EFTA00161240.pdf

FBI PUBLIC AFFAIRS - DIRECTOR'S AM NEWS BRIEFING MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2020 5:00 AM EST US Intelligence Agencies See No Evidence Of Foreign Interference In Mail Ballots, Though Misinformation, Software Concerns Linger. Politico (11/7, Cheney, 4.29M) reports that while Trump in June alleged foreign countries "would surely print 'millions of mail-in ballots' to upend the U.S. election," US intelligence officials on Friday "reaffirmed" they saw no such evidence of such action. ODNI spokesperson Dean Boyd said, "Our assessments have not changed.' FBI spokesperson Carol Crafty commented, "We have nothing new to add to our previous statements." In addition, the New York Times (11/7, Epstein, 18.61M) reports that despite 'warnings of violence, threats of foreign interference, rampant disinformation, cuts to the Postal Service, President Trump's sowing of distrust and a pandemic that forced the relocation of thousands of polling places, the machinery of American democracy adapted and held up this past week. The result was a relatively smooth election free of the hourslong lines and vote-suppressing shenanigans that have characterized the voting experience in recent years, particularly during the primaries of the coronavirus era.' In an editorial, the Washington Post (11/7, 14.2M) applauds the election officials and vote counters who continued counting "amid the chaos of anxiety, menace and misinformation surrounding the endgame of ballot counting." The Post says, "In defiance of every ploy, stratagem and invented accusation the president and his acolytes could throw at them, vote counters and election officials were undeterred, just as poll workers and voters themselves had been undeterred before them." The Post concludes this "spirit matched the staggering turnout Tuesday, in which more than 160 million Americans, or two-thirds of eligible voters, may have cast votes either by mail or at the polls — the biggest share in more than a century." However, Reuters (11/7, Bing, Culliford, Dave) reports Spanish-language misinformation 'flourished online in the days surrounding the U.S. election, even as social media companies moved to stem falsehoods that could affect the vote or spark violence.' In particular, social media posts in Spanish "from online celebrities, radio commentators and others have repeatedly questioned the reliability of mail-in voting and falsely described presidential candidate Joe Biden as a socialist, according to Spanish-language disinformation experts and posts seen by Reuters." Meanwhile, the Washington Times (11/7, Swoyer, 492K) says Republicans "are concerned about software that was blamed for changing thousands of Republican ballots to votes for Democrats in one Michigan county." Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Laura Cox "told reporters Friday at a press conference that 6,000 votes were impacted." Cox asserted, "In Antrim County, ballots were counted for Democrats that were meant for Republicans, causing a 6,000 vote swing against our candidates. The county clerk came forward and said, 'tabulating software glitched and caused a miscalculation of the votes."' The Michigan Republican Party "notes that 47 other counties in the state used the same software." Emails: Park Police Did Not Know Which Agencies Were Assisting Government Response To Lafayette Demonstrations. The Hill (11/6, Beitsch, 2.98M) reports, "U.S. Park Police email traffic during the June protests at Lafayette Square shows that agency officials were unaware which law enforcement agencies were assisting with the heavily criticized government response as demonstrators were overwhelmed by chemical irritants.' The redacted emails were disclosed on Friday "as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).* The emails indicate that "even days into the protests," Park Police lacked a full "list of every law enforcement agency that had arrived to assist." The discussions additionally indicate that Park Police rapidly used up "its supply of chemical irritants in just days, even as the agency's communications wing appeared unaware of the use of pepper balls." Philadelphia Police Detain Two Men Following Tip They Were Armed, Heading To Ballot-Counting Site. The Washington Post (11/6, Armus, 14.2M) reports, "Police in Philadelphia detained two men late on Thursday night after receiving a tip that an armed group from out of state was headed to the city's vote-counting center, where final ballots in the presidential election are being tallied." NBC News (11/6, 6.14M) reports, "The two men were driving a silver Hummer truck from Virginia. Police said they found the car parked and unoccupied around 10:20 p.m. ET; about seven minutes later, two police officers on bicycles saw two men in possession of firearms. 'The males acknowledged that the silver Hummer was their vehicle, and an additional firearm was recovered from inside the Hummer,' the police spokesperson said. The men told police that they did not have a valid EFTA00161240 Pennsylvania firearms license, so they were taken into custody. Police said firearms charges were pending Friday morning." WHYY-TV Philadelphia (11/6, 24K) and the Daily Beast (11/6, Montgemery, 1.39M) also report. California Man Charged With Ramming BLM Protesters Freed On $10M Bond. The Los Angeles Times (11/6, Winton, 4.64M) reports that a San Marino, California man 'accused of intentionally driving a truck into a crowd of Pasadena Black Lives Matter protesters and charged with conspiring to violate firearms laws will be released after his parents put up a S10-million property bond and he surrendered his stock of firearms, authorities said." US District Judge Stephen V. Wilson "signed an order that Benjamin Jong Ren Hung, who is accused of collecting weapons and building a training camp for civil disorder, will be placed on electronic monitoring and subject to