EFTA00148727.pdf

From• To. Subject: [EXTERNAL EMAIL] - FBI Public Affairs News Briefing Wednesday, November 25, 2020 Date: Wed, 25 Nov 2020 11:26:43 +0000 Importan c Normal e: Mobile version and searchable archives available at fbi.bulletInIntelligence.com. [FBI News Briefing TO: THE DIRECTOR AND SENIOR STAFF DATE: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020 6:30 AM EST Holiday Message In observance of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, we will not publish on Thursday, November 26, 2020 and Friday. November 27, 2020. Service will resume on Monday. November 30, 2020. We wish our readers a safe and happy holiday. TODAY'S TABLE OF CONTENTS LEADING THE NEWS • Trump Argues GSA Does Not Decide Who Will Be President Even As The White House Begins Transition Process. PROTESTS • Biden Addresses How He Would Respond To Civil Unrest. • Seattle City Council Cuts Police Department Budget Almost 17%. • New Jersey Governor Signs Bills Requiring Police To Wear Body Cameras. • DC Man Pleads Guilty To Illegally Making Firebomb During Floyd Protest. • San Francisco DA Charges Officer With Homicide Over On-Duty Shooting. COUNTER-TERRORISM • Libyan Militant Convicted For Benghazi Attack Seeking New Trial. • WTimes Analysis: Guantanamo To Become Problem Of Next Administration. • Scotland's Highest Court Hearing Posthumous Appeal Of Lockerbie Bombing Conviction. • London Woman Who Joined ISIS Seeks To Return To UK. COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE • White House Grants Biden Access To Intelligence Briefing Following GSA Ascertainment. • Democrats Press Facebook, Twitter About Misinformation Ahead Of Georgia Runoff. • Election Officials, Experts Warn Of Consequences Of Claims Of Widespread Voter Fraud. • Sources Say Trump Plans To Pardon Flynn. • DNI Ratcliffe Urged SEC To Make US Cryptocurrency More Competitive Against China. EFTA00148727 • CIA Incubator Aims To Bring Tech To Public. • Wyden Says Picking Morell For CIA Chief Would Inflame Progressive Base. • With Staff Returning To Office Amid Pandemic, Tensions At NSA High. • Netanyahu Tells Convicted US Spy Israel Is "Waiting" For Him. • Australia's Spy Agency Watchdog Says COVID-19 App Data Was Collected. CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS • Suspect In Whitmer Kidnap Plot Denied Release. • FBI Arrests Man Suspected In Minnesota Killing. • Oklahoma Man Sentenced In Murder-For-Hire Plot. • Ohio Man Sentenced In Family Plot To Kill, Rob Drug Dealers. • Pennsylvania Man Sentenced To 11 Years In Prison In Sex Trafficking Case. • Virginia Woman Pleads Guilty To Pointing Laser At Police Airplane. • New York Man Sentenced To Two Years Probation For Threats Against Congressman. • Continuing Coverage: North Carolina Man Sentenced To More Than Two Years For Violating FHA. • FBI Renews Call For Help In Double Murder Investigation In Ohio. • Alleged Member Of Pill Mill Operation Pleads Not Guilty. • Attorney: Witness Saw Ending Of Altercation Involving DEA Agents, Man Who Died. • Ohio Man Charged With Felony Trafficking, Weapon Possession. • DC Woman Pleads Guilty To Disclosing Identity Of Grand Jury Witness. • Nebraska Man Sentenced To 47 Years In Prison For Sex Trafficking. • Kansas Man Charged With Hate Crime For Alleged Racially Motivated Threat. • FBI, Indiana Police Arrest Two In Serial Bank Robbery Investigation. • Disappearance Of New Jersey Woman In 1996 Remains Unsolved. • Virginia Man Pleads Guilty To Attempted Sex Trafficking Of Minor. • Florida Man Arrested For Allegedly Trying To Entice A Minor For Sex. EMPLOYMENT • FBI Seeks To Hire New Victim Specialists. FINANCIAL CRIME & CORPORATE SCANDALS • Former Cincinnati Council Member Is Sentenced For Corruption. • Agencies Investigating Lender Misconduct In PPP. • DO): Two Texas Men Tried To Sell $317M In Nonexistent N95 Masks To Foreign Government. • Cincinnati Councilman Is A No-Show For Pre-Trial Hearing On Removal. • Former SCANA CEO Reaches Guilty Plea On Fraud Charges. • Owner Of Kentucky Rehab Facility Charged With Medicare Fraud. • Federal Judge Allows California Rapper Facing Fraud Charges To Access Studio, Use Social Media. • Maryland Brothers Charged In Romance Scam. • Purdue Pharma Pleads Guilty To Three Federal Felonies Over Marketing And Distribution Of OxyContin. CYBER DIVISION • Iowa Police Probing Second Simpson College Zoom Bomb. • Canadian Police Officer Says Supervisor Suggested Arresting Huawei CFO On Plane. • FCC Affirms Decision To Designate ZTE As National Security Threat. • Biden's Top Cabinet Picks Expected To Bring Cybersecurity Experience To Administration. • CISA Warns Of Spike In Cyber Scams During Holiday Season. • Survey: Cybersecurity Tops List Of Expected Budget Increases For Banks. LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES EFTA00148728 • Oregon Officials Must Set Up Recovery-Focused System After Drug Possession Decriminalized. • Pro-Gun Rally In Virginia Shut Out After Gun Control Advocates Get Permits First. • Maryland Public Defender Says Court Hearings Becoming "Superspreader" Events. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS • Alleged Cartel Leader Arrested In Connection With Shooting Attack That Left Nine Dead. • UK High Court Rules American In Fatal Car Crash Had Diplomatic Immunity. OTHER FBI NEWS • FBI Warns Of Fake Versions Of Bureau's Website. OTHER WASHINGTON NEWS • Biden Says Fauci Has Been "Very Helpful" During Discussions With His Transition Team. • Federal Government Expects To Ship 6.4M Doses Of Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine To States Around Mid- December. • White House Coronavirus Task Force Calls For "Significant Behavior Change" As Cases Surge. • Health Officials Implore Americans To Stay Home For Thanksgiving. • Growing Number Of Republican Senators Testing Positive For COVID. • Trump Celebrates Another Market Record With Dow Closing Above 30,000. • Biden Presents National Security Team In Delaware Appearance. • GAO Reports US Has Paid Up To $870K Per Acre On Land For Border Wall. • In Texts, US Census Manager Told Counters To Provide Fake Answers For Residents. • US Agrees To Pause