A New York grand jury investigating hush payments made on Donald Trump’s behalf during the 2016 presidential campaign refocused attention on the Manhattan district attorney steering the case. Alvin Bragg’s decision to convene the grand jury early this year led to the first criminal charge against a former U.S. president.

Here’s what you need to know about Bragg:

Who is the Manhattan district attorney?

Alvin Bragg became Manhattan’s first Black district attorney in 2022, following his election in November 2021

As district attorney, what is Bragg’s job?

The office prosecutes nearly all criminal cases in Manhattan, staffed by about 500 lawyers. The district attorney also is a key political figure, overseeing cases that often involve defendants with immense wealth, fame and influence.

Manhattan district attorney is one of the most high-profile prosecution jobs in the world, dramatized on TV shows like “Law & Order” and “Blue Bloods.” Robert M. Morgenthau, who held the job for 35 years, was the model for the fictional character Adam Schiff on “Law & Order,” one of the series’ original leads played by actor Steven Hill.

The office has a budget of about $150 million and has used a separate $800 million forfeiture fund bankrolled by Wall Street settlements for grants to criminal justice and community organizations and big initiatives, such as testing backlogged rape kits.

Are district attorneys elected?

Bragg is one of five elected district attorneys in New York City — one for each of the city’s five boroughs. Bragg won a tough Democratic primary and then the general election to become Manhattan’s district attorney. He took over for retiring District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.

Bragg is just the fourth elected district attorney in Manhattan in the last eight decades. Frank Hogan served for 31 years. Morgenthau was in office for 34 years, until he was 90. Vance retired at the end of 2021 after 12 years.

What is Bragg’s legal background?

Bragg’s career includes time as a federal prosecutor, an assistant attorney general for the state of New York and a civil rights attorney who represented Eric Garner’s mother as she pressured New York City officials for more accountability against the officers and commanders involved in her son’s 2014 death by a police chokehold.

Bragg’s campaign included promises to change the culture of the office and allied him with other progressive prosecutors aiming to eliminate cash bail. Shortly after taking office, he released a public memo promising the district attorney would no longer prosecute some low-level misdemeanor crimes.

Bragg, who grew up in Harlem, graduated from Harvard Law School.

How did Bragg’s involvement with the Trump indictment develop? 

Bragg inherited a yearslong grand jury investigation into hush money paid on Trump’s behalf during his 2016 presidential campaign.

After taking office, Bragg slowed down his office’s move toward an indictment against Trump and said he had concerns about the strength of the case. That sparked a public protest by two prosecutors who were leading the investigation and resigned.

But Bragg convened a new grand jury early this year after successfully convicting Trump’s family company for tax fraud. He called that result a “strong demarcation line” for proceeding with other parts of the probe.

In general, the grand jury process is seen as extremely favorable to prosecutors.

Proceedings are closed to the public and there is no judge. Prosecutors call and question witnesses, and grand jurors — people drawn from the community — can ask questions. Grand jurors can either agree there is enough evidence to issue an indictment, find there is not enough evidence or tell the prosecutor to file lesser charges.
…

your ad here

The first Western tanks began arriving in Ukraine this week, prompting speculation that Ukraine may soon launch a counteroffensive against invading Russian forces and whether the more advanced weapons will turn the tide of the war in Kyiv’s favor.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov posted a video on Twitter this week showing him on board a British Challenger 2 main battle tank, or MBT at an unidentified location in Ukraine.

“It was a pleasure to take the first Ukrainian Challenger 2 MBT for a spin,” Reznikov wrote in his March 28 Twitter post. “Such tanks, supplied by the United Kingdom, have recently arrived in our country. These fantastic machines will soon begin their combat missions.”

A total of 14 Challenger 2 tanks are being sent to Ukraine. British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said Wednesday he could not speculate on any upcoming Ukrainian offensive.

“But I think it is no secret Ukraine is keen to start the process of rolling back Russian forces in the conflict. Obviously, the Russian forces are making almost no progress whatsoever,” Wallace told reporters.

German Leopards

Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed Monday that Germany had already delivered 18 of its advanced Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, among the most highly regarded MBTs in the world. Canada and Norway have also dispatched several of their Leopard 2 tanks. Poland, Spain, Finland and the Netherlands have also pledged to send Leopard tanks, although the total numbers have not been confirmed

European commanders say it could tip the balance in favor of the Ukrainian forces.

“Now, [the Ukrainian forces] are in a kind of defensive position against more than 300,000 Russian combatants. Maybe not the best trained or best equipped combatants, but they are facing this kind of tsunami of soldiers, so they are holding the front line,” Vice Admiral Herve Blejean, commander of the European Union training mission for Ukrainian forces, told the Reuters news agency earlier in March.

“When they will be able to involve better tanks like the Leopard, they will be able to breach through and to look at counterattacking. At the present time, they are fighting for Bakhmut. They are doing a fine job, but the balance of forces is not in their favor,” Blejean added.

Counteroffensive

It’s unlikely Ukraine has enough Western tanks to launch a major counteroffensive imminently, said Patrick Bury, a military analyst at Britain’s University of Bath.