drug testing after his release once federal authorities take control of the bond and an array of firearms discovered at his homes in San Marino and Lodi. Hung drove a Dodge Ram truck flying three large flags related to right-wing extremist groups...into the crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters in the Old Pasadena shopping district in May, prosecutors said." Portland Demonstrators Vandalize City Commissioner's Residence, Start Fire At City Hall. The Washington Times (11/6, Mordock, 492K) reports, "The protests in Portland, Oregon, again turned violent overnight as demonstrators vandalized a city commissioner's home and set fire to city hall, the Multnomah County Sheriffs Office said Friday: An approximately 60-person group marched through Portland toward city commissioner Dan Ryan's residence. Upon getting there, the demonstrators "broke a window, threw burning flares and paint-filled balloons at the home, and broke potted plants, according to the sheriffs office." Police eventually dispersed the protestors. The Times also reports, "At 10 p.m., the Portland Fire and Rescue got a call that city hall was on fire, the sheriffs office said. The fire is believed to have started when a burning object was thrown or placed at the door: Police said that on-premises security put out the fire before it could grow, and the Times adds that police are searching for a suspect. Facebook Shuts Down Groups After Calls For Violence During Election. Reuters (11/6, Paul) reports that Facebook has shut down a number of groups and chat forums, some of which featured, "calls for members to ready their weapons should President Donald Trump lose his bid to remain in the White House: After disabling the group following "coverage by Reuters and other news organizations, Facebook cited the forum's efforts to delegitimize the election process and 'worrying calls for violence from some members.' Facebook "says it has removed 14,200 groups on the basis of those changes since August." LAPD Take Man Into Custody After Threat Of Mass Shooting Should Biden Win. The Los Angeles Times (11/6, Winton, 4.64M) reports, 'A Los Angeles area man who took to social media to threaten a mass shooting if Vice President Joe Biden wins the presidential election has been taken into custody, law enforcement sources confirmed to The Times." The Hill (11/6, Polus, 2.98M) reports, The man, who remains unidentified, is accused of taking to social media and threatening to commit a mass shooting in the event that Biden is victorious in this year's presidential election. In an Instagram video that has since been deleted, the man allegedly said, 'If Biden gets in, I'm just going to do like a school shooter, just take out all these Democrats.' While the man was taken into custody as local police and the FBI look into the case and search his home, he has not been charged or formally arrested, according to NBC. 'The FBI is aware of the reported threats, and we're working with our partners. The subject is being evaluated by state officials. The federal government has not made any arrest nor filed charges at this time,' FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said: The Daily Caller (11/6, 716K) also reports. FBI: Tennessee Man Planned Attack On Fort Campbell. The Clarksville (TN) Leaf Chronicle (11/6, Clark, 20K) reports, "A Clarksville man allegedly plotted online to attack Fort Campbell and local landmarks in support of the Islamic State group known as ISIS, according to court documents released this week detailing his arrest: Jason Solomon Stokes was arrested by the FBI on August 20 "after conversations with undercover agents led investigators to believe he was planning an attack in October, according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Angelo DeFeao. While Stokes was arrested in August, the federal court documents remained sealed until Monday. Stokes remains in federal custody on charges related to sending threatening communications between states, court documents show: the Leaf Chronicle adds, "In March 2018, a tipster alerted the FBI that Stokes pledged allegiance to ISIS via Facebook, according to court documents. In 2019, two FBI field officers reported Stokes appeared to be supportive of terrorism via his Facebook page and wished to join ISIS, court documents stated." Clarksville (TN) Now (11/6, Smith) reports, "Stokes never obtained weapons for such an attack, but documents indicate he coordinated over social media with operatives he believed to be ISIS members, trying to obtain weapons and planning an attack on CPD headquarters and the store at Fort Campbell." The FBI "first became involved with Stokes in EFTA00161241 March 2018, when they were tipped off that he had called himself an Islamic State warrior and said the United States was under the influence of Satan and the Ku Klux Klan, according to the FBI complaint. 'This the KKK country I'm with Allah warrior of Allah Islamic State brother,' was part of his statement." US Adds Weapons Charges Against Two "Boogaloo Bois." The Minneapolis Star Tribune (11/7, Mannix, 1.04M) reports, "After trying to capitalize on the civil unrest in Minneapolis this summer, two members of anti-government Boogaloo Bois attempted to sell untraceable machine guns and unregistered silencers to Hamas, an international terrorist group, to be used in attacks against United States and Israeli soldiers overseas, according to a new indictment announced by federal prosecutors in Minnesota Friday." Michael Robert Solomon, 30, and Benjamin Ryan Teeter, 22, 'met with an undercover FBI agent, who they believed to be a senior member of Hamas, on July 30, according to federal court documents. The two men delivered silencers and a 'drop in auto sear — a device that converts semi-automatic weapons into illegal machine guns — to the undercover agent. They said they could make untraceable weapons and gun parts, and