Top Democrats ask FBI for briefing on foreign interference campaign targeting Congress
20 July 2020
Top Democrats in the House and Senate have requested that the FBI provide Congress with a defensive counterintelligence briefing regarding what appears to be a "concerted foreign interference" targeting Congress.
Why it matters: U.S. intelligence officials have warned that Russia, China and other foreign adversaries are actively seeking to interfere in the 2020 elections. The Kremlin engaged in misinformation and hacking campaigns in 2016 in an effort to tilt the election to President Trump.
- The specifics of how Congress is being targeted were not immediately clear, but the Democrats said the alleged campaign seeks to "launder and amplify disinformation in order to influence congressional activity, public debate, and the presidential election in November."
- The letter was signed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Senate Intelligence Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.)
Between the lines: "To ensure a clear and unambiguous record of the counterintelligence threats of concern, the four enclosed with the letter a classified addendum that draws, in large part, from the Executive Branch’s own reporting and analysis," a congressional official told Axios.
- "The counterintelligence experts at the FBI must provide the full Congress with a defensive counterintelligence briefing on these threats before the August recess."
Read the letter via DocumentCloud.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.