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Baltimore cop charged in alleged drug, gun trafficking with motorcycle club

A Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officer is facing numerous federal charges for drug and firearm trafficking with a local motorcycle club. 

In a news release, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said that authorities arrested Steven Umberto Angelini Wednesday on charges related to a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and oxycodone in the city. 

Angelini, 41, served in the department’s Administrative Duties Division before being suspended without pay following his arrest. 

According to the affidavit, Angelini, who has been with the police department since 2006, began distributing the drugs to members of the Infamous Ryders Motorcycle Club and its Maryland chapter’s president in January. The affidavit claimed Angelini reached out to the chapter president via text message and offered to sell him the drugs. 

After telling the chapter president, addressed as “Co-Conspirator 1” in the statement, that one of the gang’s drug dealers was recently murdered, Angelini and the president agreed that the latter would provide the officer with $100 and cocaine in exchange for oxycodone. 

During the conservation, Angelini twice offered Co-Conspirator 1 information on the supplier’s homicide investigation in exchange for narcotics before agreeing to the terms, according to court documents. 

In the following days, Angelini gave the club president detailed information about the homicide investigation. The two did not communicate again until April, when the officer offered to sell him a ghost gun and hollow point ammunition in exchange for cash and drugs. 

They agreed to meet at a local gun shop later that month for the tradeoff before the officer added firearms accessories to the negotiation. 

In a phone conversation between the two, they reached another agreement, where Angelini would give the anonymous man oxycodone for cash and cocaine.

Angelini faces the possibility of life imprisonment if convicted of all charges. His next court appearance is set for Thursday.

Source: TEST FEED1

House approves measure to monitor white supremacy in military, law enforcement

The House approved an amendment for the yearly defense spending bill on Wednesday that compels government officials to prepare a report on instances of white supremacy and neo-Nazi activity in uniformed services and federal law enforcement.

The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), was added in a party-line 218-208 vote to the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), with Democrats in support and Republicans in opposition.

The chamber is expected to pass the full NDAA this week. The House will then go into conference with the Senate, where they could be stripped out.

The measure would require that FBI director, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the secretary of Defense secretary publish a report analyzing White supremacist and neo-Nazi activity within their ranks, and presenting ways to thwart it.

It specifically calls for figures on the number of people who were discharged from uniformed services or law enforcement because of situations involving White supremacy and neo-Nazi activity.

Additionally, the amendment mandates that the report includes information on how the agency leaders responded to “planned or effectuated incidents” connected to White supremacist and neo-Nazi ideology.

The report, which would be expected no more than 180 days after the NDAA is enacted, would be submitted to congressional committees, and unclassified portions would be made public.

In remarks on the House floor Wednesday, Schneider said the U.S. is experiencing an increase in domestic extremism, pointing to the 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, and Charlottesville — likely a reference to the “Unite the Right” rally in 2017.

He also cited a May presentation from the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, titled “The Insider Threat and Extremist Activity Within the DoD,” which outlined extremism cases connected to military personnel.

“Such behavior, such extremism is a threat to us in all segments of society. There is no reason to believe that our military is any different,” he said during debate.

“These are exceptions, they are rare, but we must do everything we can to identify them and to thwart them before risks become a reality,” he added.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) on the House floor said the measure “denigrates” law enforcement personnel, calling it “Orwellian in nature.”

“This amendment attempts to create a problem where none exists by requesting investigations into law enforcement and the armed services for alleged rampant white supremacists or white national sympathies,” he said.

Source: TEST FEED1

This is the only Democrat who voted against the active shooter alert bill

Wisconsin Rep. Ron. Kind (D) was the only Democrat to vote against a bill on Wednesday that seeks to establish an active shooter communications network.

The bill, dubbed the Active Shooter Alert Act, cleared the House in a 260-169 vote, with Kind being the only Democrat to join with Republicans in objecting to the measure.

Forty-three Republicans bucked GOP leadership’s recommendation and voted for the measure. Two Democrats did not vote.

The Hill reached out to Kind for a statement on why he voted against the bill.

Kind was also one of two Democrats, along with Rep. Jared Golden (Maine) who voted against a bill to close a loophole in firearm background checks last year.

