Outnumbered: West struggles to combat expanding Chinese spy network
Western intelligence agencies are raising alarms about the scale of Chinese espionage, calling it larger than anything they’ve encountered before. From cyberattacks on critical infrastructure to physical espionage, China is increasingly seen as a growing threat to global security.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the FBI recently reported a Chinese state-linked hack of 260,000 internet-connected devices across the U.S. and Europe, while a cxongressional probe highlighted Chinese cargo cranes with embedded technology capable of espionage.
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Experts estimate that China’s intelligence apparatus may involve up to 600,000 people, dwarfing the capabilities of other nations. The FBI estimates China’s hacking personnel currently outnumbers its cyber division staff 50 to 1.
In the U.K., Chinese hackers reportedly accessed voter registration records, exposing sensitive data of millions. Additionally, Western officials are investigating whether Chinese intelligence has infiltrated broadband providers used by U.S. law enforcement for wiretapping, raising serious concerns about national security.
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China denies these allegations, portraying itself as a frequent target of foreign intelligence. However, Western intelligence experts warn that Chinese espionage efforts will likely intensify, especially as China’s economy slows down and Xi Jinping’s government faces increasing pressure to maintain technological and military dominance.
TD Bank to pay $3 billion in money laundering scheme
Multinational company Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank) is on the hook to pay $3 billion in fines after it pleaded guilty in a massive money laundering scheme on Thursday, Oct. 10. Around $1.8 billion will go to the Justice Department, and $1.3 billion will go to the Treasury Department.
Federal officials said more than $670 million was funneled through TD Bank accounts by criminal drug cartels over the past six years.
In one instance, money launderers bribed bank workers with $57,000 worth of gift cards to not report their deposits. Investigators say TD Bank failed to monitor 90% of its transactions, pointing to a huge lack of oversight.
CEO of TD Bank Ray Chun issued an apology and said they will make the necessary changes to ramp up money laundering surveillance efforts.
LA Fitness being sued by US government over alleged discrimination
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday, Oct. 8, that is suing the nation’s largest fitness club chain, LA Fitness. It accuses the company of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The lawsuit filed this week alleges many of LA Fitness’ 700 facilities nationwide broke the law by failing to offer those with disabilities equal access to services and facilities at its clubs.
The DOJ notes that locations in violation had broken elevators and malfunctioning pool lifts. The issues reportedly left some people with mobility issues dangling above pools and some needing to call for help, while others reportedly had to crawl out of the pool on their own.
Court documents reveal that the gym chain charged some members extra for the assistance. When people did complain about problems at clubs, federal authorities assert, “LA Fitness did not fix them for long periods of time.”
The DOJ lawsuit demands that the club make all of its facilities and equipment accessible for those with disabilities, and remedy existing issues.
LA Fitness has yet to respond to the suit, but its website says that the gym does “not discriminate against individuals with disabilities and will take the steps necessary to provide our members with disabilities full and equal enjoyment of our facilities and services, in accordance with applicable laws.”
Operation North Star busts 3,400 violent offenders in 5-month phase
The Justice Department revealed Friday, Sept. 27, that more than 3,400 fugitives have been apprehended as part of a significant enforcement operation known as Operation North Star. Between May 10 and Sept. 13, law enforcement agencies focused their efforts in 10 major metropolitan areas, including Dallas, Phoenix, and St. Louis, targeting violent offenders wanted for serious crimes such as homicide, sexual offenses, robbery and aggravated assault.
Throughout the initiative, authorities confiscated 534 firearms, seized over half a million dollars in cash, and recovered more than 1,000 pounds of illegal drugs, including over half a million fentanyl pills.
During a press conference Friday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland reminded the public of the risks associated with such operations, noting the deaths of several law enforcement officials involved in these efforts to combat crime across America.
“We are reminded of the enormous risks that deputy U.S. marshals and their partners experience every day,” he said. “We could not be more grateful for their sacrifices.”
Since its inception in July 2022, Operation North Star has led to the capture of over 10,000 wanted fugitives across 30 cities, including 1,100 individuals charged with homicide, and the removal of more than 1,400 weapons linked to violent crimes.
The DOJ also unsealed charges against three Iranian nationals during the press conference, accusing them of attempting to interfere in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The hackers, linked to Iran’s government, allegedly carried out a cyber campaign to undermine former President Donald Trump’s reelection bid by stealing private information from the Trump campaign and using it in emails sent to the Biden campaign and U.S. media outlets.
According to U.S. intelligence, there is no evidence that anyone in the Biden campaign responded to these emails. However, Garland underscored the seriousness of the threat at the press conference.
“As we approach the upcoming election, I want to reiterate, the DOJ will not tolerate attempts by Iran or any foreign power to interfere in our elections and undermine our democracy,” Garland said.
