Category: Laptops

• Former FBI official Frank Figluizzi likened Matt Gaetz, Roger Stone, and Trump to the Sicilian mob.
• Figliuzzi said Gaetz and Stone’s hot mic conversation made him think of “wiretaps of mobsters.”
• “It’s a criminal organization,” he said of Trumpworld.

A former FBI official on Monday likened Trumpworld figures Rep. Matt Gaetz and Roger Stone, as well as former President Donald Trump, to the Sicilian mafia.

Frank Figliuzzi, a former assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, weighed in on MSNBC regarding The Washington Post’s recent bombshell exposé of a hot mic conversation between Gaetz and Stone.

In the tape from 2019, Gaetz was heard reassuring Stone that “the boss” — presumably a reference to Trump — would still offer the latter a pardon.

Figliuzzi also noted how Stone, a long-time Trump associate, had said he was looking to Gaetz and “dozens of others” to help him escape his legal troubles.

“It’s a much larger conspiracy than I think even those of us who followed it every day could have imagined,” he added.

Figliuzzi also said that the conversations between Gaetz and Stone echoed the “we’re all in this together” mentality that Trumpworld seems to function on.

“You know, the Cosa Nostra, the Italian mafia, translates as, ‘this thing of ours,’” he said. “That’s all I keep hearing here: ‘We’re all in this together.’”

Figliuzzi added that the wiretaps of mobsters’ conversations that he’d heard in the past sounded “just like” Gaetz and Stone’s discussions.

“And they’re part of a criminal enterprise,” he said. “It’s a criminal organization. They know it. They know they’re screwed with regard to legality, and they know the only way out is for the boss to get them out of it.”

Gaetz and Stone were talking about Stone’s trial in 2019, which followed the latter’s indictment on one count of obstruction, five counts of making false statements to the FBI and congressional investigators, and one count of witness tampering in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

In the hot mic recording, Stone was also heard telling Gaetz that he might have to “appeal to the big man” because the majority of jurors surveyed for his trial despised him.

Gaetz was then heard agreeing with Stone, saying the latter was “fucked” where the trial was concerned. The congressman added, however, that he believed Stone wouldn’t go to prison because the “big guy” would not let that happen.

Stone was found guilty in November 2019 and sentenced to 40 months in prison. However, Trump commuted Stone’s sentence before leaving office.

Meanwhile, Gaetz has been the subject of a sex-trafficking investigation that kicked off the early last year. The FBI and the Justice Department have been looking into whether Gaetz broke sex-trafficking laws and had sexual relations with a minor. The congressman has denied all wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.

Representatives for Gaetz, Stone, and Trump’s post-presidential press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

• Joe Manchin avoided a question on whether he wants the Democratic Party to win the House and Senate.
• Manchin said he thought people were sick of politicians fighting and holding legislation “hostage.”
• He said he’d be OK with whoever the voters choose and would “work with whatever I have.”

Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday dodged a direct question about whether he wanted the Democratic Party to win the November midterms and keep control of the House and Senate.

Speaking to NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press,” the West Virginia lawmaker said: “I think people are sick and tired of politics, Chuck. I really do.”

“I think they’re sick and tired of Democrats and Republicans fighting and feuding and holding pieces of legislation hostage because they didn’t get what they wanted, or something or someone might get credit for something,” Manchin added.

Todd then pressed Manchin, asking him directly if he wanted the Democrats to win.

“I think the Democrats have great candidates that are running. They’re good people I’ve worked with,” the senator responded. “And I have a tremendous amount of respect and friendship with my Republican colleagues. So I can work on either side very easily.”

“You don’t care about the outcome this year of the election?” Todd asked Manchin.

“Well, whatever — whatever the voters choose. I can’t decide what’s going to happen in Kansas or California or Texas. I really can’t,” Manchin said.

He added that he has always respected the representatives elected by the states and does his best to work with them.

“I don’t play the politics that way. I don’t like it that way,” Manchin added. “That’s not who I am.”

Manchin has been one of the biggest obstacles to the Democrats passing major legislation in the Senate, despite the party having control of the chamber. For one, the senator killed President Joe Biden’s landmark Build Back Better legislation.

In April, Manchin also addressed claims that he might switch parties to the GOP — an idea touted by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — saying he’s “never considered” the idea from “such a standpoint.”

Manchin has also been reticent about expressing support for Biden in 2024.