negotiated to sell five more silencers for $1,800 apiece, according to court documents." KSTP-TV Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN (11/6, 249K) reports, 'The two were charged back in September with one count of conspiring and attempting to provide material support to Hamas. A criminal complaint states the FBI began investigating the two men, two members of the 'Boogaloo Bois' and a sub-group called the 'Boojahideen,' in May. The group is known to have violent anti-government sentiments, with the term 'Boogaloo' referencing an impending second civil war in the U.S. The complaint states, during the civil unrest in the Twin Cities following George Floyd's death, Solomon was seen openly carrying a firearm in a residential neighborhood. The two men interacted with a witness over several days and the witness told FBI agents they had firearms and substantial quantities of ammunition. The witness also said the two men and other members of their groups discussed committing acts of violence against police officers and other targets to help further their mission of overthrowing the government and replacing its police forces.- Election Security Funding More Likely To Come From Biden Administration. The Washington Post (11/6, Marks, 14.2M) reports, "Election security advocates are pushing for up to $3 billion from Congress they say is vital to help protect election systems against hacking." As President-elect Biden "has described election security as a major challenge,' that funding "will be far more likely to come through in a Biden administration' President Trump, on the other hand, "has paid little attention to the topic" and "repeatedly questioned intelligence agencies' conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and spread disinformation about the 2020 contest." Republicans have "consistently rebuffed Democratic efforts to deliver far more money and to couple it with cybersecurity mandates for states: Democrats have long sought mandating "that states make specific improvements such as using paper ballots and meeting minimum cybersecurity standards," measures which Republicans have opposed." Opinion: New OPM, ODNI Report Shows USAGM Needs A "Shakeup." James S. Robbins, is senior fellow for national security affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council, writes in an op-ed in The Hill (11/7, 2.98M) that OPM and the ODNI found "previous senior leaders knew about" the "severe shortcomings- at USAGM and "did little to nothing to fix them," according to a 2020 follow-up report. The agencies "identified glaring deficiencies in the agency's handling of personnel security and the safeguarding of classified documents" between 2010 and 2014. For instance, people 'were given clearances who lied on forms, left required sections blank, and even used fake names: Robbins says the problems "long predated both the Trump administration and the confirmation of Michael Pack as the agency's CEO." USAGM is "a disorganized, moribund bureaucracy — one that has in fact long been in need of a shakeup." MS-13 Gang Member Extradited, Arraigned In Federal Court For Alleged Murder Of Long Island Teen. The New York Post (11/6, Rosenberg, 4.57M) reports, "An MS-13 gang member was extradited from El Salvador and arraigned Friday in Central Islip federal court on murder charges for the machete slaying of a 15-year-old boy on Long Island in 2016, authorities said." The New York Daily News (11/6, Goldberg, 2.52M) reports, 'A participant in the brutal 2016 machete murder of a 15-year- old boy was extradited from El Salvador to the United States Friday, according to federal prosecutors." Eduardo Portillo, 23, "an alleged member of the violent MS-13 gang, took part in the Oct. 10, 2016 killing of youngster Javier Castillo, whose hacked up remains weren't didscovered for more than a year after his murder. Castillo was a member of the 18th Street Gang, one of the rival gangs of MS-13, according to federal prosecutors." The Daily News adds, Tortilla and five other members of MS-13 convinced Castillo to join them to smoke weed, luring him to an isolated area in Cow Meadow Park in Freeport, L.I., prosecutors EFTA00161242 said. There, by the water, the crew attacked Castillo, each taking a turn cutting the kid up with a machete, the feds alleged in an indictment." US Charges Former Missouri Officer With Assaulting Handcuffed Man. The AP (11/6) reports from a Louis, "A former St. Louis area police officer has been indicted on charges alleging that he assaulted a handcuffed man and then filed a false report claiming that the man was resisting arrest, the U.S. attorney's office announced Friday: According to the AP, "The indictment charging Jackie Matthews with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of making a false record was returned Thursday and unsealed Friday. The indictment alleges that Matthews, who is 63, deprived the handcuffed man of his right to be free from unreasonable force in March while working for the Ferguson police force. No details were released about what led up to the incident or the races of the officer and the alleged victim." The AP adds, Richard Quinn, special agent in charge of the FBI St. Louis Division, praised Ferguson police for bringing the matter to the attention of the appropriate authorities: Former Baltimore Police Detective Pleads Guilty To Lying About Drug Bust. The AP (1i17) reported that Ivo Louvado, a former Baltimore Police Department detective, "pleaded guilty Friday to lying to" FBI agents. The plea comes after federal authorities accused Louvado "of denying during a voluntary interview with FBI agents...that he and two police officers split the proceeds from" selling cocaine that was seized during a 2009 drug bust. Authorities "said Louvado's actions came to light as they investigated police misconduct following the arrests in 2017 of seven officers in a rogue police unit." Similar