CHRISTOPHER WRAY

The Justice Department is asking a judge to put on hold a scheduled deposition of Donald Trump in a lawsuit brought by an FBI agent who was fired over text messages critical of the former president.

A top House Republican has subpoenaed the FBI director for what he claims are bureau records related to President Joe Biden and his family.

Growing anger at the FBI from both parties in Congress has become a major hurdle for U.S. intelligence agencies fighting to keep vast powers to collect foreign communications.

A Republican lawmaker has accused the FBI of wrongly searching for his name in foreign surveillance data, underscoring the challenges ahead for U.S. officials trying to persuade Congress to renew their authorities to collect huge swaths of communications.

The FBI finds itself in a challenging moment as it conducts simultaneous investigations involving classified documents held by former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.

For the second day in a row, China is dismissing U.S. suggestions that the COVID-19 pandemic may have been triggered by a virus that leaked from a Chinese laboratory.

The Chinese surveillance balloon that traversed the United States before being shot down last weekend captivated public attention and drew sharp denunciations as a brazen spying effort.

Attorney General Merrick Garland and other U.S. officials say the FBI and international partners have at least temporarily disrupted the network of a prolific ransomware gang they infiltrated last year.

FBI Director Christopher Wray says he's “deeply concerned” about the Chinese government’s artificial intelligence program, asserting that it was “not constrained by the rule of law.”.

Govs.

FBI Director Chris Wray is raising national security concerns about TikTok.

The former warden of an abuse-plagued federal women’s prison known as the “rape club” went on trial Monday.

Morning 4 is a quick roundup of stories we think you should know about to start your day.

Even with their threadbare House majority, Republicans doubled down this week on using their new power to investigate the Biden administration and in particular the president’s son.

A new Senate report is criticizing the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security for not doing enough to track domestic extremists.

The White House is bringing together three dozen nations, the European Union and a slew of private-sector companies for a two-day summit that looks at how best to combat ransomware attacks.

A U.S. senator says a whistleblower has alleged that an internal review found 665 FBI personnel have resigned or retired to avoid accountability in misconduct probes over the past two decades.

A new Senate study warns that U.S. spy agencies’ efforts to stop China and other adversaries from stealing secrets are hampered by miscommunication and a lack of money and staff at the agency intended to coordinate those efforts.

At first, Republicans were highly critical of the FBI search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

How has Congress changed in the last four decades.

Republicans in Congress are not only defending Donald Trump against the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago home.

The FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate sent reverberations across the country, even before court papers were unsealed Friday.

A law enforcement official says a gunman who died in a shootout after trying to get inside the FBI’s Cincinnati office appeared to have posted calls on social media for FBI agents to be killed and for people to take up arms in the wake of the search at Donald Trump’s home.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says an armed man who tried to breach the FBI’s Cincinnati office was shot and killed by police after he fled the scene and engaged in an hourslong standoff.

The director of the FBI has strong words for supporters of former President Donald Trump who have been using violent rhetoric in the wake of his agency’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

For much of the year, small cracks in Donald Trump’s political support have been growing.

The FBI’s unprecedented search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence is ricocheting around government, politics and a polarized country.

The FBI has reached out to attorneys representing Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles and other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar to begin settlement talks in the $1 billion claim they brought against the federal government.

The FBI and Justice Department recently disrupted the activities of a hacking group that was sponsored by the North Korean government and that targeted U.S. hospitals with ransomware.

The Justice Department has named the director of Oregon’s prison system to run the federal Bureau of Prisons.

China is calling the United States “the biggest threat to world peace, stability and development," continuing its sharp rhetoric in response to U.S. accusations of Chinese spying and threats to the international order.

The FBI director and the leader of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency are raising alarms about the Chinese government, warning business leaders that Beijing is determined to steal their technology for competitive gain.

Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles and dozens of other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar are seeking more than $1 billion from the FBI for failing to stop the sports doctor.

As Americans reel from mass shootings, law enforcement officials and experts on extremism are taking increasing notice of the sprawling online space devoted to guns and gun rights.