In a surprise U-turn last week, Manchin said he would back the Inflation Reduction Act, a deal that he and Sen. Chuck Schumer cut that allots $370 billion for climate and energy programs and commits the US to a 40% emissions reduction by 2030.

• In his new book, Bill McGuire argues it’s too late to avoid catastrophic climate change.
• The Earth science professor says lethal heatwaves and extreme weather events are just the beginning.
• Many climate scientists, he said, are more scared about the future than they are willing to admit in public.

Record-breaking heatwaves, lethal flooding, and extreme weather events are just the beginning of the climate crisis, according to a leading UK climate scientist. 

In his new book published Thursday, “Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant’s Guide,” Bill McGuire argues that, after years of ignoring warnings from scientists, it is too late to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change.

The University College London Earth sciences professor pointed to a record-breaking heatwave across the UK this month and dangerous wildfires that destroyed 16 homes in East London as evidence of the rapidly changing climate. McGuire says weather will begin to regularly surpass current extremes, despite government goals to lower carbon emissions. 

“And as we head further into 2022, it is already a different world out there,” McGuire told The Guardian. “Soon it will be unrecognizable to every one of us.”

His perspective — that severe climate change is now inevitable and irreversible — is more extreme than many scientists who believe that, with lowered emissions, the most severe potential impacts can still be avoided.

McGuire did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Many climate scientists, McGuire said, are much more scared about the future than they are willing to admit in public. He calls their reluctance to acknowledge the futility of current climate action “climate appeasement” and says it only makes things worse.

Instead of focusing on net-zero emission goals, which McGuire says won’t reverse the current course of climate change, he argues we need to adapt to the “hothouse world” that lies ahead and start taking action to try to stop material conditions from deteriorating further. 

“This is a call to arms,” McGuire told The Guardian: “So if you feel the need to glue yourself to a motorway or blockade an oil refinery, do it.”

This week, Senate Democrats agreed to a potential bill that would be the most significant action ever taken by the US to address climate change. The bill includes cutting carbon emissions 40% by 2030, with $369 billion to go toward energy and climate programs.

• U.S. Bank was fined for using customer data to open sham accounts and new lines of credit without permission. 
• Employees were pressured to access customer credit reports and open new accounts to inflate sales numbers.
• The bank is required to pay $37.5 million and return any illegal fees and charges — with interest.

After more than a decade of unlawfully accessing customer credit reports to open fraudulent lines of credit and create sham accounts to inflate sales numbers, U.S. Bank is being fined $37.5 million for its illegal business practices. 

The Consumer Financial Protections Bureau, following a five-year investigation, found that US Bancorp, the fifth largest commercial bank in the United States, pressured employees to meet sales goals by creating fraudulent checking and savings accounts, credit cards, and lines of credit without customers’ permission. 

“For over a decade, U.S. Bank knew its employees were taking advantage of its customers by misappropriating consumer data to create fictitious accounts,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. “We all must do more to hold lawbreaking companies accountable when they abuse and misuse our sensitive personal data.”

The CFPB investigation found evidence that U.S. Bank officials were aware of the pressure facing employees to create fake accounts and not only did not intervene, but held incentive-compensation programs that financially rewarded employees for selling bank products and opening new accounts.

In addition to the $37.5 million fine, Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank will be required to refund any illegally collected fees and charges related to the fraudulent accounts and pay impacted consumers’ interest. 

In a statement provided to Insider, a U.S. Bank spokesperson said the settlement was related to “legacy sales practices involving a small percentage of accounts” dating back to 2010. In response to the illegal sales practices, they said the bank has made process and oversight improvements since 2016 to address the concerns.

“The action by the CFPB closes out a 5+ year investigation,” the U.S. Bank spokesperson told Insider. “We are pleased to put this matter behind us.”

The U.S. Bank fine is not the first time a major bank has been found illegally creating accounts for unsuspecting customers without their permission. In 2016, Wells Fargo settled with regulators for $185 million after 2 million fake accounts were found to have been illegally created by employees to increase their cross-sell ratio. 

• German capital Berlin is turning off 1,400 spotlights highlighting historic monuments and buildings.
• Munich and Hanover are taking similar steps, including limiting heating ahead of winter.
• Germany is facing an energy crisis as major supplier Russia has cut natural-gas supply.

Cities in Germany are turning off the lights and heating in an effort to save natural gas and build up reserves ahead of winter.

Berlin, Germany’s capital, started turning off 1,400 spotlights highlighting 200 historic monuments and municipal buildings from Wednesday, according to the city’s Senate Department for the Environment, Urban Mobility, Consumer Protection and Climate.

