Crash and an FBI Informant: The Case That Rocked Upstate New York
• Republicans Probing Bidens Step Up Threats Against FBI Chief Christopher Wray
• FBI's Investigation Into a Cybercrime Gang Called "The Comm"
DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION (DEA)
• California Advances Fentanyl Bills Focused on Prevention, Increased Penalties
• Kanawha County Man Pleads Guilty to Role in DrugTrafficking Organization Busted Through Operation Smoke and Mirrors
BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES (ATF)
• ATF Seizes 165 Firearms, Including 82 Ghost Guns, During San Diego Operation
• ATF: Marijuana Users in Minnesota Can't Own Firearms Despite New Law
• U.S. Attorney Joins ATF Officials In Targeting Gun Violence
• As Short-Barreled Rifle Rule Takes Effect, Texas Is Fighting Feds Over Silencer Regs, Too
• Utah Woman Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding Insurance Company Following House Fire
U.S. MARSHALS SERVICES (USMS)
• 14 Endangered Missing Children From Virginia Recovered in U.S. Marshals Operation
• US Marshals Find Man Accused in Shooting of 3 KCK Officers Who Was Accidentally Released
BOP/CORRECTIONS
• Ghislaine Maxwell Fears Retaliation in Prison After Snitching on Two Violent Inmates: Report
INTERNATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT / INTERPOL
• South Africa Mulls Options On ICC Arrest Warrant For Potential Visitor Putin
• Two Journalists Stand Trial in Iran for Stories That Sparked Protests
• How a High-Value Russian Wanted by the U.S. Escaped From Italy
• The Notorious Russian Jail Holding U.S. Journalist Evan Gershkovich
ADMINISTRATION, CONGRESS, AND SUPREME COURT
• Aide Fired By George Santos Says He Got His Job After Sending Money To Republican's Deputy
NATIONAL NEWS
• House Oks Debt Ceiling Bill to Avoid Default Sends Biden-McCarthy Deal to Senate
FRONT PAGE NEWS
• New York Times
• Wall Street Journal
• Washington Post
LAST NIGHT'S NETWORK NEWS
• ABC News
• CBS News
• NBC News
PRIMETIME EDITORIALS
• Fox News: Jesse Walters Primetime
• CNN: Anderson Cooper 360
• MSNBC: All In With Chris Hayes
WASHINGTON SCHEDULE
IN THE NEWS
U.S. Files Civil Action Lawsuit On Jim Justice's Son Over Unpaid Civil Penalties
Politico reported that the Justice Department is suing the coal empire of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice for failing to pay more than $5 million in civil penalties assessed by the Department of the Interior. According to the article, the 128-page civil action, filed Tuesday against 13 of the Justice family businesses and Justice's adult son, comes as the governor, a Republican, launches a Senate bid against Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). The article indicated that the suit alleges that the businesses failed to pay fines for more than 100 violations of federal mining regulations that created "health and safety risks" or threatened "environmental harm." Justice Department attorneys, the article added, are seeking a court order to force the Justice companies to repay the fines, with interest. The Wall Street Journal reported that the violations included problems such as failing to maintain the face of a dam; allowing surface-water flows to erode haul roads; failing to take sediment-control measures; plugged culverts; and failure to properly dispose of non-coal waste. The article detailed that Christopher Kavanaugh, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia, stressed the fact that the businesses were ordered more than 50 times to stop mining until the violations were fixed. Coverage by the Daily Caller added a quote from Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the DOJ's Environment and Natural Resources Division, "Our environmental laws serve to protect communities against adverse effects of industrial activities including surface coal mining operations, through this suit, the Justice Department seeks to deliver accountability for defendants' repeated violations of the law and to recover the penalties they owe as a result of those violations." The Associated Press highlighted that West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, who was not named in the lawsuit, accused the Biden administration of retaliation. A Republican two-term governor, the article explained, Justice announced in April that he is running for Democrat Joe Manchin's U.S. Senate seat in 2024.