FBI Director Christopher Wray says agents thwarted a planned cyberattack on a Boston children’s hospital that was to have been carried out by hackers sponsored by the Iranian government.

The U.S. Justice Department says it won't pursue criminal charges against former FBI agents who failed to quickly open an investigation of sports doctor Larry Nassar.

The white gunman charged in a deadly, racist rampage inside a Buffalo supermarket didn’t need to travel abroad for tactical training, nor did he need to join an organization of like-minded militants who shared his world view.

Thirteen sexual assault victims of Larry Nassar are seeking $10 million each from the FBI.

Thirteen sexual assault victims are seeking $10 million each from the FBI.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has tested positive for COVID-19 and will quarantine at home for five days.

The Justice Department has charged a Russian oligarch with sanctions violations and has taken down a cybercrime operation controlled by a Russian military intelligence agency.

Companies critical to U.S. national interests will have to report when they’re hacked or they pay ransomware.

The Justice Department is scrapping the name of a Trump-era initiative intended to crack down on economic espionage by Beijing but criticized as unfairly targeting Chinese professors at American colleges because of their ethnicity.

The Biden administration is raising red flags about 33 Chinese companies whose legitimacy it cannot verify.

The Wall Street Journal's publisher, News Corp., says it has been hacked, with data stolen from journalists and other employees.

FBI Director Christopher Wray says the threat to the West from the Chinese government is “more brazen” and damaging than ever before.

The events from last Jan. 6 in Washington unfolded on live television and they've been the subject of congressional hearings and criminal proceedings since then.

A suspected Ukrainian hacker has been arrested and charged in the United States in connection with a string of costly ransomware attacks, including one that snarled businesses around the globe on the Fourth of July weekend.

The Justice Department says it's reviewing an earlier decision to decline prosecution against two former FBI agents embroiled in the Larry Nassar sexual abuse cases after new information has emerged.

A conservative Roman Catholic media outlet is seeking a court order to stage a rally during a U.S. bishops' meeting in Baltimore.

Homicides in the U.S. in 2020 increased nearly 30% over the previous year, the largest one-year jump since the FBI began keeping records.

Top national security officials say the possibility of a 9/11-type attack has diminished over the last 20 years despite the recent Taliban victory in Afghanistan, but the unrest in Kabul could embolden U.S.-based extremists at the same time that the FBI is confronting an uptick in threats from individuals motivated by racial and political grievances.

Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles has told Congress that the FBI and gymnastics officials turned a “blind eye” to USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse of her and hundreds of other women.

As the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks approaches, Americans increasingly balk at intrusive government surveillance in the name of national security - and only about a third believe that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were worth fighting.

The speedy Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has revived alarms about a resurgent al-Qaida and new terrorism threats against the U.S. The group's danger to the United States had been eclipsed in the past two decades by other threats, but experts are concerned that al-Qaida could again be given unfettered safe harbor by the Taliban.

In a story published July 22, 2021, The Associated Press reported on the FBI’s background investigation of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, including the new disclosure that the bureau had received thousands of tips and had provided “all relevant” ones to the White House counsel’s office.

A new House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection is expected to hold its first public hearing with police officers who responded to the attack and custodial staff who cleaned up afterward.

As ransomware attacks surge, the FBI is doubling down on its guidance to affected businesses: Don’t pay the cybercriminals.

Videos released under court order provide a chilling new look at the chaos at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, including body camera footage that shows a man charging at a police officer with a flagpole.

A top Army leader is defending the Pentagon’s response to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

A new federal intelligence report warns that adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory could target Democrats and other political opponents for more violence as the movement’s false prophecies increasingly don’t come true.

The FBI says it is getting serious about sexual harassment in its ranks.

FBI Director Christopher Wray says the bureau discourages ransomware payments to hacking groups even as major companies in the past month have participated in multimillion-dollar transactions aimed at getting their systems back online.

An independent commission to study the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection would be modeled after a similar panel that studied the 9/11 terrorist attacks and has long been hailed as a bipartisan success.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is renewing her push for a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection.