“In view of the war against Ukraine and Russia’s energy policy threats, it is important that we use our energy as carefully as possible,” said Bettina Jarasch, Berlin’s senator for the environment.

The city of Munich — famed for the Oktoberfest beer event — has announced it will be switching off spotlights on historic buildings and limiting heating, the DPA reported on Wednesday. 

Meanwhile, the northwestern city of Hanover has turned off hot water in all public buildings, making it the first big city in Germany to do so, according to Bild. “The situation is unpredictable,” said Hanover mayor Belit Onay. 

The measures come after the European Union on Tuesday approved an emergency proposal for member states to cut gas consumption from August to March.

Germany, an industrial powerhouse and Europe’s biggest economy, is reliant on piped natural gas from Russia, which accounts for 35% of the country’s imports of the fuel. But Russia has been slowing natural-gas flows via a major pipeline, citing technical issues due to sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. 

The developments have pushed up power bills as European natural-gas futures have tripled this year so far. German consumers are set to pay higher power bills in the months ahead as a gas surcharge is set to kick in to keep energy companies from collapsing.

“We can’t say yet how much gas will cost in November, but the bitter news is it’s definitely a few hundred euros per household,” said German economy minister, Robert Habeck, per the BBC.

German industry leaders are warning of severe economic hardship should Russian gas be cut completely. Earlier this month, the country’s top union official said entire industries could collapse in such a scenario, wiping out jobs. On Monday, amid the threats of a gas shortage and soaring inflation, a popular measure of German business confidence slumped to its lowest level since June 2020.

• Germany is considering keeping nuclear plants running beyond end-2022, when they are due to shut.
• The country has been planning to phase out nuclear energy but is now facing a gas crisis.
• Major natural-gas supplier Russia has been cutting flows to Germany, pushing it toward a recession.

Germany is thinking about delaying the shutdown of the country’s remaining three nuclear plants as Russia continues to reduce natural-gas supply to Europe’s top economy.

“The economy minister has commissioned an intensified worst-case scenario calculation. Let’s have a look at that,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday, Bloomberg reported. Scholz was responding to a question on whether he may reconsider keeping the plants online.

The development is a big deal as Germany has been phasing out nuclear energy since Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011. It’s an extremely contentious issue in Germany, where the anti-nuclear movement dates back to the 1970s.

Just last month, Chancellor Scholz — who is from the Social Democratic Party — rejected a proposal to prolong the operations of the nuclear plants.

But amid the country’s unprecedented energy crisis, even the Green Party — which was born from the anti-nuclear  movement — has softened on its stance to switch off all nuclear reactors this year.

“At every moment in this crisis we need to react according to the current situation and to examine every measure,” Green Party coleader Ricarda Lang told German TV on Sunday, as reported by Guardian.

“We have to prevent a wave of poverty,” Lang added.

Germany is reliant on piped natural gas from Russia, which accounts for 35% of the country’s imports of the fuel. The industrial powerhouse imports almost all of the natural gas it uses, which accounts for about a quarter of the country’s total energy mix, according to the economy ministry.

However, major natural-gas supplier Russia has been cutting supplies to Germany and beyond, citing technical reasons due to sweeping sanctions over the Ukraine war. On Wednesday, Russia slashed natural-gas flows to Germany to just 20% of key pipeline Nord Stream 1’s capacity. The supply squeeze has tripled the prices of European natural-gas futures, in turn pushing up power bills.

Germany industry leaders are also warning of a severe economic hardship should Russian gas be cut completely. Earlier this month, the country’s top union official said entire industries could collapse in such a scenario, wiping out jobs. On Monday, a popular measure of German business confidence slumped to its lowest level since June 2020 amid the threats of a gas shortage and soaring inflation.

“Companies are expecting business to become much more difficult in the coming months. They were also less satisfied with their current situation,” said Clemens Fuest, the president of the Ifo Institute think tank. “Germany is on the cusp of a recession.”

• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has approved treating Ukrainian troops at a US military hospital.
• Up to 18 soldiers may be attended to at a time at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
• This is the first time Ukrainian troops have been offered such services at a US military facility.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has approved a plan to treat wounded Ukrainian troops at a US military hospital in Germany, according to several media reports.

Austin had, on May 26, verbally greenlighted the treatment of Ukrainian soldiers at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in western Germany, CNN reported, citing a Pentagon memo.