In a 2019 tweet marking the one-year anniversary of the Parkland school shooting, Kind advocated for “commonsense gun safety measures.”

“Taking action on gun violence and being respectful about Second Amendment rights are not mutually exclusive,” he wrote. “Only by working together on this can we prevent these mass shootings from happening.”

The legislation passed Wednesday calls for the creation of an Active Shooter Alert Communications Network, which would notify individuals when an active shooter is in their neighborhood. It has been likened to the AMBER Alert system.

The House initially voted on the bill last month under suspension — the fast-track process that allows measures to pass quickly if they have two-thirds support in the chamber. The active shooter bill did not, however, reach that threshold, failing to pass in a 259-162 tally.

Kind was also the only Democrat to vote against the bill in that instance, joining 161 Republicans in opposition. Forty-four Republicans supported the measure in that vote.

After the bill failed to pass, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) vowed to bring it up again. On Wednesday, however, the legislation passed after going through the Rules committee. A simple majority vote was needed for passage.

The bill requires that an official at the Department of Justice, selected by the attorney general, serve as national coordinator of the communications network. The official would be tasked with urging federal, state, tribal and local government agencies to implement a plan for responding to active shooter situations, and preparing a report on the program’s effectiveness in areas where it is put into effect.

Source: TEST FEED1

Why Biden's handshakes are making headlines on his Middle East trip

When Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and other Israeli officials reached their hands out to President Biden upon his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday, Biden responded with fist bumps.

But after delivering remarks at the airport, Biden joined other Israeli dignitaries for a photo, shaking hands with former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his successor, Naftali Bennett.

The handshakes were perfectly ordinary for a normal diplomatic trip, but they quickly made headlines due to the White House’s messaging ahead of the visit.

His aides announced on Wednesday they were aiming to “reduce contact” during the trip because of the spread of COVID-19, an announcement that came as questions swirl over Biden’s controversial meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman later in the trip.

The White House reportedly informed Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s office that Biden would refrain from shaking hands due to the pandemic.

One reporter directly asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre if the policy was intended to avoid a photo-op with Biden shaking hands with the Saudi crown prince, whom U.S. intelligence concluded ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

“We are saying that we’re going to try to minimize contact as much as possible,” Jean-Pierre responded. “But also, there are precautions that we are taking because this is up to his doctor.”

The White House has kept in place mitigation measures like regular COVID-19 testing for the president and those around him, but the plan raised eyebrows since Biden has regularly shaken hands at public events in recent days.

During a wreath laying ceremony later on Wednesday at Yad Veshem — a Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem — Biden also grasped the hands of two Holocaust survivors as he spoke with them.

It’s unclear whether handshakes will be part of the next leg of Biden’s trip.

Asked on Monday if Biden would be photographed shaking hands with the crown prince during the trip, Jake Sullivan, his national security adviser, said the two would meet but said he was leaving the “precise modalities” to the trip organizers.

Two days later, as he announced Biden was reducing contact during the trip, Sullivan declined to say if that meant handshakes were off the table.

“I think just the simplest way for me to put it is that we’re in a phase of the pandemic right now where we’re looking to increase masking, reduce contact to minimize spread,” he said Wednesday. “That’s the approach we’re taking. How exactly that plays out in any given interaction is something that we will see unfold.”

Biden pledged during his presidential campaign that he would make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” state after the killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and columnist for The Washington Post whom U.S. intelligence concluded was murdered at the orders of the Saudi crown prince. 

The president has come under widespread criticism for his decision to visit Saudi Arabia, which Biden has recently defended as helping keep the United States “strong and secure.” The Washington Post’s publisher on Tuesday said the trip “erodes our moral authority.”

Saudi Arabia is also a key player in global oil supplies, though Biden has played down suggestions that reducing gas prices is an impetus for the trip.

Biden heads to Saudi Arabia on Friday.

Source: TEST FEED1

House passes bill expanding care for vets exposed to toxins

The House passed much-anticipated legislation Wednesday to expand benefits for veterans who suffer illnesses from toxic exposures during their military service.

The Sgt. First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our PACT Act largely aims to expand access to care from the Department of Veterans Affairs care to 3.5 million veterans who served after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack and were exposed to toxic burn pits.