A U_S_ intelligence community report says the effects of the coronavirus pandemic are expected to contribute over the next year to “humanitarian and economic crises, political unrest, and geopolitical competition."

In this Jan. 6, 2021, photo, Proud Boys including Joseph Biggs, front left, walks toward the U.S. Capitol in Washington, in support of President Donald Trump. The Proud Boys even have counted some law enforcement officers among their ranks, including a Connecticut police officer and a Louisiana sheriff's deputy. AdThe FBI would not comment on why agents were meeting with Biggs or why the bureau was trying to solicit information about antifa through the Proud Boys. Biggs, 37, of Ormond Beach, Florida, wouldn't be the first Proud Boys informant. Proud Boys members describe themselves as a politically incorrect men’s club for “Western chauvinists.” Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, who founded the Proud Boys in 2016, sued the Southern Poverty Law Center for labeling it as a hate group.

National Guard troops were delayed in getting to the building as the rioters beat up police officers and smashed through windows and doors to get in. On Thursday, seven House committees asked 10 federal agencies for documents and communications from the government as part of a wide-ranging investigation. The Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Senate Rules Committee have already held two hearings with security officials about what went wrong. The security officials described violent attacks on overwhelmed police officers and desperate pleas for backup. As the committees investigate, Capitol officials are improving the building's physical security, including reinforcing the House doors that the rioters attempted to breach.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pushed for the commission, which would be modeled after the panel that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. “The problem is the scope,” Pelosi said Wednesday. But Republicans swiftly decried the broad latitude that the commission would have to investigate the causes of the insurrection. Senate Republicans cast doubt that there was enough support for the commission. 2 Republican, said he doesn’t think the commission will happen if the legislation isn’t changed.

Violent extremists motivated by political grievances and racial biases pose an elevated threat to the U.S. homeland, officials said Wednesday, March 17, in a unclassified intelligence report released more than two months after a violent mob of insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/John Minchillo File)WASHINGTON – Violent extremists motivated by a range of political grievances and racial biases pose an “elevated threat” to the United States, officials said Wednesday in an unclassified intelligence report released more than two months after a mob of insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol. AdThe riot laid bare the threat posed by domestic extremists and led Biden, weeks later, to assign his intelligence officials the task of studying the scope of the problems. “Today’s report underscores how we face the greatest threat from racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, especially white supremacists, and militia violent extremists,” said Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Intelligence officials said in their assessment that extremists seen as risks for violence are motivated by a range of ideologies.

The document makes clear that even while Trump has cried foul about the legitimacy of the election, intelligence officials believe Russia sought to influence people close to Trump as a way to tip the election in his favor. The primary threats instead came from Russia and Iran, albeit with different intentions and through different means, according to intelligence officials. The report also says Putin authorized influence operations aimed at denigrating Biden, boosting Trump, undermining confidence in the election and exacerbating social divisions in the U.S. Intelligence officials did not single out any Trump ally in that effort. U.S. officials have said they regard Derkach as an “active Russian agent,” and Tuesday's report said Putin is believed to have “purview” over his activities.

President Joe Biden's pick for attorney general Merrick Garland, addresses staff on his first day at the Department of Justice, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Washington. Welcome to the new Justice Department, likely a much tamer place to be after four years of blaring headlines under Donald Trump. The former president insisted that his attorney general, and entire department, be loyal to him personally, battering the department’s reputation for political independence. “When I walked in the door of Main Justice this morning, it really did feel like I was coming home,” Garland said, referring to Justice Department headquarters. AdAbout 15 minutes later, he took the oath of office, administered by Assistant Attorney General Lee Lofthus.

