Things to Keep an Eye On

Meta's mounting problems, Kash Patel removed as ATF director, World Zionist Congress election fraud, fake applications everywhere, DOJ data security program and more

via Andre / Flickr

Happy Palm Sunday, posting will be minimal during Holy Week unless something really incredible happens.

Meta in the hot seat

Sarah Wynn-Williams’ testimony was the big interview on the Hill this week, where she revealed Meta had been cooperating closely with the Chinese Communist Party. I picked up her book this week and it’s very good. The thing Congress is still afraid of is the censorship Meta does most aggressively here is on behalf of Israel, as DropSiteNews demonstrated this week:

A sweeping crackdown on posts on Instagram and Facebook that are critical of Israel—or even vaguely supportive of Palestinians—was directly orchestrated by the government of Israel, according to internal Meta data obtained by Drop Site News. The data show that Meta has complied with 94% of takedown requests issued by Israel since October 7, 2023. Israel is the biggest originator of takedown requests globally by far, and Meta has followed suit—widening the net of posts it automatically removes, and creating what can be called the largest mass censorship operation in modern history.

None of this is terribly surprising if you look at Sheryl Sandberg’s family history.

Catholic Writers Guild officer’s disciplinary case before Missouri Supreme Court next week

Ryan McCarty was working for the Kansas City Police Department and then became a whistleblower, after which he appears to have been retaliated against:

The chief disciplinary counsel later filed an information alleging McCarty’s actions violated multiple rules of professional conduct. Following a hearing, a disciplinary panel concluded the documents McCarty disclosed pertained to his legal representation of his former client and, therefore, violated two rules of professional conduct relating to former clients and confidentiality. The panel recommended he be reprimanded. The chief disciplinary counsel rejected the panel’s recommendation and argues McCarty should be suspended.

Kash Patel quietly removed as ATF director

There’s probably more going on here:

FBI Director Kash Patel was removed from his role as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and replaced by Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, U.S. officials confirmed on Wednesday.

Reuters was first to report the leadership change, which the U.S. Justice Department had not disclosed publicly. As of Wednesday afternoon, Patel's photo and title of acting director was still listed on the ATF's website.

LDS Church loses suit against its insurer over sex abuse settlements

An important ruling:

A federal judge has ruled against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a lawsuit over who pays for sexual abuse settlements.

The Church sued its own insurance providers, National Union Insurance and ACE Property & Casualty Co., demanding it cover the cost of settlements tied to a West Virginia lawsuit over sexual abuse.

Second pro-Israel Labour MP arrested on child sex abuse allegations for the year

Ivor Caplin, the stalwart Zionist MP who helped sandbag Jeremy Corbyn on behalf of Israel, was arrested earlier this year for soliciting sex with a minor. There was a second one last week, Dan Norris, who was a member of Labour Friends of Israel. Zionism is a big tent, folks.

Massive fraud from Orthodox parties suspected in World Zionist Congress election

This is a brewing scandal, via Times of Israel:

Allegations of voter fraud have been made against three slates in the World Zionist Congress election, challenging the ongoing democratic process in which American Jews can help determine how some $5 billion in funding will be spent on Jewish and Israeli causes over the next five years.

Several of the 22 parties running in the election are calling for those slates to be disqualified, saying their actions threaten the legitimacy of the entire process.

Shin Bet chief confirms: the war’s for Netanyahu

The fired Shin Bet chief told Israel’s Supreme Court the war has little to do with Israeli security, and more to do with the criminal defendant heading its government:

The letter sent by Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to the High Court of Justice, as part of the petition submitted against his dismissal, is among the most important documents to be published in Israel since the government launched its judicial overhaul in January 2023.

Alleged neo-Nazi who tried to burn down a Jewish pizzeria in Spain was actually a Moroccan migrant

Spanish media got this one wrong big-time. It’s not that there can’t be a Moroccan neo-Nazi, I suppose it’s possible, but the reporting described Nazi aesthetics, which implies something about having gotten a look at the guy. So this has the quality of an intentional lie.

