The Paper Trail: August 23, 2024

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The Paper Trail

Editor’s Note

The Paper Trail is going on vacation. We’ll be back on Friday, September 6.

Top stories for August 23, 2024

GOP lawmakers raise concerns over DHS report redactions, OIG cooperation: Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Barry Loudermilk pressed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to explain why DHS has redacted information in some of its inspector general reports to Congress and has allegedly delayed or denied information requests made by Inspector General Joseph Cuffari. (Carten Cordell, Government Executive)

Forgotten radios and missed warnings: New details emerge about communication failures before Trump rally shooting: More than a month after the near assassination, new details continue to emerge about the failures of that day: stunning gaps in communication, highlighting how crucial information was lost in a confusing thicket of police radio chatter, text messages, state trooper middlemen, and command posts tasked with communicating with federal agents on the ground. (Holmes Lybrand, Zachary Cohen, and Majlie de Puy Kamp, CNN)

🔎 See Also: Trump assassination attempt laid bare long-standing vulnerabilities in the Secret Service (Danielle Ohl et al., Government Executive)

Watchdog urges OMB to prioritize implementation of anti-fraud recommendations: As of June 2024, OMB had not fulfilled 172 GAO recommendations, including 37 deemed as priority. Relatedly, GAO estimated that the government in fiscal 2023 made $236 billion in improper payments. (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)

While the public awaited jobs data, Wall Street firms got a look: A number of Wall Street investment firms this week obtained details about the U.S. job market report at least 15 minutes before the information was posted on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website. It’s the latest in a series of incidents in which the bureau provided information to investors before making it available to the public. (Ben Casselman and Jeanna Smialek, New York Times)

A gender equity group is urging “strict and specific” sexual misconduct reform for the federal workforce: The Department of Justice Gender Equality Network, an association composed of nearly 2,000 DOJ staffers, argues that both existing EEOC regulations and President Biden’s 2021 executive order advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the federal workforce have failed to adequately root out sexual misconduct. (Erich Wagner, Government Executive)

U.S. investigating Americans who worked with Russian state television: Signaling an aggressive effort to combat Russian influence operations targeting the election, FBI agents searched the homes of two prominent figures with connections to Russian state media: Scott Ritter, a former United Nations weapons inspector, and Dimitri K. Simes, an adviser to Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign. (Steven Lee Myers and Julian E. Barnes, New York Times)

Harris and Trump shield their big campaign fund-raisers from the public: For the first time in modern presidential election history, neither the Democratic nor Republican nominee has disclosed the names of their “bundlers,” the people who amass large donations and wield significant power in campaigns and administrations. (Theodore Schleifer, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Trump’s businesses are raking in millions of dollars from Republican political campaigns — including his own (Casey Tolan, Isabelle Chapman, and Nelli Black, CNN)

Israel-Hamas War

U.S. military asking contractors to help haul boats used in troubled Gaza pier mission back to the U.S.: Roughly seven months after setting sail for the temporary pier off the Gaza coast, three U.S. Army boats are expected to have to be hauled back to the U.S. by contracted civilian vessels. It’s unclear how much the contract will cost. The pier was operational for roughly 20 days, cost $230 million, and did little to alleviate the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza. (Haley Britzky, CNN)

Insurrection

Justice Department signals plan to salvage obstruction charges in some Jan. 6 cases: DOJ plans to press ahead with obstruction charges against two defendants despite the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that limited the scope of the law. Since the ruling, DOJ has abandoned the charge in a slew of cases and refrained from pursuing the charge in new cases. Two pending felony counts against Donald Trump involve the obstruction law. (Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, Politico)

He joined the force after allegedly storming the Capitol. He was just arrested: John Carl, who worked as a police officer in North Carolina, isn’t the first person working in law enforcement to be charged for taking part in the insurrection. (Kyle Melnick, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: Oath Keepers lawyer pleads guilty to obstructing Jan. 6 investigation (Kyle Cheney, Politico)

🔎 See Also: Fundraiser for Jan. 6 defendants will be held at Trump’s golf club (Alan Feuer, New York Times)

Russia-Ukraine War

U.S. to send $125 million in new military aid to Ukraine, officials say: The latest package of aid brings the total amount of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine to more than $55.7 billion since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. (Lolita C. Baldor and Matthew Lee, Military Times)

U.S. government inability to monitor Ukraine supplies: GAO found the Pentagon is often unable to track military supplies transferred to Ukraine by third-party donors due to “inconsistent communication” between departments. (John Hill, Army Technology)