Guard troops who had been waiting on buses were then rushed to the Capitol, arriving in 18 minutes, Walker said. Much of the focus at Wednesday's hearing was on communications between the National Guard and the Defense Department. Contee said Sund pleaded with Army officials to deploy National Guard troops as the rioting escalated. AdAccording to the Defense Department, Walker was called at 3 p.m. by Army officials, and was told to prepare Guard troops to deploy. Thousands of National Guard troops are still patrolling the fenced-in Capitol, and multiple committees across Congress are investigating Jan. 6.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – The Latest on FBI Director Chris Wray's testimony about the Capitol insurrection (all times local):12:30 p.m. The FBI director is declining to comment on the cause of the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who collapsed after responding to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and died the next day. FBI Director Chris Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday the agency is “not at a point” where it can disclose or confirm the cause of death. ___HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FBI DIRECTOR CHRIS WRAY'S TESTIMONY ON THE CAPITOL INSURRECTION:FBI Director Chris Wray condemns the January riot at the U.S. Capitol as “domestic terrorism” as he defends the bureau’s handling of intelligence indicating the prospect for violence.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Wray’s message to lawmakers was clear: The attack on the Capitol was domestic terrorism -- and it’s a growing problem. “We view the events of January 6 as domestic terrorism,” Wray said. “We have not seen evidence of that at this stage.”DURBIN: Do you have any evidence that the Capitol attack was organized by 'fake Trump protesters'? • 270,000+ digital media tips sent from public• 300+ arrested pic.twitter.com/dogXo1W7pJ — NBC News (@NBCNews) March 2, 2021More: FBI chief calls Jan. 6 ‘domestic terrorism,’ defends intel

FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2020, file photo, FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks during a virtual news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington. Wray is set to testify for the first time since the deadly Jan. 6 deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. Questions about the FBI's preparations for the riot, and investigations into it, are expected to dominate Wray's appearance Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Though he has briefed lawmakers privately and shared information with local law enforcement hearings, Tuesday's oversight hearing will mark Wray's first public appearance before Congress since before November's presidential election. The FBI has said the report, which it says was based on uncorroborated information, was shared through its joint terrorism task force.

WASHINGTON – FBI Director Christopher Wray bluntly labeled the January riot at the U.S. Capitol as “domestic terrorism” Tuesday and warned of a rapidly growing threat of homegrown violent extremism that law enforcement is scrambling to confront through thousands of investigations. The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country for a long time now and it’s not going away anytime soon,” Wray told lawmakers. And in applying the domestic terrorism label to conduct inside the Capitol, Wray sought to make clear to senators that he was clear-eyed about the scope and urgency of the problem. Ad“Some of those people clearly came to Washington, we now know, with the plans and intentions to engage in the worst kind of violence we would consider domestic terrorism," he said. Though he has briefed lawmakers privately and shared information with local law enforcement, Tuesday's oversight hearing marked his first public appearance before Congress since before November's presidential election.

Agents Laura Schwartzenberger, 43, and Daniel Alfin, 36, were gunned down Tuesday while serving a search warrant at the Broward County home of a child pornography suspect. The service for Schwartzenberger was held at the Miami Dolphins' football stadium. It's a job with high stress, high emotional toll and high burnout,” Wray said of the agent, who was originally from Pueblo, Colorado. She'd talk to anybody and everybody about protecting children from predators online.”Federal government officials who attended the service with Wray were Acting U.S. Attorney General Monty Wilkinson and President Joe Biden's Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall. “During her 15 years as an FBI Special Agent, Laura Schwartzenberger was selfless, tireless, brave and committed to protecting some of society’s most vulnerable: its children,” Wilkinson said in statement.

Though there is no federal law that explicitly charges crimes as domestic terrorism, prosecutors have successfully used other statutes to cover conduct that might reasonably be seen as terrorism, including at the Capitol. No comparable law exists for people aligned with U.S.-based extremist groups, which enjoy expansive free speech protections. “Surveillance tactics and the eye of our law enforcement have always been trained on communities of color. Particularly Black communities,” Nelson said. Muslim Americans believe they've felt particular scrutiny since 9/11, including after the Patriot Act, legislation that afforded law enforcement new counterterrorism authority, as well as less intrusive initiatives like the Obama-era program designed to counter violent extremism.

