China is engaging in state-sponsored cyber espionage to collect intelligence about the US government's defense programs, said a Pentagon report issued Monday.
"China is using its computer network exploitation (CNE) capability to support intelligence collection against the US diplomatic, economic, and defense industrial base sectors that support US national defense programs," according to the report to Congress.
After President Donald Trump's home on his golf club's property Mar-a-Lago was searched by the FBI, Republican allies took to social media and conservative news outlets to attack the FBI and question whether there was a conspiracy afoot to bring down the GOP leader. But now Republicans are being told to quiet those complaints.
According to the New York Times, GOP leaders have been warned by allies of Trump's to calm their aggressive attacks on Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Department of Justice and federal law enforcement. The Trump insiders say "it is possible that more damaging information about Mr. Trump related to the search will eventually become public."
Within hours of the news being announced, Trump took to his social media site to rant that he was the victim of a "witch hunt." His son, Eric Trump, however, told Fox's Sean Hannity that the FBI had been negotiating with Trump for months to get the documents back. There was a concern that the top-secret information wasn't in a secure location on the property.
The report said that the Justice Department was concerned that the documents were of such a dramatically sensitive nature that they were forced to act. The information backs up what Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said two days ago when he explained to MSNBC that there was an urgency in the case.
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"I think part of the urgency here is that Trump has very poor counterintelligence hygiene," he continued. "He blabs secrets all the time. He is not careful about this kind of information. We also know Mar-a-Lago has been a target for foreign governments trying to get access to information. There was a trespasser several years ago who was arrested there, who was believed to be linked to the Chinese intelligence service. So I think that they want to make sure that they get these out of an unsecure location and out of potential hands that shouldn't have it."
It was reported in 2019 that Chinese businesswoman Yujing Zhang was arrested at Mar-a-Lago with four mobile phones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive, and a thumb drive that “contained malicious software,” the court documents said. She'd made it through at least five Secret Service agents. She's not a sanctioned spy, however.
Rep. Jim Jordan's (R-OH) Twitter account became an object of mockery after he tweeted a message that seemed to betray a lack of comprehension of basic legal principles.
Following the FBI's execution of a search warrant at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Jordan tweeted, "If they can do it to a former President, imagine what they can do to you."
The tweet referenced the search warrant of Trump's property, which HuffPost noted involves "a legal process that would involve investigators convincing a federal judge or magistrate that evidence of a crime would likely be found during a search."
Twitter users quickly fired back with critical remarks. "The fact that the law applies to the president, and not just the rest of us, is a feature of democracy, not a bug," The Atlantic's Yair Rosenberg remarked.
"Thank you, House Judiciary GOP, for summarizing succinctly the principle of 'the rule of law': the law applies to everyone, even a former President," replied Twitter used Julia Loffe.
"Yes, if you break the law and steal top secret documents from the White House and commit some of the most heinous crimes in American history, this too can happen to you," added government watchdog Medias Touch. "That’s a GREAT precedent! That’s called justice."
"If I stole classified documents from the White House (allegedly), I certainly hope they'd do it to me," Twitter user Bob Cessa added. "Please explain why they shouldn't, a-holes."
Jordan has made several demands that FBI Director Christopher Wray appear before Congress to explain the bureau’s decision to search former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
Wray, a 2018 Trump appointee, did address the press Wednesday in Omaha but not on any potential appearance before Congress.
Instead, he focused on Trump’s accusation that the agency could have planted evidence in the search stating, “I’m sure you can appreciate that’s not something that I can talk about so I’d refer you to the department.”
“Any threats made against law enforcement, including the men and women of the FBI, any law enforcement agency, are deplorable and dangerous," he added.
Americans on the right are so outraged the FBI, having probable cause and a federal judge's signature on a legal and valid search warrant, showed up at Mar-a-Lago Monday to confiscate what we now know were between ten and 12 cartons of federal government property, including classified documents.
Trump supporters upon hearing the news almost immediately began calling for civil war, with right wing media including Fox News and other far right outlets reinforcing those attacks.
But a brand new poll just released finds that, as with most issues, Republicans stand alone in their opposition and outrage.
"Just about half of registered voters approve of the FBI search of Trump’s Florida compound," reveals Politico's Morning Consult polling, published Thursday afternoon.
Specifically, 49 percent of registered voters support the raid. 37 percent, slightly more than one-third, oppose it, and 13% don't know.
But the political breakdown reveals what many would expect.
84% of Democrats support the FBI's execution of the search warrant on the former president's home.
47% of independents also support the raid, with just 33% opposed.
But a whopping 72% of Republicans are opposed to the FBI's actions, and just 15% are in support.
The Morning Consult poll also finds that a "majority of voters believe Trump either 'definitely' or 'probably' broke the law while he was president."
That includes 90% of Democrats, 59% of independents, and 24% of Republicans.
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