World

Schiff seeks Senate seat, FBI takes on ransomware gang

January 26, 2023

Members of the Republican National Committee are gathering in Southern California as the party wrestles with how to position itself for the 2024 election in the aftermath of lackluster midterm results.

Divisions about the path forward are on display ahead of a vote Friday for RNC chair.

Here’s what else is happening in politics:

Video of the attack on Pelosi’s husband could be released today: A judge in California ruled late Wednesday that video footage of Paul Pelosi’s attack could be released.
Schiff announces Senate bid: Rep. Adam Schiff, who this week was blocked from serving again on the House Intelligence Committee, plans to run for Senate in California. No word on whether the current occupant of that seat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, is running again.
Biden to highlight economy: President Joe Biden travels to Virginia Thursday to discuss his efforts to safeguard the economy amid a debt ceiling fight.
Senators look to 2024. Several senators have already launched 2024 reelection campaigns and primary challengers in some races are starting to emerge.

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FBI dismantles website of notorious ransomware gang Hive

Federal authorities dismantled a website operated by a notorious ransomware gang, known to extort millions of dollars from victims as part of a global cybercrime operation.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the FBI late Wednesday seized a cache of computer servers in Los Angeles supporting the group known as Hive, while foreign law enforcement partners took control of a similar network in Europe to take down the operation which had targeted 1,500 victims in 80 countries.

Since June 2021, federal authorities said, Hive had reaped more than $100 million in ransom payments from schools, hospitals and a range of private companies.

– Kevin Johnson

Adam Schiff announces bid for California Senate seat

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., announced Thursday he is launching a campaign to run for Senate.

Schiff, who has served in the House since 2001, was a member of the House Intelligence Committee in the last Congress and was a key figure during the Jan. 6 hearings to investigate the attack on the Capitol. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy blocked Schiff this week from serving on the Intelligence Committee in the 118th Congress.

Schiff will be the second candidate vying for the Senate seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has not announced whether she will seek reelection or retire. California Democratic Rep. Katie Porter announced earlier this month she is also vying for the seat.

– Rachel Looker

Paul Pelosi attack video to be released

Over the objections of prosecutors, a judge has ruled that the footage of the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband can be released. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stephen M. Murphy ruled there was no reason to keep the footage secret, especially after prosecutors played it in open court during a preliminary hearing last month.

Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi’s husband, was asleep at the couple’s San Francisco home on Oct. 28 when someone broke in and beat him with a hammer. Prosecutors have charged 42-year-old David DePape in connection with the attack.

DePape pleaded not guilty last month to six charges, including attempted murder. Police have said DePape told them there was “evil in Washington” and he wanted to harm Nancy Pelosi because she was second in line to the presidency. His case is pending.

— The Associated Press

How the Paul Pelosi attack unfolded:A break-in, a conversation, a 911 call, then violence

The battle to lead the RNC

All three contenders to lead the Republican National Committee are supporters of former President Donald Trump but are arguing about candidate recruitment and get-out-the-vote efforts.

RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, seeking a fourth term, faces opposition from California attorney Harmeet Dhillon and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell. McDaniel is favored to win, but opponents are roaming the halls of a beach resort in Dana Point, Calif., seeking support.

“We will decide if we’re serious about winning in 2024,” Dhillon tweeted this week. Republican delegates are also discussing party rules and procedures, including plans for debates among the GOP presidential candidates in 2024.

RNC:Republicans are preparing for their national convention in Milwaukee. First, they have to decide who will lead the RNC

Biden to highlight the economy in Virginia amid fight over debt ceiling

President Joe Biden will travel Thursday to Springfield, Virginia where he is expected to discuss what the administration says is progress bolstering the economy.

Biden is visiting the Steamfitters Local 602 union hall. His afternoon remarks will follow the release of fourth-quarter 2022 gross domestic product figures. The White House has warned of catastrophe if House Republicans refuse to raise the debt ceiling.

Failure to act would lead to the nation’s first-ever default on its debt. Biden has said that would lead to a “calamity that exceeds anything that’s ever never happened in the history of the United States.”

– Joey Garrison

Meta to lift bans on Trump Facebook, Instagram accounts

Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent company, will reinstate former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in the upcoming weeks as Trump prepares another presidential run, ending the two-year suspension.

The company indefinitely banned Trump’s accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack to reduce the risk of violence as Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s CEO, accused Trump of trying “to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden.”

Trump responded to the ban being lifted on Truth Social: “Such a thing should never again happen to a sitting President, or anybody else who is not deserving of retribution!”

– Sarah Elbeshbishi

Countdown to 2024: Porter, Gallego launch bids for Senate seats

Democrats currently have a narrow majority in the upper chamber but that will be tested next year. Thirty-four seats in the Senate will be up for grabs in the upcoming election with Democrats (including independents who caucus with Democrats) currently occupying a majority – 23 – of those seats.