In the News
- Obama: Holder did “superb job”
- Holder’s mixed record
- Pols’ reax
- Who’s up next?
- ISIS threat to New York subway?
- U.S. identifies ISIS executioner
- Obama at UN on Ebola: Not doing enough
- White cop shoots unarmed black motorist
- Forest Service: Violating First Amendment?
- Shellshock: “Deadly serious” new software bug
Obama: Holder Did “Superb Job”
• President Obama praised U.S. AG Eric Holder on Thursday saying he’s done a “superb job” and announced Holder will leave his post at the Justice Dept once a successor is confirmed (could be a while)
• Obama, listing the achievements of Holder, said the AG worked “to make sure those words ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ are made real for all of us.” Joining Obama at the announcement, Holder became visibly emotional as he thanked his family and colleagues (Politico, NYT, CNN, WaPo, TRNS, me)
• “I thank you all for joining me on a journey that now moves in another direction, but that will always be guided by the pursuit of justice and aimed at the North Star,” Holder said. Holder expressed gratitude to Obama, VP Joe Biden and senior WH adviser Valerie Jarrett
• While Holder has “no immediate plans once he steps down,” he wants “to stay actively involved in some of the causes to which he has devoted his time in office,” a Justice official said . Particularly “to continue helping to restore trust between law enforcement and minority communities.”
• Why now? Now or never, several former and current admin officials say, and Holder – under pressure from a physician wife worried about a recent health scare – checked the “now” box. Confirmation in a possible GOP-controlled Senate: tough. Also, he goes out on a high note (Politico, me)
Holder’s Mixed Record
• Holder is the 82nd AG and the first African-American to serve in that position. He’s been the most prominent liberal voice of the admin, leading its push for same-sex marriage and voting rights (NYT, me)
• After the recent shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer, Holder volunteered to go to Ferguson MO as the admin’s emissary. People in Ferguson said Thursday that they’re losing a champion
• Holder’s told prosecutors not to seek long sentences for low-level crime and he pushed to eliminate those sentences for nonviolent drug crimes. He’s joined with liberal Democrats and libertarian-minded Republicans to advocate for a sweeping liberalization of sentencing laws
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• But his record on civil liberties has earned him fewer accolades. He authorized subpoenas directed at journalists and approved the CIA’s killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen working with the al Qaeda branch in Yemen. He signed off on the NSA’s authority to sweep up the phone records of millions of Americans not charged with any crime
• He’s been an outspoken voice on race and discrimination. He was attacked by critics in the wake of Fast and Furious, a botched gun program along the border with Mexico, GOP lawmakers in the House held Holder in contempt of Congress
• Inside the DoJ, many career prosecutors see Holder’s push to prosecute terrorism suspects in criminal courts as his most enduring legacy. While the military tribunals at Guantanamo have languished, the DoJ has won several high-profile convictions and lengthy sentences in terrorism cases
Pols’ Reax
• Rep Darrell Issa (R-CA), chair of the House Oversight Committee, who led the move to hold Holder in contempt of Congress over Fast and Furious, said in a statement, “Through strong arming reporters, practically ignoring high level wrongdoing, blocking his own agency IG’s access to information … AG Eric Holder abused his office.”
• Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) said in a statement that the Senate should wait until the next Congress is sworn in before confirming the next AG. Of Holder, he said, “For two years now, the dept has obstructed justice and impeded any fair investigation of the IRS’s abuse of power.” (WSJ, Politico, Hill, Fox, me)
• Rep Louis Gohmert (R-TX) tweeted: “AG #Holder has obfuscated the truth & been the most partisan, partial, prejudiced & self-pitying AG in my lifetime”
• Ethel Kennedy, widow of slain AG Bobby Kennedy, said in a statement, “Eric Holder has vigilantly defended an ideal Bobby strongly believed – that the Justice Dept must deliver justice for all Americans. Especially our most vulnerable, who live in the very communities where justice can be hardest to find.”
• Rep John Lewis (D-GA), who led many of the civil right movements’ most famous battles, said in a statement, “He has been a persistent and consistent leader in the struggle for civil and human rights. That legacy is in his bones. It is written on his heart, and his intelligence and committed leadership will be hard to replace.”
Who’s Up Next?