U.S. veteran who fled child porn charges now flies drones for Russia: Hundreds of American veterans have volunteered to fight in Ukrainian ranks. Far less is known about how many Americans have fought under Russian command. (Alex Horton, Washington Post)

Police Misconduct

The NYPD is illegally leaking sealed records about children to tabloids: A class-action lawsuit alleges the NYPD illegally accesses and discloses sealed juvenile arrest records. (Akela Lacy, The Intercept)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Flaw in Osprey gears was known a decade prior to deadly Japan crash, internal report shows: Internal safety documents show that warnings related to a mechanical issue that caused an Air Force Osprey to crash off the coast of Japan last year had been identified as far back as 2013 but seemingly went unaddressed. (Konstantin Toropin and Thomas Novelly, Military.com)

Air Force says Supreme Court gave it right to poison drinking water: In Tucson, Arizona, several Air Force bases have been polluting the drinking water, but the Air Force claims it doesn’t have to do anything about it thanks to the recent Supreme Court ruling striking down the Chevron deference doctrine. (Edith Olmsted, The New Republic)

A major U.S. defense investor has links to sanctioned Russian oligarchs: Venture capital firm 8VC, which has investments in U.S. defense contractors, employs two children of sanctioned Russian oligarchs. Although there’s no indication that the sanctioned parents have any relationship with 8VC, the government has warned Silicon Valley that foreign adversaries could use investment firms to get access to national security secrets. (David Jeans, Forbes)

Business and Finance

House Dems ask OSHA to respond to reports that state agencies tipped off employers: Lawmakers demanded answers from Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su regarding allegations that some state workplace safety agencies are giving employers advance notice of inspections. (Shauneen Miranda, Kansas Reflector)

At MIT, Black and Latino enrollment drops sharply after affirmative action ban: MIT’s incoming class of 2028 saw a precipitous drop-off in the percentage of Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander students. The share of Asian American students rose, while the share of white students fell slightly. (Anemona Hartocollis and Stephanie Saul, New York Times)

U.S. plans to accuse software maker of enabling collusion on rents: Collusion among corporate landlords, including via price-setting software, is seen as a major factor in the sharp increase in rental costs. (Lauren Hirsch, Danielle Kaye, and David McCabe, New York Times)

Health Care

Heat deaths highlight stark differences in state policies protecting workers: Political resistance in some red states to enacting regulations protecting workers from extreme heat leaves workers without strong state or federal protections. OSHA requires only that employers “should” provide protections. (Rachel Spacek, Route Fifty)

As vaccine hesitancy rises, so could claims of religious exemptions: As more parents say they’re hesitant to vaccinate their children against common childhood diseases, public health officials around the U.S. are bracing for a rise in litigation related to religious exemptions to school vaccination requirements. (Kaitlyn Levinson, Route Fifty)

U.S. government report says fluoride at twice the recommended limit is linked to lower IQ in kids: Studies have increasingly pointed to a link between higher levels of fluoride and brain development. (Mike Stobbe, The Hill)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ LGBTQ+ asylum seekers detail harsh conditions and abuse in ICE custody

Other News:

→ Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” returns with a vengeance

→ Federal judge strikes down ban on worker noncompete agreements

→ Elite federal prosecutor misused position during DUI stop, watchdog finds

→ Trump clemency recipient accused of assaulting wife and father-in-law

→ Postal Service considers rural mail slowdown after election

→ Americans mostly like federal agencies, but there’s a partisan gap

→ ATM fees reach 26-year high with charges topping $5 in some cities

→ Federal labor regulator says delivery drivers are Amazon employees

Because It’s Friday

A college-aged kid pleads guilty to defrauding Medicare of $39.5 million: It’s like something out of a movie: 22-year-old Florida resident Christopher Spellman ran a Medicare fraud scheme involving illegal kickbacks and bribes, unwitting elderly participants, and tens of millions of dollars of unnecessary medical equipment billed to the government. (Constantine Cannon)

Ex-Pentagon official alleges U.S. has recovered nonhuman specimens: Former DOD official Luis Elizondo claims the government recovered a UFO at Roswell in 1947. (Patrick Djordjevic, The Hill)

Hot Docs

🔥📃 DHS OIG: Management Alert - ICE Cannot Monitor All Unaccompanied Migrant Children Released from DHS and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Custody. OIG-24-46 (PDF)

🔥📃 GAO - Veterans Community Care Program: VA Needs to Strengthen Contract Oversight. GAO-24-106390 (PDF)