Things to Keep an Eye On
Things to Keep an Eye On
Ben Sasse, Pegasus charges, no aircraft carriers in the Pacific, Israeli foreign minister proposes war crime, DOJ charges
Ben Sasse’s grift
Former Senator Sasse is one of the most infuriating figures in public life, he wrote a book called the Vanishing American Adult, but to a cosseted “face” figure like he is, everything has been rolled out for him, to grift his way through public life before being given a golden parachute as he resigns in ignominy from the presidency of the University of Florida. He hired a bunch of his friends, gave a contract to McKinsey, and then gave himself millions of dollars:
After defending his office’s vast spending as University of Florida president, Ben Sasse stands to receive more than $1 million per year through at least 2028, according to a contract addendum released Monday.
The former U.S. senator from Nebraska had more than tripled his office’s expenditures, which went from $5.6 million to $17.3 million, according to a report by the Independent Alligator student newspaper.
I guess this is called “adulting.”
Google claims Russian hackers’ Exploits very similar to NSO and Intellexa
This might suggest another example of Russan-Israeli alignment when it comes to the tech economy:
Today, we’re sharing that Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) observed multiple in-the-wild exploit campaigns, between November 2023 and July 2024, delivered from a watering hole attack on Mongolian government websites. The campaigns first delivered an iOS WebKit exploit affecting iOS versions older than 16.6.1 and then later, a Chrome exploit chain against Android users running versions from m121 to m123. These campaigns delivered n-day exploits for which patches were available, but would still be effective against unpatched devices. We assess with moderate confidence the campaigns are linked to the Russian government-backed actor APT29. In each iteration of the watering hole campaigns, the attackers used exploits that were identical or strikingly similar to exploits previously used by commercial surveillance vendors (CSVs) Intellexa and NSO Group.
The Pegasus contract in Poland has also, as of this week, led to criminal charges for their Deputy Justice Minister.
The Anzu letter
The House China Committee sent a letter last week, which was put out this week, to the leadership of Austin-based drone company Anzu, which if you look at the whole thing, is clearly just being used as a pass-through by DJI. It’s a Chinese front.
Brazil bans Twitter
The ban kicked in yesterday over Elon Musk’s unwillingness to enter into legal proceedings in the country. Given his ties to Russian, Chinese and Israeli interests, keeping the Musk empire from exercising a large public information role in the second largest democracy in the Western Hemisphere, is probably a good thing:
The blocking of social media platform X in Brazil divided users and politicians over the legitimacy of the ban, and many Brazilians on Sunday had difficulty and doubts over navigating other social media in its absence.
The shutdown of Elon Musk’s platform started early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through mobile apps after the billionaire refused to name a legal representative to the country, missing a deadline imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The blockade marks an escalation in a monthslong feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation.
There are no aircraft carriers in the Pacific
Whatever you might say about Americans’ growing skepticism toward serving Israeli foreign policy goals in the Middle East, with one third of the Navy deployed to protect them, they can’t very well say the U.S. is anti-Israel. There are trade-offs to that, though, via Naval News:
The U.S. Navy is facing a shortfall of deployed carriers in the Pacific as the buildup in the Middle East continues. The lack of carriers has left a critical gap in the West Pacific.
The departure of USS Abraham Lincoln coincides with the change in homeport of USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) from Yokosuka, Japan to Bremerton, Washington. The Ronald Reagan‘s replacement, the USS George Washington (CVN 73) still in San Diego on a scheduled port visit.
The U.S. Navy’s other Pacific-based carriers are in port or in their maintenance availability period. Out of six carriers in the Pacific, the USS Carl Vinson recently participated in RIMPAC 2024, the USS Nimitz recently completed a six month planned incremental availability period for maintenance, the USS Ronald Reagan recently completed a homeport shift to Naval Base Kitsap, and the USS George Washington will remain in San Diego until the crew and equipment swap from USS Ronald Reagan is complete.
Mort Klein sued for financial misconduct
ZOA was by far the pro-Israel group closest to Trump, it’s where family consigliere Arthur Schwartz came from. Two of its board members are suing longtime leader Mort Klein:
A legal storm has engulfed the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), after two of its board members have taken the unprecedented step of suing its long-serving president, Morton Klein. The lawsuit, filed by Brian Grodman and Paul Tartell, alleges that Klein has engaged in financial misconduct, amassing millions of dollars from the organization inappropriately while mismanaging ZOA's response to the October 7th Hamas attacks. The plaintiffs argue that Klein has effectively sidelined the organization, diminishing its role in the Jewish community’s response to the crisis.
