“SpaceX is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a classified contract with a U.S. intelligence agency, demonstrating deepening ties between billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s space company and national security agencies,” Reuters reports.
Donald Trump Is a National Security Risk
Tom Nichols: “The risks of denying Trump these early briefings are negligible. As we learned from his presidency, Trump is fundamentally unbriefable: He doesn’t listen, and he doesn’t understand complicated national-security matters anyway. The problem with giving Trump these briefings, however, isn’t that he’s ignorant. He’s also dangerous, as his record shows.”
“Indeed, if Trump were a federal employee, he’d have likely already been stripped of his clearances and escorted from the building. I say this from experience: I was granted my first security clearance when I was 25 years old—Ronald Reagan was still president, which tells you how long ago that was—and I held a top-secret clearance when I advised a senior U.S. senator during the Gulf War. I then held a clearance as a Department of Defense employee for more than a quarter century.”
Schiff Calls on Officials to ‘Dumb Down’ Trump Briefing
“Rep. Adam Schiff hopes U.S. intelligence officials will limit the information they share with former President Donald Trump when they brief him on national security matters — briefings that are standard for presidential nominees,” Politico reports.
Said Schiff: “I have to hope — and knowing the intelligence community, as I do — that they will dumb down the briefing for Donald Trump. That is, they will give him no more information than absolutely necessary.”
“It would be the first time an administration has willingly shared classified information with a candidate who is facing criminal charges related to their handling of classified material.”
Jack Teixeira Agrees to 16-Year Plea Deal
Jack Teixeira, who is accused of posting secret intelligence reports and sensitive documents online, “agreed to plead guilty on Monday in exchange for a 16-year sentence and a commitment to comprehensively brief officials on the extent of his leaks,” the New York Times reports.
“The Justice Department agreed not to charge him with violations of the Espionage Act, which, when combined with the other charges, could have resulted in a sentence of up to 60 years in prison had he been convicted.”
Jack Teixeira Expected to Plead Guilty in Leak
“A Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of posting dozens of secret intelligence reports and other sensitive documents on a gaming chat group is expected to plead guilty in federal court on Monday,“ the New York Times reports.
“The airman, Jack Teixeira, intends to withdraw his not-guilty plea in a deal that is likely to entail prison time, but less than the 60-year maximum sentence he faced on charges of improperly handling and publicly disclosing national defense secret.”
Washington Post: “Teixeira’s leaks revealed information about the Russia-Ukraine war, China’s development of hypersonic spy drones, North Korea’s nuclear weapons development, conflicts in the Middle East and the Ukrainian sabotage of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline.”
U.S. Braces for Fast-Moving Threats to Elections
“The United States expects to face fast-moving threats to American elections this year as artificial intelligence and other technological advances have made interference and meddling easier than before, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Thursday,” the AP reports.
Said Wray: “The U.S. has confronted foreign malign influence threats in the past. But this election cycle, the U.S. will face more adversaries, moving at a faster pace, and enabled by new technology.”
Prospect of Second Trump Term Has U.S. Intel on Edge
Politico: “Former top officials from Donald Trump’s administration are warning he is likely to use a second term to overhaul the nation’s spy agencies in a way that could lead to an unprecedented level of politicization of intelligence.”
Intelligence Puts Focus on New U.S. Satellite Push
“Hours after the news broke on Wednesday that the United States had picked up worrisome intelligence about Russia’s capacity to strike American satellites, the Pentagon sent a missile-tracking system into orbit, part of a vast new effort to bolster the military’s growing presence in space,” the New York Times reports.
“The timing was coincidental. But it underscored how concerns about advances in Russian and Chinese capabilities in space have led the United States to embrace innovative ways of protecting vital communications, surveillance and GPS systems on the battlefield of the future.”
GOP Factions Threaten to Tank Mike Johnson’s Spy Bill
Politico: “Two opposing factions of the House GOP are both threatening to tank the reauthorization of a critical intelligence surveillance tool as Republicans remain locked in a long-running standoff. One side of the debate views sweeping changes as vital to Americans’ privacy rights and the other warns new limits would critically undermine national security by effectively neutering the program.”
“The House clash — between Republican security hawks on the Intelligence Committee and GOP privacy advocates on the Judiciary Committee — is a particularly sore point for Johnson’s leadership. He’s facing criticism from every corner about how he’s handled the spy powers fight, with members predicting the bill would be blocked if Johnson tries to bring it up for a quick vote Thursday.”
House Intel Chair Warns of National Security Threat
House Intelligence Chair Mike Turner (R-OH) made a cryptic call for President Biden to declassify information about a “serious national security threat” to allow for public discussions about how the U.S. should respond, The Hill reports.
The ranking member on the panel, Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), however, cautioned the matter was not one of great urgency and that “people should not panic.”
CNN reports one of the sources who has seen the intelligence confirmed that it is “a highly concerning and destabilizing’ Russian capability ‘that we were recently made aware of.'”
Lloyd Austin Hospitalized Again
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin transferred his duties to his deputy as he is hospitalized for treatment for symptoms “suggesting an emergent bladder issue,” CNN reports.
U.S. Failed to Stop Drone Attack Because of Mixup
“The U.S. failed to stop a deadly attack on an American military outpost in Jordan because the enemy drone approached its target at the same time a U.S. drone was also returning to base,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The return of the U.S. drone led to some confusion over whether the incoming drone was friend or foe, officials have concluded so far.”
Humanity Is as Close as Ever to Self-Annihilation
“We’re still as close as ever to global catastrophe, according to the annual update of the Doomsday Clock,” USA Today reports.
“The time on the symbolic clock is the same as last year, when the Doomsday Clock was first set at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest to midnight the clock has ever been.”
Trump Explains Missile Defense
Donald Trump provided an elaborate description of missile defense technology in a New Hampshire speech.
Lloyd Austin Released from the Hospital
“Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released from the hospital Monday, after spending two weeks there to treat complications from surgery for prostate cancer he kept secret from senior Biden administration leaders and staff for weeks,” the AP reports.
Defense Secretary Has Prostate Cancer
“Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III has been hospitalized for the past week because of complications after he had prostate cancer surgery,“ the New York Times reports.
“A hospital official said Mr. Austin was admitted on Jan. 1 with severe abdominal, hip and leg pain after what the hospital characterized as a minor prostate cancer procedure the week before. The defense secretary was put in intensive care, where excess abdominal fluid was drained.”
Wall Street Journal: “Under pressure from the administration and members of Congress, including from his own party, the Pentagon on Tuesday finally released details on the nature of Austin’s medical condition and procedures.”
Trump Calls for ‘Giant Dome’ to Protect the U.S.
Donald Trump said during a rally he intends to build a “giant dome” around the U.S. to protect it from a “hostile source” if he wins back the White House, The Messenger reports.
He added: “And I think it’s a great thing, and it’s going to all be made in the United States.”
What Was Lloyd Austin Thinking?
Playbook: “One big question is on the minds of Washington insiders headed into this week: How the hell does the secretary of Defense end up in the hospital for multiple days and nobody tells the White House?”
“We’ve asked — and been asked — that question over and over again as we worked the phones last night and this morning. People at the White House, the broader Biden administration and the amorphous foreign policy ‘blob’ are befuddled.”
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