The measure passed by a bipartisan vote of 342-88, a much wider margin than when the lower chamber initially passed the bill in March. The bill gained much more Republican support, with 123 joining Democrats in advancing the measure.

The Senate later passed the bill in June by a vote of 84-14. The revised legislation heads back to the upper chamber, with technical drafting error corrections to the measure passed last month

Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said in floor remarks that Congress was “setting a new standard with the PACT Act.”

“We’re telling our veterans: the burden of proof is not on you,” Takano said. “Because of your sacrifice to our country, this Congress and the American people are giving you the benefit of the doubt you have earned.”

The legislation also expands presumptions related to Agent Orange — used largely during the Vietnam War — to veterans who served in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Guam.

Burn pits were used in the post-9/11 era for open-air combustion of medical waste, human waste, and anything else that needed to be disposed of. Overtime, exposures to the toxins can lead to various illnesses from asthma, rhinitis and cancer—some of which can take years after exposure to develop.

In April, the VA added nine rare respiratory cancers that are presumed service-connected due to exposures, including five different lung cancers.  

The Honoring our PACT Act also creates a framework for the VA to establish presumptive service connections related to toxic exposures and adds 23 burn pit and toxic exposure-related conditions to the agency’s list of presumptive service connections.

Source: TEST FEED1

Blinken calls on Russia to halt unlawful 'filtration' of Ukrainians into Russia

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called on Russia Wednesday to cease its “filtration” system that has forcibly deported thousands of Ukrainians in Russian-occupied territory, which he called a war crime.

“The unlawful transfer and deportation of protected persons is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians and is a war crime,” Blinken wrote in a statement, citing as many as 1.6 million unlawful deportations, detainments and interrogations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky put the number at 2 million. “So many of our people have already been taken to Russia. Several hundred thousand children,” the president said in a video address Wednesday.

The exact numbers are unknown, Zelensky said, because “all these deported people are deprived of means of communication, their documents are taken away from them, they are intimidated and taken to remote areas of Russia to make it as difficult as possible for them to return to their homeland.”

Blinken called on Russia to release the Ukrainians and facilitate their safe return — and to allow outside observers to monitor the “‘filtration’ facilities” and areas to which Ukrainians were forcibly relocated.

Russian President Vladimir Putin took a step in the opposite direction on Monday, signing a new passport decree expanding a fast track to Russian citizenship for Ukrainians.

Putin also recently introduced the Russian ruble as currency in occupied areas, as part of his efforts to delegitimize the Ukrainian state and assert Russia’s influence.

As part of the “filtration” process, Blinken wrote, many Ukrainians are coerced into signing legal agreements not to return to Ukraine.

“Reports also indicate Russian authorities are deliberately separating Ukrainian children from their parents and abducting others from orphanages before putting them up for adoption inside Russia,” he wrote, adding that as many as 260,000 children have been among those pushed through “filtration.”

Blinken also cited “mounting” evidence that Russia is “detaining or disappearing thousands of Ukrainian civilians who do not pass ‘filtration.’” Ukrainians with ties — or potential ties — to their country’s army, media and government are among those flagged.

“President Putin and his government will not be able to engage in these systematic abuses with impunity,” Blinken wrote, affirming U.S. support for the collection of evidence against Russia by Ukraine and international authorities.

Source: TEST FEED1

House approves amendment to create system for reporting UFOs

The House approved an amendment to the annual defense spending bill on Wednesday that would establish a secure system for reporting unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), commonly known as UFOs.

The system set up by the amendment would receive reports of “any event relating to unidentified aerial phenomena,” in addition to any related activity from the government, federal contractors or programs.

The amendment, sponsored by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), was passed by voice vote as part of a bloc of amendments to the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The House is expected to vote on and pass the full NDAA this week.

Gallagher’s office said the system would be established by the head of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, which was established in November 2021 on behalf of the Defense secretary and Director of National Intelligence as the successor to the Navy’s UAP task force.

The group was set up to oversee efforts in the government for detecting, identifying and attributing objects of interest located in special use airspace.

The purpose of the measure, the amendment states, is to “prevent unauthorized public reporting or compromise of properly classified military and intelligence systems, programs, and related activities.”