Lawmakers call for investigation of Boar’s Head as 10 deaths recorded
After the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday, Sept. 25, reported the 10th death connected to a listeria outbreak linked to recalled Boar’s Head deli meat. Lawmakers are now demanding answers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
A group of House representatives and senators sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday, Sept. 26, calling on the USDA and DOJ to investigate the company and figure out whether or not criminal charges should be filed against Boar’s Head for the worst listeria outbreak in more than a decade.
“The time for action is long overdue, and we urge your agencies to work together to seek immediate justice for impacted customers and to prevent this from happening again,” the letter reads in part.
Boar’s Head said earlier this month that it would halt the sales of liverwurst after an investigation found that its production was the root cause of the listeria contamination, and the company announced it is closing its Virginia plant that produced the contaminated liverwurst.
The plant reportedly not been operational since July when the liverwurst recall took place and eventually expanded to all products made at the facility.
Lawmakers assert that the USDA failed to uphold its authority by allowing Boar’s Head to continue operating the Virginia facility in “horrific conditions,” and they demanded the agency expand inspections to other Boar’s Head plants and test for listeria at all the company’s facilities, adding that the company has a “pattern of noncompliance.”
USDA inspection reports from 2022 described violations at the Virginia plant range from mold, rusty equipment, pools of blood on the floor and “dripping condensation” posing an “imminent threat.” The agency maintains that it advised company management at the plant to take corrective actions to fix the dozens of issues it discovered.
So far, at least 59 people across 19 states have been sickened by the bacterial outbreak, and now 10 have died. However, experts note that the outbreak may be larger due to the fact that some people infected may not be reporting the sickness and recovering on their own.
Antitrust expert on Visa case: ‘It’s not enough to be big, you have to be bad’
The Department of Justice filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Visa Tuesday, Sept. 24. The suit alleges the payments processor took part in anticompetitive practices in the debit card market that hurt merchants and consumers alike.
“Visa deploys a web of unlawful anti-competitive agreements to penalize merchants and banks for using competing payment networks,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday. “At the same time, it coerces would-be market entrants into unlawful agreements not to compete by threatening high fees if they do not cooperate and promising big payoffs if they do.”
The government’s complaint centers around allegations that Visa makes deals with vendors to prevent them from using other processors. The DOJ claims this practice hinders other issuers from scaling up their business. Meanwhile, if a merchant doesn’t adhere to Visa’s “volume commitments” to use it for most of their transactions, they will reportedly incur fees.
“Attaining a monopoly by itself is not illegal under antitrust laws,” said Bill Kovacic, a former FTC commissioner and Global Competition Professor of Law and Policy at George Washington University. “It’s not enough to be big. You have to be bad as well.”
Garland pointed to a situation where Visa had a contract with Square, the operator of Cash App, to stop it from becoming a competitor. The attorney general cited an email where a Visa executive said, “We’ve got Square on a short leash.”
“The essential argument is that you buy off rivals to stay out of the way and that you impose exclusivity arrangements in your own contracts that make it harder for existing rivals to gain broader scale,” Kovacic said. “Those arguments have been arguments that the DOJ has used with considerable success.”
“Today’s lawsuit ignores the reality that Visa is just one of many competitors in a debit space that is growing, with entrants who are thriving,” Visa’s General Counsel Julie Rottenberg said in a statement emailed to Straight Arrow News.
“Visa gets a chance to contest whether or not it is so powerful,” Kovacic said. “But second, to present evidence that saying, ‘Everything we do is good for our users. We give users a better experience. It’s good for the merchants in our network. It’s good for the end users, the consumers. So to the extent that we’ve succeeded, we have only succeeded by doing things that make our merchant partners and our consumers better off.’”
The Justice Department said more than 60% of debit transactions in the U.S. are done on Visa’s network. As a result, the company makes more than $7 billion annually in fees.
“Visa’s unlawful conduct affects not just the price of one thing, but the price of nearly everything,” Garland said as the DOJ claimed those fees are passed on to consumers.
The Justice Department did not offer any remedies for Visa if it were to be ruled against.
“The logical step would be first to prohibit the specific conduct that they’re complaining about, which would be to dissolve contractual provisions that create exclusivity that tends to dampen the competitive significance of rivals,” Kovacic said. “And the second might be to challenge or forbid the payments that are being made to other potential significant market players, to say, ‘The partnerships that you are pointing to are partnerships to suppress rivalry, rather than to increase it. You can’t do that anymore.’”
The lawsuit comes months after Capital One announced a $35 billion acquisition of Discover in February 2024. That deal, which would create the sixth-largest bank by assets, still faces regulatory approval. Capital One and Discover argue joining forces will allow it to better compete with Visa.
