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From: To: Subject: - u is airs ews rie mg ues ay, ugust 04, 2020 Date: Tue, 04 Aug 2020 10:21:17 +0000 c Importan e: Normal Mobile version and searchable archives available at fbi.bulletinintelligence.com. FBI News Briefing TO: THE DIRECTOR AND SENIOR STAFF DATE: TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2020 6:30 AM EDT TODAY'S TABLE OF CONTENTS LEADING THE NEWS • FBI And Justice Department Say FISA Errors Did Not Influence Court's Decisions. PROTESTS • US Charges Oregon Man With Bombing Federal Courthouse. • FBI Probing Fire Outside Louisville, Kentucky's Hall Of Justice. • Artist Who Posted Philadelphia Protest Photos Is Arrested For Vandalism. • Scope, Effectiveness Of Operation LeGend Questioned After Kansas City Arrests. • Leaked Body Camera Video Shows George Floyd's Arrest. • Kentucky State Police Probe Of Barbeque Cook's Shooting During Protests Is Complete. • Louisville Lawmakers Authorize Subpoenas After Officials Decline To Testify In Taylor Probe. • Trump: Protesters Would Have Burned Down Courthouse Without Federal Intervention. • House Panel Launches Investigation Into DHS Intel Office. • Morgenstern: Democrats' Push To Defund Police Will Make Nation Less Safe. • Conway: Cities Seeing Protests Have "Strictest Gun Control Laws In The Country." • New York City Shootings Surpass 2019 Total. • Minneapolis Mayor: Governor Was Slow To Deploy National Guard During Riots. • Armed Secret Service Confronts Two Black Mothers, Children On National Mall. • Police Officers In Colorado Mistakenly Detain Black Family. • "Back The Blue" Mural Painted Outside Tampa Police Headquarters. • WPost Calls For Congress To Mandate US Park Police Wear Body Cameras. COUNTER-TERRORISM • US Attorney Mulls Appeal Of Tsarnaev Ruling. • ISIS Attacks Eastern Afghan Prison, Frees Nearly 400 Prisoners. • Israel Says It Killed Militants Planting Bombs Inside Its Border With Syria. COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE • China Accuses US Of Harassing Chinese Students, Researchers. • New FBI Documents From Mueller's Russia Investigation Revealed Following FOIA Lawsuit. • Hemingway: Media Is Silent As Steele Shown Not To Be Master Spy. EFTA00149966 • Op-Ed: Roger Stone On How His Sentence Was Commuted. • UN Report Says North Korea Has "Probably" Developed Nuclear Devices To Fit Ballistic Missiles. • NRO Chief Sees Growing Opportunities For Agency To Use Small Satellites. CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS • Federal Judge Recounts Shooting Of Son, Husband. • Ninth Circuit Throws Out Oregon Man's Confession About Pointing Laser At Police Plane. • Trump Again Says He Wishes Ghislaine Maxwell Well. • Drugs Scheme Leads To More Prison Time For Man Connected To FBI Agent's Murder. • Defendant Gets 14-Year Federal Prison Sentence After Pleading Guilty To Drug Charges. • Detective Describes Unearthing Of Idaho Children's Remains. • FBI Leads Law Enforcement Operation In Indianapolis. • NJ State Senator Nicholas Scutari Says Mayor Lied To Spark Investigation For Political Ends. • Wheeling, WV Man Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy To Produce Child Pornography. • Police Investigate Shooting Outside Washington State Casino. • Suspect Arrested In Death Of Susie Zhao. • FBI Seeks Information About Boca Raton Bank Robber. • Judge Restricts Principals In Atkinson Case From Talking About It Outside Of Court. • GA Man Pleads Guilty For His Role In Cocaine Conspiracy Stretching From El Paso, Texas To Buffalo. • New Report Claims NYPD Grilled Pop Smoke About Crips Before His Death. • Saipan Casino Contractor Executives Indicted In Alleged Illegal Worker Scheme. • FBI Investigating Racist Vandalism At AME Church In North Highlands. • Suspect Out Of Prison Just One Year Before Bank Robbery. • FBI, Sheriff Take Another Look At Cold Murder Case In New Mexico. FINANCIAL CRIME & CORPORATE SCANDALS • Los Angeles Councilman Pleads Not Guilty In Corruption Probe. • Texas Woman Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud, Identity Theft. • Missouri Woman Pleads Guilty To Fraud, Money Laundering Scheme. • Kentucky Man Sentenced For Role In Fake Investment Scheme. CYBER DIVISION • Trump Says He Does Not Oppose Microsoft Buying TikTok. • DHS, Commerce Department Collaborate To Combat Botnets. • US Issues Alert About Malware Used By Chinese Government. • University of Texas Warns Donors, Contacts Possibly Affected By Ransomware Attack. • CISA Chief Wants Younger, More Experienced Hackers In Federal Government. • Pentagon Considers Adopting Zero-trust Security Approach. • CISA Releases Updated TIC 3.0 Network Security Guidance. • Op-Ed: Congress Has A Shot At Correcting Trump's Central Mistake On Cybersecurity. • NSA Reports On New Cyber Vulnerability In Computers. LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES • FBI Warns Of COVID-19 Tests From Texas Facility. • Gun Background Checks Rose 79% In July. OTHER FBI NEWS • Shelby Moving FBI Staff And Resources To Alabama Facility. • Man Charged With Scaling Fence At Boston FBI Headquarters, Damaging Property. OTHER WASHINGTON NEWS • Deal On Coronavirus Relief Package Remains Elusive As Trump Mulls Direct Action. EFTA00149967 • Trump Objects To Birx's "Pathetic" Comments After Pelosi Criticized Her. • Trump: US Has Tested More People Than Any Other Country. • Trump, Pence Tout Administration's Coronavirus Response. • White House Implements Random Coronavirus Testing. • WPost Report: State Officials Say Administration Unprepared To Distribute COVID Vaccine. • Navarro Rejects Giroir And Others On Hydroxychloroquine. • In Campaign Email, Trump Urges Supporters To Wear Facemasks. • US COVID Case Count Nears 4.9M, Deaths Near 159K. • Some People Recovered From COVID Feel More Confident About Resuming Activities. • Thirteen St. Louis Cardinals Players And Staff Test Positive. • Manhattan DA May Be Probing Trump Actions Apart From Alleged "Hush Money" Payments. • Judge Rules Schiff's Impeachment Subpoenas Can Remain Concealed. • Trump Signs Another Executive Order Restricting H1B Visas. • Federal Judge Blocks DOL Rule Restricting Paid Sick Leave. • Isaias Regains Hurricane Strength As It Makes Landfall In North Carolina. • Fauci Says Most Schools Should Reopen, But Not In Some Hot Spots. • Congress Demands Universities Provide Records Of Foreign Donations. • Trump Seeks To Replace NA Chair Over Hiring Of Foreign Workers. • Aides Say Trump Is Pleased With Wolf's Performance At DHS. • Departing USAID Official Slams "Rampant Anti-Christian Sentiment" At Agency. • House Panel Subpoenas Pompeo Aides Over IG's Firing. • Democrats Object To Tata's Pentagon Appointment. • Hokason Becomes Member Of Joint Chiefs Of Staff. • Trump Blasts Nevada's Move To Universal Mail-In Voting, Threatens Court Battle. INTERNATIONAL NEWS • Trump: We Will "Never Forget" Coronavirus "Was Sent To Us By China." • Latin America Tops 5M Confirmed COVID Cases. • Iran Sanctions Former Bolton Aide. • WSJournal: Administration's Iran Policy Aiding Peace Progress In Yemen. • US Firm Secures Deal With Kurds For Syrian Oil. • Trump Says He Did Not Discuss Russian Bounties On US Troops With Putin. • Trump Says 4,000-5,000 US Troops Will Be In Afghanistan By Election Day. • Brownback: NBA "Coming Around" To Oppose Chinese Rights Abuses. • Politico Analysis: Trump Has Allowed Rubio To Shape His Latin America Policies. • European Diplomats: Turkish Aggression Is NATO's "Elephant In The Room." • Former Spanish King Flees Country Amid Financial Scandal. THE BIG PICTURE • Headlines From Today's Front Pages. WASHINGTON'S SCHEDULE • Today's Events In Washington. LEADING THE NEWS FBI And Justice Department Say FISA Errors Did Not Influence Court's Decisions. The Washington Times (8/3, Mordock, 492K) reports the Justice Department and FBI "said an investigation into 29 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant applications found to be riddled with mistakes by a Justice Department watchdog concluded that the errors did not influence how the court ruled." In a filing with the FISA court unsealed Monday, the Justice EFTA00149968 Department and FBI "admitted to minor errors in the applications to spy on US citizens and foreign agents suspected of wrongdoing." They "say the mistakes did not affect the court's decisions on whether to approve surveilling the targets of the applications." They said, "The government believes the errors identified in this docket were not capable of influencing the court's probable cause determination and therefore did not render invalid, in whole or in part, electronic surveillance and physical search authorized by the court." Politico (8/3, Gerstein, 4.29M) reports, "A review by the Justice Department and FBI of their practices for seeking approval of intelligence-related surveillance found that nearly all of the inaccuracies and omissions identified in a scathing internal watchdog report issued late last year were minor or involved paperwork problems." According to Politico, "The review of a set of 29 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court applications flagged by Inspector General Michael Horowitz's office in an alarming alert last December identified a total of 203 false statements or omissions, but the Justice Department and the FBI concluded that only two of those were "material," according to a court submission released on Monday. Those two instances...were deemed by the law enforcement agencies not to have been so serious that they `invalidated' the secret surveillance warrants the court issued based on that information, wrote Melissa MacTough, the deputy assistant attorney general for national security wrote." DO) Defends Its Use Of PISA. The Washington Examiner (8/3, Dunleavy, 448K) reports that the Justice Department "defended" its use of FISA, "arguing its deep-dive review of 29 FISA applications should increase trust in the process while suggesting the surveillance of Carter Page was uniquely problematic." Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said Monday, "We are pleased that our review of these applications concluded that all contained sufficient basis for probable cause and uncovered only two material errors, neither of which invalidated the authorizations granted by the FISA Court. ... These findings, together with the more than 40 corrective actions undertaken by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Division, should instill confidence in the FBI's use of FISA authorities." PROTESTS US Charges Oregon Man With Bombing Federal Courthouse. The Oregonian (8/3, Bernstein, 1M) reports, "An 18-year-old man is accused of tearing plywood off the front glass panes of the federal courthouse in downtown Portland and then lighting a fuse on an explosive before tossing it through the broken glass early on July 22, injuring a deputy U.S. marshal, according to federal prosecutors." Isaiah Jason Maza Jr. "made his first appearance in the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse Monday afternoon on allegations of assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon and depredation of federal government property. He's the second 18-year-old since Friday who is accused of federal charges stemming from a firework or other explosive ignited at the federal courthouse during recent demonstrations." Assistant US Attorney Gary Sussman "described Maza as a `very dangerous man,' who was caught on video lighting the fuse, dropping the hand-sized explosive device inside the lobby of the courthouse `and then watching with his cellphone for the explosion.' FBI Probing Fire Outside Louisville, Kentucky's Hall Of Justice. WLKY-TV Louisville, KY (8/3, 79K) reports from Louisville, Kentucky, "Multiple fires were seen near downtown's main protest area overnight and now the FBI is investigating." The Louisville Metro Police Department "released video showing flames both right outside the Hall of Justice downtown and on a nearby street. Sgt. Lamont Washington said a group `attempted to set the Hall of Justice on fire, unsuccessfully.' The Hall of Justice "is across the street from Jefferson Square Park where people have been protesting for months in response to the death of Breonna Taylor." EFTA00149969 The Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal (8/3, Tobin, 368K) reports, "A group of roughly 30 people attempted to set the Hall of Justice on fire Sunday night, according to