EFTA00015646.pdf

From: [REDACTED]
To: [REDACTED]
Subject: News Brief
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2021 21:00:39 +0000

Have a good weekend everyone...

Justice Dept. to Close Troubled Jail Where Jeffrey Epstein Died The 233 people being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center will be moved, at least temporarily, while officials address conditions there.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/26/nyregion/MCC-epstein-jail-closed.html

Hatescape: An In-Depth Analysis of Extremism and Hate Speech on TikTok — Institute for Strategic Dialogue (24 August 2021) TikTok is now one of the world's leading social media platforms, used by millions daily to create videos that are stylish, eye-catching and technically impressive and that inspire others to join in. The platform's videos give rise to countless viral trends across online platforms, with content spread across other social media sites. But TikTok is also popular with those intent on using online spaces to produce, post and promote hate and extremism. Academic research and news investigations have reported on the problematic side of TikTok, but there is still a significant knowledge gap on how unique aspects of the platform are used at scale to direct hatred at others. ISD set out to examine the state of hate on TikTok in two ways. The first objective involved analysing how individuals or groups promote hateful ideologies and target people on the platform based on numerous protected attributes such as ethnicity, religion, gender or others. The second objective involved using the same framework but investigating how features on TikTok like profiles, hashtags, share functions, video effects and music are used to spread hate.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks At Justice Department Leadership Meeting With State And Local Election Officials On Threats To Election Workers [DOJ] Multiple Field Offices

• The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy, the right from which all other rights ultimately flow. Protection of that right is a top priority of the Justice Department. Indeed, it was one of the principal reasons for the Department's founding in 1870.
• Today [Aug. 26], we must protect not only the right of eligible voters to vote. We must also protect those who administer our voting systems from threats and intimidation. Only by protecting those who administer the election process can we ensure that the right to vote, itself, is protected.
• See press release for further details.

T-Mobile Hacker Who Stole Data On 50 Million Customers: ‘Their Security Is Awful’ [Wall Street Journal] SE and NK
• John Binns, a 21-year-old American who moved to Turkey a few years ago, told The Wall Street Journal he was behind the [T-Mobile] security breach. Mr. Binns, who since 2017 has used several online aliases, communicated with the Journal in Telegram messages from an account that discussed details of the hack before they were widely known.
• The breach is the third major customer data leak that T-Mobile has disclosed in the past two years. The Bellevue, Wash., company is the second-largest U.S. mobile carrier with roughly 90 million cellphones connecting to its networks. The Seattle office of the FBI is investigating the T-Mobile hack.
• “John Binns” is positive in FBI holdings for captioned matter. Program Manager: Cyber

Capitol Police Officers Sue [President] Trump And Extremist Groups Over [2021] Capitol Riot [Courthouse News] WFO and Multiple Field Offices
• A group of seven U.S. Capitol Police officers sued [President] Trump and a slew [“nearly 20”] of far-right extremist organizations and political organizers on Thursday [Aug. 26] over the Jan. 6 [2021] Capitol riot, in the most comprehensive and expansive lawsuit filed regarding the riot thus far.
• The officers claim Trump, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, Trump ally Roger Stone and others conspired to use violence to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2021 presidential election, and that [President] Trump worked with these organizations and political organizers to promote the baseless claim that the election was stolen.

Robert F Kennedy Assassin [1968] Sirhan Seeks Parole; DA Won’t Challenge Release [AP News] LA
• Sirhan Sirhan faces his 16th parole hearing Friday [Aug. 26] for fatally shooting U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, and for the first time no prosecutor will be there to argue he should be kept behind bars.
• The 77-year-old Sirhan has served 53 years for the first-degree murder of the New York senator and brother of President John F. Kennedy. RFK was a Democratic presidential candidate when he was gunned down at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles moments after delivering a victory speech in the pivotal [1968] California primary.
• “Sirhan Sirhan” is positive in FBI holdings for captioned matter. Program Manager: CID

"Documentary" Profiling White Nationalist Group Released On Blockchain Video Platform [SITE Intelligence] Multiple Field Offices
• A documentary-style propaganda film promoting one of the most high-profile far-right groups in the United States was recently released via a far-right-friendly video-hosting platform.
• Media2Rise published what is purportedly only the first part of "Sons of the Founders," a documentary about the white nationalist activist group Patriot Front. The 12 minute, 43 second video was published both to Odysee, a blockchain-based video hosting website favored by the far-right, and Media2Rise's Telegram channel.
• "Sons of the Founders" features footage from what Media2Rise describes as exclusive access to a Patriot Front training camp at an undisclosed location. (Founder and leader Thomas Rousseau describes the location as being on "the coast of the Atlantic, or as close as I've ever been.")
• “Thomas Rosseau” is positive in FBI holdings for captioned matter. Program Manager: DTOU