Gallagher said the amendment will have “an important role” in improving Congress’ ability to learn more about UAPs.

“We must ensure the military and intelligence community are armed with the best possible information, capital, and scientific resources to defeat our enemies and maintain military and technology superiority,” he said in a statement.

“This amendment will play an important role in furthering Congress’ ability to fact gather and further prove or disprove the origin and threat nature of whatever seems to be flying in our skies,” he added.

Gallego sounded a similar note, saying in a statement that the amendment will help “better collect observations and data.”

“We need to empower our service members to be transparent and to drop the stigma surrounding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena,” he added.

Consideration of the amendment came roughly two months after a congressional subcommittee held the first hearing on UFOs on Capitol Hill in more than 50 years.

During the hearing — held by the House Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and Counterproliferation Subcommittee — Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray said the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had found roughly 400 reports of UAP encounters.

The amendment approved by the House on Wednesday calls for the “immediate sharing” of information related to UAPs that was “previously prohibited from reporting under any non-disclosure written or oral agreement, order, or other instrumentality or means” with supporting analysts and scientists.

Additionally, it mandates that an initial report be sent to congressional committees outlining the system, which would then be made public. It also requires that annual reports be prepared and include a summary of the reports received as part of the system.

Source: TEST FEED1

Defense & National Security — Biden faces limits at home as he starts foreign trip

As President Biden kicks off his trip to the Middle East, progressives are looking to constrain his administration’s ability to send weapons and enter security agreements with Saudi Arabia. 

We’ll detail what exactly they’re doing in the House and how this may impact the administration, plus the latest tit-for-tat between the United States and China in the South China Sea. 

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Ellen Mitchell. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

House to vote on constraining arms sales to Saudis

Progressives are looking to constrain the Biden administration’s ability to send weapons and enter security agreements with Saudi Arabia as President Biden gears up for a controversial visit to strengthen ties with the country. 

The Democratic lawmakers have introduced a number of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) aiming to limit military support to the oil-rich monarchy, which is among the largest U.S. customers for foreign weapons sales. 

The reasoning: The lawmakers proposing the measures say they are necessary to establish boundaries given Saudi Arabia’s involvement in Yemen’s civil war and broader human rights concerns. 

They also point out the 2018 killing at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul of Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post . 

• “An American resident, a columnist for The Washington Post, and my constituent was — at the direction of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia — brutally murdered and dismembered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, a little over three years ago,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) told The Hill. 
• “Justice is still waiting. And to me, that means you suspend normal relations with a country whose leader did that. And so I think we need some legislative guidance and direction circumscribing that relationship.”  
• Two to be debated: Democrats filed a handful of amendments to the NDAA in the House Rules Committee for eventual floor consideration, though only two were allowed to be debated on the floor. 

One amendment, sponsored by Reps. Connolly, Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), would impose temporary limits on arms sales to Saudi Arabia and require reports and actions related to Khashoggi’s death. 

The other amendment, led by Malinowski, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and five other Democrats, would require the secretary of State to develop guidance for investigating indications that U.S.-origin defense articles have been used in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition in “substantial violation of relevant agreements with countries participating in the coalition.” 

Upcoming: The House is set to begin consideration of amendments to the defense bill on Wednesday, with votes expected later this week. 

The U.S. has more than $126 billion in active foreign military sales with Saudi Arabia, according to the State Department. 

Read more here 

Also from The Hill: 

• Biden to continue two-state discussion in Middle East, says it’s ‘not in the near term’ 
• Five things to watch as Biden heads to the Middle East 
• Biden dismisses Democrats critical of Israel, saying they’re ‘wrong’ 

US draws China’s ire in South China Sea

In a written statement Wednesday, China said its military had “driven away” a
U.S. destroyer that sailed illegally into territorial waters near the Paracel Islands in
the South China Sea the previous day, an accusation Washington swiftly pushed back on.  

• The U.S. Navy said the destroyer “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law.”
• The U.S. military frequently conducts such “Freedom of Navigation” operations as part of a program China does not recognize, which allows U.S. military vessels to travel international waters. 