Louisville Metro Police. The incident occurred at the south side of the Hall of Justice's main entrance shortly before midnight, according to Louisville Metro Police Department spokesman Lamont Washington, who added that a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the building. He declined to provide additional information on how many were thrown." The Courier-Journal adds, "Louisville's FBI Office is leading the investigation, Washington said. FBI spokesman Tim Beam said the Louisville office `is currently working with the Louisville Metro Arson Bureau to identify those responsible for these criminal acts/" Artist Who Posted Philadelphia Protest Photos Is Arrested For Vandalism. The Washington Post (8/3, Shepherd, 14.2M) reports, "After weeks of photographing protests in Philadelphia, artist and activist Sammy Rivera declared last month that he would no longer post his work on Instagram to shield protesters who might be targeted by police investigating property damage and disorder during the city's massive demonstrations." The Post adds, "Less than a week later, 23-year-old Rivera was arrested along with five other people, including a teenager, for allegedly vandalizing state police vehicles on May 30. After investigators set out to find the people who had set fire to the vehicles, the FBI said it obtained photos showing six people attacking the state troopers' cars, and then compared those photos to social media posts to identify the suspects." Scope, Effectiveness Of Operation LeGend Questioned After Kansas City Arrests. KMBC-TV Kansas City, MO (8/3, Flener, 205K) reports from Kansas City, Missouri, "Nearly three weeks into a federal and local law enforcement partnership named Operation LeGend in Kansas City, the operation is receiving mixed reviews about its scope and effectiveness from community members." Operation LeGend "brought 225 federal agents from the FBI, DEA, ATF and U.S. Marshals Service to work with Kansas City police on both past unsolved cases and new crimes." US Attorney Tim Garrison "announced Friday that 97 arrests were made by local and federal law enforcement officers since the start of the operation." KMBC-TV adds, "Kansas City attorney and community activist Stacy Shaw continues to question the overall direction of the operation after Garrison's announcement about arrests for mainly drug and gun crimes. `If they came in here for drug raids, they should've told us, "We're coming in here to do drug raids, and gun raids in Kansas City,," Shaw said." Leaked Body Camera Video Shows George Floyd's Arrest. NBC Nightly NewsVi (8/3, story 7, 2:05, Holt, 6.23M) reported, "More than two months after the death of George Floyd, tonight the clearest picture yet of what led up to the deadly confrontation from police body cam videos that have been leaked." NBC's Gabe Gutierrez added, "Seconds after rookie Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane approaches George Floyd's vehicle, he's already drawn his gun. These body camera videos were viewed in person by NBC News last month, but had not been distributed publicly. DailyMail.com says it obtained a leaked copy, apparently recorded off of a computer screen." For the first time, the videos "show how a call about an alleged fake $20 bill on Memorial Day escalated into a deadly encounter that would ignite global outrage." On the CBS Evening NewsVi (8/3, story 8, 2:05, O'Donnell, 4.37M), Jeff Pegues reported, "For the first time, two leaked body camera videos show the encounter with George Floyd from the officer's perspective. In one, officer Thomas Lane confronts Floyd, trying to get him out of an SUV, a gun aimed in his direction. Later in the footage, Floyd drops to the ground as officers lead him toward a squad car." George Floyd: "I'm claustrophobic, man. Please, man." Pegues: "The other video...appears to come from body cam worn by rookie officer Alexander Keung. It shows Floyd resisting officers trying to place him in the squad car. You hear him pleading." EFTA00149970 Floyd: "God, I'm claustrophobic, man. Can I get in the front?" Pegues: "There is now an investigation into the leak of that body camera video." Kentucky State Police Probe Of Barbeque Cook's Shooting During Protests Is Complete. The AP (8/3) reports from Louisville, Kentucky, "A Kentucky State Police investigation into the fatal shooting of a Louisville barbecue cook during street protests against racism has been completed and handed over to prosecutors." The AP adds, "Investigators turned over the findings in David McAtee's May 31 shooting death to the Commonwealth's Attorney in Louisville for review, said J. Michael Brown, secretary of the state's executive Cabinet. Brown said the file would be shared with the FBI, which is conducting a separate investigation. 'There's nothing to suggest, from the evidence collected so far, that there's any significant difference between the sequence of events and actions that were previously reported or captured on videos,' Brown said during a governor's news briefing Monday." The Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal (8/3, Ladd, 368K) reports, "The McAtee file isn't closed, Brown said, adding there is "nothing to suggest" in the evidence that there is 'significant difference' between what has been reported and shown in videos from the night McAtee was shot." McAtee, 53, "who often fed police at YaYa's BBQ, was fatally shot by the Kentucky National Guard in the doorway to his West End business at about 12:15 a.m. on June 1. Louisville Metro Police and the Guard were sent to disperse a crowd after curfew in the parking lot at 26th Street and Broadway next to YaYa's BBQ, where McAtee worked and lived. The curfew was in place because of protests - some marred by violence - over the police shooting of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who died in her South End apartment." WHAS-TV Louisville, KY (8/3, Daniels, 99K) reports, "Brown said the findings were not different from what they revealed in June. He confirmed the popular barbecue business owner was killed by a bullet from the gun of a Kentucky National Guardsman. Despite the forensics, they may not be able to determine which guardsman fired the fatal shot. He said McAtee did have a gun during the incident and had gunshot residue on his hands." Louisville Lawmakers Authorize Subpoenas After Officials Decline To Testify In Taylor Probe. The Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal (8/3, Costello, 368K) reports, "The Metro Council committee investigating Mayor Greg Fischer's handling of the Breonna Taylor case and ongoing racial justice protests authorized its first subpoenas on Monday, after administration officials declined to testify in open session." The Courier-Journal adds, "Louisville's chief of public safety and interim police chief appeared in person for Monday's special hearing, but their attorneys said both would be unable to testify unless the committee went into closed session, citing a recently filed federal lawsuit and state law around open meetings. That legal argument didn't convince many committee members, with the chairman, Councilman Brent Ackerson, D-26th District, suggesting the mayor's administration was trying to hide behind the lawsuit." Trump: Protesters Would Have Burned Down Courthouse Without Federal Intervention. Asked in an interview with Axios on HBOVi (8/3) about the federal response to protesters in Portland, President Trump said, "For 59 days, these people were anarchists and agitators and some protesters. But these were anarchists. These people were beating the hell out of the city. They were beating up our federal buildings and federal courthouse. We told the police to stop it. And the police wouldn't do it. ... If we didn't have people at our courthouse - and they're strong, tough people and they don't want - they try and be very good. believe me. But if we didn't have people there, you would have your federal courthouse, $600 million building, you would have that thing burned to the ground right now." EFTA00149971 Portland Police Chief: Officers Committed To Protecting City. Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell writes in the New York Times (8/3, 18.61M) that "Portland is a beautiful and vibrant city with smart, progressive people, and I am hopeful we can come together to move beyond the unrest and refocus on critical issues." The Portland Police, he adds, "remains committed to protecting life and responding to events as appropriate. I am proud of our efforts in extreme circumstances few in the country have faced." Lovell adds, "I have confidence in our community and the people who have dedicated their lives to building relationships with police. They have stood up and said no more violence. I stand with them with a servant's heart, committed to being leaders in police reform." McGurn Credits Trump With Reduction In Violence. Wall Street Journal (8/3, Subscription Publication, 7.57M) columnist William McGurn writes in a piece titled "Trump Wins In Portland" that the reduction in violence in Portland over the weekend is not because - as some have claimed - federal agents left the city. McGurn argues the violence has reduced because state and local police have stepped up under a deal reached with federal officials last week. House Panel Launches Investigation Into DHS Intel Office. Reuters (8/3, Chiacu, Hosenball) reports the House Intelligence Committee launched an investigation on Monday into "the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence office, including its actions in Portland, Oregon, and its involvement in other anti-racism protests across the country." In a letter to top DHS officials, Chairman Adam Schiff wrote, "The reporting regarding the monitoring of peaceful protesters, creating and disseminating intelligence reports about journalists and protesters, and potential exploitation of electronic devices is deeply troubling." In his letter, Schiff "requested detailed intelligence reporting documents that informed a recommendation by the then-chief of the DHS intelligence operation on July 25 requesting that DHS reports on anarchist-related Portland protesters refer to them as 'Violent Antifa Anarchists Inspired." Morgenstern: Democrats' Push To Defund Police Will Make Nation Less Safe. Deputy White House Communications Director Brian Morgenstern said on the John Fredericks ShowVi (8/3), "People want their communities to be peaceful and we're seeing around the country that is not the case and how does Joe Biden and his party respond? It is defund the police. It is take away the force that is going to help people to feel safe and be safe? ... This whole debate over whether redirecting money from the police is the same thing as defunding the police, it sort of makes your brain hurt doesn't it? If you are redirecting your salary out of your pocket, I think you would call that defunding wouldn't you?" Conway: Cities Seeing Protests Have "Strictest Gun Control Laws In The Country." White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway was asked on Fox News Outnumbered Overtime (8/3) about Sen. Tammy Duckworth's (D-IL) call for President Trump to push for gun control legislation. Conway said that "some of these cities have the strictest gun control laws in the country, and this is what is happening. ... So, the President has said that he would be happy to send in the feds. The feds have been in some of these cities, and what has happened? Some of these mayors get in a petty, peevish Twitter spat with the President about it. Others just refuse to allow them. What do we have in Portland? We are in the third month of nightly violence. These are peaceful protesters. I think peaceful protesters have every right under the First Amendment. But we, long ago, left that pretense. You can't help but see what all these cities have in common, which is strict gun control laws and Democratic mayors." NYTimes Analysis: Anti-Gun Youth Absent From Protests. The New York Times (8/3, Russonello, 18.61M) reports that after the mass shooting in 2018 at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, "the massacre's young survivors converted their outrage into political organizing." However, since then "Congress passed no gun legislation," and EFTA00149972 "now, with the country swept up in a reckoning over racial justice driven largely by young protesters, the youthful voices that propelled a movement just