The defense chief then formalized the decision in a memo on June 29, per CNN. The outlet added that the approval allows up to 18 Ukrainian troops to be treated at a time.

The memo marks the first time Ukraine’s wounded troops have been offered treatment at a US military hospital since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion in February.

An anonymous US official said no Ukrainian troops had been treated at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center yet, according to a Reuters report published on Tuesday evening.

The center is the largest American military hospital outside the US and is located near the Ramstein Air Base.

Meanwhile, several Ukrainian soldiers have already received treatment at civilian hospitals in the US. A video posted on Tuesday by Anton Geraschenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Minister for Internal Affairs, showed soldiers testing the prosthetic legs they were fitted with at a Chicago medical facility.

—Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 25, 2022

 

• Elon Musk plans to focus on doing “useful things” for humanity amid his personal scandals.
• Musk tweeted on Monday that the attention he’s been receiving has “gone supernova.”
• The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that Musk had an affair with a Google co-founder’s wife.

Elon Musk says he plans to focus on doing “useful things” for humanity amid a string of scandals about his personal life that have come to light in recent months.

“The amount of attention on me has gone supernova, which super sucks,” Musk tweeted on Monday, adding that he found it unfortunate that “even trivial articles” about him were going viral.

“Will try my best to be heads down focused on doing useful things for civilization,” Musk tweeted.

While it was unclear if Musk’s post meant that the billionaire was planning a social media break, he did go quiet on Twitter for over a week in June before returning to the platform with a photo of himself and his children with Pope Francis.

It has been a turbulent few months for Musk’s personal life.

On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had a brief affair with Nicole Shanahan, the wife of Google co-founder and Tesla investor Sergey Brin. According to The Journal, this prompted Shanahan and Brin’s divorce in January and caused Musk’s friendship with Brin to rupture.

Musk vigorously denied the affair on Sunday, tweeting that he and Brin were still friends while lamenting that he hadn’t “had sex in ages.” He also sent the New York Post a photo of himself and Brin, stating that it was taken at a recent party.

Last November, Musk quietly had twins with one of his top executives, Shivon Zilis, Insider’s Julia Black reported earlier this month.

In May, Insider also reported that Musk’s SpaceX had paid a company flight attendant $250,000 to stay quiet after she claimed that Musk exposed himself to her during a massage on board his jet and propositioned her for sex.

Representatives at Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

• Reality Winner was jailed for leaking a US report on the Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
• She was released in June 2021 on good behavior, after four years of incarceration.
• Winner told CBS she is “not a traitor” and had leaked the documents “out of love” for her country.

A former National Security Agency contractor jailed for leaking a document about Russian hacking in the 2016 election has spoken out about her experiences, insisting that she is “not a traitor.”

Reality Winner, now 30, was arrested in 2017 and admitted to taking classified intelligence documents that same year.

She was accused of mailing top-secret NSA information to the media outlet The Intercept. The classified document detailed Russian government efforts to hack a Florida-based US voting software supplier.

In 2018, Winner was sentenced to more than five years in prison. She was released in June 2021 for good behavior.

Speaking to CBS, Winner said she thought something was amiss after watching then President Donald Trump attempt to sow doubt about whether Russia had influenced the 2016 election.

“I just kept thinking, ‘My God, somebody needs to step forward and put this right. Somebody,’” Winner told the outlet.

“I knew it was secret. But I also knew that I had pledged service to the American people. And at that point in time, it felt like they were being led astray,” she added.

Winner told CBS that she “meant no harm and “did not betray” the US’ “sources and methods” of obtaining intelligence by leaking the document.

“It only filled in a question mark that was tearing our country in half in May 2017,” Winner said.

She also told CBS about what it’s like being called a “terrorist.”

“I’ve had four years of just trying to say I’m not a terrorist. I can’t even begin to talk about my actual espionage indictment. Or have a sense of accomplishment in having survived prison,” Winner said.

She added that she felt “stained” by the accusations that labeled her as part of the same groups she had enlisted in the Air Force to fight against.

• The Republican Party of Florida once invited a lot of media to its big “Sunshine Summit” fundraiser.
• But this year the list was far more exclusive, though Insider was granted access to a dinner.
• DeSantis often bashes the media but fields a wide range of questions at press conferences. 

HOLLYWOOD, Florida — The Republican Party of Florida and the Gov. Ron DeSantis campaign on Saturday refused credentials to numerous journalists for a major fundraiser that typically includes a broader media presence. 