Deportation Of Women Alleging Abuse By Gynecologist. • Women Detained For Speaking Spanish Settle CBP Lawsuit. • More Wealthy Americans Seeking A Second Passport. • House, Senate Appropriators Seal Deal On Funding Levels, Avoiding December Shutdown. • Fox News, Parents Of DNC Staffer Settle Lawsuit. • Progressive Democrats Said To Be Critical Of Durbin As Senate Judiciary Ranking Member. INTERNATIONAL NEWS • US, EU Stockpile Coronavirus Vaccines While Russia, China Move To Share State-Backed Vaccines. • England To Use Tests To Reduce Quarantine Time Ahead Of Holiday Travel. • Macron Lays Out Gradual Easing Of Lockdown Measures. • Merkel Proposes Stricter Virus Measures. • Asian Countries See COVID Numbers Rising Amid "Pandemic Fatigue." • Hong Kong's Lam Facing Pandemic, Political Tests In First Policy Address. • Columbian First Lady Tests Positive For Coronavirus. • US Airlines Adding Flights To Mexican, Caribbean Resort Locations. • Bloomberg Analysis: Algerian President's Absence Puts Residents In Limbo Again. • WPost: Poor Nations Need Debt Relief From China To Help Battle COVID-Related Financial Strains. • Multiple New Findings Suggest The 614G Mutation In SARS-CoV-2 Made The Virus More Transmissible Between People. • Pompeo: Administration's Iran Policy Saved American Lives. • Khamenei Says Past Talks With US Were A Failure. • Violence In Daraa Undercuts Assad's Claim Of Control. • US, EU, Others Pledge Billions For Afghanistan. • Pakistan, India Give UN Dossiers On Each Other. • Pompeo Expects More Normalization Announcements Before End Of Administration. • Tice's Mother, Former Ambassador Credit Trump For Efforts To Bring Home US Hostages, Other Foreign Policy Efforts. • Biden Will Feel Pressure To Strengthen Ties With Taiwan. EFTA00148729 • Pope Francis Says "The Poor Uighurs" Are "Persecuted." • Trump's Departure Rekindles European Differences Over Defense Relationships With US. • Guaido Hopes To Keep Bipartisan US Support During Biden Transition. • Russian Ship Threatened US Ship In Sea Of Japan. • Clooney Accuses Orban's "Propaganda Machine" Of Lying About Him. • Police Push To Clear Paris Migrant Camp Sparks Outrage. • Scotland Will Make Period Products Freely Available To All Who Need Them. • Ethiopian Human Rights Commission Says 600 Civilians Were Killed In Massacre In Tigray Region. THE BIG PICTURE • Headlines From Today's Front Pages. WASHINGTON'S SCHEDULE • Today's Events In Washington. LEADING THE NEWS Trump Argues GSA Does Not Decide Who Will Be President Even As The White House Begins Transition Process. President Trump on Tuesday tweeted, "What does GSA being allowed to preliminarily work with the Dems have to do with continuing to pursue our various cases on what will go down as the most corrupt election in American political history? We are moving full speed ahead. Will never concede to fake ballots & 'Dominion." lie added, "Remember, the GSA has been terrific, and Emily Murphy has done a great job, but the GSA does not determine who the next President of the United States will be." Typical of the tone of the coverage, the AP (11/24, Miller) reports Trump "insisted...that he is not giving up his fight to overturn the election results, but across the federal government, preparations were beginning in earnest to support President-elect Joe Biden's incoming administration." Similarly, the Washington Times (11/24, Boyer, 492K) reports that even as Democrats "and some Republicans pointed to the General Services Administration's decision late Monday to cooperate on the transition with Mr. Biden as more proof that the election is over," the President "vowed to never concede' and his legal team pressed ahead with legal challenges of the results in several states." On ABC's Good Morning AmericaVi (11/24, 3.2M), Jonathan Karl said Trump "made it clear even as he was conceding that...Biden is the President-elect, sort of, he certainly didn't concede he lost the race." Karl added, "I don't expect we'll ever see that concession." According to Karl, Trump "is going to leave on January 20th. I expect at some point we will hear a speech from him but...it may well be a speech announcing he intends to run for President again. Most of the people that I spoke to close to him suggest that he will make it clear he is not done." Karl added on ABC World News TonightVi (11/24, story 5, 1:10, Muir, 6.4M), "I'm told the President is spending a lot of time in the private dining room right next to the oval office. He's talking to friends and supporters at all hours of day and into the evening. I'm told he is coming around to the reality that Joe Biden will be the next President. But as one of those who has spoken to the President regularly over these past three weeks put it to me, quote, `This is a man who can't say he is sorry and who can't say he lost, he needs the world to believe it was stolen from him.' So I'm told to expect the lawsuits will continue right until the bitter end, and the President is telling his friends and supporters that he is not going to leave the world of politics no matter what happens. In fact, one person...I spoke to today said that the President told him flatly he intends to run for President again." Aides told the Wall Street Journal (11/24, Ballhaus, Lucey, Subscription Publication, 7.57M) that despite his public promise to continue to fight the election, the President has begun to consider his next steps after leaving office. On CBS This MomingVi (11/24, 2.47M) CBS EFTA00148730 News senior political analyst and '60 minutes' correspondent John Dickerson said, "It just shows that on the way out of the office the President is behaving much as he did in the office." Meanwhile, a New York Times (11/24, Yourish, Buchanan, 18.61M) analysis headlined "Since Election Day, A Lot Of Tweeting And Not Much Else For Trump" says that over the past three weeks, "Trump's most visible presence has been on Twitter. Since Nov. 3, he has posted some 550 tweets - about three-quarters of which attempted to undermine the integrity of the 2020 election results." The Times adds that the President "attacked the legitimacy of the election more than 