two years ago find themselves less squarely focused on issues around gun violence." Polls, the Times notes, show that racial justice, the coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn "far outpace guns as top issues of concern for young people." New York City Shootings Surpass 2019 Total. The Washington Free Beacon (8/3, Nester, 78K) reports New York City "has already had more shootings this year than in all of 2019, with the city's 777th shooting this weekend." Last year's total of 776 shootings "was eclipsed Saturday night as a wave of gun violence continues to hit New York City. By Sunday night, the city's total shooting incidents for the year rose to 784." NYPD Commissioner Blasts De Blasio's Law Enforcement Policies. The New York Times (8/3, Al, Fitzsimmons, 18.61M) reports the "criticism of Mayor Bill de Blasio's law enforcement policies was stinging. A law banning the use of chokeholds and similar types of restraints by police officers was 'insane: Agreeing to cut the Police Department budget was a 'bow to mob rule.' Those who failed to 'stand up for what's right' were 'cowards." The "outspoken critic," however, was de Blasio's own police commissioner, Dermot F. Shea, "a trusted ally who went rogue in media interviews and in a private address to police brass." To the Times, "the commissioner's comments - and the fact that he still has his job - speak to the fraught relationship that Mr. de Blasio has maintained with the Police Department throughout his tenure." Minneapolis Mayor: Governor Was Slow To Deploy National Guard During Riots. The Minneapolis Star Tribune (8/3, Bjorhus, Navratil, 1.04M) reports that "Jacob Frey has been cast as the mayor who lost control of his city, enduring criticism from the state's governor that the Minneapolis response to rioting in May over the police killing of George Floyd was an 'abject failure.' Now Frey is speaking out, saying Gov. Tim Walz failed to take his requests for help seriously until it was too late." In an interview Monday, Frey "said that Walz hesitated to send in the National Guard to quell the growing violence, and then blamed him for allowing the city to burn." Said Frey, "Through an extremely difficult situation, I told the truth. I relayed information as best I could to state partners. And we did what was demanded for the sake of our city." Armed Secret Service Confronts Two Black Mothers, Children On National Mall. The Washington Post (8/3, Mettler, 14.2M) reports that during a visit to the National Mall with "their babies," India Johnson, 26, and Yasmeen Winston, 25, parked on Constitution Avenue near the White House. After returning to their car, a "Secret Service cruiser had driven into their front left bumper, Winston told The Washington Post. Within seconds, Winston recalled, a uniformed Secret Service officer was pointing a rifle at them, yelling 'Get out!' and 'Put your hands in the air!' More officers surrounded them with guns pulled, the women said." Over the next hour, "Winston and Johnson said, they were handcuffed without reason, separated from their crying babies, and handled by police who, at first, did not wear masks to protect against" the coronavirus. In a statement to The Post, the Secret Service said it is "looking into the matter" and "has no further comment at this time." Police Officers In Colorado Mistakenly Detain Black Family. ABC World News TonightVI (8/3, story 8, 1:30, Muir, 7.08M) reported on "new allegations against the Aurora, Colorado Police Department. Officers now accused of confronting a Black family, mistakenly believing they were in a stolen vehicle. Children forced to the ground." ABC's Clayton Sandell added, "Tonight, confusion and questions about why police in Aurora, Colorado, responding to reports of a stolen vehicle, approached a Black family in their car, handcuffing several children on the pavement. Police say a license plate scanner alerted them that Brittany Gilliam's car was stolen. ... But the department now says Gilliam's license plate had the same EFTA00149973 number as the real stolen vehicle, but that was a motorcycle from another state." The department is "already under fire for several high profile cases." "Back The Blue" Mural Painted Outside Tampa Police Headquarters. WTVT-TV Tampa, FL (8/3, Holton, 51K) reports that a "Back the Blue" street mural painted over the weekend outside the Tampa Police Department's headquarters "is drawing praise and criticism." Organizers say they "want to show their support for law enforcement," but "critics say the mural flies in the face of the Black Lives Matter movement." WPost Calls For Congress To Mandate US Park Police Wear Body Cameras. The Washington Post (8/3, 14.2M) editorializes that "given its execrable recent record, you'd think the Park Police would be doing everything in its power to regain the public's trust and confidence." The Post argues that "body-worn cameras, standard equipment at many major police departments across the country, would be a useful first step to signal that the Park Police is determined to make itself accountable for its actions. A bill to mandate their use for all federal police officers is included in a legislative police package introduced in the House of Representatives. Its passage would be a tonic - whether or not the Park Police thinks it is 'in a position' to comply." COUNTER-TERRORISM US Attorney Mulls Appeal Of Tsarnaev Ruling. The Boston Herald (8/3, Tiernan, 410K) reports, "The day after President Trump called for a 'do-over' in seeking the death penalty against convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the U.S. attorney said his office is still mulling an appeal." US Attorney Andrew Lelling "said his office is continuing to review a federal appellate court's Friday decision to toss out the death sentence and would 'have more information in the coming days and weeks: The government has two weeks to file a petition for an appeal, but could request an extension." The Herald adds, "The ruling ripped open old wounds for the families of the three people who died and the more than 260 who were injured in the April 15, 2013, twin bombings on Boylston Street at the end of the Boston Marathon route." ISIS Attacks Eastern Afghan Prison, Frees Nearly 400 Prisoners. The AP (8/3, Gul, Faiez) reports that "militants affiliated with the Islamic State group stormed a prison in eastern Afghanistan in a daylong siege that left at least 39 people dead, including the assailants, and freed nearly 400 of their fighters before security forces restored order." The AP adds "the attack underscored that the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan is still a formidable presence, and it highlighted the challenges ahead as U.S. and NATO forces begin to withdraw following Washington's peace deal with the Taliban." The AP also reports "the peace accord aims to recruit the Taliban to battle the militants from IS, which US officials have told The Associated Press is the Americans' biggest foe in Afghanistan." The AP describes the Taliban and ISIS as "staunch rivals." Reuters (8/3, Sultan, Sediqi) reports Afghan security forces "killed at least 10 Islamic State fighters who had taken control of [the) prison in the eastern city of Jalalabad, ending a siege in which hundreds of prisoners escaped." Reuters adds, "More than 300 prisoners were still at large, Attaullah Khugyani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, said. Of the 1,793 prisoners, more than 1,025 had tried to escape and been recaptured and 430 had remained inside. 'The rest are missing,' he said." The New York Times (8/3, Ghazi, Mashal, 18.61M) reports that Gen. Yasin Zia, "the chief of the Afghan army who arrived in the city to lead the last stretch of the operations, said ten assailants were involved in the attack and all were killed." The assault, "which left much of the EFTA00149974 prison's security barriers destroyed and brought the city to a standstill, was one of the most complicated operations claimed by the Islamic State's chapter in Afghanistan." The Times reports that "as its territory has been constricted significantly by a campaign of military operations over the past couple of years, the group has largely turned to gruesome attacks on soft-targets, such as civilians with little protection." The Washington Post (8/3, George, Hassan, 14.2M) reports that "the attack began just hours before a three-day cease-fire between the Taliban and Afghan government forces was set to expire," and "a Taliban spokesman quickly tweeted a brief statement denying responsibility," although "the target choice and complexity of the attack mirrored past Taliban assaults." Trump Says He "Took Out" ISIS. President Trump said in an interview with Axios on HBOVi (8/3), "In Syria, we took out ISIS, 100% of the caliphate. When i took over, Obama, it was totally rampant. ISIS was all over the place. we took them out. we captured them. we killed them. ... We took out Soleimani. We took out al-Baghdadi. We took out people that nobody thought possible." Israel Says It Killed Militants Planting Bombs Inside Its Border With Syria. The New York Times (8/3, Kershner, 18.61M) reports that Israeli soldiers "ambushed four militants as they planted bombs along Israel's boundary with Syria around midnight. ... The militants, whose identity or affiliation were not immediately known, were assumed to have been killed on the spot by a combination of ground and air fire, said Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an army spokesman." According to the Times, "Israeli forces have been on elevated alert in the north in recent weeks, and particularly over the past week, after Israel said it had thwarted a raid by a Hezbollah `terrorist squad' armed with assault rifles in a disputed area along its northern border with Lebanon." The Washington Post (8/3, Eglash, Dadouch, 14.2M) reports that "overnight Sunday, Israel said it struck targets in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip to the south, following rocket fire into its territory that caused damage in the Israeli town of Sderot. " Reuters (8/2) reports an Israeli military statement "said Monday's strikes hit Syrian observation posts, intelligence collection systems, anti-aircraft batteries and command-and- control bases." Syrian state media "said Israeli helicopters fired at Syrian checkpoints in al- Qunaitra, on the Golan Heights, causing material losses." The Israeli military "said it was responding to an attempt by a group of four people to plant explosives on a patrolled fence along the Golan armistice line between Israel and Syria." COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE China Accuses US Of Harassing Chinese Students, Researchers. The AP (8/3) reports, "China on Monday accused the United States of 'monitoring, harassing and willfully detaining' Chinese students and researchers in the U.S." According to the AP, "Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin's comments follow the denial of a bail request in California for a university researcher accused of lying about her ties to China's military and governing Communist Party to gain access to the United States. Wang also criticized the Trump administration for imposing sanctions on a major paramilitary organization in the country's western Xinjiang region and on two officials for alleged human rights abuses against ethnic and religious minorities." Wang "said China had no intention of helping Juan Tang escape from the United States, but did not otherwise comment directly on the accusations against her," but "he said China urges the U.S. to handle the case fairly in accordance with the law and ensure the safety and legitimate rights and interests' due to Tang." New FBI Documents From Mueller's Russia Investigation Revealed Following FOIA Lawsuit. EFTA00149975 BuzzFeed News (8/3) reports a new cache of "witness interview summaries from special counsel Robert Mueller's two-year probe into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election was released Monday in response to FOIA lawsuits by BuzzFeed News and CNN." The documents include "five pages of Jared Kushner's FBI interview summary - but all five are completely redacted." The FBI's notations "indicate that much of the material relates to an ongoing law enforcement investigation." Interview summaries for "former deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland, former White