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The Paper Trail: October 25, 2024

The Mold Battle in Military Homes; The Sanctions Influence Industry; The Princess and the Justice; and More.

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The Paper Trail

Top stories for October 25, 2024

Judges and border police targeted by anti-government extremists, doxed as “traitors”: While threats from violent extremists against migrants, elected officials, and border security personnel have been on the rise for years, a DHS memo from May found violent threats against federal judges and other court officers in immigration cases are soaring for the first time. (Dell Cameron and Tess Owen, Wired)

A new Washington influence industry is making millions from sanctions: The increase in U.S. sanctions has spawned a new lobbying industry in Washington, as companies and governments around the world attempt to shape these economic penalties by hiring former members of Congress and aides. (Jeff Stein, Federica Cocco, and Peter Whoriskey, Washington Post)

Justice Department warns Musk that his $1 million giveaway might be illegal: The DOJ sent a letter to the super PAC founded by Elon Musk warning that awarding $1 million to registered voters who signed a petition might violate federal law. (Theodore Schleifer and Glenn Thrush, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Musk has been in secret contact with Putin since 2022, says bombshell new report (Csongor Körömi, Politico)

Onion recall linked to E. coli and McDonald’s spreads to other fast food chains: Experts have found that open creeks used to water fields can be littered with feces from wild animals and larger-scale cattle ranches and other farms. The FDA finalized a rule last year on how water should be managed on farms that grow produce, but it didn’t require routine treatment of irrigation water. (Teddy Rosenbluth and Christina Jewett, New York Times)

He died building a ship for the U.S. government. His family got nothing: U.S. shipyards have been hit hard by a shortage of welders. As in many other industries, immigrants are filling the gap. The undocumented workers who step in tend to be contractors, not employees, leaving them with fewer protections. (Nicole Foy, ProPublica)

 

Supreme Court Ethics

The princess and the justice: Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, an anti-abortion and anti-immigration provocateur in her native Germany, has welcomed a newcomer into her circle: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who was her guest at her annual music festival in the summer of 2023. (Abbie VanSickle and Philip Kaleta, New York Times)

 

Insurrection

Two brothers charged with assaulting officers in Jan. 6 riot: Approximately 1,530 people have been charged for crimes related to the insurrection; more than 571 of them have been charged with impeding law enforcement or assaulting officers. (Christopher Maag, New York Times)

🔎 See Also: Trump says he’d fire Jack Smith quickly if he wins another term in office (Kate Sullivan, CNN)

 

Russia-Ukraine War

U.S. finalizes $20 billion share of $50 billion G7 loan to Ukraine: The U.S. on Wednesday finalized its $20 billion portion of a long-awaited $50 billion loan to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets, announcing plans to start making funds available by year-end for economic and military aid. The White House’s plan to make $10 billion of the funds available for military aid would require the approval of Congress. (David Lawder and Susan Heavey, Reuters)

 

Defense and Veterans Affairs

“Operation Counter-Mold”: The hidden battle in military homes: Newly obtained documents reveal the seriousness of the mold problem in military family housing. A gap in federal mold standards has been exploited by the military and housing companies to avoid testing and remediation. (René Kladzyk, Project On Government Oversight)

🔎 See Also: As corporate landlords spread, a mold epidemic takes root (Thomas Birmingham, In These Times)

“Shameful”: Naval Academy cancels authoritarianism lecture After “MAGA pressure”: The U.S. Naval Academy is under fire after it invited, then uninvited, a distinguished expert on authoritarianism and fascism to give a lecture to midshipmen. (David Badash, AlterNet)

Analysis: Welcome to the defense death spiral: As the cost of weapons increases, the number of systems produced decreases. That’s how the U.S. ended up with only 21 B-2s, 187 F-22s, and three Zumwalt-class destroyers, rather than the 132, 750, and 32, respectively, the military initially promised. (Dan Grazier, Responsible Statecraft)

 

Business and Finance

American Airlines fined $50 million for treatment of passengers using wheelchairs: According to the Department of Transportation, inadequate assistance and incorrect handling of mobility devices is a problem across the industry, not just at American. Last year, U.S. airlines mishandled more than 11,500 wheelchairs and scooters. (Christine Chung and Mark Walker, New York Times)

The gambling industry’s cynical play for your vote: To ensure sports gambling continues to expand, the industry is spending millions to deploy a strategy of promising revenues that will ameliorate a given statewide issue while downplaying the harm of legalized gambling. Meanwhile, the industry is pursuing the legalization of iGaming, a notoriously addictive form of mobile betting. (Amos Barshad, The Lever)

 

Tech

New Biden policy takes a big swing at AI — and sets political traps: Civil rights groups say the Biden administration’s recent national security memo on AI has the potential to turbocharge the surveillance state. (Mohar Chatterjee and Joseph Gedeon, Politico)

Consumer watchdog cautions companies against snooping on workers with surveillance tech: The CFPB issued its warning in response to the increasing use of new technology to track workers, including algorithmic scores and background reports compiled by outside parties. (Kate Gibson, CBS News)

Her teenage son killed himself after talking to a chatbot. Now she’s suing: Companies such as Character.AI face mounting questions over how they develop and regulate their AI-based apps as the underlying technology is rapidly becoming more sophisticated and better at evading human detection. (Kim Bellware and Niha Masih, Washington Post)

 

Infrastructure

Many wells in North Carolina remain unsafe after Helene’s deluge: About 42 million people in the U.S. get their water from private wells, which are largely unregulated and can easily become contaminated when floodwaters overrun them. (Mira Rojanasakul and Hiroko Tabuchi, New York Times)

 

ICYMI

Other News:

Two Democratic Hill leaders ask Garland to appoint special counsel to probe Kushner

American creating deepfakes targeting Harris works with Russian intel, documents show

The group at the center of Trump’s planning for a second term is one you haven’t heard of

GOP senators blast efforts to protect transgender federal employees

Operators of vessel that destroyed Baltimore’s Key Bridge to pay nearly $102M

Apple and Goldman Sachs must pay $89 million over their handling of their credit card business

Hot Docs

🔥📃 Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy: Portraits in Oversight: Congress Investigates the Vietnam War. October 23, 2024

Nominations & Appointments

Nominations

  • Benjamin J. Cheeks - Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of California

     

  • Serena Murillo - Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California