Hawaiian William and Mary alum earns triple tab
This is very cool:
Corcoran earned the Jungle tab in late 2022 by completing the Jungle Operations Training Course, which is run by the 25th Infantry Division’s Lighting Academy in Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, where Corcoran is assigned. Soldiers who complete the course can wear the Jungle tab, though only while assigned to Army units in the Pacific. The Army did not clarify if any other women have earned all three tabs.
Corcoran joined the Army in May 2021 after graduating from William & Mary college in Williamsburg, Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Getting through as many Army training courses as possible, she said, was always a goal.
Optica CEO and head foundation officer depart
This is pretty interesting, given the way the Chinese have taken over a lot of the market for lenses and cameras:
The leader of Washington-based scientific society Optica and the head of its foundation have left the group amid investigations into its decades-long alliance with sanctioned Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co.
Optica Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Rogan and Chad Stark, who ran the group’s foundation, are no longer with the organization, according to an internal email seen by Bloomberg News. Their departures come after Bloomberg reported how Optica had cultivated ties with Huawei for years despite national-security concerns around the company.
Israel’s Foreign Minister calls for displacement of West Bank population
This would be a war crime:
Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday called on Israel to consider temporarily relocating Palestinians as part of a major anti-terror raid in the northern West Bank the IDF launched in the wake of last week’s attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.
“We need to deal with the [terror] threat exactly as we deal with terror infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian civilians and any other step needed,” Israel’s senior diplomat tweeted, calling the operation “a war in every sense.”
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also issued a strongly-worded statement this week opposing Israeli ministers’ intentions to build a synagogue where the al-Aqsa mosque is.
West St. Louis police chief resigns
There will probably be more here:
The City of Manchester accepted the resignation of Police Chief Scott Will on Monday, weeks after he was placed on paid leave due to an ongoing investigation.
Will was placed on administrative leave in July as part of an "ongoing independent investigation," but the city has not provided any information on why he was being investigated.
RFK Jr. on JFK files disclosure
He told Tucker in the recent interview that it was Mike Pompeo who persuaded Donald Trump not to release files related to the Kennedy assassination.
Romanian and Serb charged in SWATing conspiracy
From DOJ on Wednesday:
The charges were announced today by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Matt McCool of the Washington Field Office, FBI Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the Washington Field Office, U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston, Sr., of the Minneapolis Field Office.
According to the indictment, Szabo, Radovanovic, and others, were part of a conspiracy that began no later than December of 2020 and continued through January of 2024. The conspirators obtained personal identifying information, including home addresses, for their intended victims, and then carried out “swatting” attacks by falsely reporting emergencies for the purpose of provoking a police response at the victim’s home.
Szabo was allegedly the organizer and moderator of chat groups where the conspirators communicated with one another. They used monikers to communicate including, for Szabo, “Jonah,” “Jonah Goldberg,” “Plank,” “Rambler,” “War Lord,” “Shovel,” “Cypher,” “Kollectivist,” “Mortenberg Shekelstorms,” and “NotThuggin2”; and for Radovanovic, “XBD31,” “XDR,” “Angus,” “Thuggin,” “Thug Hunter,” “NotThuggin,” “DCL,” and “AOD.”
The indictment alleges that, in furtherance of the conspiracy, the defendants committed swatting attempts against 40 private victims and 61 official victims, including members of Congress, cabinet-level executive branch officials, senior official of federal law enforcement agencies, and state officials. The indictment also alleges that the defendants committed bomb threats against four victim businesses, four victim religious institutions, and one victim university.
DOJ unseals criminal complaint against Hungarian
For selling military tech to Russia:
The Justice Department unsealed a criminal complaint charging Hungarian national Bence Horvath with violations of U.S. export controls targeting Russia, including by conspiring with others to illegally export U.S.-origin radio communications technology to Russian government end users without a license. Horvath is charged by complaint with one count of conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA). He was arrested on arrival at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, on Aug. 23.