400 times since Election Day, though his claims of fraud have been widely debunked." A New York Times (11/24, Al, Burns, 18.61M) analysis titled "Trump Stress-Tested The Election System, And The Cracks Showed" says that even as he failed to produce "a questionable outcome or any evidence of fraud," Trump "managed to freeze the passage of power for most of a month." The Times adds that while the US "appears to have avoided a ruinous breakdown of its electoral system," next time, Americans "might not be so lucky." According to the Times, Trump has "exposed deep cracks in the edifice of American democracy and opened the way for future disruption and perhaps disaster." A front-page Washington Post (11/24, Al, Olorunnipa, 14.2M) analysis headlined "Trump's Assault On The Election Could Leave A Lasting Mark On American Democracy" reaches a similar conclusion. As Biden's Tally Exceeds 80M Votes, Trump Campaign's Legal Options Narrow As Nevada And Pennsylvania Certify Election Results. Ben Tracy said on the CBS Evening NewsVI (11/24, story 7, 1:05, Brennan, 3.87M) that the Trump campaign "keeps fighting, despite no real path to victory. The recounts it has demanded in Georgia and Wisconsin are now under way, but even if by some miracle the results in those states are overturned, it is still not enough for...Trump to win the election." USA Today (11/24, Behrmann, 10.31M) reports Biden "surpassed 80 million votes, the most votes a candidate has received in U.S. history," and Trump "broke Obama's 2008 record by surpassing 73 million votes this election." However, USA Today adds Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) "acknowledged Tuesday that...Biden carried Arizona, nearly three weeks after the Associated Press called the state for Biden and nearly two weeks after several other major news outlets did." In addition, the AP (11/24, Ritter) reports that the Nevada Supreme Court unanimously "made...Biden's win in the state official on Tuesday, approving the state's final canvass of the Nov. 3 election." The AP says the ruling, which "drew extra scrutiny amid legal efforts by the state GOP and Trump campaign to prevent sending vote-by-mail ballots to all 1.82 million active registered voters and then to stop the counting of the 1.4 million votes that were cast," sends results to Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) "that will deliver six electoral votes from the western U.S. battleground state to Biden." The Las Vegas Review-Journal (11/24, Newberg, 345K) says that while "a few legal challenges are still pending, the court's formal acceptance of the results...essentially closes the book on the 2020 election." Meanwhile, the AP (11/24, Scolforo) reports Biden "was certified Tuesday as winner of the presidential election in Pennsylvania, culminating three weeks of vote counting and a string of failed legal challenges by...Trump." The AP adds that the results "show Biden and Harris with 3.46 million votes, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence with 3.38 million, and Libertarian Jo Jorgensen with 79,000." Reuters (11/24, Heavey) says the certification "cement(s) Biden's victory in the key political battleground state." The New York Times (11/24, Corasaniti, 18.61M) reports Minnesota "also certified Mr. Biden's victories in those states on Tuesday, and North Carolina certified its vote for...Trump," but "the certification in Pennsylvania, a state Mr. Biden won by more than 80,000 votes, resonated as it officially marked the state as having moved from red to blue, and was yet one more rebuke to the many efforts of the Trump campaign and its Republican allies to overturn the election results in a state Mr. Biden won by more than 80,000 votes." EFTA00148731  Politico (11/24, Montellaro, 4.29M) similarly reports the Pennsylvania certification "finalized the results in a critical battleground that had been a target of Trump's efforts to change or block results showing Biden winning." Politico adds Trump had "invited Michigan state legislative leaders to the White House, as he pushed the prospect of GOP legislators in Biden states appointing their own pro-Trump electors. But that legally dubious plan has quickly faded as states including Georgia, Michigan and now Nevada and Pennsylvania follow their election results and the normal processes laid out in their election laws." However, the Washington Post (11/24, Wagner, Sonmez, 14.2M) reports the President "continued to fight [the] results in court." According to the Washington Times (11/24, Boyer, 492K), "Trump's waning chances of overturning the election [have hinged] primarily on Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes." The Inquirer (PA] (11/24, Lai, Roebuck, 347K) reports that Trump's campaign "continues to press its case, dismissing certification in court filings as just `a procedural step' that could be undone with a favorable ruling before the Dec. 8 cutoff date to name electors. And the campaign touted a partisan state Senate hearing Wednesday in Gettysburg — one before a panel with only GOP members - at which it vowed Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani would present the evidence for allegations he has failed to offer in court." However, the Inquirer adds "more than a dozen lawsuits from Trump and his GOP allies have now dwindled to three." Paula Reid similarly reported on CBS This MorningVi (11/24, 2.47M) that the Trump campaign "has had dozens of legal losses," and Peter Alexander stated on NBC's TodayVi (11/24, 3.03M) that the President's legal challenges have been "repeatedly getting rejected by the courts." Reuters (11/24, Brice, Stempel) reports the Trump campaign is appealing US District Judge Matthew Brann's recent ruling that he had "no authority to take away the right to vote of even a single person, let alone millions of citizens." According to Bloomberg (11/24, Larson, 4.73M), Democrats mocked Trump's campaign over the appeal and "noted the irony of the campaign seeking permission to file a third complaint to fix what it says were a number of errors when the suit itself demands that about 70,000 mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania be invalidated based on minor errors made by otherwise qualified voters." The Hill (11/24, Chalfant, 2.98M) reports that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday "also rejected a request by the Trump campaign to throw out ballots in the state that contained small technical errors." In addition, Bloomberg (11/24, Stohr, 4.73M) reports the US Supreme Court "granted a Democratic request for five extra days to respond to one of two lingering Republican appeals challenging a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that extended the deadline for mail ballots to be received." According to Bloomberg, "The cases, which involve about 10,000 ballots that arrived after Election Day, have lost much, if not all, of their practical significance in light of Joe Biden's victory in the state by more than 80,000 votes." Meanwhile, the New York Times (11/24, Fausset, 18.61M) says that the second Georgia recount "requested by the Trump campaign will begin Tuesday and run through Dec. 2, a top state elections official said. That gives the president a third opportunity to hope for an outcome in the Southern state that is favorable to him, though a change in the results is extremely unlikely." The AP (11/24, Bauer) also says Republicans "filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to block certification of the presidential election results even as a recount...is ongoing." According to the AP, the lawsuit "echoes many of the same arguments Trump is making in trying, unsuccessfully, to have tens of thousands of ballots discounted during the recount," and it "seeks to give the power to name presidential electors to the Republican- controlled Legislature." Trump Criticizes Fox News Over Insufficient Support. The Hill (11/24, 2.98M) reports the President on Tuesday "retweeted a video in which actor Randy Quaid recites one of the president's tweets criticizing Fox News, and says that `Fox is dead to me." The Hill adds Trump "also responded to multiple tweets from Quaid on Tuesday, which took aim at the EFTA00148732 election, Republicans and 'Big Pharma.'" The AP (11/24, Bauder) reports that since the election, Trump "has been actively encouraging his followers to abandon Fox and hasn't actually conceded." In an analysis, the Washington Post (11/24, Bump, 14.2M) says "the slow melting of Trump's glacial insistence that he didn't lose" has left pundits "who largely hew to the Trump line are left to figure out the path forward without guidance from the president. Some remain insistent that he'll somehow triumph. Others — including, surprisingly, Fox News's Laura Ingraham - are resigned to...Biden's inauguration." The Washington Post (11/24, Elfrink, 14.2M) reports Ingraham on Monday "urged viewers to prepare for Biden to become president." In his Politico Magazine (11/24, 4.24M) column, senior media writer Jack Shafer says that while Trump has "encouraged the Fox hatred" in recent weeks, "predictions of Fox's diminution - however stirring they might be to liberals - must clear several obstacles before they can be taken seriously." He adds, "The mismatch between the Newsmax and OANN pair and Fox cannot be exaggerated. As data published in the Financial Times shows, the contest isn't really two Davids and one Goliath as much as it is between two dust motes and the burning sun. Fox is expected to reap $2.9 billion in revenue this year compared with Newsmax's teensy $26 million and OANN's only slightly less pitiful $48 million." Meanwhile, the New York Times (11/24, Wakabayashi, 18.61M) reports YouTube "suspended One America News Network, one of the right-wing channels aggressively pushing false claims about widespread election fraud, for violating its policies on misinformation," but "the misinformation that got OAN in trouble on Tuesday had nothing to do with the election." According to the Times, "YouTube removed a video that violated its policies against content claiming that there is a guaranteed cure for Covid-19." Sidney Powell To Sue Georgia, Other States Over Use Of Dominion Voting Machines. The Washington Times (11/24, Boyer, 492K) reports former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell on Tuesday "said she will file a lawsuit on Wednesday alleging widespread election fraud in Georgia's voting machines and 'foreign intrusion' in the U.S. election." Powell told Fox Business host Lou Dobbs that she "plans to file similar lawsuits in other states." Rep. Pascrell Seeking To Get Giuliani, Other Trump Lawyers Disbarred. The Washington Post (11/24, Bellware, 14.2M) reports the President's personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani has spent the last three weeks engaged in "a prodigiously unsuccessful legal fight on behalf of...Trump's campaign to overturn the election results," and Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ) is "pushing for lawyers such as Giuliani, who have enabled the president, to face swift and severe professional sanctions." According to the Post, Pascrell "filed complaints on Friday in five states against Giuliani and 22 other lawyers working with the Trump campaign, calling for them to be stripped of their law licenses for filing 'frivolous' lawsuits and allegedly engaging in 'conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation." Facebook Employees Discuss Company's Pre-Election Changes. Under the headline "Facebook Struggles To Balance Civility And Growth," the New York Times (11/24, Roose, Isaac, Frenkel, 18.61M) reports on how Facebook acted ahead of the election to reduce misinformation, according to interviews with employees at the company. Foreign Observers Concerned By US Election Dispute. Under the headline "Foreign Observers Shocked By Chaos Over U.S. Election," the Washington Post (11/23, Morello, 14.2M) says that as Trump "used a string of maneuvers to attack the election he lost as fraudulent and illegitimate, many observers are perplexed as they watch the country they have known and admired floundering in a constitutional crisis and growing mistrust of democratic institutions. For many, it is a struggle to