District of Columbia National Guard stand outside the Capitol, Wednesday night, Jan. 6, 2021, after a day of rioting protesters. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden has directed his intelligence community to study the threat of domestic extremism in the United States, an undertaking being launched weeks after a violent mob loyal to Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. The disclosure Friday by White House press secretary Jen Psaki is a stark acknowledgment of the national security threat that officials see as posed by American extremists motivated to violence by extremist ideology. FBI Director Chris Wray has said that, over the last year, the most lethal violence has come from anti-government activists, such as anarchists and militia-types. “The rise of domestic violent extremism is a serious and growing national security threat," Psaki said.

It's been a stunning day as a number of lawmakers and then the mob of protesters tried to overturn America's presidential election, undercut the nation's democracy and keep Democrat Joe Biden from replacing Trump in the White House. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden has directed law enforcement and intelligence officials in his administration to study the threat of domestic violent extremism in the United States, an undertaking being launched weeks after a mob of insurgents loyal to Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. The announcement Friday by White House press secretary Jen Psaki is a stark acknowledgment of the national security threat that officials see as posed by American extremists motivated to violence by radical ideology. The National Security Council will do its own policy review to see how information about the problem can be better shared across the government. “In particular, far-right, white supremacist extremism, nurtured on online platforms, has become one of the most dangerous threats to our nation,” Schiff said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks during a briefing about the upcoming presidential inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, at FEMA headquarters, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden has confidence in FBI Director Chris Wray and plans to keep him in the job, the White House press secretary said Thursday. FBI directors are given 10-year terms, meaning leadership of the bureau is generally unaffected by changes in presidential administrations. But Biden's spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, was notably noncommittal when asked at her first briefing Wednesday whether Biden had confidence in Wray. "I have not spoken with him about specifically FBI Director Wray in recent days," Psaki said.

NEW YORK – If there's one thing clear after White House press secretary Jen Psaki's first session with reporters on Wednesday, it's that she's determined to minimize drama in the briefing room. The 42-year-old Psaki (pronounced SOCK-eee) was a State Department spokesperson and White House communications director in former President Barack Obama's administration. Psaki showed a bone-dry wit when one reporter asked if Biden planned to keep the new color scheme that Trump ordered for Air Force One. CNN's chief White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins, pointed to the lack of attacks on reporters coming from the podium. “This is the way it should have been for four years with President Trump.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)WASHINGTON – The FBI is tracking an “extensive amount of concerning online chatter,” including calls for armed protests leading up to next week's presidential inauguration, Director Chris Wray said Thursday. Wray said the FBI was receiving a “significant” amount of information that it was pushing out to other law enforcement agencies ahead of the inauguration. States nationwide have already been stepping up security in preparation for possible armed protests and violence this weekend, particularly at statehouses amid legislative sessions and inaugural ceremonies. An FBI bulletin earlier this week warned of potential armed protests in all 50 states. The vice president visited with guard troops keeping watch outside the Capitol, telling them he’s familiar with the National Guard because he used to be a governor.

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2020 file photo, FBI Director Christopher Wray, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on "Threats to the Homeland" on Capitol Hill in Washington. Wray is seeking to reassure agents that the bureau won't tolerate sexual misconduct in the workplace, promising more resources for victims and full investigations into claims brought against FBI officials regardless of rank or title. Wray sent a lengthy statement to staff late last week following an Associated Press investigation that found multiple senior FBI officials were accused of sexual misconduct over the past five years. The AP found that the FBI officials it identified were not disciplined and several were quietly transferred or retired, keeping their full pensions and benefits even when probes substantiated the sexual misconduct accusations against them. “No one deserves unwelcome sexual misconduct or sexual harassment, and no one should suffer in silence or feel like they need to tolerate inappropriate or illegal behavior.”

FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2020, file photo, Attorney General William Barr speaks during a roundtable discussion on Operation Legend in St. Louis. Barr went Monday to the White House, where Trump said the attorney general submitted his letter of resignation. Trump said Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, whom he labeled “an outstanding person,” will become acting attorney general. But Democrats have repeatedly accused Barr of acting more like the president’s personal attorney than the attorney general, and Barr had proved to be a largely reliable Trump ally and defender of presidential power. Trump was also said to blame Barr for comments from FBI Director Chris Wray on election fraud and mail-in voting that didn’t jibe with the president’s alarmist rhetoric.