This story was also reported on by CNBC, CNN, Fox News, Reuters, Bloomberg Law, The Daily. Beast, The Hill, The Daily Mail, the Washington Examiner, a second Washington Examiner article, Axios, The Guardian, The Washington Times, Newsweek, the HuffPost, Forbes, WVNS-CBS, the Charleston Gazette, the Center Square
Broadcast coverage: Forbes, Fox News
The Associated Press article was reprinted by the Washington Post, ABC News, CBS News, US News & World Report, The Hill, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Times Union, the Seattle Times, Federal News Network, WV News, and the New Haven Register.
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JANUARY 6 INVESTIGATION
Trump White House Aides Subpoenaed in Firing of Election Security Expert
The New York Times reported that the special counsel investigating former President Donald J. Trump's efforts to cling to power after he lost the 2020 election has subpoenaed staff members from the Trump White House who may have been involved in firing the government cybersecurity official whose agency judged the election "the most secure in American history." According to the article, the team led by the special counsel, Jack Smith, has been asking witnesses about the events surrounding the firing of Christopher Krebs, who was the Trump administration's top cybersecurity official during the 2020 election. The article indicated that Mr. Krebs's assessment that the election was secure was at odds with Mr. Trump's baseless assertions that it was a "fraud on the American public." Mr. Smith's team, the article continued, is also seeking information about how White House officials, including in the Presidential Personnel Office, approached the Justice Department, which Mr. Trump turned to after his election loss as a way to try to stay in power. The article noted that the investigators appear focused on Mr. Trump's state of mind around the firing of Mr. Krebs, as well as on establishing a timeline of events leading up to the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6, 2021. The latest subpoenas, issued roughly two weeks ago, the article added, went to officials in the personnel office.
The story was also reported on by MSNBC, Reuters, the Rolling Stone, The Hill,The Guardian, Salon, Newsmax, Esquire, Truthout
Broadcast coverage: MSNBC's Deadline White House
The Reuters article was reprinted by The Guardian
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MAR-A-LAGO SEARCH
Prosecutors Have Recording Of Trump Discussing Sensitive Iran Document
The Washington Post reported that special counsel Jack Smith has obtained a 2021 recording in which Donald Trump appears to brag about having a classified document related to Iran, suggesting the former president understood both the legal and security concerns around his possession of such restricted information. According to the article, the recording was made at a meeting at Trump's golf course in Bedminster, N.J., and features Trump describing a multi-page document that he claims is about possibly attacking Iran, expressing a desire to share that information with others but also making some kind of acknowledgment that he shouldn't do so. For the Justice Department, the article highlighted, evidence that Trump knew he had classified material, and understood the restrictions on sharing it, would be an important part of any charging decision. The New York Times detailed that on the recording, Mr. Trump began railing about his handpicked chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, who was described in media accounts at the time as having guarded against Mr. Trump's striking Iran in the final days of the presidency. Mr. Trump, the article continued, then began referencing a document that he had with him, saying that it had been compiled by General Milley and was related to attacking Iran. The article added that among other comments, he mentioned his classification abilities during the discussion, and can be heard handling paper on the tape, though it is not clear whether it was the document in question. CNN reported that the July 2021 meeting was held at Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, with two people working on the autobiography of Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows as well as aides employed by the former president, including communications specialist Margo Martin. The article highlighted that the attendees did not have security clearances that would allow them access to classified information. Meadows, the article noted, didn't attend the meeting. The article explained that Meadows' autobiography includes an account of what appears to be the same meeting, during which Trump "recalls a four-page report typed up by (Trump's former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) Mark Milley himself. The article specified that it contained the general's own plan to attack Iran, deploying massive numbers of troops, something he urged President Trump to do more than once during his presidency.