DOJ accuses Visa of monopolizing debit card market in new antitrust lawsuit
The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa. In the suit, it accused the company of monopolizing the debit card market through anticompetitive practices. The government claimed these actions have potentially cost consumers and businesses billions of dollars.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that Visa controls over 60% of U.S. debit transactions. He said the alleged monopoly allowed the company to charge $7 billion annually in processing fees.
The DOJ alleged that Visa abused its dominant position for over a decade by forcing businesses to use its network and blocking new alternatives from entering the market.
“We alleged that to maintain this monopoly power, Visa deploys a web of unlawful and anticompetitive agreements to penalize merchants and banks for using competing payment networks,” Garland said. “At the same time, it coerces would-be market entrants into unlawful agreements not to compete by threatening high fees if they do not cooperate and promising big payoffs if they do. The result is a debit market where Visa has unlawfully amassed the power to extract fees that far exceed what it could charge in a competitive market. Merchants and banks pass those costs to consumers.”
The DOJ’s lawsuit reveals a range of alleged anticompetitive practices employed by Visa to maintain its market dominance.
Visa allegedly penalizes merchants and banks that opt for alternative payment processing technologies and imposes volume commitments on merchants, banks and financial institutions that issue debit cards. It also reportedly offers monetary incentives to potential competitors to become partners instead of rivals.
The DOJ argued that Visa’s practices inflated prices across a wide range of goods and services. Additionally, it argued Visa stifled competition through exclusivity agreements.
As a consequence, consumers may face higher prices or reduced quality of goods and services as businesses attempt to offset Visa’s fees.
Feds charge man for allegedly sending threats to kill, torture 6 SCOTUS justices
An Alaskan man has been arrested for allegedly sending violent and threatening messages to six Supreme Court justices. Panos Anastasiou, 76, from Anchorage, is accused of sending more than 465 threatening messages to U.S. Supreme Court justices through the court’s public website from March 2023 to July 2024.
The messages contained violent, racist and homophobic rhetoric, including graphic threats of assassination by torture, hanging and firearms, with an escalation in January 2024.
In court documents, it’s revealed one of the messages said, “I’d like to see [Former President 1 and Supreme Court Justice 1] hanging together from an Oak tree. I’d gladly provide the rope and pull the handle.”
Another message reads, “We should make [Supreme Court Justices 1-6] be AFRAID, very AFRAID to leave their home and fear for their lives everyday.”
The threats also extended to family members of the targeted justices and continued even after FBI intervention, with Anastasiou allegedly daring justices to visit his house.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland emphasized the severity of the threats and their potential impact on the justice system and democracy, saying public officials need to be able to do their jobs without fear.
According to the U.S. Marshals Service, threats against federal judges have more than doubled in recent years. Anastasiou faces 22 counts, including nine for threatening federal judges and 13 for interstate threats. The charges carry up to 155 years in prison.
He pleaded not guilty at his initial court appearance in Alaska’s federal court Wednesday, Sept. 18.
Feds announce crackdown on Russian disinformation campaign in 2024 election
The Biden administration is taking action against Russian disinformation efforts in the 2024 presidential election. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Wednesday, Sept. 4, the filing of criminal charges, the seizure of more than two dozen Moscow-linked internet domains and sanctions on a Russian-run media company.
“The Justice Department’s message is clear,” Garland said. “We have no tolerance for attempts by authoritarian regimes to exploit our democratic system of government.”
Garland expanded on the efforts by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) during a meeting of the Election Threats Task Force, announcing the indictment of a pair of Russia-based employees at a state-run media outlet.
“This morning, we unsealed an indictment in the Southern District of New York of Constantine Kalashnikov and Elena [Afanasyeva], two Russian-based employees at RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet,” Garland said. “They are charged with conspiring to commit money laundering and to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act.”
Garland said the RT’s employees , otherwise known as Russia Today, had a $10 million plan to funnel money into a Tennessee-based company to publish and spread pro-Russian propaganda, with the goal of sowing divisions in the U.S. and pushing anti-Ukrainian narratives.
The U.S. Treasury Department also imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against RT’s editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonovna Simonyan, and others affiliated with the network, including visa restrictions.
Garland also said the DOJ seized 32 internet domains used by the Kremlin and pro-Russian agents in a “covert campaign” to influence the 2024 election.
Federal investigators say that Russian companies have used domains, some impersonating legitimate publications like the Washington Post and Fox News, to secretly spread false information since at least 2022.
The U.S. attorney general said the plots show the lengths Russia is willing to reach in order to sow distrust in U.S. elections but also warned that it is not the only foreign adversary doing so.