maintain confidence that America's principles and ideals will prevail." PROTESTS Biden Addresses How He Would Respond To Civil Unrest. EFTA00148733 NBC Nightly NewsVI (11/24, story 5, 1:15, Holt, 5.9M) reported, "2020 is not only the year of COVID, it's the year of Breonna Taylor, of George Floyd." When asked how a Biden Administration would approach situations like this, Joe Biden said, "Not hype it up - look at the facts, make sure that it is determined what happened. Have the agency, the police agency, have to be investigated." He added, "The only people that dislike bad cops more than the community are cops. The vast majority of them are straight, honest, and responsible. And the last thing they need is bad cops, cops who act out. And so, there has to be accountability. And we're going to be working with police chiefs, with the community, with civil rights organizations, and convening conferences in the White House - in the White House - to determine how we move forward. It's about bringing people together." Seattle City Council Cuts Police Department Budget Almost 17%. The Hill (11/24, Jenkins, 2.98M) reports, "Seattle's City Council has moved forward with a nearly 17 percent cut to the city's police department budget following this year's protests against police brutality and racial injustice." The city council "voted Monday to adopt a 2021 spending plan that calls for $340 million for the Seattle Police Department, down from the $409 million budgeted for the agency this year, NBC News reported." Under the budget, "vacancies within the department will remain unfilled, officers will see a reduction in overtime and the police department will no longer control 911 dispatching or parking enforcement." Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) "lauded the proposals, saying in a statement, 'I believe we are laying the groundwork to make systemic and lasting changes to policing." New Jersey Governor Signs Bills Requiring Police To Wear Body Cameras. The Hill (11/24, Polus, 2.98M) reports New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) "on Tuesday signed into law legislation requiring law enforcement officials to wear body cameras while on the clock." The two bills, "S1163 and A4312, will require all uniformed state, county and municipal patrol law enforcement officers to wear body cameras and keep them turned on while responding to a call for service or when initiating an investigative encounter." Murphy said, "We've made it clear that New Jersey will be second-to-none in enacting vital reforms to promote transparency and boost public confidence in law enforcement. ... Body worn cameras are a wise all-around investment in public safety that not only redouble our commitment to transparency and accountability, but also ensure that members of law enforcement are equipped with an important tool to help them carry out their sworn duties." DC Man Pleads Guilty To Illegally Making Firebomb During Floyd Protest. The Washington Post (11/24, Hsu, 14.2M) reports Washington, DC man Jerritt Pace "pleaded guilty Tuesday to filling a plastic laundry detergent bottle with gasoline and lighting it with a makeshift paper wick outside a police station during protests over George Floyd's killing." Pace "was arrested shortly after the makeshift incendiary device was lit and dropped about 6 a.m. May 29 on the sidewalk outside the 4th District police station at 6001 Georgia Ave. NW." Prosecutors "initially accused Pace of trying to burn down the station and charged him with attempted arson and receiving and threatening the use of an explosive through interstate commerce," but Pace "pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of illegally making a firearm." San Francisco DA Charges Officer With Homicide Over On-Duty Shooting. The Washington Post (11/24, Villegas Vargas, 14.2M) reports former San Francisco Police Department officer Christopher Samayoa "was charged with manslaughter" by San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin on Monday, "three years after he fatally shot Kita O'Neil during an alleged carjacking incident." Boudin "announced that his office had filed homicide charges against...Samayoa, a decision that appears to be the city's first homicide prosecution against a law enforcement officer who has killed someone while on duty." Boudin, "a liberal former public EFTA00148734 defender, was elected last year on a platform of criminal justice reform and promised a tougher stance on law enforcement accountability." COUNTER-TERRORISM Libyan Militant Convicted For Benghazi Attack Seeking New Trial. The AP (11/24, Tucker) reports lawyers for Ahmed Abu Khattala, a "Libyan militant convicted in the Benghazi attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans," have requested a new trial, citing what they claim is "recently disclosed exculpatory evidence." The motion, filed in federal court in Washington, "does not detail the newly disclosed evidence but says it concerns a key government witness who testified under the pseudonym Ali Majrisi at Khattala's 2017 trial." The motion "also says there is additional information that emerged during the trial of an alleged co-conspirator that has not yet been provided to the defense." WTimes Analysis: Guantanamo To Become Problem Of Next Administration. The Washington Times (11/24, Glenn, 492K) reports that the US Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is "presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden's problem," after the Obama and Trump Administrations broke their vows to close it down and "load it" with criminals, respectively. According to the Times, "The prison's very existence is a PR problem for the US around the world, and the legal stalemate over many of the remaining detainees shows no signs of easing." However, "the inability of both Democratic and Republican presidents to solve the Guantanamo riddle reflects just how bad the alternatives are." Guantanamo "represents an expensive headache as well: The cost of keeping Guantanamo open has been estimated at $13 million per prisoner per year." Scotland's Highest Court Hearing Posthumous