Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Friday, September 20, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some very pressing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening.
New information emerging about Iran’s alleged hacking of former president Donald Trump, county officials in a very competitive battleground state say they won’t use ballot drop boxes, and lawmakers have just passed a new bill that affects illegal immigrants who’ve been convicted of sex crimes.
Also, authorities in the country’s biggest city face a growing political crisis, and a senior citizen in Alaska has been arrested and charged with threatening members of the U.S. Supreme Court.
What We Know About Iran Hacking Trump Data
The FBI says computer hackers backed by Iran targeted former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, then tried to send the stolen information to associates of President Joe Biden.The FBI, along with two other federal agencies, released a statement this week pointing out that a few months ago, Iranian hackers sent emails containing privileged information to people associated with the Biden campaign.
The agencies say that team Biden wasn’t interested in the hacked Trump materials, and that there is no evidence that any Biden campaign officials responded.
The FBI and other federal agencies say that Iran tried to send the stolen Trump data to some media organizations, in an attempt to influence the upcoming U.S. presidential election, and that both China and Russia are also trying to stir up divisions among U.S. citizens.
You should know that both Microsoft and Google said just last month that Iran-backed hackers had been targeting the presidential campaigns.
You should also know that the Iranian regime had issued threatening statements against the then-Trump administration following its order of the drone strike that killed Iranian official Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
No Mail Ballot Drop Boxes in Pennsylvania County
Officials in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, say they won’t be using drop boxes for the upcoming presidential election.They say the boxes, which are used to collect ballots in a number of states, could be susceptible to tampering, and they can’t guarantee they’ll remain secure.
The county manager says that the jurisdiction doesn’t have the manpower to guard the boxes, and notes that video surveillance cannot ensure that people won’t commit illegal voting activities.
The manager also points out that the insurance policy for the boxes has a $10,000 limit, which exposes the county to significant financial risk if any questionable voting irregularities take place.
You should know that Luzerne County is in northeastern Pennsylvania, and has about 326,000 residents.
Four ballot drop boxes have been used in the county in recent elections, but county officials say that each box has the potential for unauthorized access and they say the drop boxes will likely not be used in future elections.
House Passes Bill to Deport Illegal Immigrants Convicted of Sex Offenses
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill earlier this week, and it would authorize the deportation of all illegal immigrants who have been convicted of certain sex offenses.The proposed new law, which is called the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, says that any illegal immigrant who has been convicted of certain sex offenses cannot be admitted to the United States, and it also says that they’ll be deported immediately if they are already inside the country.
The crimes listed on the bill include possession of child pornography, solicitation of a minor, domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, child neglect, child abandonment, and violation of a protection order.
House members voted by a wide margin to send the bill to the Senate, which also must pass the bill before it can become law. Interesting to note, all of the Republicans who voted were in favor of the bill, while 158 Democrats voted against it.
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) points out that this new bill removes some currently existing loopholes, and says it emphasizes that illegal aliens who commit these offenses must be immediately removed from our country when they’re found.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) first introduced the bill, and she also says that illegal aliens who commit sex crimes should not be let into our country under any circumstances.
However, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) voted against the bill, noting that it could have unintended consequences, including the removal of survivors of domestic violence.
Political Turmoil Unfolds in New York City
Federal authorities are probing deeply into the administration of New York Mayor Eric Adams and just last week, New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Edward Caban resigned from his position.The mayor’s chief legal adviser, Lisa Zornberg, also resigned recently, telling the mayor in a letter that she could no longer effectively serve in her role.
Some other notable incidents are also adding fuel to the fire, including the arrests earlier this week of a pair of high-ranking New York City Fire Department officials, who have been charged in an alleged bribery scheme.
And just this past weekend, some law enforcement officers in a Brooklyn subway station opened fire on an alleged turnstile jumper who was armed with a knife. They missed the suspect and in doing so, they accidentally shot a fellow officer as well as a bystander.
A professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan says that the police force and the mayor’s administration are now both scrambling to regain credibility. He says that the NYPD’s image has been tarnished by the growing scandal, and that both the mayor and his new police commissioner, Tom Donlon, are facing an uphill challenge to rebuild trust in the community.
However, the director of a New York-based advocacy group that seeks to curb abuses by the NYPD says that the reputations of both the police department and the mayor may already be beyond repair, and several state and local officials are now calling for the mayor to step down.
One state senator says that she’s tired of the lack of accountability from government executives, and that the public has already seen enough. She says that all of the ongoing FBI investigations are doing significant harm to the best city in the world.
Alaska Man Indicted for Sending Violent Death Threats
A federal grand jury in Alaska has indicted a 76-year-old man for threatening six justices of the U.S. Supreme Court.Panos Anastasiou was arrested this week and charged with making hundreds of threats to injure and assassinate the six judges and their families.
The suspect is accused of sending over 465 messages, including violent threats, to the Supreme Court between March 2023 and July 2024, through a public website maintained by the court.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) says that earlier this year, the suspect escalated his rhetoric, and began leaving racist and homophobic rants. He also began threatening to kill the judges by lynching and beheading them. The indictment says that Anastasiou also began encouraging others to take action against the justices.
You should know that the Supreme Court Police reviewed the messages, and determined that the situation be investigated. FBI agents in Anchorage then contacted the suspect.
However, Anastasiou proceeded to send more messages to the court referencing the FBI interview and daring the judges to visit him personally at his home.
Anastasiou is charged with nine counts of making threats against a federal judge, and 13 counts of making threats in interstate commerce. If convicted, he’s facing up to 10 years in prison for each count of making threats against a federal judge, and up to five years in prison for each count of making threats in interstate commerce.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re gonna call it a wrap for the Friday edition of the Epoch Times News Brief.
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And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote and this one comes to us from Brian Tracy who said:
“Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.”
Before we go, today is National Fried Rice Day. Toss in some shrimp, chicken, or beef, and fried rice makes a complete meal. Today is also Pepperoni Pizza Day and pepperoni is the single most popular pizza.
For all of us here at the Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program was written today by David Ross.
Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.
Enjoy the remainder of your Friday and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow for the Saturday edition (the weekend edition) of the Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