“Unfortunately, we know that Russia is not the only foreign power seeking to interfere in our elections,” Garland said. “As the U.S intelligence community noted two weeks ago, we have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle. That includes recently reported activities by Iran to compromise Former President Trump’s campaign.
“Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and RT’s interference in the US elections,” the RT told Reuters.
The media outlet reportedly shuttered operations in the United States after Russia invaded Ukraine.
A Russian lawmaker claimed the accusations by the DOJ were “pure rubbish” and said Russia does not think it matters whether Former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris wins the election on Nov. 5.
“The only winner of the U.S. election is the U.S. private military industrial complex,” State Duma deputy Maria Butina told Reuters.
US charges 6 Hamas leaders with terrorism over Oct. 7 attack
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced terrorism charges against senior leaders of Hamas. And with the kickoff to a new NFL season a day away, betting on the games is expected to break records. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024.
US charges 6 Hamas leaders with terrorism over Oct. 7 attack
The Department of Justice has announced charges against six senior Hamas officials for killing at least 43 Americans since the terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in Israel. Nearly a year later, there are mass protests taking place in the streets of Israel after six more bodies of hostages were recovered.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the federal charges unsealed Tuesday, Sept. 3, won’t be the last efforts by the DOJ to hold Hamas accountable for its heinous crimes.
Justice Department Announces Terrorism Charges Against Senior Leaders of Hamas pic.twitter.com/z8gS2lUGvV
“On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists murdered nearly 1,200 people, including over 40 Americans, and kidnapped hundreds of civilians,” Garland said. “They perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’ operations. These actions will not be our last.”
The recovery of the bodies of Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages in Gaza sparked a massive round of protests in Israel. Thousands of people are calling for more action to be taken to see the release of the remaining hostages.
The charges filed against six Hamas leaders include conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization, conspiracy to murder U.S. Nationals, and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
However, of the six Hamas officials charged, three of them are already dead. The other three have not yet been captured.
Zelenskyy: Ukraine to hold onto Russian territories ‘indefinitely’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kyiv will be holding on to the Russian territories it seized last month indefinitely as its war with Russia stretches on. It’s part of a plan to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
Almost a month ago, Ukrainian troops took over Russia’s Kursk region in an unexpected operation. Ukraine now claims it controls nearly 500 square miles of Russian territory and has taken hundreds of Russian prisoners of war.
In an interview with NBC News, Zelenskyy would not discuss whether Ukraine planned to try to seize more Russian territory.
The interview aired hours before Ukraine’s foreign minister resigned Wednesday, Sept. 4, as a Ukraine parliament deputy warned it would be the “day of resignations,” with more than half of Zelenskyy’s cabinet members expected to be replaced.
Harris to announce economic plans, Trump to hold town hall
There are now less than nine weeks until Election Day and both presidential candidates will be on the road today.
The Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, is set to give a speech in New Hampshire, unveiling plans for new benefits for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Those plans are set to include a tax deduction of up to $50,000 for starting a small business; ten times the $5,000 amount currently granted to small businesses in their first year.
She is also set to announce a goal of 25 million small business applications during her first term if she’s elected president. That would surpass the 19 million new small businesses under the Biden administration.
Meanwhile, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump will be holding a town hall in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
He’ll take questions during the event at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg hosted by Fox News’ Sean Hannity. The town hall will air Wednesday night on the network.
Both vice presidential candidates are also holding events Wednesday. Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is set to be in Pennsylvania and Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance in Arizona.
Federal judge won’t intervene in Trump’s New York criminal case
A federal judge has rejected former President Trump’s request to intervene in his New York criminal case. Trump’s lawyers were hoping to move the case to federal court so they could try to have his conviction overturned in the wake of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling.
The lawsuit brought by six Republican states and led by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey alleges they have documents proving the Biden administration plans to begin canceling loans this week, even though a cancellation plan technically does not exist yet.
Usually, states cannot file to block federal regulation until it’s officially in place, but in this case, the states say they have proof the secretary of education is implementing the plan without one officially being in place.
The lawsuit claims the administration has been planning this move since May. The Education Department has not commented on the pending litigation.
$35 billion expected to be bet on NFL this season
The NFL’s 2024 season kicks off Thursday, Sept. 5, and the American Gaming Association predicts Americans are about to dish out the big bucks betting on games. They say $35 billion will be placed in legal wagers this season.
If the association is right, that would be a roughly 30% increase from the amount bet on the NFL in the 2023 season.
Last season there was nearly $27 billion spent on legally betting on NFL games. Since then, even more states have passed laws to allow for legal betting markets, including North Carolina, Maine, and Vermont.
Betting is now legal in 38 states and Washington D.C.
The American Gaming Association said more bets are placed and more money is wagered on the NFL than any other league.