Extremist groups 'actively recruiting' military and police, Canadian intelligence report warns
By Stewart Bell, Global News, Posted August 23, 2021 4:00 am, Updated August 23, 2021 9:32 am
https://globalnews.ca/news/8128463/extremist-groups-military-recruitment-report/
Far-right extremist groups are "actively recruiting" past and present members of the military and police, according to a declassified Canadian intelligence report obtained by Global News. The report cited 17 examples in Canada, the U.S., U.K., Germany and New Zealand which "illustrate the intersections and relationships between ideologically motivated violent extremism and uniformed personnel." Six of the cases involved members of the Canadian military or reserves... It said the groups included the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Boogaloo Movement, as well as the Three Percenters — a so-called patriot group that took part in the Jan. 6 assault at the U.S. Capitol...

Chicago CBP Seizes Counterfeit DEA Badges, Again!
US Customs and Border Protection Media Release, Release Date: August 24, 2021
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/chicago-cbp-seizes-counterfeit-dea-badges-again
CHICAGO— Just last weekend, U.S. Customs and Border Protections (CBP) officers at the Chicago International Mail Branch (IMF) seized eight Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) badges and one FBI badge. Over the last two days, August 22 and 23, CBP officers found more counterfeit badges; this time officers intercepted 26 counterfeit DEA badges. CBP inspected 25 parcels to determine the admissibility of the contents. Officers seized a total of 26 badges all destined for locations across the U.S to include: Washington, Iowa, Kentucky, Florida, California, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Texas, and Illinois. These shipments were all arriving from China and were sent by the same shipper from the previous week...

Treasury Targets Corruption Networks in Paraguay
US Department of the Treasury Press Release, August 24, 2021
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0332
IPT NOTE: See item #32 below for analysis.
WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three Paraguayan individuals, Kassem Mohamad Hijazi, Khalil Ahmed Hijazi, and Liz Paola Doldan Gonzalez, for their roles in corruption in Paraguay, as well as five associated entities connected with their corruption schemes. These individuals and entities are designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world. Corruption degrades the rule of law, weakens economies and stifles economic growth, undermines democratic institutions, perpetuates conflict, deprives innocent civilians of fundamental human rights, and is intrinsically linked to money laundering and lack of financial transparency. Today's action further demonstrates the U.S. government's ongoing effort to impose tangible and significant consequences on corrupt actors in order to protect the U.S. financial system from abuse... Click here to view more information on today's designation. https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20210824

Coordinated Law Enforcement and Treasury Action Against Money Launderers in the Tri-Border Area
Emanuele Ottolenghi, Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), August 25, 2021 | Policy Brief
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2021/08/25/money-launderers-tri-border-area/
IPT NOTE: See related item #14 above.
Emanuele Ottolenghi is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he also contributes to FDD's Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP). FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Groundbreaking extradition lands ELN members in Texas for narco-terrorism and international cocaine distribution
Possible $5 million reward for alleged leader
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas, Thursday, August 19, 2021
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/groundbreaking-extradition-lands-eln-members-texas-narco-terrorism-and-international
HOUSTON — Two alleged members of one of the most serious transnational criminal organizations will make their initial appearances in U.S. federal court on charges of narco-terrorism and distributing kilogram quantities of cocaine from Colombia. This is the first time believed members of the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional aka ELN) have been extradited to the United States in their nearly 60-year history to face both narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges. ELN is a Colombian guerrilla group officially designated as a foreign terrorist organization Oct. 8, 1997. It continues to operate as one of the largest narco-terrorism organizations in the world...

Afghanistan Live Updates: Toll in Kabul Airport Bombing Rises to 170 After a blast that killed 13 U.S. troops, evacuation flights have resumed. With four days remaining until an Aug. 31 deadline for the U.S. withdrawal, the window for airlifts is narrowing. (as of 11:33am)
Read the latest

U.S. officials provided Taliban with names of Americans, Afghan allies to evacuate
"Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list," said one defense official.
By Lara Seligman, Alexander Ward, & Andrew Desiderio, Politico.com Exclusive, 08/26/2021 03:28 PM EDT
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/26/us-officials-provided-taliban-with-names-of-americans-afghan-allies-to-evacuate-506957
U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies to grant entry into the militant-controlled outer perimeter of the city's airport, a choice that's prompted outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials. The move, detailed to POLITICO by three U.S. and congressional officials, was designed to expedite the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan as chaos erupted in Afghanistan's capital city last week after the Taliban seized control of the country. It also came as the Biden administration has been relying on the Taliban for security outside the airport... But the decision to provide specific names to the Taliban, which has a history of brutally murdering Afghans who collaborated with the U.S. and other coalition forces during the conflict, has angered lawmakers and military officials...