House lawyer and senior Justice Department official James Burnham, and former Stone associate Randy Credico are also almost entirely redacted." McFarland and Credico's summaries include "markings that indicate redacted information relates to ongoing investigations." A chunk of the 412 pages of interview summaries "relates to the special counsel's investigation of Roger Stone." Hemingway: Media Is Silent As Steele Shown Not To Be Master Spy. Mollie Hemingway writes for The Federalist (8/3, 126K) that the media repeatedly "assured Americans that the dossier alleging treasonous collusion between Donald Trump and Russia was based on the scrupulous work of a mastermind British ex-spy," Christopher Steele, "and his vast network of credible and well-connected sources spread throughout Europe. It wasn't true." Hemingway argues that the media "have a problem, then, given that they repeatedly led viewers and readers to believe Steele was a master spy. ... As the sophisticated fabrication continues to unravel, the media that won Pulitzers and acclaim for hyping it are strikingly silent." White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Fox News' Hannity (8/3, 535K), "Instead of retracting those stories, they won Pulitzers of those stories of the Washington Post and the New York Times for lying about the witch hunt against the President of the United States. They were dead wrong but they don't apologize. They don't give back the Pulitzers as they should." Op-Ed: Roger Stone On How His Sentence Was Commuted. In an op-ed in the Daily Caller (8/3, 716K), former Trump campaign manager Roger Stone writes, "The tragic death of Herman Cain reminded me how closely I myself came to what I believe would have been my demise. The controversy over President Trump's courageous decision to commute my sentence so I could avoid immediate incarceration in a COVID-19 infested prison was a humanitarian act of both mercy and justice, but at the same time it blocked out news of my own efforts to avoid this peril and the extraordinary lengths to which the government went to give me 'special treatment." He concludes, "I wrote this piece to demonstrate that the courageous act of commuting my prison sentence saved me from near certain death in a COVID-19 infested prison and preserved my right to live long enough to appeal an unjust verdict." UN Report Says North Korea Has "Probably" Developed Nuclear Devices To Fit Ballistic Missiles. Reuters (8/3, Nichols) reports that, according to a confidential UN report, North Korea is "pressing on with its nuclear weapons program and several countries believe it has 'probably developed miniaturized nuclear devices to fit into the warheads of its ballistic missiles." The report by an independent panel of experts monitoring UN sanctions "said the countries, which it did not identify, believed North Korea's past six nuclear tests had likely helped it develop miniaturized nuclear devices." Pyongyang has not "conducted a nuclear test since September 2017." The interim report "was submitted to the 15-member UN Security Council North Korea sanctions committee on Monday." The report said, "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is continuing its nuclear program, including the production of highly enriched uranium and construction of an experimental light water reactor. A Member State assessed that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is continuing production of nuclear weapons." EFTA00149976 NRO Chief Sees Growing Opportunities For Agency To Use Small Satellites. Space News (8/3, Subscription Publication) reports NRO director Christopher Scolese "said the agency is becoming more reliant on small satellites for fast and low cost experiments." Scolese said August 3 on a live webcast at the 2020 Small Satellite Conference which is a virtual event this year, "Cubesats allow us to respond more quickly. Smallsats can provide lots of opportunities to do science, to provide information for the intelligence community and to allow us to develop technologies and capabilities. At the NRO, satellite systems of all sizes are important to us, large and small. Ultimately, physics determines how big, how many, and where a satellite is located." Scolese "said he could not discuss specific plans to develop a 'hybrid architecture' of government and commercial remote sensing satellites, but insisted the agency wants to take advantage of privately funded innovation and intends to procure more data from the commercial sector." CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS Federal Judge Recounts Shooting Of Son, Husband. NBC Nightly NewsVI (8/3, story 6, 2:10, Holt, 6.23M) reported, "Two weeks after a gunman shot and killed the son of a federal judge in New Jersey, and wounded her husband, that judge is now speaking out in a powerful and heart-breaking video statement." NBC (Thompson) added, "Painfully, angrily, federal judge Esther Salas describes the weekend she and her husband Mark Anderl celebrated their son Daniel's 20th birthday and lost him." Sales: "And Daniel said, 'Mom, let's keep talking. I love talking to you, mom.' And it was at that exact moment that the doorbell rang. And Daniel looked at me and said, 'Who is that?' And before I could say a word, he sprinted upstairs. Within seconds, I heard the sound of bullets and someone screaming, 'No!' But Daniel being Daniel, protected his father, and he took the shooter's first bullet directly to the chest. The monster then turns his attention to my husband and began to shoot at my husband, one shot after another." The CBS Evening NewsVi (8/3, story 10, 1:45, O'Donnell, 4.24M) reported, "Her husband was also shot, but lived. Her son died." Salas: "We are living every parent's worst nightmare, making preparations to bury our only child." CBS (Axelrod) added, "Salas also demanded better protection for judges, but her extraordinary poise and strength seemed, remarkably, focused on gratitude." ABC World News TonightVi (8/3, story 7, 1:50, Muir, 7.2M) reported, "Police say the alleged gunman, self-described anti-feminist Manhattan attorney Roy den Hollander, killed himself the next day." Salas: "In my case, the monster knew where I lived, and what church we attended, and had a complete dossier on me and my family. At the moment, there is nothing we can do to stop it, and that is unacceptable." ABC (Llamas) added that , "the threats against judges are real. The US marshals say they are increasing every year, and Judge Sales' family is proof sometimes these threats become a reality." Ninth Circuit Throws Out Oregon Man's Confession About Pointing Laser At Police Plane. The Oregonian (8/3, Bernstein, 1M) reports that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals "has thrown out a Gresham man's confession to Multnomah County sheriff's deputies that he shined a laser at a police plane, finding they violated his Fourth Amendment rights by not telling him he was under arrest and questioning him without giving him Miranda warnings. Eight months later, an FBI agent arrived at the Gresham man's door, saying he was there to ask 'follow-up' questions about the laser incident, which led to an indictment." The appeals court "found that the constitutional violations from the Gresham man's first encounter with sheriff's deputies tainted the second encounter with the FBI agent. The court said all of the Gresham man's statements to investigators should have been suppressed." The Oregonian notes that "in July 2019, Nikolay EFTA00149977 P. Bocharnikov was sentenced to three years of federal probation for aiming the laser pointer at an aircraft." Trump Again Says He Wishes Ghislaine Maxwell Well. President Trump was asked in an interview with Axios on HBOVI (8/3) why he said he wishes Ghislaine Maxwell - who faces charges of enticement of minors and sex trafficking of children - well. Trump said, "Her friend or boyfriend was either killed or committed suicide in jail. She's now in jail. Yeah, I wish her well. I'd wish you well. I'd wish a lot of people well. Good luck. Let them prove somebody was guilty.... And I do wish her well. I'm not looking for anything bad for her. I'm not looking bad for anybody." Drugs Scheme Leads To More Prison Time For Man Connected To FBI Agent's Murder. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (8/3, Ove, 616K) reports, "Robert Korbe, whose drug dealing operation led to the murder of" FBI Agent Sam Hicks during a 2008 raid operation, "will spend another four years behind bars for dealing drugs inside the prison where he's been held." On Monday, US District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan said Korbe will serve that time after his current, 25-year sentence ends. The KDKA-TV Pittsburgh (8/3, 144K) website also covers this story. Defendant Gets 14-Year Federal Prison Sentence After Pleading Guilty To Drug Charges. The Fayetteville (NC) Observer (8/3, Brown-Peyton, 151K) reports Elbert Tojuan McNeill has been sentenced "to 14 years in federal prison." The FBI was involved with the investigation that led to Monday's sentence, which came after McNeill pleaded guilty "to charges of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 280 grams or more of cocaine; possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine; and possession of a firearm for trafficking in drugs." Detective Describes Unearthing Of Idaho Children's Remains. The CBS Evening NewsVi (8/3, story 11, 0:25, O'Donnell, 4.24M) reported, "Raw emotion today in an Idaho courtroom. A detective described in painful detail how the remains of two children, one wrapped in duct tape, were unearthed on the property of Chad Daybell, who recently married their mother. The children's grandparents wept during the testimony. A judge is deciding whether to hold Daybell for trial. He and wife Lori Vallow-Daybell are accused of concealing evidence in connection with the deaths and will likely face additional charges." The AP (8/3, Ridler, Boone) reports from Boise, Idaho, "A detective Monday described in excruciating details how investigators unearthed the remains of two children who had been missing for months while searching the rural Idaho property of a man charged with concealing evidence." According to the AP, "The testimony came during a preliminary hearing where a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to hold Chad Daybell for trial. He and the children's mother face charges related to the hiding of the remains of 17-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua `33' Vallow, although authorities have yet to say how the two died, or whether homicide charges will be filed in the case that has attracted worldwide headlines." Inside Edition (8/3, 342K) reports, "Three FBI agents from the bureau's Salt Lake City division - Special Agent Benjamin Dean, Special Agent Steven Daniels and Agent Gary Lyu — have been called to testify during Chad's preliminary hearing Monday and Tuesday, according to court documents. A member of the Idaho State Police Forensic Services team, Rylene Nowlin, has also been subpoenaed. Authorities believe the children were killed shortly after they were last seen and buried in Chad's yard by their uncle, Alex Cox. Cox himself died on Dec. 12. An Arizona medical examiner ruled that he died of natural causes, but Cox's death remains under investigation." Courthouse News (8/3, McCullough, 2K) also reports. FBI Leads Law Enforcement Operation In Indianapolis. EFTA00149978 WXIN-TV Indianapolis (8/3, 434K) reports from Indianapolis, "Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) SWAT teams, backed by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) detectives and agents from multiple federal agencies, armed with more than a dozen arrest warrants, conducted several raids at dawn Monday across Indianapolis." According to WXIN-TV, "A source said the raids were a result of a wiretap investigation by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force which includes IMPD officers and likely targeted individuals and criminal enterprises dealing in drugs, cash and weapons. One source told FOX59 two men were taken into custody at a house and car storage yard in the 5300 block of Massachusetts Avenue where investigators discovered guns and ammunition. Another raid was conducted on a house in the 2300 block of North Arsenal Avenue and at a third location." The Indianapolis Star (8/3, 633K) reports, "Federal, state and local police began serving warrants in the Indianapolis area Monday morning. 