Appeal Of Lockerbie Bombing Conviction. The New York Times (11/24, Kwai, 18.61M) reports Scotland's highest court on Tuesday began hearing a posthumous appeal for Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, "a Libyan man convicted in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jetliner that killed 270 people over the town of Lockerbie, the deadliest terrorist attack in Britain." The is being pursued by the family of al-Megrahi, "the only person found guilty in the midair blast," who "insisted on his innocence until his death in 2012." The AP (11/24) reports that the family's barrister, Claire Mitchell, "said prosecutors failed to prove al-Megrahi was responsible for placing a suitcase containing the bomb, along with items of clothing, on the plane." She said the evidence provided by a shopkeeper was "so muddled that no evidence could be ... relied upon to bear the weight of any conviction." She added, "no reasonable jury, properly directed, could have returned the verdict that it did, namely the conviction of Mr. Megrahi." Reuters (11/24, Shirbon) reports that the family's lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said, "Overturning of the verdict for the Megrahi family, and many of the families of British victims also supporting the appeal, would vindicate their belief that the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom stand accused of having lived a monumental lie for 31 years." The Times OM (11/25, Mulholland, Subscription Publication, 50K) also reports. London Woman Who Joined ISIS Seeks To Return To UK. The New York Times (11/24, 18.61M) reports attorneys for Shamima Begum, "a London schoolgirl who traveled to Syria in 2015 to join the Islamic State, on Tuesday called on Britain's Supreme Court to allow her to return to her home country to mount her defense, saying the court should not assume she posed a serious threat." Begum "is seeking to return to Britain to challenge a decision last year by the government of Theresa May, the prime minister at the time, to revoke her citizenship on the grounds that she posed a threat to national security." EFTA00148735 David Pannick, one of her attorneys "argued on the final day of a two-day hearing at Britain's highest court that it had been difficult for Ms. Begum to communicate with her lawyers from the camp in Syria where she is being detained, and that she could only properly mount her defense in Britain." COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE White House Grants Biden Access To Intelligence Briefing Following GSA Ascertainment. Reuters (11/24, Holland) reports an Administration official on Tuesday revealed the White House will give Joe Biden "the president's daily classified intelligence brief," which "means Biden will have access to the latest intelligence reports about major national security threats around the globe." An official at ODNI said, "Following the statutory direction of the Presidential Transition Act, ODNI will provide requested support to the transition team," adding, "This afternoon the White House approved ODNI to move forward with providing the PDB (president's daily brief) as part of the support to the transition." Bloomberg (11/24, Korte, 4.73M) says access "to the top-secret briefing is the most high- profile part of the transition and seen as key to the orderly transfer of presidential responsibilities to a new leader," adding that an intelligence official "said the Biden team would meet with current intelligence officials Monday to review further details of the transition." Politico (11/24, Choi, Lippman, Cook, 4.29M) reports Biden "confirmed to reporters later Tuesday afternoon that he'd been offered the briefings but said he hadn't seen one yet." Politico adds Biden "told NBC News' Lester Holt, in an interview that aired Tuesday evening, that he might get his first briefing on Wednesday." Fox News (11/24, Singman, 27.59M) reports that Biden said of the PDB, "They've been very forthcoming, offering all access and so we're going to be starting those on a regular basis." CBS News (11/24, 3.68M) reports that an ODNI official told them "that Mr. Biden's review team will be on site on Monday to meet with staff. Transition support from the agency could include providing an overview of the agency and related operations, and the delivery of intelligence briefings." CNN (11/24, Collins, Cohen, 83.16M) reports that an ODNI official "attributed the change directly to the White House's move to formally grant Biden access to the PDB. CNN previously reported the decision was Trump's and the access to the PDB could have been granted before the GSA administrator made the transition official Monday." The Washington Examiner (11/24, Dunleavy, 448K) reports that as "a major-party candidate, Biden had been receiving periodic intelligence briefings, but he had not yet been given access to the PDB, a daily summary of the intelligence community's high-level analysis on national security threats that has existed since 1946, which raised some national security concerns." The New York Post (11/24, Nelson, 4.57M) also reports that Biden will received the PDBs, as does Newsweek (11/24, Czachor, 1.53M) and CNBC (11/24, Wilkie, 3.62M), among others. FBI Can Now Begin Background Investigations. CBS News (11/24, Watson, 3.68M) reports that the FBI "says it can also now begin background investigations of potential appointees, upon receiving written requests from the office of the president-elect. The FBI works to thoroughly investigate candidates as swiftly as possible. The results of the background check are given to the requesting agency." Biden: Outreach From Trump Administration Has Been "Sincere." More broadly, The Hill (11/24, Axelrod, 2.98M) reports Biden told NBC News on Tuesday that since the General Services Administration granted ascertainment on Monday, the Trump Administration's "outreach has been sincere." Reuters (11/24, Hunnicutt) reports Biden told reporters, "I'm pleased to have received the ascertainment from GSA to carry out a smooth and peaceful transition of power so our teams can prepare to meet the challenges at hand: to