online coverage was run by WJZ-TV Baltimore (1116, 74K), WMAR-TV Baltimore (11/6, Broderick), WBFF-TV Baltimore (11/6, Zumer, 114K), WBAL-TV Baltimore (11/6,164K), and WBAL-AM Baltimore (11/6, Waldman, 25K). Former Detective's Admission Prompts New Trial Request For Reputed Gang Members. The Baltimore Sun (11/7, Fenton, 1.33M) reported that defense attorneys have formally requested a new trial for five reputed members of the "Murdaland Mafia Piru Bloods gang' The request comes after Dante Bailey, Corloyd Anderson, Randy Banks, Shakeen Davis and Jamal Lockley were "convicted of racketeering in April 2019," based in part on testimony given by Ivo Louvado, who has admitted that "he lied to FBI agents pursuing leads in the fallout of the Baltimore Police Gun Trace Task Force corruption scandal." The Sun article said the defense attorneys argued in their new trial request that their clients should have been made aware of Louvado's admission. FBI Probing Discovery Of Tracking Devices On Two Missouri Officials' Cars. The AP (11/6) reports, "Missouri Gov. Mike Parson's office said law enforcement authorities are investigating after tracking devices were placed on the vehicles of two administration officials." According to the AP, "The devices were found on the vehicles of Drew Erdmann, Missouri's chief operating officer, and Sarah Steelman, commissioner of the Office of the Administration. The Office of Administration procures goods and services for the state, while the chief operating officer oversees the management and distribution of state resources. 'Unfortunately, a governor staff member and cabinet member were victims of potential criminal activity that was tied to their roles as public servants,' Parson spokeswoman Kelli Jones said in a statement." The Kansas City (MO) Star (11/6, 549K) reports, "A private investigator says he helped install tracking devices on the vehicles of two high-ranking officials in Missouri Gov. Mike Parson's administration at the behest of a man working for a private security firm, spurring an FBI investigation." The Star adds, "For several days in August, two GPS devices monitored the movements of vehicles used by" Steelman and Erdmann, "according to Mike Bland, a licensed private investigator in Missouri. Bland said he was hired by John Wall of Asymmetric Solutions, a security firm based in Farmington, Mo., to track Steelman and Erdmann. He said Wall wanted the surveillance because his other company, the software firm Redlyst, hadn't been selected to provide facial recognition services to the state: US Charges Former Minnesota Officer With Extortion, Drug Theft. The AP (11/6) reports from Minneapolis, "A former Minneapolis police officer has been charged with federal civil rights violations and multiple counts of extortion and acquiring drugs, prosecutors announced Friday." Federal prosecutors "said Ty Jindra abused his position as a Minneapolis police officer to obtain controlled substances, including meth, heroine and cocaine from September 2017 through October 2019. He got the drugs through deception, extortion and unconstitutional searches and seizures, prosecutors said. Jindra made his initial court appearance Friday and was released with conditions." US Attorney Erica MacDonald "said Jindra, 28, of Elk River, was charged with 11 counts, including acquiring controlled substances by deception, extortion under color of official right, and deprivation of rights under color of law." The Minneapolis Star Tribune (1117, Mannix, 1.O4M) reports that Jindra "ran a scheme from September 2017 to October 2019 to steal drugs by means of 'deception, extortion, and conducting unconstitutional searches and seizures,' according to a EFTA00161243 grand jury indictment unsealed in Minnesota U.S. District Court Friday. This included confiscating drugs during a search without his partner looking, then failing to log them as evidence or filing a report, according to the indictment. Jindra pocketed drugs turned in to police by a concerned citizen and skimmed from bags before logging them into evidence, according to the indictment. In one case, the charges say, Jindra stole heroin and meth from the scene of an overdose call." WCCO-AM Minneapolis (1116, 14K) and KSTP-TV Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN (11/6, 249K) also report. Growing Evidence Indicates Thousands Of Companies Received PPP Loans For Which They Were Ineligible. The Wall Street Journal (11/8, Tracy, Subscription Publication, 7.57M) reports while 5.2 million companies received some $525 billion in PPP loans between April 3 and Aug. 8, there is growing evidence that many other companies received loans for which they were ineligible because banks and the government allowed applicants to self-certify that they needed the funds. The SBA's inspector general found tens of thousands of companies received loans received loans for which they were not eligible and tens of thousands appear to have received more money than they should have. The New York Post (11/8, Moore, 4.57M) reports, "The federal government continues to be flooded with reports of potential fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program — intended to give small businesses struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic a helping hand — according to a report Sunday: The Post adds, "Congress passed the program to give small businesses access to taxpayer funds, but the Small Business Administration's inspector general said tens of thousands of companies that received the PPP loans appear to have been ineligible, the Wall Street Journal reported. Some corporations that were created after the pandemic began received a slice of the approximately $525 billion in loans, as did companies that exceeded the 500-employees- or-fewer workplace limits and those included on the federal 'Do Not Pay' database because they owed tax money. Many firms received more money than they were eligible for based on their number of employees and rates of compensation, the report said." Chicago Brothers Charged With Stimulus Check Fraud. The Chicago Tribune (11/6, Meisner, Meisner, 2.65M) reports, "Akeem Kosoko and his postal carrier brother had allegedly been stealing people's personal funds from the U.S. mail for months when the federal government rolled out what undoubtedly seemed like the ultimate bonanza: Trump checks,' that "were mailed to financially struggling taxpayers during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, according to criminal charges recently unsealed in Chicago's federal court: According to the Tribune, *In early May, the FBI was listening as Kosoko allegedly arranged a meeting on Chicago's West Side to sell several stimulus checks to an associate for $5,000. 