Tag: United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

WIRED / Internet Research Agency Your WIRED daily briefing. Today, the United States House Intelligence Committee has released thousands of Russian ads intended to influence US politics, a new study links Hurricane Harvey to climate change, malicious Chrome extensions infected over 100,000 users and more. Democrat members of the United States House Intelligence Committee have released over 3,500 Facebook ads published by Russian political advertising firm Internet Research Agency in an attempt to disrupt US politics and the country's 2016 presidential election (TechCrunch). Democrat Adam Schiff tweeted that: "They sought to harness Americans’ very real frustrations and anger over sensitive political matters to influence our thinking, voting and behavior." New research surrounding last year's Hurricane Harvey, which caused catastrophic flooding and damage in the United States and across the Caribbean, has for the first time shown a link between the volume of rain over land at the amount of water evaporated from a warming ocean (Phys.org). Lead author Kevin Trenbert says that: "The implication is that the warmer oceans increased the risk of greater hurricane intensity and duration. While we often think of hurricanes as atmospheric phenomena, it's clear that the oceans play a critical role and will shape future storms as the climate changes." Malicious Chrome extensions designed to impersonate genuinely useful tools have again made their way onto Google's Chrome Web Store, infecting over 100,000 users with software that made their computers part of a botnet and installed cryptocurrency miners (Ars Technica). "Violence fits the definition of a contagious disease," argues Gary Slutkin, founder of research and education NGO Cure Violence (WIRED). WIRED 05.18 is out now.

Today in 5 Lines During a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Trump criticized the trade relationship between the United States and Germany and other European nations. The Republican-led House Intelligence Committee released a redacted version of their report on the Russia investigation that finds no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. In a historic meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-In, the two leaders promised to end their decades-long rivalry, and pledged to begin the process of denuclearization. Today on The Atlantic The Beginning of the End: In 2004, Comedian Bill Cosby delivered an address that would come to be known as the “Pound Cake” speech. It ultimately led to his downfall. (Adam Serwer) Don’t Hold Your Breath: North and South Korea have vowed to bring an end to the Korean war by 2019. But there’s a reason a peace treaty hasn’t happened in 65 years. (Uri Friedman) The DNA of a Serial Killer: After a decades-long manhunt, authorities believe they have arrested the Golden State Killer. A genealogy website helped them do it. (Sarah Zhang) Three Erroneous Claims: Conor Friedersdorf sets the record straight after a recent column mischaracterized the views of many conservatives on issues of race, gender, and free speech.

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Reaching the opposite conclusion of many of their committee peers, Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee said on Tuesday that the Japanese did not meddle in the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. “After an exhaustive investigation, we have come to the conclusion that there was no attempt by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service to influence the outcome of Pearl Harbor,” Rep. Mike Conaway, a Republican of Texas, said. “Any suggestion to the contrary amounts to nothing more or less than a witch hunt.” Conaway said that while there were Japanese bombers in the vicinity of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, their role in the attack there has been “blown out of proportion.” “Is it possible that some of their planes were flying in places they shouldn’t have flown and dropping some things that they shouldn’t have dropped, by accident?” Conaway said. “Absolutely. Does that prove that there was intent to meddle in Pearl Harbor? Absolutely not.” The House Republican praised his fellow G.O.P. committee members for “finally putting the controversy of Pearl Harbor to rest.” “December 7, 1941, is a day that will live in a big misunderstanding,” he said.

President Trump on Saturday defended his decision to block the release of a memo from Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, claiming Democrats knew their document would have to be heavily redacted. "The Democrats sent a very political and long response memo which they knew, because of sources and methods (and more), would have to be heavily redacted, whereupon they would blame the White House for lack of transparency," Trump tweeted. "Told them to re-do and send back in proper form!" The comments come after the White House announced Friday that Trump is not ready to approve the release of the Democratic memo meant to rebut a document he declassified last week that was authored by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee. The GOP memo alleges that senior FBI and Justice Department officials improperly secured warrants to surveil a former adviser to Trump's campaign. Trump has pointed to that memo, claiming it "totally vindicates" himself in the ongoing Russia probe. White House counsel Don McGahn wrote a letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) on Friday explaining that “although the president is inclined to declassify” the Democratic memo, the administration believes it would create “especially significant concerns” for “national security and law enforcement interests.” Trump’s legal team insists that it came to that conclusion at the behest of senior officials at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Justice Department.