The Justice Department in 2018 launched what it called the China Initiative to combat what officials saw as a multi-pronged effort by Beijing to steal intellectual property and conduct foreign influence operations in the U.S. The Justice Department, for its part, did keep an eye on Moscow, unsealing an indictment last month that accused six Russian military officers in a global hacking campaign. The Justice Department says it has charged more than 10 trade-secret theft cases tied to China since the China Initiative began. To be sure, the Justice Department had begun a focus on Chinese hackers well before Trump took office. The following year, President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that their countries had agreed not to conduct or support hacking for economic espionage.

In fact, election officials from both political parties have publicly stated that voting went well and international observers also confirmed that there were no serious irregularities. And the White House moved to crack down on those not deemed sufficiently loyal as Trump continued to refuse to concede the race. White House officials and Trump political appointees informed career government staffers they were not to begin acting on transition planning until GSA approved it, according to officials familiar with the matter. The White House hasn’t provided a “readout” of any call between the president and a foreign leader in weeks. He hasn’t met with members of the White House coronavirus task force in months.

In fact, election officials from both political parties have publicly stated that voting went well and international observers also confirmed that there were no serious irregularities. And the White House moved to crack down on those not deemed sufficiently loyal as Trump continued to refuse to concede the race. Trump is not expected to formally concede but is likely to grudgingly vacate the White House at the end of his term, according to several people around him. The White House hasn’t provided a “readout” of any call between the president and a foreign leader in weeks. He hasn’t met with members of the White House coronavirus task force in months.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Sunday suggested the FBI should stop investigating an incident in which his supporters were seen surrounding a Biden campaign bus in Texas, which led Democrats to cancel an event there. Trump’s tweet come as tensions remained high between the president and FBI Director Christopher Wray, and as Trump has pressed the Justice Department and FBI to act against his rivals, including Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden himself. At one point, one of the pickup trucks can be seen colliding with an SUV that was driving behind the bus. This weekend, caravans of Trump supporters also blocked the Mario Cuomo Bridge in New York, which spans the Hudson River between Tarrytown and Nyack, and snarled traffic on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey. At least we’ve never had a president who thinks it’s a good thing,” Biden said during a campaign event in the Philadelphia suburbs.

The Justice Department has charged eight people with working on behalf of the Chinese government to locate Chinese dissidents and political opponents living in the U.S. and coerce them into returning to China. In July, for instance, the Justice Department charged hackers working with the Chinese government with targeting firms developing vaccines for the coronavirus. In another case similar to the one announced Wednesday, the Chinese government passed a message to relatives in the U.S. of a target it could not locate, Wray said. The Justice Department says the defendants broke the law by failing to notify the U.S. that they were acting as agents of the Chinese government. As of Wednesday evening, three of the defendants had appeared in federal court in Brooklyn and were released on bond.

(AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)WASHINGTON – Earlier this month, President Donald Trump was predicting on Twitter that this election would be “the most corrupt” in American history. Christopher Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, closed an online conference with a warning about “bad guys, whoever they are,” trying to “sow chaos, sow doubt” about the integrity of the U.S. election. “I have confidence that your vote is secure, that state and local election officials across this country are working day in and day out, 24/7, that the 2020 election is as secure as possible,” Krebs said. Some state election officials and Republicans, suspicious of federal intrusion on their turf, were opposed to the designation. But the Trump administration supported the designation, and, eventually, skeptical state officials welcomed the assistance.

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)WASHINGTON – U.S. officials said that Russian hackers have targeted the networks of dozens of state and local governments in the United States in recent days, stealing data from at least two servers. “However, the actor may be seeking access to obtain future disruption options, to influence U.S. policies and actions, or to delegitimize (state and local) government entities,” the advisory said. He said the alert was issued in regard to the scanning of county networks for vulnerabilities, not specifically to the targeting of elections. As of October 1, the advisory said, the hackers have exfiltrated data from at least two servers. Hultquist said he does not think Energetic Bear has the ability to directly affect the U.S. vote but fears it could disrupt local and state government networks proximate to the systems that process votes.