Fake job applications and college applications

This is getting extremely common, via CNBC:

Ben Sesser, the CEO of BrightHire, said he first heard of the issue a year ago and that the number of fraudulent job candidates has “ramped up massively” this year. His company helps more than 300 corporate clients in finance, tech and health care assess prospective employees in video interviews.

“Humans are generally the weak link in cybersecurity, and the hiring process is an inherently human process with a lot of hand-offs and a lot of different people involved,” Sesser said. “It’s become a weak point that folks are trying to expose.”

But the issue isn’t confined to the tech industry. More than 300 U.S. firms inadvertently hired impostors with ties to North Korea for IT work, including a major national television network, a defense manufacturer, an automaker, and other Fortune 500 companies, the Justice Department alleged in May.

We’re around a third of California community college applications being fake:

In 2021, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office reported that about 20% of college applicants were likely fake. In January 2024, the state said it was up to about 25%.

Now it’s around 34%, according to the most recent data from the last calendar year. “Those are all the ones that are stopped,” said John Hetts, executive vice chancellor for the data team at the chancellor’s office.

IRS commissioner resigns

I remember being told that one reason we needed to invite the world is that illegal immigrants pay more in taxes than the native-born. That’s the sort of fact it would be nearly impossible to prove, but we may find out, notwithstanding the obstructive efforts of Melanie Kraus:

Acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Melanie Krause informed her staff Tuesday she is leaving the agency amid internal chaos and the exodus of several senior IRS officials, according to two current IRS employees and one former IRS employee.

Krause’s decision to accept the agency’s deferred resignation offer comes on the heels of the IRS and Department of Homeland Security finalizing an agreement Monday to provide sensitive taxpayer data to federal immigration authorities to help the Trump administration locate and deport undocumented immigrants.

Hoan Ton-That leaves Clearview

He’s now no longer even a board member:

Clearview AI Co-founder Hoan Ton-That is out at the company he started, weeks after joining private credit firm Architect Capital as CTO.

Ton-That resigned from the CEO role in December, taking on the position of president and retaining a seat on the company’s Board of Directors.

He was removed from the Board in a vote by shareholders this week, Forbes reports.

Ton-That told Forbes that he had not expected the move. New Co-CEO Hal Lambert told the publication that the company is going “in a different direction.”

NSO Group definitely targeted Americans

Court filings this week demonstrated some of the targeted numbers were definitely American, a fact for some reason the Biden administration was reluctant to tell the public. Via TechCrunch:

NSO Group’s notorious spyware Pegasus was used to target 1,223 WhatsApp users in 51 different countries during a 2019 hacking campaign, according to a new court document.

The document was published on Friday as part of the lawsuit that Meta-owned WhatsApp filed against NSO Group in 2019, accusing the surveillance tech maker of exploiting a vulnerability in the chat app to target hundreds of users, including more than 100 human rights activists, journalists, and “other members of civil society.”

DOJ data security program implemented

Via DOJ on Friday:

Today, the Justice Department took significant steps to move forward with implementing a critical program to prevent China, Russia, Iran, and other foreign adversaries from using commercial activities to access and exploit U.S. government-related data and Americans’ sensitive personal data to commit espionage and economic espionage, conduct surveillance and counterintelligence activities, develop AI and military capabilities, and otherwise undermine our national security.

The Data Security Program implemented by the National Security Division (NSD) under Executive Order 14117 addresses this “unusual and extraordinary threat…to the national security and foreign policy of the United States” that has been repeatedly recognized across political parties and by all three branches of government.

Craft Ventures lays off staff

David Sacks’ firm is reorganizing, The Information reported this week:

Craft Ventures, the eight-year-old venture firm co-founded by White House adviser David Sacks, last week laid off half a dozen employees who were largely involved in recruiting professionals for startups it backs, a spokesperson confirmed. It made the changes as the firm’s investors have shifted their focus to later-stage investments from very early-stage investments, according to a person with direct knowledge of the changes.

French organized crime task force to kick into gear in a few weeks

Via Intelligence Online:

Announced by the French interior minister Bruno Retailleau in March, the new body to fight against organised crime should be operational by late April. The unit will house eleven separate entities in the headquarters of the judicial police in Nanterre, just outside of Paris.