'You get them Trump licks?' the associate, who was cooperating with the investigation, asked Kosoko in the May 7 call, according to the charges. 'You know it, boy!' Kosoko replied. The exchange was one of several detailed in a 43-page criminal complaint charging Kosoko, 26, and his brother, Ahmed Kosoko, 35, with conspiring to steal U.S. mail and theft of government funds." Former CEO Of California Medical Device Firm Sentenced For Fraud, Money Laundering. SFGate (CA) (11/8, 2.13M) reports, "The former chief executive officer of a San Rafael-based medical device company was sentenced this week to 135 months in prison for wire fraud, money laundering and related charges, according to the U.S. Department of Justice." According to SFGate, "The sentence for Lawrence J. Gerrans, former CEO of Sanovas, was handed down by US> District Court Judge Edward M. Chen in San Francisco. According to U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson, Gerrans utilized a number of fraudulent methods to siphon funds out of Sanovas between Jan. 12, 2015, and March 16, 2015." FBI: Hackers Stole Source Code From Government Agencies, Private Firms. ZDNet (11/7, Cimpanu, 299K) reports that the FBI 'has sent out a security alert warning that threat actors are abusing misconfigured SonarQube applications to access and steal source code repositories from US government agencies and private businesses. Intrusions have taken place since at least April 2020, the FBI said in an alert sent out last month and made public this week on its website." ZDNet adds, "The alert specifically warns owners of SonarQube, a web-based application that companies integrate into their software build chains to test source code and discover security flaws before rolling out code and applications into production environments. SonarQube apps are installed on web servers and connected to source code hosting systems like BitBucket, GitHub, or GitLab accounts, or Azure DevOps systems," but "the FBI says that some companies have left these systems unprotected, running on their default configuration (on port 9000) with default admin credentials (admin/admin)." Campari Reports Data Encrypted, Stolen Following Hacking Attack. Reuters (11/6) reports that Campari said on Friday checks conducted after a hacking attack showed data on some of the company's servers had been encrypted and some information had been lost: Last week, the Italian drinks group "said it had been targeted by hackers around Nov. 1." The company said, "Together with cyber-security experts we have contained the issue and immediately put in place all EFTA00161244 possible extra security measures." The company also "said it had notified all the relevant data protection authorities, as well as the Italian cyber police and the FBI' Also reporting is SiliconANGLE (11/8). Federal Agencies Warn Of Ransomware Targeting Healthcare Sector. The Los Alamos (NM) Daily Post (11/7) reports, "With the healthcare system already strained by the pandemic, cyber-criminals are targeting the healthcare sector." Last week, CISA, HHS, and the FBI "issued a joint advisory warning of 'credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.- Ransomware attacks are an increasingly common form of cyberattack, and the "most common strains of ransomware being used in these attacks seem to be Ryuk and Conti." According to CISA, "it is likely the Trickbot gang is behind the attacks," and the "most common vector of attack for ransomware is the end-user, via phishing emails." Twitter Permanently Bans Bannon For Urging Trump To Put Fauci And Wray's "Heads On Pikes." The Washington Post (11/6, Peiser, 14.2M) reports that after Steve Bannon on Thrusday urged President Trump to demote NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci and fire FBI Director Wray, and added: "I'd actually like to go back to the old times of Tudor England. I'd put the heads on pikes," Twitter "permanently suspended Bannon's @WarRoomPandemic account...after he posted the clip," which "makes Bannon one of the most high-profile political figures to be banned." The Post adds Facebook, YouTube, and Spotify "removed video clips and audio from the episode." Meanwhile, the New York Times (11/6, Weiser, Schmidt, Rashbaum, 18.61M) reports William A. Burck, "a prominent lawyer who was defending Mr. Bannon against fraud charges in federal court in Manhattan," on Friday "abruptly moved to drop him as a client, one person familiar with matter said." The Times describes the loss of the "white-shoe representation" as "the latest setback for Mr. Bannon, 66, who has struggled for political relevance since losing his job at the White House eight months after Mr. Trump's inauguration." Steve Bannon's Lawyer Quits Fraud Case After Former Trump Strategist's Controversial Remarks. The AP (11/6) reported that a lawyer for President Trump's "former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, quit defending him in a federal fraud case a day after Bannon made inflammatory comments about Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray." In a letter "dated