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)WASHINGTON – U.S. officials said Thursday that Russian hackers have targeted the networks of dozens of state and local governments in the United States in recent days, stealing data from at least two servers. “However, the actor may be seeking access to obtain future disruption options, to influence U.S. policies and actions, or to delegitimize (state and local) government entities,” the advisory said. He said the alert was issued in regard to the scanning of county networks for vulnerabilities, not specifically to the targeting of elections. As of October 1, the advisory said, the hackers have exfiltrated data from at least two servers. Hultquist said he does not think Energetic Bear has the ability to directly affect the U.S. vote but fears it could disrupt local and state government networks proximate to the systems that process votes.

Officials say Russia and Iran have obtained some voter registration data, aiming to interfere in the November election. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool, File)WASHINGTON – U.S. officials have accused Iran of being behind a flurry of emails sent to Democratic voters in multiple battleground states that appeared to be aimed at intimidating them into voting for President Donald Trump. Iran sent spoofed emails designed to intimidate voters and sow unrest and also distributed a video that falsely suggested voters could cast fraudulent ballots from overseas, Ratcliffe said. Though Democratic voters were targeted, Ratcliffe said the spoofed emails were intended to harm Trump, though he did not elaborate how. “These emails are meant to intimidate and undermine American voters’ confidence in our elections,” Christopher Krebs, the top election security official at the Department of Homeland Security, tweeted Tuesday night after reports of the emails first surfaced.

FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, in Washington. (Jim Watson via AP)WASHINGTON – Less than four years into his 10-year term, FBI Director Christopher Wray’s future in the job is decidedly uncertain heading into the presidential election. President Donald Trump has been escalating his rhetoric against Wray, angry over his public statements on issues like antifa, voting fraud and Russian election interference. Wray's future is seen as uncertain because Trump has already fired one FBI director and has repeatedly lashed out at Wray. If he wins, he could seek an FBI director more willing to back his political agenda.

It also underscores how the people being brought up on federal charges rarely fit President Donald Trump's portrayal of them as members of left-wing radical groups. In some cases, prosecutors have gone so far as appealing judge's orders to release defendants. Authorities have not claimed that the man accused of firing the shots is a member of antifa. More than 40% of those facing federal charges are white. Attorneys for those facing federal charges either declined to comment or didn’t respond to messages from the AP.

Yet in the 2020 campaign, Democrats are largely ignoring the Russia probe. While some of the revelations from the steady drip of newly declassified documents are serious, they do not undercut the reasons the Russia probe was launched or its principal findings. Meanwhile, Attorney General William Barr has appointed a prosecutor to investigate the origins of the Russia probe. Meanwhile, attacking the Russia probe is a core part of Trump's campaign. Those attacks on the Russia probe may not win over many undecided voters.

On Friday, Trump told conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh that Justice Department investigators had “plenty of time to do it. After Limbaugh read Trump an Axios story on the topic, Trump said he'd be disappointed if Barr had relayed that message to lawmakers. Still, much of the uptick in tensions between Trump and Barr centers on the Justice Department's handling of the Durham probe. Even the outlines of the case involving FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty in the Durham probe, were already known before he was charged. Trump aides had banked on the Durham probe being finished before 2020 election to lend credibility to Trump’s claims that his own investigative agencies were working against him.

With time running out for pre-election action on the case, Trump is increasingly airing his dissatisfaction in tweets and television appearances. Still, much of the uptick in tensions between Trump and Barr centers on the Justice Department's handling of the Durham probe. A senior administration official said Trump feels like he’s given Barr wide latitude to advance the investigation, including declassifying documents related to Russia. Even the outlines of the case involving FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty in the Durham probe, were already known before he was charged. Barr has privately expressed frustration over the president's public pronouncements on the Durham investigation.