control the pandemic, to build back better, and EFTA00148736 to protect the safety and security of the American people." In addition, The Hill (11/24, Samuels, 2.98M) reports Biden "said he would be open to meeting with President Trump as part of the transition, even as Trump has refused to publicly accept the results of the election." Biden told reporters, "Of course I would, if he asked." On ABC's Good Morning AmericaVI (11/24, 3.2M), Rachel Scott reported White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows "issued a memo overnight saying they will comply with all actions needed, but warning not to speak to the Biden team without authorization." The Hill (11/24, Wilson, 2.98M) also reports that Biden's transition teams "scheduled about 20 meetings with the heads of federal agencies and departments," according to a Biden transition official. The Washington Post (11/24, Al, Viser, 14.2M) reports on its front page that Biden aides began "to meet with agency officials in preparation for a head-snapping Trump-to-Biden shift throughout the vast federal bureaucracy" as "uncertainty remains over how much cooperation the Biden team will get from Trump's political appointees - some of whom are embracing the false notion that the president could somehow still win reelection - as Biden hopes to rebuild a demoralized federal workforce and prepare it to implement his drastically different agenda." On the CBS Evening NewsVi (11/24, story 5, 2:10, Brennan, 3.87M), Nikole Killion said that over the past day, Biden's team has already been "in touch with all federal agencies and Dr. Anthony Fauci." Biden: "We're already working out meeting with the COVID team in the White House and how to not only distribute but get from a vaccine being distributed to a person able to get vaccinated." On NBC Nightly NewsVi (11/24, story 6, 1:00, Holt, 5.9M), Kristen Welker asserted, "I thought it was notable that [Biden said that] despite the delay in communicating with the Trump Administration, he feels confident he will be able to tackle the crisis. He's going to have to show that on day one. And then his next big challenge, trying to unify this country." Meanwhile, Reuters (11/24, Pamuk, Zargham) reports Secretary of State Pompeo in a Fox News interview on Tuesday "indicated that the State Department has begun the transition process." Pompeo said the Administration "will do everything that's required by law. We'll make this work." Politico (11/24, Feldscher, 4.29M) reports a Pentagon spokesperson on Tuesday confirmed Kash Patel, "a White House loyalist who was installed at the Pentagon two weeks ago amid a purge of senior civilian officials, has been put in charge of the Defense Department's transition to the next administration." Democrats Press Facebook, Twitter About Misinformation Ahead Of Georgia Runoff. The Hill (11/24, Klar, 2.98M) reports, "Democratic senators on Tuesday pressed Facebook and Twitter" over their responses to "misinformation ahead of the Georgia Senate runoff." Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) requested "detailed information as to how the tech giants plan to fight misinformation, especially in Spanish, on their platforms." The letter was also signed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Gary Peters (D- MI). Facebook plans to extend the ad ban - which has "been criticized by Georgia Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Wamock's (D) campaign." Facebook "also highlighted the company's decision to build a Spanish version of its voting information center as well as the decision to add two new U.S. fact-checking partners who review content in Spanish on Facebook and instagram." Election Officials, Experts Warn Of Consequences Of Claims Of Widespread Voter Fraud. USA Today (11/24, Vasilogambros, 10.31M) reports, "The disinformation scenario that local election officials feared months ago has come true," as President Trump's "false claims of voter fraud have been picked up by many state and local Republican officials across the country, and polls now show that more than two-thirds of GOP voters believe the 2020 election was neither free nor fair." Those allegations "threaten the integrity of American democracy, many election officials and experts warn." Myrna Perez, "director of the Voting Rights and Elections Program at EFTA00148737 the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University Law School," said, "there are...groups that are just going to get disgusted. There's a potential for chilling the uninformed but eligible voter." Loyola Law School Associate Dean for Research Justin Levitt said, "We have to have the possibility of losing a fair election for our democracy to work." Sources Say Trump Plans To Pardon Flynn. Axios (11/24, Swan, Basu, 521K) reports that two anonymous sources are claiming President Trump "has told confidants he plans to pardon his former national security adviser Michael Flynn," who "pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts." Reuters (11/24) reports that Flynn has "since sought to withdraw the plea, arguing that prosecutors violated his rights and duped him into a plea agreement." The New York Times (11/24, Haberman, Crowley, 18.61M) reports that the President "has told aides that he plans to pardon" Flynn "and that it is one of a string of pardons he plans to issue before leaving office, a person familiar with the discussions said on Tuesday." The Hill (11/24, 2.98M) reports that a "prosecutor tapped by Attorney General William Barr to review the charges against Flynn has recommended that they be dropped, but an appeals court sided with U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan's decision to not drop the charges and order an outside legal expert to evaluate the case. That appeals court also rejected Flynn's request for Sullivan to recuse himself from the case over charges that he had acted improperly as well." DNI Ratcliffe Urged SEC To Make US Cryptocurrency More Competitive Against China. The Washington Examiner (11/24, Dunleavy, 448K) reports that the IC "is raising concerns about the Chinese Communist Party's influence over digital currencies with" the SEC. DNI Ratcliffe "wrote a letter to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton earlier this month, pointing to concerns the U.S. has about China's sway over digital currency, as more than half the world's cryptocurrency 'mining' operations are located in that country, and how the Chinese government is mulling its own state-controlled digital currency that would make it tough for U.S.