• Gov Deval Patrick (D-MA). A close friend of President Obama. Not running for re-election in November. Was chief of the DoJ’s civil rights division under Clinton. But said Thursday the job’s “not one for me right now.” (WSJ, WaPo, Hill, Politico, me)
• Donald Verrilli. Currently U.S. solicitor general, arguing the admin’s legal positions (not very well) before the Supreme Court. Obama likes and trusts him – liberals are suspicious as they think he botched the Obamacare case
• AG Kamala Harris (CA). Running for re-election in Nov. First female, African-American and Asian-American AG in the state. Obama said late last year, she’s “by far, the best looking attorney general.” Got in trouble for it. She’s said not to be interested in the job
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• Kathryn Ruemmler. Departed as WH counsel last year. Obama told NYT he valued her for “her smarts, her judgment and her wit.” She’s tough. Has sparred with Darrell Issa over her unwillingness to turn over internal WH docs
• Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Prosecutes some of the nation’s highest-profile terrorism and Wall Street cases. Loretta Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York
• Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Janet Napolitano, former DHS secretary and gov and AZ’s AG. Robert Mueller, Long-time FBI director. Leading the NFL investigation into the Ray Rice issue. Sen Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), former U.S. AG, said Thursday he wants to represent RI, former Labor Sec Tom Perez
ISIS Threat to New York Subway?
• A warning by Iraq’s PM that Islamist militants planned to attack New York City sent political leaders scrambling Thursday. NY Gov Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio each had the same idea – take a subway ride to a busy transit hub to announce that everything was under control
• PM Haider al-Abadi told reporters at the UN in New York that there were “arrests of a few elements” from inside Iraq to have attacks on metros in the U.S. and Paris.He wasn’t sure if the attacks were imminent and didn’t believe they had been thwarted (Yahoo, Reuters, BBC, TRNS, me)
• “They are not Iraqis. Some of them are French, some of them are Americans,” he said. NSC spox Caitlin Hayden said that the Obama admin was “obviously very focused on the issue of foreign fighters.” “We have not confirmed such a plot and would have to review any information from our Iraqi partners.”
• Separately, FBI Director James Comey said to reporters Thursday that he’s “not confident” that the U.S. military strike against a Syrian-based al Qaeda cell has disrupted a plan to mount a terror attack aimed at the U.S. and that the group remains “at the top of my list of things that I worry about.”
• The UK parliament is due to vote on possible air strikes in Iraq today. Australian PM, Tony Abbott, says his govt will decide in the coming days whether to join the air strikes in Iraq and Syria against the “murderous death cult.”
• Pic: The latest cover of The Economist has taken the 2003 image of President George W. Bush in a flight suit and swapped in President Obama’s head for its cover. “Mission Relaunched”
U.S. Identifies ISIS Executioner
• FBI Director James Comey told reporters Thursday that the U.S. believes it’s identified the British-accented masked man in the videos depicting the beheadings of two Americans journalists and a British aid worker. He wouldn’t reveal the man’s identity. He didn’t say whether the U.S. thinks the man carried out the beheadings
• President Hassan Rouhani of Iran trashed Western and Arab states Thursday in his annual speech to the UN, blaming them for sowing the seeds of extremism in the Middle East with “strategic blunders.” (Hill, National Review, TRNS, NYT, WaPo, me)
• “Certain intelligence agencies have put blades in the hands of madmen, who now spared no one,” Rouhani said, adding that “all those who have played a role in founding and supporting these terror groups must acknowledge their errors” and apologize (go on, then)
• The Pentagon said Thursday that the costs of U.S. efforts against ISIS in Iraq and Syria are an estimated $7 to $10 per day. Pentagon spox Rear Adm John Kerby said it’s too soon to know the effect of the strikes. “Well it may take a little while, but we’ll know when they have radically change their operations.”
• The head of the UN human rights office Thursday condemned what he called the “horrifying” execution of Iraqi women’s rights advocate Sameera Salih Ali al-Nuaimy by ISIS gunmen. She was tortured for several days before a masked firing squad executed her in public on Monday. The agency said there’s a pattern of attacks on professional women
• When fighter jets from the United Arab Emirates took part in airstrikes against ISIS in Syria on Monday night, the mission was led by a woman. The pilot, Maj Mariam Al Mansouri, became UAE’s first female fighter pilot. A Fox News commentator referred to her as “boobs on the ground.” (war on women goes global…)
Obama at UN on Ebola: Not Doing Enough
• Seeking to speed the response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, President Obama delivered a blunt warning Thursday at a high-level UN meeting devoted to the health crisis: “I want to be clear: We are not moving fast enough. We are not doing enough.” (NYT, Hill, CNN, WaPo, Politico, TRNS, me)
• Obama cited his announcement last week that the Pentagon would build a field hospital and treatment units in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leona – along with the establishment of a UN emergency mission to respond to the outbreak – as positive steps, but: “Do not stand by thinking that somehow because of what we’ve done it’s taken care of. It’s not.”
• Obama called on countries to supply air transportation and medical evacuation services, was well as doctors and medical equipment. The U.S., he said, could build a network of treatment centers but didn’t have enough doctors by itself to contain the outbreak
• Obama and his fellow leaders heard a stark message from doctors on the front lines of the outbreak. They described wholesale panic, with desperate patients, angry family members, infection rates doubling every three weeks and the collapse of public health systems – led to other deadly diseases, like malaria
• Margaret Chan, a Hong Kong physician who’s the director-general of the World Health Organization, said that because the response had lagged so far behind the spread of the disease, “we should expect things to get worse before getting better.”