Friday, defense attorney William Burck told a federal court judge in New York City that he was withdrawing from the case." The lawyer "quit after Bannon suggested on an online broadcast that Fauci and Wray should be beheaded for being disloyal to the president." Also reporting were the Washington Post (11/6, Jacobs, 14.2M), the New York Times (11/6, Weiser, Schmidt, Rashbaum, 18.61M), The Hill (11/6, Neidig, Deese, 2.98M), the New York Daily News (11/6, Brown, 2.52M), and the Washington Examiner (11/6, Dyke, 448K). After Media Outlets Designate Biden As President-Elect, Trump Says Election "Far From Over." Within 20 minutes of CNN calling the 2020 election for Joe Biden at 11:24 a.m. EDT on Saturday after projecting he will win Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes, it was followed by NBC, CBS, MSNBC, ABC, the AP, the Washington Post, and Fox News. In a statement, President Trump responded, 'We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don't want the truth to be exposed." He added, "The simple fact is this election is far from over." Typical of the reporting on the announcement, the AP (11/7, Bauder) says that after five days of vote counting 'testing the nation's patience, news organizations on Saturday moved swiftly following a crucial release of data from Pennsylvania to declare...Biden as the winner of the presidential election." The New York Times (11/7, Koblin, Grynbaum, Hsu, 18.61M) reports CNN was first media outlet to call the race for Biden, while Fox News was the last when it "confirmed the outcome at 11:40 a.m., underscoring what its anchor Chris Wallace later called 'the power of what we are seeing right now." The Washington Post (11/7, Izadi, 14.2M) reports Fox called the race for Biden "at the same time as it called that he would win Nevada's six electoral votes." The Post suggests Fox News was cautious, as it "drew the ire of the Trump campaign" when it called Arizona for Biden eadier in the week, whereas The Hill (11/7, Concha, 2.98M) reports that after the race was called, Matt Drudge "tweeted 'You're fired' under a photo of...Trump, which is now the banner on his news site." The Hill says Drudge's conservative website "has been feuding with...Trump, and his coverage had turned critical of the Trump White House." However, Reuters (11/7, Chiacu) reports that the President "said on Saturday his campaign would begin challenging U.S. election results in court next week," though Trump "has repeatedly made unfounded claims of fraud in the election." Earlier in the day, the President tweeted, 'I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!' He later continued, "THE OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE COUNTING ROOMS. I WON THE ELECTION, GOT 71,000,000 LEGAL VOTES. BAD THINGS HAPPENED WHICH OUR OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. MILLIONS OF EFTA00161245 MAIL-IN BALLOTS WERE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR THEM!" He added "71 000,000 Legal Votes. The most EVER for a sifting President!" Politico (11/7, Kumar, Lippman, 4.29M) reports that when the race was called, the President "had traveled to his namesake golf dub outside Washington to play a round of golf, like he had so many warm, sunny weekends during his presidency." A Washington Post (11/7, Bump, 14.2M) analysis says it "was perhaps inevitable" that the 2020 election "would end when Trump was on a golf course," as by the Post's count, he "played on at least 247 occasions, three-quarters of Obama's total over twice as long a time in office. Of those 247 rounds, 195 occurred on either a Saturday or a Sunday. In fact, Trump's played golf on almost exactly half of the weekend days that he has been in office, always at a dub owned by his private company. (All but two of his rounds overall have similarly been at Trump Organization courses.) On an additional 36 weekend days, he has visited a Trump property without playing golf.° Meanwhile, the New York Times (11/7, Haberman, Shear, 18.61M) reports that aides "said Mr. Trump had no plans to immediately deliver the kind of concession speech that has become traditional in past presidential elections, and his campaign vowed to continue waging the legal battle across the country." The Times adds that advisers "said the president has refused to acknowledge that he has lost, maintaining his baseless accusation that Democrats had stolen the election .° On the CBS Evening News (11/7, story 8, 2:16, O'Donnell, 70K), Weijia Jiang reported a senior campaign adviser "tells us that...Trump is frustrated but in a fighting mood, and they still believe they have a path to victory through lawsuits in Pennsylvania. But advisers have not been able to answer how the President could possibly make up his deficit in ballots. We are told, though, by two senior Administration officials tonight that if the President exhausts all his legal options and that does not move the final tally, President Trump will concede to Biden. But they also added it's way too soon to say that he will also invite his successor to the White House to meet before inauguration, which is a tradition." However, McClatchy (11/7, Chambers, Wilner, 19K) reports sources `close to Trump" had "privately...acknowledged it was over, with one adviser telling McClatchy that only a 'handful' of aides still believed that there was a way for Trump to win." Mother Trump adviser "told McClatchy that the president was unlikely to concede unless his children told him to do so," and Bill Stepien, the President's campaign manager, on Saturday "told campaign staff that the fight was not over and there were actions that could help." Reuters (11/8, Mason, Shalal) similarly reports that on Saturday, Trump "and his allies made one thing dear: he does not plan to concede anytime soon." In another article, Reuters (11/7, Shepardson) reports Trump's campaign 'said on Saturday it had sued in Arizona, alleging that