ISKP Claims Attack Near Hamid Karzai International Airport As Suicide Bombing [SITE Intelligence]
• The group's 'Amaq News Agency issued a report on the incident on August 26, 2021, and provided a photo of the bomber, "Abdul Rahman al-Logari".
• According to the message, the Khorasan Province (ISKP) fighter reached a distance of "no more than five meters from the American forces," and detonated his explosive belt, killing 60 and wounding over 100 others. IS "military sources" said more than 20 American soldiers were killed and wounded in the attack.
• See also SITE: IS-Aligned Unit Quickly Crafts Propaganda Poster From ISKP Claim For Attack Near Hamid Karzai International Airport

Islamic State pours scorn on Taliban victory in Afghanistan while experts warn of 'new phase of jihad'
David Rose, Beirut, The Times (London), Friday August 20 2021, 12.00pm BST,
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/islamic-state-pours-scorn-on-taliban-victory-in-afghanistan-while-experts-warn-of-new-phase-of-jihad-3v72qg3dq
Islamic State has poured scorn on the Taliban's victory in Afghanistan, claiming that its Islamist rival had merely been handed the country by the withdrawal of American troops. In its first comment since the Taliban's takeover in Kabul, the terrorist group declared that the Afghan movement had not fought a true "jihad" — or holy war — and expressed doubt that it could implement true sharia law in Afghanistan. It also mocked "the new Taliban" as a tool "in the guise of Islam", which would be used by the US to mislead Muslims and to fight Islamic State's own presence in the region. The comments came in an editorial in the group's al-Naba newspaper, which is disseminated online via encrypted messaging apps, despite efforts to suppress it, and is considered a mouthpiece for the group's leaders. "It is a victory for peace, not for Islam; [a victory] for negotiations, not jihad," the editorial published yesterday said, referring to the Taliban's takeover. Analysts said that Isis militants were "jealous" of their ideological rivals' success, but also noted the group's warning that it could stage a "new phase of jihad" in response, including in Afghanistan...

What We Know About The Kabul Airport Attack That Killed US Troops [ABC News]
• An explosion that killed at least 13 U.S. service members in Afghanistan Thursday [Aug. 26] was part of a "complex" attack near the Kabul airport, the Pentagon said.
• Two ISIS suicide bombers detonated in the vicinity of both the Kabul airport's Abbey Gate and the adjacent Baron Hotel, according to Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command.
• The U.S. service members killed included 10 Marines, one Army, one to be determined and one Navy hospital corpsman, or medic. A 13th service member injured in the attack later died.
• For associated photo and video attack coverage see Daily Mail — UK: 'We Will Make You Pay': Emotional [President] Biden Vows To 'Hunt Down' ISIS-K For Double Suicide Bomb Attack That Killed 13 US Troops And 90 Afghans. Takes Responsibility For Carnage But Stands By Troop Withdrawal

After Decades Of War, ISIS And Al Qaeda Can Still Wreak Havoc [New York Times]
• The twin suicide bombings near the Kabul airport on Thursday [Aug. 26] underscored the devastating power these groups still have to inflict mass casualties in spite of the American effort.
• And they raised haunting questions about whether the Taliban can live up to the central promise they made when the Trump administration agreed in early 2020 to withdraw American forces from the country — that Afghanistan would no longer be a staging ground for attacks against the United States and its allies.
• The Taliban’s lightning takeover of the country hardly assures that all militants in Afghanistan are under their control. To the contrary, the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan — known as Islamic State Khorasan or ISIS-K — is a bitter, albeit much smaller, rival that has carried out dozens of attacks in Afghanistan this year [2021] against civilians, officials and the Taliban themselves.