The claim: The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command accused Washington of purposely stoking tensions by illegally entering its waters. The move “seriously violated China’s sovereignty” and undermined regional peace and stability, according to a Southern Theater Command spokesperson, Air Force Senior Colonel Tian Junli. 

The Southern Theater Command “organized sea and air forces to follow, monitor, warn and drive away” the U.S. vessel. 

The Pentagon’s response: Later on Wednesday, the Navy released a statement calling China’s claim’s “false,” and the “latest in a long string of PRC actions to misrepresent lawful U.S. maritime operations and assert its excessive and illegitimate maritime claims at the expense of its Southeastern Asian neighbors in the South China Sea.”  

“The United States is defending every nation’s right to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, as USS Benfold did here. Nothing the PRC says otherwise will deter us,” according to the statement.   

Timing: The tit-for-tat comes as tensions between the U.S. and Chinese governments continue to simmer over Beijing’s increasing pressure campaign and threats against the independent Taiwan, which it sees as its own territory. 

China also is constantly involved in territorial disputes over the South China Sea, waters that carry roughly $3 trillion worth of vessel-moved trade cargo annually. 

Read the full story here 

ON TAP

• The National Desert Storm Memorial Association will live stream the ceremony to break ground on the future National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial, with Kuwaiti Ambassador to the U.S. Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), and others at 9 a.m.  
• The Center for Strategic and International Studies will hold a conference on “Homeland Cruise Missile Defense,” at 10 a.m.  
• The Arab Center will host a virtual discussion on “Biden’s Trip to the Middle East: Objectives and Potential Outcomes,” at 10 a.m.  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register 
• The Center for Strategic and International Studies will also hold a virtual discussion on “Xi’s New Global Security Initiative,” at 10 a.m.  
• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will welcome Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini to the Pentagon at 10:30 a.m.  
• Hudson Institute will host a virtual event on “Regaining the High Ground against China,” at 12 p.m.  
• Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper will speak at Brookings Institution on “The National Defense Strategy and great power competition,” at 2 p.m.  
• Richard Marles, deputy prime minister and defense minister of Australia, will speak to media as part of George Washington University’s Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group at 2:30 p.m. 

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Commerce, Defense secretaries warn of consequences without action on semiconductor bill 
• More than 40 countries support Ukraine’s efforts to hold Russia accountable for violating international law 
• Experts say US must not let EU lead on cybersecurity 
• The Hill: Opinion: WMD in Ukraine: a planetary near-death experience 
• The Hill: Opinion: Increase support for Ukraine, or NATO may have to fight 

That’s it for today! Check out The Hill’s Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you tomorrow!

VIEW FULL VERSION HERE

Source: TEST FEED1

University of Michigan hires first Asian American president after surprise firing

The University of Michigan appointed Santa Ono as its new university president Wednesday, making him the first Asian American to hold the position. 

In a news release, the Ann Arbor, Mich-based school said its board of regents voted unanimously to approve Ono’s appointment in a special meeting held the same day.

Ono, born to Japanese immigrants, previously served as president of the University of Cincinnati and currently serves as president and vice chancellor at the University of British Columbia. He also served as senior vice provost and deputy to the provost at Emory University in the past. 

The 59-year-old biomedical researcher and former professor expressed his gratitude for the appointment in a statement. 

“The University of Michigan is recognized worldwide as being at the pinnacle of public higher education,” Ono said in the statement. “It is a singular honor to be chosen to lead such an extraordinary institution.”

“I look forward to embracing the university community and supporting their education, scholarship, innovation and service. And I look forward to joining Michigan’s 600,000 alumni in cheering for the Wolverines,” he added. 

Ono’s hiring comes months after the board of regents removed former University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel from his position following allegations of an inappropriate relationship between Schlissel and a colleague during his tenure. 

The school’s investigation of the matter found that Schlissel, who had inked a five-year contract with the school in 2018, used his work email to communicate with the employee in an “inappropriate” manner that wasn’t suitable for the reputation of the university. 

In a statement, board of regents member Sarah Hubbard said she is confident Ono is the right choice for the university after the board’s extensive search for someone to fill the role.

“We listened. We heard you,” Hubbard said. “I’m confident that the finalist seated before us today is the right choice for the University of Michigan.”

Source: TEST FEED1