'The FBI and our federal, state and local law enforcement partners are conducting a series of coordinated raids around Indianapolis,' FBI spokesperson Chris Bavender said in an email to IndyStar." WRTV-TV Indianapolis (8/3, 182K) reports, "An FBI spokesperson said the Monday morning raids in Indianapolis are related to drug activity. 'The FBI and our federal, state and local law enforcement partners are conducting a series of coordinated raids around Indianapolis,' the spokesperson said." WTHR-TV Indianapolis (8/3, 465K) and WTTV-TV Indianapolis (8/3, 37K) also report on their websites. N3 State Senator Nicholas Scutari Says Mayor Lied To Spark Investigation For Political Ends. NJ News (8/3, Sherman, 1.72M) reports state Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D) - who has been under fire for allegedly being a frequent no-show in his job as a municipal prosecutor - on Monday accused the city of Linden of lying about his role to initiate a criminal investigation for political gain. Scutari "said the city passed a policy in 2005 that specifically called for the municipal prosecutor to pay for his or her own substitute if unable to be in court." He said that Mayor Derek Armstead (D), "who has long been at odds with Scutari, was a member of the Linden City Council at the time." Armstead, in "responding to Scutari, said the document cited did not give a municipal prosecutor a free pass not to show up for his job." The issue has "reportedly become the focus not only of a state grand jury investigation, but the city has also been asked to provide the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office with some of the same information subpoenaed by the state, according to two sources familiar with the request." Wheeling, WV Man Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy To Produce Child Pornography. WOAY-TV Bluefield, WV (8/3, Barker) reports Randall Lee Peggs, 56, of Wheeling, WV pled guilty on Monday to conspiring with another person to produce child pornography, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart." Randall Lee Peggs, 56, pled guilty to conspiracy to produce child pornography." Peggs "admitted that he began talking with codefendant Elizabeth Haway, of Princeton, on Facebook in November 2018." Peggs "faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison when sentenced on November 9, 2020." Meanwhile, Haway is awaiting trial. This case "was investigated by the Mercer County Sheriff's Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the FBI's Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force." Police Investigate Shooting Outside Washington State Casino. The AP (8/3) reports police on Sunday "were investigating the shooting death of a man outside the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington." Tribal police "said a male suspect fled on foot from the scene and that the incident doesn't appear to have been a robbery." Officials are "working to gather video evidence from nearby businesses and have contacted the FBI to aid in the investigation." Suspect Arrested In Death Of Susie Zhao. EFTA00149979 MLive (MI) (8/3, 925K) reports a 60-year-old Pontiac man was arrested on Friday in the investigation of the homicide death of Susie Zhao. White Lake Township Police "obtained search warrants on Thursday, July 30, WXYZ reports." Detectives and an FBI task force assigned to the case "began to search for a suspect vehicle, which was located on Friday morning." FBI Seeks Information About Boca Raton Bank Robber. WPLG-TV Miami (8/3, Batchelor, 223K) reports the FBI is asking for the public's help to obtain information about a man who robbed a bank in Boca Raton back in January. The FBI "re- released surveillance images Monday of the Jan. 31 bank robbery that occurred at a BB&T Bank branch" location in Boca Raton. According to "FBI spokesman Jim Marshall, the robber entered the bank shortly before 1 p.m., handed an employee an empty back pack and demanded that the employee fill it with money." WPEC-TV West Palm Beach, FL (8/3, Lolo, 97K) reports that "Palm Beach County deputies, the South Florida Violent Crime and Fugitive Task Force and the FBI are still investigating." Judge Restricts Principals In Atkinson Case From Talking About It Outside Of Court. The Brownsville (TX) Herald (8/3, Sheridan, 37K) reports a federal judge last week "signed a protective order restricting Sylvia Atkinson, her attorneys, and government prosecutors from making certain statements outside the court concerning her federal bribery case pending trial." The court ruled that the dissemination of certain information to the public could prejudice Atkinson's right to a fair trial before an impartial jury. In the order, Rodriguez "wrote that the 'local community and local media have demonstrated an interest in this case that is significantly greater than in a typical criminal proceeding:" An indictment "handed down by a federal grand jury in December accused Atkinson of soliciting and accepting a $10,000 bribe from an undercover FBI agent posing as an employee of local film production and advertising company Pink Ape Media." GA Man Pleads Guilty For His Role In Cocaine Conspiracy Stretching From El Paso, Texas To Buffalo. AlbOnGeorgia (8/3) reports, "U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced last week that Adrian Grier, 44, of Jackson, Georgia, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and distributing, 500 grams or more of cocaine." The FBI, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia, assisted in the investigation. New Report Claims NYPD Grilled Pop Smoke About Crips Before His Death. ABC News Radio (8/3) reports two men and two teens "have been charged in the murder of Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke, who was fatally shot during a home invasion." A new report "claims that the 20-year-old rapper was pressured by authorities to turn informant on a local gang." The New York Post reports "that the NYPD had 'hounded' Pop" - whose real name is Bashar Jackson - "regarding two shootings that happened in the city." After being arrested for allegedly being in possession of a stolen Rolls Royce Wraith, ABC News Radio reports Jackson was unwilling to cooperate with police. When Jackson was arrested, following enhanced federal charges, "by the FBI at John F. Kennedy International Airport, he was again grilled by NYPD about the local Crips chapter in relation to another shooting." But again he did not cooperate. Saipan Casino Contractor Executives Indicted In Alleged Illegal Worker Scheme. The Guam Pacific Daily News (8/3, 58K) reports Chinese executives of Imperial Pacific International and MCC International Saipan who were "contracted to build a large hotel and casino in Saipan," are facing "multiple criminal charges in federal court, which were made public on Tuesday." Federal prosecutors "allege Liwen Wu, aka Peter Wu, Jianmin Xu and Yan Shi used criminal labor practices during the construction of the Grand Mariana Casino Hotel and Resort EFTA00149980 and transferred over $24 million to the United States to promote their illegal activity." The US Attorney's Office "asked anyone with information about this matter to call the FBI Saipan office." FBI Investigating Racist Vandalism At AME Church In North Highlands. The Los Angeles Times (7/31, 4.64M) reported the FBI is investigating racist vandalism at Murph-Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in North Highlands outside Sacramento. Racist epithets and threats were "scratched onto her church's silver rooftop air conditioning unit." Suspect Out Of Prison Just One Year Before Bank Robbery. The Okemah (OK) News Leader (8/1) reported the man accused of "robbing BancFirst in Paden at gunpoint last month spent much of the last decade behind bars and had been out of federal prison for less than 13 months when the robbery occurred." Bobby Ray Scott III, 42, of Shawnee "was indicted by a federal grand jury last week on charges of bank robbery and, if convicted, faces life in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both." The indictment alleges that in the course of the robbery, Scott "did assault and put in jeopardy the life of another person by the use of a dangerous weapon, that is a firearm." FBI, Sheriff Take Another Look At Cold Murder Case In New Mexico. The Albuquerque (NM) Journal (8/1, Byres, 196K) reported that in efforts "to solve a 45-year- old cold-case homicide, the Sandoval County Sheriff's Office partners with the FBI to ask the public for help." In a press conference "at the 13th Judicial District Court, the FBI and sheriff's office discussed the investigation of 21-year-old Mary 'Molly' Aleta Sparks' murder." FINANCIAL CRIME & CORPORATE SCANDALS Los Angeles Councilman Pleads Not Guilty In Corruption Probe. The Los Angeles Times (8/3, 4.64M) reports, "Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar pleaded not guilty on Monday to bribery, money laundering and an array of other charges, his first public response to the allegations in the corruption probe since prosecutors began securing guilty pleas from others in the case." According to the Times, "Prosecutors announced last week that Huizar had been indicted on 34 felony counts, including wire fraud, mail fraud, tax evasion and giving false statements to investigators, which follow a previous allegation that he had been heading a criminal enterprise involving real estate developers, City Hall supplicants and an assortment of bribes." Huizar "entered his plea while appearing before a federal judge by video conference." KTTV-TV Los Angeles (8/3, 24K) reports, "Huizar is charged in a 34-count federal grand jury indictment - handed down last Thursday - which alleges over 400 overt acts, including bribery, honest services fraud and money laundering, that the city councilman and co- defendants are accused of committing to further their criminal enterprise. Huizar, the central figure in the five-year City Hall corruption probe, is accused of accepting at least $1.5 million in bribes from developers in exchange for his support of downtown building projects. He was suspended from the council following his arrest in June." KCET-TV Los Angeles (8/3, 1K) reports, "In addition to a previously charged racketeering conspiracy count, the indictment charges Huizar with a dozen counts of honest services wire fraud, two counts of honest services mail fraud, four counts of traveling interstate in aid of racketeering, six counts of bribery, five counts of money laundering, and one count each of structuring cash deposits to conceal bribes, making a false statement to a financial institution, making false statements to federal law enforcement, and tax evasion." EFTA00149981 City News Service (CA) (8/3) reports that Huizar "was stripped of all his committee assignments in November 2018, following FBI searches of his home and offices, and had scaled back his legislative activity before his suspension. During the search of his home, agents seized $129,000 in cash that was stashed in Huizar's closet and which, according to the indictment, he received from a Chinese billionaire and another businessperson seeking favors from him." Texas Woman Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud, Identity Theft. The San Antonio Business Journal (8/3, Santana, Subscription Publication, 835K) reports, "A former employee of Schertz-based Stone Care of Texas flooring company admitted to stealing funds via wire fraud." Deanna Wehde "pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft on July 30, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Western District of Texas. She admitted to stealing $470,000 while she managed the company, said U.S. Attorney John Bash and Christopher Combs, FBI special agent in charge of the San Antonio Division." Wehde "admitted that she defrauded the company by using company credit cards issued in the names of former employees for business-related travel, and to make unauthorized purchases and cash withdrawals for her own personal use and benefit while employed by Stone Care of Texas between May 2016 and September 2018." Missouri Woman Pleads Guilty To Fraud, Money Laundering Scheme. KSDK-TV St. Louis (8/3, Cole, 493K) reports from Washington, Missouri, "A Washington, Missouri, woman entered a guilty plea to several charges related to defrauding her