the Southwestern state's most populous county incorrectly rejected votes cast on Election Day by some voters in the U.S. presidential race." USA Today (11/7, King, Fritze, 10.31M) reports Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani "said the president would not concede the race, daiming without evidence that hundreds of thousands of ballots are in question." The Washington Times (11/7, Swoyer, 492K) reports Giuliani "told reporters there were dozens of poll observers who will testify to not being able to inspect mail-in ballots." The Times says Giuliani 'estimated that about 300,000 ballots weren't inspected in the Pittsburgh area. All together, he said about 700,000 might not have been reviewed, the same amount of votes Mr. Trump led by in the Keystone State on election night." The Times adds Giuliani "said there's no way to lose a lead like that without corruption." In addition, The Hill (11/7, Castronuovo, 2.98M) reports Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham 'said that he would investigate 'all credible allegations of voting irregularities and misconduct after receiving a swom affidavit from a Pennsylvania postal worker alleging officials devised a plan to backdate mail ballots." The Hill reports that Graham 'added that he would be 'calling on the Department of Justice to investigate these claims'" and said he will "be in contact with the Postmaster General, requesting he to look into these allegations, ones that may follow, and help secure the testimony" of the postal worker. The Washington Times (11/7, Boyer, 492K) reports Paula White, a spiritual adviser to the president, "tweeted several hours after Mr. Biden was declared the winner, 'God can turn your feast into famine in a moment! Is there anything too difficult for The Lord?'" and she "tweeted a famous photo of President Harry Truman holding a copy of the Chicago Daily Tribune in 1948 with the incorrect banner headline, 'Dewey defeats Truman.'" Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), °a staunch ally of the president° also tweeted, "No matter what the media tells you, this is NOT over. It's not over until every LEGAL vote is counted. This is America. We the PEOPLE decide who our next President is. NOT the media.° A Washington Post (11/6, Phillips, 14.2M) analysis states that in spite of the efforts of the President and his campaign, "there may not be much state lawmakers, Congress and the Supreme Court can do to help Trump — unless there's an electoral college tie," while Hallie Jackson said on NBC Nightly News (11/7, story 2, 2:07, Holt, 5.29M) that the legal challenges "seem likely to fail. Advisers appearing to push a PR case more than a legal one." On ABC World News Tonight (11/7, story 4, 0:59, Stephanopoulos, 902K), Chief White House Correspondent Jon Karl said, "Usually at a moment like this, you expect the losing candidate to make a phone call to the President-elect, to give a concession speech that would come in an advance of a victory speech. There's been no phone call from the President, there's EFTA00161246 been no hint of conceding this race. He is very much disputing it. He's actually on Twitter claiming that he not just won this election, but he won by a lot. Of course, he lost the popular vote by more than four million votes. And he's challenging, there are legal challenges, but he would have to overturn the results in not one state, not two states, but three states. And yet still defiant as ever on Twitter." According to Politico (11/7, Kumar, 4.29M), "This is what a Donald Trump concession looks like: Never admit true defeat. Assert he only lost because the other side cheated. Dissemble when people press him on his lack of evidence: Politico adds, "It's a Trumpian way to lose. He can leave the White House without acknowledging he actually failed at anything, and even characterize himself as a winner who was targeted by the deep state." However, Politico warns the "spillover effect" is that it "inherently undermines his successor's legitimacy and sows doubt about the integrity of U.S. elections." The Los Angeles Times (11/7, Bierman, 4.64M) says Trump "has 10 weeks to exact revenge on his political foes, pardon his friends and make life difficult for...Biden, who bested him at the ballot box and turned him into something he hates: a loser." The Times adds that as "a lame duck, Trump is continuing to push political norms and stoke partisan passions by refusing to concede, repeating the same blatant falsehoods he made after the election — that he had won but Democrats 'stole' the race through fraud, neither of which was true." Trump Supporters Defiantly Protest At Statehouses Nationwide. The Washington Post (11/7, Knowles, Berman, Miroff, 14.2M) reports activists and other Trump supporters "insisted Saturday that the presidential election was not finished, displaying defiance after Joe Biden secured victory in the closely fought race: The Post says that from Arizona to Pennsylvania, Trump's supporters "echoed the president's attacks on the integrity of the election," as they "made baseless allegations of voter fraud and pledged to keep fighting in court while claiming Biden did not legitimately win: The Post adds that instead of accepting that the media had called the race, the 'devotees- of the President "spurned them. They gathered at so-called 'Stop the Steal' rallies at state capitols across the country to claim, without evidence, that ballot counts favorable to Biden stem from a sprawling, multistate conspiracy to hijack the vote through fraud." The AP (11/7, Snow, Geller) reports that from Atlanta "and Tallahassee to Austin, Bismarck, Boise and Phoenix, crowds ranging in size from a few dozen to a few thousand — some of them openly carrying guns — decried the news of Joe Biden's victory after more than three suspense-filled days of vote-counting put the Democrat over the top." USA Today (11/7, Miller, 