The story was also reported on by the Associated Press, the Rolling Stone, Forbes, the Daily Beast, a second Daily Beast article, Business Insider, ABC News, CBS News, MSNBC, Newsweek, HuffPost, The
Guardian, the Washington Examiner, Reuters, the New York Post, USA Today, The Hill, the Independent, HuffPost
Broadcast coverage: CNN
The Associated Press article was reprinted by the Washington Post, ABC News, the Chicago Tribune, US News & World Report, the Independent, the Miami Herald, the Seattle Times, WV News, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Kansas City Star, The Columbian, Federal News Network, the Modesto Bee
Continued Reporting: Prosecutors Scrutinize Handling of Security Footage by Trump Aides in Documents Case
The New York limes provided continued reporting on prosecutors working for the special counsel Jack Smith, who in the past six months have sought to determine whether former President Donald J. Trump obstructed the government's efforts to retrieve a trove of classified documents he took from the White House. More recently, the article noted, investigators also appear to be pursuing a related question: whether Mr. Trump and some of his aides sought to interfere with the government's attempt to obtain security camera footage from Mar-a-Lago that could shed light on how those documents were stored and who had access to them. The article indicated that the search for answers on this second issue has taken investigators deep into the bowels of Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump's private club and residence in Florida, as they pose questions to an expanding cast of low-level workers at the compound. Some of the workers, the article continued, played a role in either securing boxes of material in a storage room at Mar-a-Lago or maintaining video footage from a security camera that was mounted outside the room. The article detailed that two weeks ago, the latest of these employees, an information technology worker named Yuscil Taveras, appeared before a grand jury in Washington, and was asked questions about his dealings with two other Trump employees: Walt Nauta, a longtime aide to Mr. Trump who served as one of his valets in the White House, and Carlos Deoliveira, described by one person familiar with the events as the head of maintenance at Mar-a-Lago. Phone records, the article elaborated, show that Mr. Deoliveira called Mr. Taveras last summer, and prosecutors wanted to know why. The article explained that the call caught the government's attention because it was placed shortly after prosecutors issued a subpoena to Mr. Trump's company, the Trump Organization, demanding the footage from the surveillance camera near the storage room. The call, the article pointed out, also occurred just weeks after Mr. Deoliveira helped Mr. Nauta move boxes of documents into the storage room — the same room that Mr. Deoliveira at one point fitted with a lock. The article underscored that the movement of the boxes into the room took place at another key moment: on the day before prosecutors descended on Mar-a-Lago for a meeting with Mr. Trump's lawyers intended to get him to comply with a demand to return all classified documents.
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Hi,
I have reached out to my team to see if an update to the bombing calls has been produced. I should have an answer shortly.
It is great that your brother came to visit, and you were able to spend time with him and your parents! I will send you a quick note on FBlnet about the discussions.
- Sender: Blacked out
- Sent: Thursday, June 1, 2023, 9:35 AM
- Recipients: Blacked out
- Subject: FW: [EXTERNAL EMAIL] - [EXTERNAL] DOJ News Briefing for June 1, 2023
— thank you for covering for me over at DOJ this morning — it was nice to get my little brother off to the airport and spend a short amount of time w/ my parents t:
Your team did a great roll up a couple of months ago (believe cases were across WMDD/CID/ CTD along w/ working with OPE on a partner call on these bomb threats — do we have a current list/updated list /disposition on all the HBCU bomb related cases ?
Not sure if the Oregon one is related
Texas Southern Among HBCUs to Receive Mental Health Services Grants After Last Year's Bomb Threats
The Houston Chronicle (05/31, Nickerson) reported that the U.S. Department of Education has awarded grants to four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that were targeted by bomb threats in 2022. According to the article, Texas Southern University (TSU) is among the colleges receiving a grant, totaling $191,962, provided by Project SERV, a program that funds education-related services for schools following traumatic events. The article noted that TSU's former police chief, Mary Young, along with the Joint Terrorism Task Forces and FBI field offices, participated in the investigation into the bomb threat incidents, which involved at least 57 HBCUs across the country.
Local Oregon Police Identify Two Students Involved in Bomb Threats
The Register-Guard (05/31, Cyr) reported that two South Eugene High School students involved in the recent threats that prompted evacuations and lockdowns have been identified by the Eugene police. According to the article, the students and their families are cooperating with the investigation conducted by the police and the FBI, although they have not been charged or taken into custody. The article noted that the police believe the students used the internet to pay someone to make the threats, and the identity of the person paid is still under investigation.
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