“It sounds like something that James Bond would use: a gadget that self-destructs if it falls into the wrong hands. But it’s actually an open-source operating system that can be downloaded onto Android phones,” the New York Times reports.
“Federal prosecutors in Atlanta are bringing an obstruction charge against a U.S. citizen who gave customs officers what is known as a duress passcode, which activated software that erased the contents of his phone.”
“Federal agents seized the mobile phone and computer of Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter last September in a wide-ranging probe into the financial dealings of the billionaire’s businesses,” Bloomberg reports.
“The Trump administration’s deadly military strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats have not reduced the amount of cocaine entering the United States, but they’re prompting criminal organizations to develop new strategies and tactics and undermining traditional investigative methods,” the Washington Post reports.
“The trap began with a routine bureaucratic ritual: the head of a family-run contracting company and a small town public-works director trading emails about when the municipality would cut a six-figure check for utility work,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“But lurking online, a cybercriminal pounced with staggering ease. Someone posing as a company employee emailed the director to request an electronic transfer instead. Days later, the town sent $545,598.30 to a Utah bank account that wasn’t the company’s.”
“Surfside Beach had fallen victim to a ‘business email compromise’ scam, a cyber-swindle that cost $3 billion nationally last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says.”
“In such ruses, fraudsters fool people with malicious software, phishing emails or tweaked digital addresses. Once in, they can spot legitimate email threads about invoices and business matters.”
“More than 100 child pornography files were found in the central Pennsylvania home of Jesse White, a former Democratic state representative,” CBS News reports.
“According to court records, FBI agents discovered more than 100 files containing child pornography on laptops and drives belonging to the former state representative.”
“President Trump quietly denied nearly 6,000 clemency applications this month from people who mostly lacked political connections and had waited patiently in a queue while he awarded pardons and commutations to allies who had skipped the line,” the New York Times reports.
“The denials came after his administration had raised hopes that he might mark the country’s semiquincentennial by granting clemency to as many as 250 people.”
“That raft of clemency grants did not materialize.”
“The Trump administration has moved sharply away from charging companies over the wrongdoing of employees, recently closing a string of criminal investigations with lenient resolutions or no charges at all,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“A federal immigration agent told his former wife that he was the person who fatally shot a Colombian immigrant in Maine this week and defended his actions to her, the ex-wife said,” the New York Times reports.
“The woman, Ashley Brouillette, identified the agent as David Brouillette, 37, in an interview on Thursday. She said that when she spoke to him on Wednesday about the shooting, Mr. Brouillette said that it was justified.”
“Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, whose social media empire promoting wealth, male dominance and misogyny has made them among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities, were arrested Saturday in Miami as British authorities sought their extradition on rape and sex trafficking charges,” Politico reports.
“The brothers were taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on a sealed warrant.”
“The fatal shooting of an immigrant in Maine has renewed concerns about the Trump administration’s push to quickly hire officers for mass deportations, after a woman said her abusive ex-husband told her he was the officer who fired his gun,” the Washington Post reports.
“A person was killed Monday in an ICE-involved shooting in Biddeford, Maine, according to the state’s speaker of the house — just days after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a Mexican immigrant during a traffic stop in Houston, sparking mass protests and demands for transparency and accountability,” CNN reports.
Reuters: Person killed in ICE-involved shooting in Maine, media reports.
“Vice President JD Vance said he has no doubt accused murderer Tyler Robinson killed Charlie Kirk — but he still wonders if more people were ‘directly involved’ in the slaying,” Mediaite reports.
Said Vance: “I’m always going to wonder. I’m always going to wonder what was said and how many contacts Robinson had beforehand. By the way, it doesn’t mean that Robinson’s any less guilty.”
He added: “But do I wonder if there are other people who are more directly involved in Charlie’s murder? Absolutely, because I don’t think that it’s possible for a young man to get radicalized like that without somebody encouraging him, whether informally or formally.”
“A federal judge has reluctantly granted a request by the Justice Department to formally dismiss a criminal case accusing five members of the Proud Boys, the far-right group, of seditious conspiracy in connection with the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,” the New York Times reports.
“In an order filed on Friday night, the judge, Timothy J. Kelly of Federal District Court in Washington, said that he did not agree with the Trump administration’s decision to dismiss the charges against the Proud Boys — one of the last traces of the Justice Department’s vast investigation of the Capitol attack.”
Fox News: Trump-appointed judge permanently ends Proud Boys Jan. 6 case, says Constitution left him no choice.
New York Times: “Using tips from chatbots, mechanics modified the motorcycles to allow for faster acceleration and top speed. The riders dug their own holes, filled them with broken glass and fire, and practiced jumps — sometimes with fatal outcomes — until they achieved enough aerial liftoff to mount a successful attack, defectors said.”
“The episode, recounted in a research paper by Dr. Juelich shared with The New York Times ahead of its publication on Friday, highlights how generative artificial intelligence tools are increasingly aiding terrorist groups directly on the battlefield, experts say, despite efforts by their makers to safeguard them from misuse.”
“On the morning after Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on a Utah college campus, Tyler Robinson’s roommate and romantic partner said the man paced around their St. George townhouse, seemingly trying to keep himself busy and distracted,” Salt Lake Tribune reports.
“Lance Twiggs said in a video interview played in court Thursday that he asked Robinson if what he had texted the night before was true: that he was the shooter.”
Said Twiggs: “He said it was. He started crying a little bit and said he wishes he hadn’t done it.”
Axios: MAGA figures flock to Charlie Kirk murder hearing.
“The recent sexual assault allegations against Graham Platner aren’t just the political flashpoint that forced a rising populist Democrat to suspend a major Senate campaign. They also potentially amount to criminal conduct,” USA Today reports.
“Jenny Racicot, 41, had been casually dating Platner for about two years when he came to the home where she was staying in 2021 and sexually assaulted her, while she repeatedly told him to stop, according to allegations she made in interviews with Politico and CNN.”
“Those allegations could constitute gross sexual assault, a felony crime in Maine law used to prosecute rape, according to William T. Bly, a Maine criminal defense lawyer. However, he said Racicot, who didn’t report the incident to law enforcement in 2021, would need to decide now that she wants to report it.”
“Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool,” CNN reports.
“Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan was spared from prison Wednesday for ushering a Mexican defendant out of her courtroom to evade U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents,” the Associated Press reports.
“A federal judge fined her $5,000 and cited her otherwise law-abiding life in issuing the sentence.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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