former employer." KSDK-TV adds, "According to the United States Attorney's Office Eastern District of Missouri, Christen Diane Schulte pleaded guilty on Monday to wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering charges related to a scheme to defraud her former employer, several individuals associated with her former employer, the Berger Levee District of Franklin County, and several financial institutions. Schulte appeared in federal court before United States District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig who accepted the plea and set her sentencing date for Nov. 10." Kentucky Man Sentenced For Role In Fake Investment Scheme. The AP (8/3) reports from London, Kentucky, "A Kentucky man has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for using fake investment schemes to bilk people out of $2.4 million." Rodney Scott Phelps, 58, of Somerset, Kentucky, "was also ordered in federal court last week to pay restitution. Prosecutors said Phelps and a co-defendant convinced investors to pour money into an oil venture opportunity involving the government of Belize. Another scheme involved investing in various commodities markets and a third convinced victims to invest in a Mississippi casino purchase," but "instead, Phelps and Jason Castenir used the money for operating expenses for their private-equity firm, paid themselves and made Ponzi payments to other investors, prosecutors said." Phelps "was convicted of one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud and 12 counts of wire fraud." CYBER DIVISION Trump Says He Does Not Oppose Microsoft Buying TikTok. The CBS Evening NewsVi (8/3, story 6, 0:20, O'Donnell, 4.37M) reported that on Monday, President Trump "appeared to back off his threat to ban the popular Chinese-owned video app TikTok, as long as an American company were to purchase it by the middle of next month." Trump: "So it will close down on September 15 unless Microsoft or somebody else is able to buy it and work out a deal." Reuters (8/3) reports that Trump "said...he does not mind if Microsoft Corp buys the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok." But, the Washington Times (8/3, Boyer, 492K) reports that Trump said "he would shut down the popular Chinese-owned video app by Sept. 15 if a sale isn't completed by then." EFTA00149982 Politico (8/3, Oprysko, Nylen, 4.29M) says Trump "noted that he believes Microsoft should try to purchase the entire app rather than just its U.S. operations." Trump said, "Who's going to get the name? ... The name is hot, the brand is hot. Who's going to get the name? How do you do that if it's owned by two different companies? My personal opinion was you're probably better off buying the whole thing rather than buying 30% of it." In a separate story, Reuters (8/3, Shepardson, Mason) reports that Trump "said...the U.S. government should get a 'substantial portion' of the sales price of the U.S. operations of TikTok." Trump said, "I did say that if you buy it, whatever the price is that goes to whoever owns it, because I guess it's China essentially ... I said a very substantial portion of that price is going to have to come into the Treasury of the United States because we're making it possible for this deal to happen." The Washington Post (8/3, Stein, Lerman, 14.2M) says it is "unclear how the president would require TikTok to pay a portion of its sale into the U.S. Treasury, beyond the normal collection of tax revenue by the Internal Revenue Service." The Wall Street Journal (8/3, Leary, Subscription Publication, 7.57M) provides similar coverage of Trump's comments. The New York Times (8/3, Swanson, Isaac, 18.61M) reports that "several China hawks in the Trump administration, including the White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, argued against the sale, seeing the moment as an opportunity to take more sweeping action to ban TikTok and other Chinese-run internet services like Tencent's WeChat." Navarro on Monday "doubled down on that approach, suggesting that Microsoft should be required to divest any business it had in China if it were to buy TikTok." Navarro said on CNNVi (8/3, 881K), "The issue with Microsoft is this. Microsoft is one of four or five American technology companies...who helped China originally build their great firewall of China which is used to surveil, track, monitor, sensor and imprison the Chinese people. One of the few surviving search engines in China is Bing, and Microsoft owns that. So you know there's some fishy stuff going on there. Plus, if you're in China doing a Skype call, which is another Microsoft product, the CCP is listening in. ... Maybe Microsoft could divest its Chinese holdings?" Navarro also appeared on Fox News (8/3, 27.59M) and the Axios (8/3, Axios, 521K) RE: CAP podcast Monday. A Washington Post (8/3, 14.2M) editorial says that while "having an experienced U.S. firm control" TikTok "is preferable to shutting it down or accepting the current security risks," Trump "has in essence conducted a shakedown, threatening a shutdown and then providing his blessing to a private business deal once it pleased him." The Post calls this "an affront to free enterprise generally," and "an affront to the American enterprise of preserving an open outlook toward the world - and encouraging other nations to welcome U.S. investors." NYTimes Analysis: Trump Has Intervened In Companies' Affairs More Than His Predecessors. A New York Times (8/3, Swanson, Shear, 18.61M) analysis says Trump "had the right to sign off on a plan to mitigate any risks TikTok posed. But the events followed a pattern that Mr. Trump set early on in his presidency, in which some of the world's most powerful companies have found themselves at his whims." The Times adds, "Unlike his predecessors, Mr. Trump has frequently waded in to berate or praise executives and try to influence their operations." Previous GOP administrations "disapproved of government intervention in the market," but Trump "has had no qualms about taking a heavier hand, favoring industrial policy and a more managed approach to trade." US Demand For Chinese Firm To Sell TikTok's US Operations Sparks Concern In China. The Wall Street Journal (8/3, Lin, Yang, Xiao, Subscription Publication, 7.57M) reports in a separate story that the US demand that Bytedance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, sell the app's US operations or be banned is crystallizing concerns in China that the US is seeking to disrupt its technology and raising concerns about what such a sale could mean for other Chinese companies looking to sell around the world amid souring US-China relations. DHS, Commerce Department Collaborate To Combat Botnets. EFTA00149983 MeriTalk (8/3, Weingarten) reports DHS and Commerce Department "released an update to their ongoing work to address botnets, automated and distributed attacks on the internet, which threaten the nation's internet infrastructure." The president "issued Executive Order (EO) 13800, 'Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure,' in May of 2017." The EO "called for `resilience against botnets and other automated, distributed threats' and directed the Secretaries of Commerce and Homeland Security to lead a process in line with this effort." According to the update, the National Institute of Standards and Technology issued "guidance for Internet of Things (IoT) device manufacturers...which define baseline cybersecurity capabilities that manufacturers can voluntarily adopt for IoT devices." The status update said, "Botnets remain a significant threat. Current malicious applications of botnets remain relevant, and attackers continue to devise novel nefarious applications." US Issues Alert About Malware Used By Chinese Government. Bloomberg (8/3, Sebenius, 4.73M) reports the US government "issued an alert Monday that a type of malware seen frequently by security researchers in the last decade is tied to the Chinese government, the latest in a series of American warnings about China's cyber capabilities this summer." According to the alert, DHS' Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the FBI, and DOD "identified a malware variant used by Chinese government cyber-actors, which is known as Taidoor." The purpose of the alert, "which contained no information about the prevalence of the malware or who has been targeted, is to 'enable network defense and reduce exposure to Chinese government malicious cyber-activity." According to a US Cyber Command official, who requested anonymity as is the agency's policy, "the Chinese government continues to leverage it in ongoing espionage to gain intelligence." CyberScoop (8/3, Vavra) reports it wasn't "immediately clear if Taidoor was being used in any recent or ongoing espionage campaigns from China." But of the four malware samples Cyber Command "shared on VirusTotal, only two are detected by any engines." Even in the cases "where the private sector does have protections related to Taidoor campaigns, the protections aren't widespread - only FireEye and BitDefender protect against some parts of the Taidoor upload." A CISA official "told CyberScoop the announcement was made to enhance defenses against Chinese hacking." The CISA official told CyberScoop, "CISA, FBI, and DOD are publishing this malware analysis report about the Taidoor variant to enable network defense and reduce exposure to Chinese government malicious cyber activity." ZDNet (8/3, Cimpanu, 299K) reports US Cyber Command "said the malware has been around and silently deployed on victim networks for at least 12 years, since 2008." Also providing similar reporting on the story is Fortune (8/3, 3.91M). University of Texas Warns Donors, Contacts Possibly Affected By Ransomware Attack. The Austin (TX) American Statesman (8/3, Choi, Subscription Publication, 343K) reports University of Texas officials "said Monday that the university recently learned of a security breach that affected some of the school's donors and fundraising contacts." According to a post on the university's website, Blackbaud, a company that "provides fundraising software to nonprofits, universities and other organizations, was the target of a ransomware attack in May." University of Texas officials "said some of its donors and contacts were told about the breach on Monday, and informed them that their information could have been accessed because of the cyberattack." University officials said in the memo, "Publicly available information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, emails and birthdays may have been accessed. No credit card information, bank information, or social security numbers were accessed by the cybercriminal or compromised." CISA Chief Wants Younger, More Experienced Hackers In Federal Government. Federal Computer Week (8/3, Johnson, 263K) reports Chris Krebs, Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency "said federal agencies could do much to improve their EFTA00149984 cybersecurity talent pool if they moved away from restrictive General Schedule hiring practices and were more open to bringing on younger candidates." During an August 3 online discussion, former Rep. Jane Harmon (D-CA) "asked Krebs...if CISA had the staffing it needed to 'stay ahead of the 17-year-olds." Krebs "argued that in the digital domain, practical experience quickly outstrips age and even credentials in importance." He said, "You know at this point, particularly in cyber, I'm not sure it matters if you're 45 or 17, which speaks to the ways that we need to evolve our hiring practices." Pentagon Considers Adopting Zero-trust Security Approach. C4ISR & Networks (8/3, Eversden) reports the telework environment "caused by the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated conversations about implementing zero-trust network architectures at the Department of Defense." In recent weeks, several top IT officials "have said on virtual events that their departments are discussing concrete steps to move toward zero- trust architectures and away from using the phrase as just buzzword for cybersecurity." Zero- trust is a "network architecture that inherently distrusts the user and continuously verifies the identity of the user accessing data." Vice Adm. Nancy Norton, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, which manages and secures DOD networks across the globe, said, "The need for zero-trust has