Among the publications denied credentials to the “Sunshine Summit” breakout speeches, debates, and banquet at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino were Politico, the Palm Beach Post, and the Miami Herald.

The Washington Post and The New York Times also did not receive access, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. 

—Patricia Mazzei (@PatriciaMazzei) July 21, 2022

 

The Republican Party of Florida invited only a few media outlets, including Insider, to cover the “Victory Dinner” in person. Among the other outlets present were the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Florida Sun-Sentinel, and the Tampa Bay Times.

“I’ve covered RPOF annual convention since 2012,” one reporter who was not on the list told Insider, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized by their employer to do interviews. “Never once had issue covering. This is not normal.” 

The 2015 summit had 350 credentialed media. Donald Trump spoke that year as a candidate for president.

—Kimberly Leonard (@leonardkl) July 24, 2022

The journalists given access to the “Victory Dinner” were seated on top of risers in the back of the banquet room, where 1,500 people were dining on a meal of fish and steak. 

—Kimberly Leonard (@leonardkl) July 23, 2022

 

Gov. Ron DeSantis was the star speaker, though guests also heard from Sen. Marco Rubio, who is up for reelection this year, as well as Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez. 

—Kimberly Leonard (@leonardkl) July 24, 2022

 

Conservative-leaning outlets such as Florida Voices, Breitbart, and the Washington Free Beacon were invited to cover other events throughout the day, according to a spreadsheet obtained by Politico and posted on Twitter. Insider did not receive an invitation to the other portions of the summit and did not learn until Saturday the option was made available to select outlets. 

—Matt Dixon (@Mdixon55) July 23, 2022

Reporters who weren’t authorized to cover the event from inside the room obtained recordings and interviewed attendees outside the banquet hall.

The Sunshine Summit is a major gathering organized by the Republican Party of Florida, but the Republican National Committee and the DeSantis campaign were also involved in organizing the event.  

Asked about the limited guest list, Dave Abrams, DeSantis campaign spokesperson, brushed off the complaints.  

“It’s funny that the very reporters who were uninterested in the Sunshine Summit were the same ones huddled in a corner across from the entrance hoping for a peek,” he said. “We aren’t bothered by their tantrums — in fact it validates our presumption that fair coverage was never a thought for them.”

A schedule of the event shows the event showcased speeches from conservative columnists, Republicans running for office, and congressional debates. 

—Kimberly Leonard (@leonardkl) July 24, 2022

The Republican Party of Florida did not livestream the event but NBC 6 and other TV outlets were permitted to carry the event live if they chose, said Lindsey Curnutte, spokeswoman for the DeSantis campaign. A Getty photographer was invited but didn’t attend, though a Bloomberg photographer was present. 

The Florida GOP live-tweeted some of DeSantis’ quotes from his speech.  

Curnutte acknowledged the media this year was “invite only” but didn’t share details about the screening process.

‘Try crying about it’

DeSantis often casts himself as an attack dog against the media at a time when polling shows public trust in the press is low.

DeSantis has particularly sparred with journalists over their scrutiny regarding his COVID-19 pandemic response in Florida, which often conflicts with federal health guidance. On Saturday he boasted that he “stood up to the media” and specifically derided the “corporate media.” 

Yet DeSantis’ actual press relationship is more nuanced. His official press conferences tend to be open to a wide range of media outlets. At the majority of events, he fields numerous questions from reporters that often are off topic from the event’s intended purpose, though every once in a while he does not take any questions following an event. 

Saturday’s event, in contrast, was a political event — not an official event for the governor’s office.

“My message to them is to try crying about it. Then go to kickboxing and have a margarita,” DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw said on Twitter, mocking a comment previously made by former White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “And write the same hit piece you were gonna write anyway.”

The Tallahassee Democrat speculated the DeSantis campaign might not want the governor’s event to overshadow another event happening across the state in Tampa, where former President Donald Trump was speaking at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit. 

DeSantis spoke at that same summit on Friday evening and there is growing speculation that he may choose to run for president in 2024 as Trump continues to dangle the possibility of a White House run. Trump, too, often clashed with the press. 

President Joe Biden’s White House has faced complaints from reporters about transparency as well. In June, 68 White House journalists asked press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to stop prescreening and routinely turning away the same reporters for the president’s public events. 

“The continued inability of the White House to be candid and transparent about the selection process for reporters attending his remarks undermines President Biden’s credibility when he says he is a defender of the First Amendment,” the letter said. 

Jean-Pierre said at a White House briefing earlier this month that reopening the events was a “priority.”