The Taliban Are Far Closer to the Islamic State Than They Claim — Foreign Policy (26 August 2021)
In an early sign of Afghanistan’s dystopian future as well as a reminder of its dark past, a coordinated suicide attack hit several locations in Kabul, including a hotel and the airport. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured, including Afghan civilians attempting to leave the country and the U.S. soldiers overseeing the evacuation. Islamic State-Khorasan has taken responsibility, but the Taliban faction partially in control of security in Kabul over the past several days, the Haqqani network, must also be scrutinized. Ultimately, the attack strategically benefits the Haqqani as it will likely speed up foreign departures and prevent the prospect of further evacuations. There have been repeated warnings of a potential airport attack over the last week. When it came, it was not spontaneous or random but a well-planned assault, using multiple bombs and targets calculated to achieve several objectives. The first and most obvious goal was to kill fleeing Afghans and discourage others from attempting to leave via the airport—or to close the airport itself. But another goal was the death of coalition troops, thus using the specter of terror to ensure the West stuck to the agreed on Aug. 31 deadline to leave the country. The timing of the attack, on the cusp of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, sends out a powerful signal to other jihadists.

In Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan, Al Qaeda-Linked Haqqani Network Rises to Power
Haqqani network's new prominence undermines Taliban's claims of severing terrorist ties
By Sune Engel Rasmussen and Nancy A. Youssef, Wall Street Journal, Aug. 26, 2021 11:00 am ET
https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-taliban-ruled-afghanistan-al-qaeda-linked-haqqani-network-rises-to-power-11629990056?st=501g0ng6ghosyy9&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
After taking control of Afghanistan, the Taliban has pledged to be a responsible member of the international community that doesn't pose a threat to any country's security. However, the Islamist movement's victory in Afghanistan has elevated its most radical and violent branch, the Haqqani network. Having perpetrated some of the deadliest attacks of the 20-year war, the network—unlike the broader Taliban—has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. since 2012. Closely linked to al Qaeda, the network also has for decades been involved in the hostage-taking of Westerners, and currently holds at least one American citizen captive, according to U.S. officials. "I do not believe that anyone in the West fully understands the reach of the Haqqani network," said retired Lt. Gen. Michael K. Nagata, a former director of strategy for the National Counterterrorism Center. "It is the single most impressive nonstate militant group I have ever seen, with the exception of ISIS in the first two years of the caliphate?...

Who are Isis-K, the new threat on Afghan horizon?
Catherine Philp, Diplomatic Correspondent, The Times (London), August 25 2021, 5.00pm BST
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/who-are-isis-k-the-new-threat-on-afghan-horizon-vnxlnwnxk
Military planners are warning that the chaos in Afghanistan could give rise to a separate and more extreme threat than even the Taliban, as the regional arm of Islamic State seeks to strengthen its position. Isis-K, or the Islamic State of Khorasan, is an affiliate of the group that overran large parts of Syria and Iraq to establish a so-called "caliphate". Isis-K, established in eastern Afghanistan in 2015, is a sworn enemy of the Taliban and the two groups have clashed repeatedly. It was initially drawn largely from fighters of the Pakistani Taliban, not the Afghan group, but has raided the Afghan Taliban's ranks too. Khorasan is a traditional name for the Central Asian and South Asian area that Afghanistan is part of, similar to the name al-Sham that the group used to refer to the Levant. Unlike the Afghan Taliban, whose focus remains on Afghanistan, Isis-K has repeatedly articulated its desire to attack the United Nations and western powers. While its strength is focused in the provinces bordering Pakistan, the source of present concern about the group is its ability to strike the capital, Kabul, as it has before with suicide bombings...

Also, NY Post: https://nypost.com/2021/08/26/who-are-isis-k-what-to-know-about-the-afghan-terrorist-group/?utm_campaign=nypdaily&utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20210827&utm_term=NYP%20-%20Morning%20Report

Who are Isis-K, the Islamic State insurgents suspected of plotting attacks in Kabul airport?
The splinter cell does not have a friendly relationship with the Taliban in Afghanistan
By James Rothwell, The Daily Telegraph (London), 25 August 2021 • 1:18pm
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/08/25/isis-k-islamic-state-insurgents-suspected-plotting-attacks-kabul/
President Joe Biden has cited a potential terror attack by the Isis-K group as grounds for speeding up the Afghanistan evacuation efforts at Kabul airport... Here we look at how Isis-K came to exist and why it poses such a threat to US forces in Afghanistan...