been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic." She announced July 15 a" plan to release a zero-trust framework by the end of the year." Conversations about "implementing zero-trust network architectures have been facilitated in part by the hundreds of thousands of DOD employees using the department's remote collaboration platform, known as the Commercial Virtual Remote Environment." CISA Releases Updated TIC 3.0 Network Security Guidance. ExecutiveGov (8/3, Rivers) reports the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has "issued an update to its Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) guidance along with documents containing a security capabilities catalog, a program guidebook and reference architecture." CISA "said Friday the TIC 3.0 core guidance incorporates public input on the draft documents released in December." According to CISA, TIC 3.0 includes "use cases as well as recommendations on pilot program execution, implementation approaches and other strategies for remote work settings." CISA plans to issue "final versions of documents such as the Use Case Handbook, Overlay Handbook, Branch Office Use Case and Traditional TIC Use Case later this summer." Op-Ed: Congress Has A Shot At Correcting Trump's Central Mistake On Cybersecurity. In an op-ed in The Hill (8/3, 2.98M), Charlie Mitchell, co-founder and editor of InsideCybersecurity.com, writes, "Coordination is king in cyber, and yet that's what the Trump White House decided to do without in 2018, when then-National Security Advisor John Bolton abolished a White House cybersecurity coordinator position as a bureaucratic redundancy...it was Bolton's call to eliminate the cyber post after former coordinator Rob Joyce decided he wanted to leave the Trump White House." He notes, "The National Cyber Director provision is in the House version but didn't make the cut in the Senate." He concludes, "With negotiations underway on the final version of the must-pass national defense bill, lawmakers have one more chance this year to position the US for confronting a cybersecurity challenge that grows more dangerous at every turn...Creating a national cyber director is about as close to a consensus recommendation among cyber experts as we're likely to see." NSA Reports On New Cyber Vulnerability In Computers. ExecutiveGov (8/3, Martin) reports NSA has "issued a report on a new cyber vulnerability that threatens certain systems present within DOD and other organizations." NSA "said Thursday the BootHole vulnerability allows cyber actors to get through the Secure Boot security standard that makes devices boot only with software trusted by original manufacturers." Cyber terrorists may EFTA00149985 use "this vulnerability to tamper with a device's boot process." Devices running "on Linux or Windows 8 and above may be affected by this vulnerability." NSA provided "two mitigation options in the `Mitigate the GRUB2 BootHole Vulnerability' report for users of Linux, an operating system that uses the Grand Unified Bootloader 2 or GRUB2 affected by BootHole." The report "advises Linux users to update the boot components of endpoints." LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES FBI Warns Of COVID-19 Tests From Texas Facility. KTSA-AM San Antonio (8/3, 3K) reports from San Antonio, Texas, "The FBI is looking into coronavirus tests recently administered in New Braunfels." The FBI "believes the tests given out at Living Health Holistic Healthcare in the past several weeks shouldn't have been used. The bureau wants to hear from anybody who was tested there either by calling 210-225-6741 or at this link to the FBI's website." The San Antonio Express-News (8/3, 762K) reports, "Officials with the FBI reported Saturday they have reason to suspect the tests performed at Living Health Holistic Healthcare in New Braunfels `should not have been used to diagnose or rule out an active COVID-19 infection?" Gun Background Checks Rose 790/0 In July. The Washington Times (8/3, Sherfinski, 492K) reports gun background checks "surged 79% in July compared to last year amid national unrest, protests and rioting, according to data released Monday by the FBI." The Bureau "ran more than 3.6 million checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) last month — a 79% increase compared to July 2019." According to the Times, the 3.6 million figure is also "the third-highest monthly total ever recorded, behind the 3.9 million checks in June and the 3.7 million checks in March." CNN (8/3, Campbell, 83.16M) reports, "Background checks associated with the sale, transfer or permitting of firearms set an all-time record in June when the FBI conducted more than 3.9 million checks, followed by March 2020 when the agency saw 3.7 million checks. One other enduring pattern in 2020 has been the order of states topping the list, with Illinois, Kentucky, Texas, Florida and California continually seeing the most background checks for the sale, transfer, or licensing of guns." The Hill (8/3, Folley, 2.98M) reports, "The FBI has been performing background checks on potential gun buyers through its National Instant Criminal Background Check System since its launch in 1998. The system carries out the checks, which looks at the buyer's criminal history and other qualifications required for eligibility, when a person attempts to purchase a firearm from a seller with federal firearms licenses. The sales surge comes as the nation continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic as well as ongoing protests against racism and police brutality following the police killings of multiple African Americans." OTHER FBI NEWS Shelby Moving FBI Staff And Resources To Alabama Facility. The Washington Post (8/3, Al, O'Connell, Werner, 14.2M) reports that as Trump's efforts to build a new FBI headquarters in Washington has run up against resistance and has essentially been removed from stimulus measure debate, Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby has continued to move FBI functions to the Redstone Arsenal complex in his home state of Alabama. The Huntsville facility "will welcome 1,500 of the bureau's headquarters staff from the Washington region next year and probably thousands more in coming years." EFTA00149986 Man Charged With Scaling Fence At Boston FBI Headquarters, Damaging Property. The Boston Herald (8/3, 410K) reports, "A man accused of scaling the perimeter fence of the Boston FBI headquarters in Chelsea and repeatedly throwing a rock against a door has been arrested by FBI special agents, authorities said on Monday." Brian Ricardo Dennis, 52, of Everett, Massachusetts, "has been charged by criminal complaint with injuring or depredating government property. Following an initial appearance on Monday, Dennis was detained pending a probable cause and detention scheduled for Wednesday." The Herald adds, "At around 1:20 a.m. on Friday, Dennis scaled the fence at the Boston FBI headquarters, authorities said in a statement. According to video surveillance, Dennis climbed over the perimeter fence, approached a door, banged on the door with his hands, then grabbed a large rock and repeatedly threw the rock against the door - shattering the glass on the door. Dennis then climbed back over the perimeter fence and left the area, police said." The Boston Globe (8/3, Fox, 972K) reports, "He allegedly confessed the acts to local police who found him later with significant injuries to his hand." OTHER WASHINGTON NEWS Deal On Coronavirus Relief Package Remains Elusive As Trump Mulls Direct Action. The AP (8/3, Taylor) reports, "Negotiators on a huge coronavirus relief bill reported slight progress after talks resumed Monday afternoon in the Capitol, with issues like food for the poor and aid to schools struggling to reopen safely assuming a higher profile in the talks. Multiple obstacles remain, including an impasse so far on extending a $600-per-week pandemic jobless benefit, funding for the Postal Service, and aid to renters facing eviction." On NBC Nightly News Vi (8/3, story 5, 0:30, Holt, 6.23M), Geoff Bennett said "the White House [is] still unable to reach a deal on a new coronavirus relief plan to extend eviction protections and the $600 boost in unemployment benefits. ... There's a new urgency to the negotiations, with some 30 million jobless Americans now left in limbo, without that critical assistance." Reuters (8/3, Lawder) reports the three chief negotiators - Chief of Staff Meadows, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, and House Speaker Pelosi - are scheduled to meet again Tuesday. CNBC (8/3, Pramuk, 3.62M) reports on its website that Meadows and Mnuchin met with Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer "for more than two hours at the Capitol," and "following the meeting, Pelosi told reporters the discussions were 'productive," although she added, "we...still have our differences." The Wall Street Journal (8/3, Hughes, Restuccia, Subscription Publication, 7.57M) says both sides expressed cautious optimism, though significant differences remain. Meanwhile, the New York Times (8/3, Al, Haberman, Cochrane, Tankersley, 18.61M) reports under the headline "With Jobless Aid Expired, Trump Sidelines Himself In Stimulus Talks," as his "top advisers met with Democratic leaders to try to hash out a compromise," the President "hurled insults at Democrats and mused aloud about short-circuiting the talks and acting on his own." According to the Times, "while White House officials say that he is interested in the talks and closely monitoring them," the President "has not sought to use the full powers of his office to prod a deal, and more often he has complicated the already sensitive negotiations." The Washington Post (8/3, Al, Werner, Stein, 14.2M) reports that when "asked why he wasn't taking part in the talks, Trump insisted that he was involved but didn't need to be physically on Capitol Hill to participate. 'I'm totally involved, I'm totally involved,' Trump said." On Monday, the New York Post (8/3, Nelson, Bowden, 4.57M) reports, Trump "said he will take executive action to halt evictions if Congress doesn't quickly pass coronavirus relief legislation." Trump told reporters, "A lot of people are going to be evicted. But I'm going to stop it because I'll do it myself if I have to. I have a lot of powers with respect to executive orders. And we're looking at that very seriously right now." Breitbart (8/3, Spiering, 673K) reports EFTA00149987 Trump faulted Pelosi and Democrats, saying, "What the Democrats want, they're slow-rolling it and all they're really interested in is bailout money to bail out radical left governors and radical left mayors." White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News' Outnumbered Overtime (8/3), "Last week, the Republicans put on the table that the White House is willing to go for an additional $600 benefit for one week, because that was expiring July 31. Lo and behold, the Democrats said no, because their eye is not on your rent or mortgage payment this month. Their eye is on November 3 and the elections, and they want this to be cudgel." NexstarVi (8/3, 20K) showed a clip of Conway saying, "For the Democrats now to say, `Oh, the Republicans got in the way,' that's just a flat-out lie." Politico (8/3, Bresnahan, Levine, 4.29M) says White House officials have also "floated for days that Trump could take executive action to address some of the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic," and that "may involve presidential orders to delay the collection of federal payroll taxes or extend a moratorium on student loan payment, among other options." However, al Roll Call (8/3, Sword, 154K) says tax policy experts "doubt that [Trump] has the authority to unilaterally suspend payroll tax collections." USA Today (8/3, Hayes, 10.31M) also says "it is not clear whether Trump has the power to make such a move, and it would likely be challenged legally." The Washington Times (8/3, Swoyer, 492K) reports Senate Majority Leader McConnell "charged Democrats on Capitol Hill are insisting publicly they want to reach an outcome for the fifth round of coronavirus relief but are actually working to ensure a bipartisan agreement isn't reached." McConnell said, "The Speaker of the House and the Democratic [Senate] leader are continuing to say `my way or the highway." The Washington Times (8/3, Munoz, 492K) reports Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Monday "said he plans to introduce an amendment that would cap boosted unemployment benefits at 100% of a worker's previous wages," saying he hopes Democrats will see that as acceptable. However, McClatchy (8/3, Chambers, Lightman, 19K) says conservative GOP senators are also an impediment, "resisting efforts from the White House and Senate Republican leadership to fashion a broad economic stimulus deal." Bloomberg (8/3, Mohsin, Jacobs, Wasson, 4.73M) and The Hill (8/3, Bolton, 2.98M) are among the other outlets covering the talks, while NBC Nightly NewsVi (8/3, story 10, 2:10, Holt, 6.23M) aired a feature on one family struggling to get by even with the $600 weekly aid. Top Executives Urge Congress To Aid Small Businesses. The Washington Post (8/3, Shaban, 14.2M) reports, "The top executives of more than 100 companies - including Starbucks, Microsoft and Mastercard - and trade groups are calling on Congress to backstop small businesses facing economic calamity." In a letter to congressional leaders of both parties, the group led by ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz "calls for federally guaranteed loans to last into 2021; flexibility in how that money is put to use; and at least partial loan forgiveness for the hardest-hit companies. It also said `funds must flow to all small business in need, particularly those run by people of color,' who have historically had less access to capital." The New York Times (8/3, Cowley, 18.61M) reports the Small Business Administration recently and quietly capped aid from its disaster relief program at $150,000, down from the longstanding cap of $2 million. Treasury Aided Kansas Trucking Firm After Senator's Request. The New York limes (8/3, Al, Rappeport, 18.61M) looks at the federal "rescue" of Kansas trucking company YRC Worldwide after Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) asked Mnuchin for assistance. YRC "received a bailout from the Treasury Department - a $700 million loan in exchange for a 30 percent stake in the business." The Times says the bailout "raised questions about whether YRC benefited from a web of connections between the company and the White House that allowed it to bypass the Trump administration's own rules for which companies should be eligible for federal help." Trump Objects To Birx's "Pathetic" Comments After Pelosi Criticized Her. EFTA00149988 President Trump took to Twitter on Monday to write, "So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics. In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!" ABC World News TonightVi (8/3, story 4, 2:10, Scott, 7.2M) reported on "Trump blasting Dr. Deborah Birx, calling her `pathetic' after she warned the pandemic has entered a new phase and the virus is extraordinarily widespread." The CBS Evening NewsVi (8/3, story 5, 1:25, Reid, 4.37M) said the President "lashed out for the first time at his COVID task force coordinator...calling her dire warning about the spread of the virus `pathetic:" NBC Nightly NewsVi (8/3, story 4, 1:30, Bennett, 6.23M), meanwhile, cast Trump as "taking a swipe at...Binc." The President, added NBC, was "apparently targeting Birx in a tweet for her response to criticism from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who questioned her credibility." Pelosi was shown saying, "I think the President is spreading disinformation about the virus, and she is his - she is his appointee, so I don't have confidence there, no." In response, Birx said, "I have never been called pollyannish, or nonscientific, or nondata-driven, and I will stake my 40- year career on those fundamental principals of utilizing data to really implement better programs to save more lives." NBC added that "in that same interview, Birx warned the coronavirus pandemic is extraordinary widespread in the US." CNBC (8/3, Breuninger, 3.62M) also reported Birx "warned...that the US had entered a `new phase' in its battle against the virus." CNBC reports that Trump's tweet "marks a shift in tone toward Binc...who had reportedly stayed in good standing with the president throughout much of the pandemic." The Washington Post (8/3, Al, Parker, Dawsey, Abutaleb, 14.2M) reports, "Trump's criticism of Birx was another reminder that, while he demands absolute loyalty, he rarely repays it in kind," as "Birx finds herself isolated with increasingly few allies even as she remains responsible for overseeing the nation's response to a cataclysmic crisis." Politico (8/3, Cohen, 4.29M) reports that "Trump's public attack on Birx was at odds with recent messaging from his top spokespeople, who fiercely defended Birx days ago following Pelosi's criticism." On Sunday, White House Director of Strategic Communications Alyssa Farah tweeted, "It is deeply irresponsible of Speaker Pelosi to repeatedly try to undermine & create public distrust in Dr Birx, the top public health professional on the coronavirus task force." The Hill (8/3, Samuels, Chalfant, 2.98M) also reports Trump's "tweet was even more jarring given White House officials had just spent the weekend praising Birx and defending her in the wake of Pelosi's sniping." Fox News (8/3, Blitzer, 27.59M) and USA Today (8/3, King, Wu, 10.31M), among other news outlets, also report the story. Trump: US Has Tested More People Than Any Other Country. President Trump said in an interview with Axios on HBOVi (8/3), "We have tested more people than any other country, than all of Europe put together times two. We have tested more people than anybody ever thought of. India has 1.4 billion people. They've done 11 million tests. We've done 55, it'll be close to 60 million tests. And, you know, there are those that say, you can test too much." Asked who says that, Trump said, "Just read the manuals. Read the books. ... What testing does it shows cases. It shows where there may be cases. Other countries test - you know when they test? They test when somebody's sick. I'm not saying they're right or wrong. Nobody's done it like we've done it. We've gotten absolutely no credit for it." Trump, Pence Tout Administration's Coronavirus Response. President Trump said in an interview with Axios on HBOVi (8/3), think we've done an incredible job, between the ventilators and stopping very infected people from China coming in, meaning putting the ban on China, which frankly nobody wanted me to do, practically nobody, because it was very early in January. Then putting the ban on Europe, not an easy thing to do. When you put a ban on Europe, that's a big thing. We would've probably lost hundreds of EFTA00149989 thousands of lives more had I not done that. And all of the experts, every one of them, not one of them wanted to do it. They thought it was too severe. Three months later, they were all saying, 'I'm glad you did it." The President took to Twitter Monday to write, "With the exception of New York & a few other locations, we've done MUCH better than most other Countries in dealing with the China Virus. Many of these countries are now having a major second wave. The Fake News is working overtime to make the USA (& me) look as bad as possible!" Vice President Pence said on Fox News' Ingraham Angle (8/3), "I think the American people have seen this President take decisive action from very early in the coronavirus pandemic. Before there was a single case of community transmission, before the end of January, President Trump suspended all travel from China, stood up the White House coronavirus task force and in the first few weeks of February, we actually began the process of developing a vaccine and you just heard a week ago that we are already at a historic pace in phase three clinical trials of the first coronavirus vaccine for this country, could well be available for this fall. In the midst of all of that, we've taken testing from a standing start to nearly 60 million coronavirus tests performed. PPE is in great abundance even across the areas of the country where we've seen rising cases." Pence: Lives Were Lost In New York Due To "Poor Decisions" By Cuomo. Pence was asked on Fox News' Ingraham Angle (8/3) about criticism by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) of the Administration's handling of the pandemic. Pence said, "Our hearts grieve for the fact that one in five of all the American lives that have been lost in the coronavirus pandemic were lost in the state of New York and some of that was because of poor decisions by the state and by Gov. Cuomo. But look, I liked it better when he said that President Trump's leadership in the pandemic was, in his words, 'phenomenal: He said that repeatedly. ... I couldn't be more proud of the support that we rendered to the people of New York and I think the people of New York know that." White House Implements Random Coronavirus Testing. Chip Reid reported on the CBS Evening NewsVi (8/3, story 7, 0:15, O'Donnell, 4.37M), "Even though the President has downplayed the need for COVID testing nationwide, today the White House announced mandatory random COVID testing for all West Wing staffers. This comes after several White House aides and reporters here have tested positive." The AP (8/3) reports the White House "said the measure was 'part of our ongoing efforts to protect the health and safety' of the White House Complex." Politico (8/3, Orr, 4.29M) says "it was not immediately clear whether there would be consequences for aides who decline to be tested for the virus or fail to show up when summoned to the White House Medical Unit." According to Politico, "inside the White House, testing has become increasingly widespread amid continued outbreaks in states that began reopening earlier this summer." Politico adds that the White House "currently relies on a portable coronavirus test made by Abbott Laboratories, which produces results in five minutes and can be conducted in-house by medical unit employees." The Hill (8/3, Chalfant, 2.98M) also reports. WPost Report: State Officials Say Administration Unprepared To Distribute COVID Vaccine. The Washington Post (8/3, Sun, 14.2M) reports that "with the Trump administration aiming to deliver 300 million doses of vaccine against the coronavirus as early as January, state officials and health experts say they remain in the dark about key details and, therefore, are inadequately prepared for what is expected to be the largest single vaccination campaign ever undertaken." The Post adds, "Getting shots into the arms of millions of Americans is a massive undertaking, they say, requiring extraordinary coordination, planning and communication. But with only six months to the government's target date for approving a vaccine, the EFTA00149990 administration has shared limited and often confusing information about its plans for distribution." Politico (8/3, Roubein, Owermohle, 4.29M) says the Administration does not have "a plan on how to reach racial and ethnic groups that have not only been devastated by the virus but are often skeptical about government outreach in their communities." Fauci Says "Rush" On Vaccine "Does Not Compromise Safety At All." NIAID Director Fauci said on KDFW-7VVI Dallas (8/3, 95K), "This is a rush that does not compromise safety at all, nor scientific integrity. This is a vaccine, and the reason we have done it so quickly is because of the technical and scientific advances that have allowed us to go from the point of identifying this new virus to being able to put it quickly into Phase 1 trials, which is this first thing that you do for safety. Then you go to the next phase, which is Phase 2, and what started last week on July 27 was what we call a Phase 3 trial, which will involve 30,000 individuals, to determine, in fact, if it works as well as to do additional observation of safety." Fauci was also interviewed on KABC-7VVI Los Angeles (8/3, 51K), KSNV-TVVI Las Vegas (8/3, 10K), KTLA-TV Vi Los Angeles (8/3, 57K), and WGN-TVVi Chicago (8/3, 147K). Collins Urges Adherence To Public-Health Recommendations During Vaccine Wait. NIH Director Collins said on KOCO-TVVi Oklahoma City (8/3, 36K), "The Phase 3 trials are geared to accept about 30,000 volunteers for each of the six or seven vaccines that are going to be tested, starting right now, and you want to have that number of people so that you will be able to say for sure whether it worked and whether it was safe. During this time though, and that is going to spread over the next five or six months, probably unt