10.31M) says the protests 'were mostly peaceful in the hours after Biden's victory was announced. But Trump backers remained defiant." Similarly, the New York Times (11/7, Barry, Goodman, Kanno-Youngs, 18.61M) describes the President's supporters as responding to reports of Biden's victory "with a combination of disappointment and disbelief: although the New York Times (11/7, Barry, 18.61M) highlights one family of Trump supporters who "slowly realized" the election 'wasn't going" in Trump's favor this week. Meanwhile, the Washington Times (1117, Blake, 492K) reports Enrique Tarrio, the chairman of the Proud Boys, the group the President "recently told to 'stand back and stand by,'" on Saturday said its members "should consider that order lifted following his projected loss" Biden. The Times adds Tarrio "said later on Parler, a social network where he posts, that he was referring to protesting and that his original message was being misinterpreted to suggest he was calling for violence." However, Reuters (11/7, Layne) reports that more than 50 Trump supporters this week said they are "willing to give Biden a chance." Media Analyses Reflect On Trump's Legacy. In an analysis, the Washington Post (11/7, Brockell, 14.2M) says Trump "joined history's club of one-term presidents; who were "rejected by the Americans they led." Another Washington Post (11/7, Bump, 14.2M) analysis says Trump was "the fourth president in American history to never win the popular vote in a presidential election," and it contends he "will leave office having never had majority support of any kind from the American public." However, the AP (11/7, Colvin, Miller) says that although the President "has fallen back to earth: his impact is likely to resonate for generations in politics, governing and policy, even in defeat." The AP adds that until a successor "emerges to lead Republicans — likely not until the resolution of the 2024 Republican primary — Trump remains the de facto head of a party that he has reshaped in his image." In addition, a Washington Post (11/6, Timberg, Dwoskin, 14.2M) analysis concedes that Trump "will leave the White House...with a massive social media following that he could use to shape the nation's politics throughout his successor's administration and beyond," and Reuters (11/7, Tanfani) predicts that Trumpism "will outlast Trump," but Politico (11/7, Kruse, 4.29M) highlights that "for the first time in his life, in a public and historic way, he has lost," which will leave Trump "fighting against being tagged with a label that he has considered toxic to his brand." According to Reuters (11/7, Satter, Culliford, Paul), Twitter users "searching for the word 'loser on Saturday were greeted with" the President's account, while 'searches for 'winner in the same 'People' tab...pointed to the accounts of Biden and Harris. Reuters adds that Twitter "said the results were automatically generated based on how people on the app were using the terms EFTA00161247 in their tweets at the time," while a spokesman told The Hill (11/7, Axelrod, 2.98M) that Trump's tweets 'would be treated like any other when he leaves office." Meanwhile, USA Today (11/7, Phillips, Johnson, 10.31M) states that Trump "has long been the subject and instigator of lawsuits, both before his presidency and while he has been in the White House," which 'will not change after he leaves." According to USA Today, "A number of lawsuits and investigations awaits Trump once he returns to private life. Some could stain his family's reputation. Some could affect his business. And some could damage him personally as the protection provided by the presidency goes away." In an analysis, Politico (11/8, Kumar, 4.29M) says investigators "are examining whether Trump improperly inflated assets, evaded taxes and paid off women alleging affairs in violation of campaign finance laws. Women have filed lawsuits accusing him of harassing and assaulting them. Lenders are looking for hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to be repaid. And he's lost the legal immunity the presidency confers on him. He's lost the White House's bully pulpit He may lose the GOP." Politico adds that as such, Trump "must plot how he can make the money he will need, keep the attention he craves and evade the authorities probing him. And according to Republicans familiar with the situation, he has already started doing that." In a more than 3,600-word analysis, Politico Magazine (1117, Gninwald, 4.24M) contends Trump "won the White House in 2016 because he wasn't a conventional politician. Joe Biden won the White House in 2020 because he was. After four years of presidential rage-tweeting, name-calling, gaslighting, race-baiting and all-around norm-breaking, an exhausted electorate decided this week that it was ready to return to politics as usual." Copyright 2020 by Bulletin Intelligence LLC Reproduction or redistribution without permission prohibited. Content is drawn horn thousands of newspapers, national magazines, national and local television program, radio broadrries, socal•media platforms and additional form of open-source data. Sources for Buletn Intelligence audience-size estimates include Scarborough, GA< MRI, comScore, Nielsen. aid the Audit Bureau of Circulation. Data from and access to third party social media platforms, including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others, is subject to the respective platforms terms of use. Services that include Factiva content are governed by Factiva's terms of use. Services including embedded Tweets are also subject to Twitter for Website's information and privacy policies. The FBI Diectors Morning Briefing is published five days a week Bulletin Intelligence, which creates custom briefings for government and corporate leaders. We can be found on the Web at Buletinkrielligence.rom, or called at Please direct comments and concerns to EFTA00161248