CIA, U.S. Troops Conduct Missions Outside Kabul Airport to Extract Americans, Afghan Allies
Risky operations include helicopter lifts, ground troops as evacuation window closes
By Gordon Lubold, Warren P. Strobel and Jessica Donati, Wall Street Journal, Updated Aug. 25, 2021 5:04 pm ET, Print Aug 26, 2021
https://www.wsj.com/articles/cia-u-s-troops-conduct-missions-outside-kabul-airport-to-extract-americans-allies-11629915605?st=rxppa0fo6cemsqr&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
WASHINGTON—The Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. military are conducting extraction operations to evacuate Americans using helicopters and ground troops as the window begins to close for rescuing all people at risk in Afghanistan. The CIA has launched clandestine operations to rescue Americans in and outside Kabul in recent days, according to U.S. and other officials. The missions are using American military helicopters but under the control of the CIA, a typical arrangement in such operations. A congressional source knowledgeable about the evacuation effort said U.S. troops had gone into Kabul on joint missions with other foreign allies, including Britain and France, to designated locations where they had picked up citizens from all those nations, U.S. green-card holders, and Afghans who hold special visas for helping the U.S. military...

British Embassy Left Details Of Afghan Staff For Taliban To Find [Times Of London — UK]
• [UK] Foreign Office staff left documents with the contact details of Afghans working for them as well as the CVs of locals applying for jobs scattered on the ground at the British embassy compound in Kabul that has been seized by the Taliban.
• The papers identifying seven Afghans were found by The Times on Tuesday [Aug. 25] as Taliban fighters patrolled the embassy.
• Phone calls to the numbers on the documents revealed that some Afghan employees and their families remained stranded on the wrong side of the airport perimeter wall days after their details were left in the dirt in the haste of the embassy's evacuation on August 15.

Five Daesh, Al-Qaeda Suspects Arrested In Istanbul [Turkey] [Yeni Safak — TUR]
• Five suspects were arrested in Turkey on Thursday [Aug. 26] during operations against the Daesh and al-Qaeda terror groups. The suspects were seized in simultaneous raids at nine different places in seven districts of Istanbul.
• From Middle East Monitor — UK: As many as 10 people suspected of having links to the Daesh terror group were arrested in Istanbul province, police said on Sunday [Aug. 22]. 10 Daesh Suspects Arrested In Istanbul

Nigerian Government Says “Safe to Assume” Boko Haram Leader is Dead
On August 23, Nigeria's government said that it no longer has any doubts that Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, is dead.
• Reports of Shekau’s death first emerged three months ago following a confrontation between Boko Haram and its rival, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), in the Sambisa Forest.
• Nigerian officials initially expressed skepticism about the reports.
• On August 23, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said in an interview that “our position is that he has been reported dead and he is dead.”
• Mohammed cited the “instability … and the struggle for succession,” thousands of Boko Haram adherents surrendering, and “reports from the camp of Boko Haram itself” as evidence.
• A U.S. military official agreed, stating, “We think he was probably killed.” [REDACTED LINE]
https://www.voanews.com/africa/nigeria-says-safe-assume-boko-haram-leader-dead

MTA Daily:
Significant Dates in History
August 27, 1979
Northwest coast of Ireland
Mountbatten Killed by IRA
Brief Description: On August 27, 1979, Lord Louis Mountbatten is killed when Irish Republican Army (IRA) terrorists detonate a 50-pound bomb hidden on his fishing vessel Shadow V. Mountbatten, a war hero, elder statesman, and second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, was spending the day with his family in Donegal Bay off Ireland's northwest coast when the bomb exploded. Three others were killed in the attack, including Mountbatten's 14-year-old grandson, Nicholas. Later that day, an IRA bombing attack on land killed 18 British paratroopers in County Down, Northern Ireland.
The assassination of Mountbatten was the first blow struck against the British royal family by the IRA during its long terrorist campaign to drive the British out of Northern Ireland and unite it with the Republic of Ireland to the south. The attack hardened the hearts of many Brits against the IRA and convinced Margaret Thatcher's government to take a hard-line stance against the terrorist organization.
The IRA immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it detonated the bomb by remote control from the coast. It also took responsibility for the same-day bombing attack against British troops in County Down, which claimed 18 lives.
IRA member Thomas McMahon was later arrested and convicted of preparing and planting the bomb that destroyed Mountbatten's boat. A near-legend in the IRA, he was a leader of the IRA's notorious South Armagh Brigade, which killed more than 100 British soldiers. He was one of the first IRA members to be sent to Libya to train with detonators and timing devices and was an expert in explosives. Authorities believe the Mountbatten assassination was the work of many people, but McMahon was the only individual convicted. Sentenced to life in prison, he was released in 1998 along with other IRA and Unionist terrorists under a controversial provision of the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland's peace deal. McMahon claimed he had turned his back on the IRA and was becoming a carpenter.

Regards,
[REDACTED]
Senior Intelligence Specialist
U.S. Attorney’s Office – SDNY
Terrorism & International Narcotics Unit
One St. Andrew's Plaza
New York, NY 10007
[REDACTED]