Taking action in the ransomware crisis

[link removed]
Lots happening this week. President Biden will be heading overseas for a trip being billed as nothing less than the last best hope for reviving global democracy. After meeting with friends and allies, Biden will have a sit-down with the increasingly troublesome Russian President Vladimir Putin. Needless to say, we'll be keeping a close eye on that. Vice President Kamala Harris is also on a diplomatic visit to Mexico and Guatemala to talk border issues with officials there. We'll keep you posted. In Congress, Democrats and Republicans are still working on infrastructure. Whether a deal can be struck before Biden departs for Europe on Wednesday is unclear, but stranger things have happened. It's likely too late for the For The People Act, which is all but dead since Sen. Joe Manchin revealed that he's a "no" on the voting rights legislation, infuriating fellow Democrats. Finally, the government is taking serious action on ransomware, which for many Americans has crossed the line from the
abstract to the all-too-real in recent weeks. Have a great week! —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor

NEW TO THE TOPLINE? SUBSCRIBE NOW ([link removed])
Love THE TOPLINE? Help us spread the word and earn TOPLINE rewards here ([link removed]) .
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Fstanduprepublic.com%2Fthetopline060721 Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Fstanduprepublic.com%2Fthetopline060721)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])


** Ransomware goes mainstream
------------------------------------------------------------

Ransomware attacks are nothing new. Business executives, cybersecurity companies, and government agencies have been fretting about the criminal enterprise for years. But as the number of attacks skyrocket, they're beginning to have a real-world impact on everyday people. When shadowy criminals hijack computer systems, demanding millions of dollars in exchange for their safe return, it can lead to all kinds of chaos. A ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline in May led to gas shortages and panic buying. When hackers compromised the JBS meat processing company last week, worries about meat shortages came to the forefront. Transportation systems, hospitals, schools—no network is immune. —The Washington Post ([link removed])
* — The DOJ gets serious. The Justice Department announced last week that it is elevating its investigations of ransomware attacks to the same priority level as terrorism. Internal guidance sent on Thursday to U.S. attorney's offices across the country said information about ransomware investigations in the field should be centrally coordinated with a recently created task force in Washington. —Reuters ([link removed])
*
* — Now that's bad. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Karen Gibson said she is more concerned about a cyberattack on the government than she is about another insurrection at the Capitol. "Our networks ... have attempted intrusions every single day. ... Members have sensitive information that they would not necessarily want to have disclosed that may be in documents," she said on Saturday. "Much of what we do is public. And meant to be so. But I would worry about ... nation-state actors or others who might try to just really cripple the government's ability to function by locking down cybercommunications networks." —The Hill ([link removed])
*
* — So who's next? It looks like local television networks should ramp up their cybersecurity. At least three stations have been completely offline since last week due to a ransomware attack on their parent company. ABC affiliates WFTV in Orlando, Fla., and WSOC in Charlotte, N.C., as well as NBC affiliate WPXI in Pittsburgh, Pa., all owned by the Cox Media Group, were told by managers on Thursday to shut down company computers and phones. —NBC News ([link removed])

MORE: U.S. mulling military response to ransomware attacks, Biden officials say —The Guardian ([link removed])


** Biden: Rallying the world's democracies
------------------------------------------------------------

"This is a defining question of our time: Can democracies come together to deliver real results for our people in a rapidly changing world? Will the democratic alliances and institutions that shaped so much of the last century prove their capacity against modern-day threats and adversaries? I believe the answer is yes. And this week in Europe, we have the chance to prove it." —President Biden in ([link removed]) The Washington Post ([link removed])

Joe Biden is the 46th President of the United States.

MORE: No early 'Biden bounce' to U.S. image in France, Germany, poll says —Reuters ([link removed])


** Say it ain't so, Joe
------------------------------------------------------------

True to form, Sen. Joe Manchin has revealed that he will not support the For The People Act, the sweeping 818-page bill that would, among other things, end partisan gerrymandering, tighten controls on campaign spending, ease voter registration, and force major-party candidates for president and vice president to release 10 years' worth of personal and business tax returns. Nor will he agree to "weaken or eliminate" the legislative filibuster, meaning much of President Biden's agenda—including immigration reform, a permanent expansion of the Affordable Care Act, controls of prescription drug prices, and efforts to tackle climate change—is far less likely to pass. Passage of the full For the People Act now appears to be impossible as well, though parts of it could pass in other ways if Democrats are willing to break up the bill. Read Manchin's explanation for his controversial decisions in his op-ed below. —The New York Times
([link removed])

MORE: Joe Manchin: Why I'm voting against the For the People Act —Charleston Gazette-Mail ([link removed])