• Police and protesters have clashed overnight just hours after Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson issued a rare video apology Thursday to the family of black teen Michael Brown, who was shot dead by a white police officer
White Officer Shoots Unarmed Black Motorist
• Earlier this month, a white South Carolina Highway Patrol officer shot an unarmed black man during a traffic stop at a gas station in the city of Columbia. Dashcam video became public Wednesday and the officer was charged with aggravated assault. Here’s what happened
• White Highway Patrol officer stops a black man for a seat belt violation outside Columbia SC. The state trooper, Sean Groubert, 31, asks the driver for his license. The driver, Levar Jones, 25, reaches into the car to retrieve his license (The State, WLTX, TPM, me)
• At that point, Groubert screams “get out of the car, get out of the car” and proceeds to unload four or five rounds from his pistol into Jones at close point blank range. Jones stumbles away from the vehicle with his hands in the air and then falls to the ground
• Groubert radios for medical help and the two men can be heard talking. “I just grabbed my license. You said get my license!” Jones said. “What did I do, sir?” ? / “Are you hit?” Groubert said
• Mind-blowing vid: Traffic stop by SC Highway Patrol officer Sean Groubert of motorist Levar Jones for a seat belt violation. Groubert shoots the motorist during the traffic stop. This is quite shocking. Filmed from officer’s dashcam
• “I think so. I can’t feel my leg,” Jones says. “I don’t know what happened. … Why did you shoot me?” / “Well, you dove headfirst back into your car,” Groubert says. There’s more astonishing back and forth talk in the video
• Groubert was arrested and jailed Wednesday on $75,000 bond. He’s been charged with aggravated assault. He was fired form the Highway Patrol last week. The video became public Wednesday. Groubert has faced five previous complaints for his performance on the job
• (There’s no doubt in my mind that without the dashcam video of this incident, Groubert wouldn’t have been charged and we wouldn’t even know about it. Officers aren’t usually charged in shootings committed in the line of duty)
Forest Service: Violating First Amendment?
• This is totally absurd. The U.S. Forest Service has tightened restrictions on media coverage in vast swaths of the country’s wild lands, requiring reporters to pay for a $1,500 permit and get permission before shooting a photo or video in federally designated wilderness areas (Oregonian, Statesman, Hill, me)
• Under rules being finalized in Nov, a reporter who met a biologist, wildlife advocate or whistleblower alleging neglect in 36 million acres of wilderness would first need special approval to shoot photos or even video on an iPhone. Fines could be up to $1,000. They’re currently accepting public comment
• First Amendment advocates say the rules could allow the Forest Service to grant permits only to favored reporters shooting videos for positive stories. “It’s pretty clearly unconstitutional,” said Gregg Leslie, legal defense director at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
• Liz Close, the Forest Service’s acting wilderness director, said the restrictions are meant to preserve the untamed nature of the country’s wilderness. She didn’t cite any real-life examples of why the policy is needed or what problems it’s addressing. The rules allow exceptions only for breaking news like fires and rescues
• The Forest Service is giving its supervisors discretion to decide whether a news outlet’s planned video or photo shoots would meet the Wilderness Act’s goals. “If you were engaged on reporting that was in support of wilderness characteristics, that would be permitted,” Close said (what country is she in?)
Shellshock: “Deadly Serious” New Software Bug
• A “deadly serious” bug discovered Tuesday night in the world’s widely used Linux and Unix operating systems could allow hackers to take control of hundreds of millions of machines around the world, according to security experts (BBC, pcworld, NYT, me)
• The bug, named Shellshock, is similar to the Heartbleed bug that freaked people out last spring. Shellshock has been found in a software component known as Bash, which is a part of many Linux systems as well as Apple’s Mac operating system
• The bug can be used to remotely take control of almost any system using Bash. Early estimates, which experts said were conservative, suggest that Shellshock could hit at least 500 million machines (I’m not writing a technical story so not going into details)
• The National Institutes of Standards and Technology has said that the vulnerability is a 10 out of 10, in terms of its severity, impact and exploitability, but low in terms of its complexity, meaning it could be easily used by hackers (great). Kaspersky, a security firm, said they’ve already detected internet scanning by people believed to be cybercriminals
• DHS’s computer brains advised users and tech administrators to refer to the Linux or Unix-based operating systems suppliers for an appropriate patch (if it’s ready). For us users at home, security experts advise to stay abreast of updates from tech manufacturers on their websites, particularly for hardware such as routers
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Victoria Jones
TRNS’ Nicholas Salazar, Luke Vargas, Celina Gore, Leah Schwarting and Paayal Zaveri contributed to this report |