-based companies and innovations to compete." He "offered to have the senior economic intelligence officials brief Clayton on the matter." Ratcliffe's letter "signals a push by President Trump's spy chief to convince the SEC to implement rules that make it easier for U.S.-owned cryptocurrency companies to compete against those based in and controlled by China." CIA Incubator Aims To Bring Tech To Public. Washingtonian Magazine (DC) (11/24, Beaujon, 278K) reports that the CIA "wants to bring more of its inventions to the public" through its incubator, CIA Labs, which was launched in September. The incubator was "designed to cultivate tech projects - and make the CIA a little less insular." It was "cooked up by Dawn Meyerriecks, the Agency's deputy director for science and technology." Meyerriecks previously worked at AOL and DOD, and "has a deep appreciation for how innovation and technology are increasingly bringing the public and private sectors together." She said, "We do everything from mascara to space. ... When we are asked to look at a national-security challenge, I can bring in, no kidding, experts from any discipline." Wyden Says Picking Morell For CIA Chief Would Inflame Progressive Base. The Daily Beast (11/24, Banco, Trudo, Ackerman, Stein, 1.39M) reports that as President-elect Joe Biden considers former acting CIA Director Mike Morell to run the agency, many consider him to, "potentially, be the hardest to confirm." Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) said, "No torture apologist can be confirmed as CIA director. ... It's a non-starter." The Daily Beast reports Morell's selection "would risk inflaming the Democratic Party's progressive wing." Morell "played a significant role in the hunt for Osama bin Laden - and was George W. Bush's intelligence briefer on 9/11" - and "was an aggressive defender of the agency's use of torture and drone strikes." The selection would, however, "likely placate a large chunk of the national security EFTA00148738 establishment, which views his expertise as an asset and believes he would seamlessly step into the lead role at the agency." With Staff Returning To Office Amid Pandemic, Tensions At NSA High. Yahoo! News (11/24, McLaughlin, 12.82M) reports that NSA employees "When we are asked to look at a national-security challenge, I can bring in, no kidding, experts from any discipline." Tensions in the agency "bubbled over last week, leading to an all-hands meeting at the agency on Wednesday to address complaints, according to four sources familiar with the matter." An unnamed former intelligence officer said, "This has been percolating for a while. ... The general sentiment is that NSA has been mishandling things." While many parts of the federal government "have allowed their employees to work from home indefinitely, those agencies working on classified issues have less flexibility, and the NSA deals with some of the most highly classified programs in government." An NSA spokesperson said, "ODNI is monitoring the current uptick in COVID-19 positive rates in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area and throughout the country. ... We have continued to adjust staff contact levels as previously noted — through staggered shifts, flexible schedules and social distancing practices." Netanyahu Tells Convicted US Spy Israel Is "Waiting" For Him. The AP (11/24) reports, "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday" told former US Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard: "We're waiting for you." The former analyst was "convicted of spying for Israel in the 1980s." DOJ "announced last Friday that Pollard had completed his parole, clearing the way for him to move to Israel 35 years after he was arrested." Netanyahu said, "You should have now a comfortable life where you can pursue, both of you can pursue your interests." The Prime Minister added, "Your nightmare is over and you can come home to Israel." Australia's Spy Agency Watchdog Says COVID-19 App Data Was Collected. TechCrunch (11/24, Whittaker, 605K) reports Australian intelligence agencies have been "caught" collecting data from the country's COVIDSafe contact tracing app, according to a report published by the government's inspector general for the intelligence community. The agencies claim that the information was collected "in the course of the lawful collection of other data." The watchdog, meanwhile, "said that there was 'no evidence' that any agency 'decrypted, accessed or used any COVID app data." The inspector general "did not say when the incidental collection stopped, but noted that the agencies were 'taking active steps to ensure compliance' with the law, and that the data would be 'deleted as soon as practicable,' without setting a firm date." However, some had feared "that a government spy agency could access COVID-19 contact-tracing data was the worst possible outcome." CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS Suspect In Whitmer Kidnap Plot Denied Release. MLive (MI) (11/24, Agar, 925K) reports from Grand Rapids, Michigan, "A federal judge upheld the detention of a man accused in an alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer." Kaleb Franks, 26, "and four others last month were ordered held pending trial by U.S. Magistrate Judge Sally Berens. The judge had listened to testimony of an FBI special agent and reviewed video and secret recordings in determining that the defendants posed a danger to the community if released." Franks "was the only one to ask that the detention order be revoked. Franks contended that he did not pose a danger to the community." He "owns his own home" and "has worked in substance-abuse rehabilitation after ki