** McGahn interview a small, late victory
------------------------------------------------------------

Behind closed doors on Friday, former White House counsel Donald McGahn detailed for the House Judiciary Committee how Donald Trump attempted to stymie the Mueller Investigation. No transcript of the interview has yet been made public, and McGahn did not address the media. However, Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler said in a statement that McGahn "testified at length to an extremely dangerous period in our nation's history." Nadler led the long legal battle over the enforcement of Congress' subpoena for McGahn's testimony, which played out in federal court for two years before the House reached a deal with the White House to bring McGahn in. The bargain was criticized by some as a retreat, as a Supreme Court ruling might have helped avoid similar conflicts in the future. Nevertheless, Nadler called the interview a "great victory for congressional oversight." —The Washington Post
([link removed])

MORE: Congress wins battle for Trump aide's testimony, but a broader war over subpoena power goes on —The Washington Post ([link removed])
[link removed]'s%20amazing!%20Check%20it%20out: [link removed] EARN TOPLINE REWARDS ON TWITTER ([link removed]'s%20amazing!%20Check%20it%20out: [link removed])


** Leubsdorf: Get ready for 2022
------------------------------------------------------------

"When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell discussed his reason for opposing a Jan. 6 commission, he cited ongoing investigations of individuals who stormed the Capitol and the need for heightened security arrangements and said Democrats wanted 'to continue to litigate the former president into the future.' Like many other Republicans, McConnell would seemingly prefer it if the former president just went away. But preventing creation of a commission won't do that. It will only encourage him." —Carl Leubsdorf in ([link removed]) Bangor Daily News ([link removed])

Carl Leubsdorf is the former Washington bureau chief of
The Dallas Morning News.

MORE: Rep. Mo Brooks served with lawsuit related to his role in Capitol insurrection —CNN ([link removed])


** Focus on the Justice Department
------------------------------------------------------------

The spotlight was on the DOJ this weekend as two unrelated stories broke about the agency. In the first, newly uncovered emails released to Congress revealed that former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, in the waning weeks of the Trump Administration, repeatedly pushed the Justice Department to investigate baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. Meadows asked Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to examine fraud claims in New Mexico, which had already been debunked. ([link removed])
* — Meadows also asked the DOJ to investigate whether people in Italy had used military technology and satellites to remotely tamper with voting machines in the U.S. and switch votes for Donald Trump to votes for President Biden. Rosen refused to broker a meeting between the FBI and a man who promoted the Italy theory, and he did not open any investigations as a result of Meadows' requests. —The New York Times ([link removed])
*
* — In the second DOJ development, the agency announced that it will no longer secretly obtain reporters' records during leak investigations, a practice long decried by news organizations and press freedom groups. Last month, Biden said it was "simply, simply wrong" to seize journalists' records and pledged that he would not permit the DOJ to continue the practice, which has persisted for years under Democratic and Republican administrations alike. —Associated Press ([link removed])
*
* — Pledge or no pledge, the Biden DOJ continued seeking to seize the email data of four New York Times reporters and had obtained a gag order in March barring a handful of newspaper executives who knew about it from discussing it. The White House claimed on Saturday that no one there was aware of the DOJ's efforts until a court lifted the gag order last week, permitting a Times lawyer to disclose the matter. —The New York Times ([link removed])

MORE: Fred Ryan: Something appears to be 'simply, simply wrong' at the Biden Justice Department —The Washington Post ([link removed])


** Graham: Are we 'normal' yet? No
------------------------------------------------------------

"Squint the right way and things look almost normal. The barriers around the Capitol are gone. People are taking off their masks and going out. ... But this appearance of normalcy is a thin veneer. Just beneath the surface, the U.S. faces a set of perilous, unresolved threats. The former president refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the election he lost. His party's leaders are abandoning their commitment to democratic majority governance, and its voters insist that he won. Domestic terrorism threatens the nation's tranquility, and ordinary violent crime is on the rise too. Relaxing about the state of the country feels irresistible, but doing so would be unwise." —David Graham in The Atlantic ([link removed])

David Graham is a staff writer at The Atlantic.

MORE: Clock is ticking for Republicans on infrastructure, Biden officials say —Yahoo! ([link removed])

As far as more people who should have the Topline spotlight shone on them, I would say Rep. John Katko. He voted for impeachment, and he co-authored the House bill to establish the Jan. 6 commission, despite enormous pressure against it in his party. Also, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has held up remarkably well despite the relentless, and often bizarre, attacks from the far-right. —Dennis A., Texas
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT TODAY'S STORIES ([link removed])


** The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.
------------------------------------------------------------
Got feedback about THE TOPLINE? Send it to Melissa Amour, Managing Editor, at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
CARE ABOUT DEMOCRACY? SHARE SOME DEMOCRACY.
If you love THE TOPLINE, share it with your friends and reap the rewards—from a shoutout in an issue of TL, to exclusive swag, to a call with Evan and Mindy.
[link removed]
Your Dashboard has everything you need to easily share THE TOPLINE
and track your progress.
VISIT YOUR DASHBOARD NOW TO GET STARTED ([link removed])

============================================================
** ([link removed])
The Topline is a project of the Stand Up Republic Foundation.

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.

700 Pennsylvania Ave SE · Washington, DC 20003-2493 · USA