“How many are there now? Maybe between 30 or 40, given the numbers that were pledged. At the moment, it’s probably not enough, would be my hunch. But it’s still fairly significant,” Bury told VOA in an interview March 30.

“A battalion or two can form a spearhead. If they’re all used together, you wouldn’t want to be an infantry solider in a foxhole facing 40 of these tanks if they’re used correctly,” Bury said.

In an interview with the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces need more Western weapons before launching any counteroffensive.

“We are waiting for ammunition to arrive from our partners,” Zelenskyy said. “We can’t start yet. We can’t send our brave soldiers to the front line without tanks, artillery and long-range rockets.”

Coordination

Bury said it’s crucial that the new weapons are deployed in a coordinated way.

“The question is, can Ukraine protect, use and concentrate the Western weapons to such an effect that they can break through better-prepared Russian lines? It’s not just about tanks. It’s about the armored infantry fighting vehicles. They accompany the tanks. It’s also about the artillery pieces — the rounds that they need for their own guns, and the new artillery pieces that are coming in, as well.

“So, it’s how you put the whole package together to achieve the combined arms breakthrough if that’s what you’re going to do,” Bury said.

Spring thaw

Ground conditions are changing rapidly along the front line. The spring thaw will turn frozen fields into quagmires.

“It just makes movements and maneuver more difficult. And therefore, that favors a sort of stagnation or a lack of offensive action in the open— big maneuvers around cities. The urban fights, of course, can go on,” Bury said.

Western nations have pledged dozens more tanks and other heavy weapons in the coming months. The United States is sending 31 Abrams MBTs, though these aren’t expected to arrive in Ukraine until the end of the year.

Slovakia this week sent Ukraine four Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets, with nine more to follow. Poland also plans to send several MiG-29s. Ukrainian demands for U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets remain unanswered.

Morale

British intelligence reported Thursday that Moscow is poised to launch another recruitment drive to sign up an additional 400,000 troops.

With both sides preparing for a long war, any breakthroughs on the battlefield will likely be limited, Bury said.

“How prepared are [the Russians] going to be? They’re going to be much more prepared than they were in Kharkiv last year, when the Ukrainians had a massive breakthrough,” he said.

“One thing to look for, though, is morale and cohesion, because you still have to have the will to fight if you’re going to get bombarded in your lines. And that is something where there is a question mark over the Russians. There definitely isn’t that question mark over the Ukrainians. And that could prove decisive,” Bury said.
…

your ad here

Experts on nuclear security policy and weapons proliferation were contacted by suspected North Korean hackers posing as Voice of America journalists, according to a threat intelligence group, which says this is part of a recent pattern of impersonating reporters from major news organizations.

The online spies were attempting to gather intelligence about the stance of international officials toward the Pyongyang government of Kim Jong Un, according to a report issued by Mandiant, an American cybersecurity firm and subsidiary of Google.

It is the latest known attempt in recent months by the cyber-espionage group known as APT43, also referred to as “Kimsuky” or “Thallium,” posing as journalists and targeting government organizations in the United States and South Korea, as well as academics and think tank analysts.

At least seven journalists from five news organizations were impersonated by someone with APT43, Mandiant Senior Analyst Gary Freas told VOA on Wednesday.

“We have seen success in gathering sensitive information related to Korean Peninsula affairs,” such as targeted individuals answering questions about Western sentiment about North Korean activity, including nuclear proliferation and missile launches, Freas said.

In one email from Oct. 14, 2022, obtained by Mandiant, the sender, impersonating a VOA reporter, posed several questions related to North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons testing programs, including: “Would Japan increase the defense budget and a more proactive defense policy?”

The recipient was asked to “send me your answers within 5 days.”

VOA “is aware that malevolent actors have attempted to impersonate our journalists in attempts to obtain information from third parties, including on nuclear proliferation issues,” said Nigel Gibbs, a VOA spokesperson. “It is something we are mindful of, and we take extra care to verify our identity and educate sources about potential impersonators.”

Mandiant said that in recent months it had been in contact with USAGM about the suspected North Korean operation impersonating VOA reporters.

“Trust between our journalists and their sources is imperative,” USAGM Public Affairs Director Laurie Moy said. “USAGM goes to great lengths to protect the security and integrity of our network journalists’ communications tools. We employ a number of reputation management services, including identifying impersonations and fake social media accounts and ensuring that public-facing images are verified and associated with agency resources.”

Moy continued: “We also provide robust IT system security to support safety concerns for our journalists. USAGM provides encrypted equipment, ensures multifactor authentication for systems access, and routinely monitors for vulnerabilities and external threats.”

Fake emails, claiming to be from reporters of VOA’s Korean Service, have been frequently sent to academics, officials and others requesting comment. In some cases, recipients of those emails have contacted VOA’s Seoul bureau and were informed the queries were not authentic.

“Our team has been a target of various aggressive phishing attempts, including impersonation, over the past few years,” said Dong Hyuk Lee, VOA’s Korean Service chief. “A dozen reporters on my team, including me, were targeted. As far as I can remember, we notified the agency’s IT office or (USAGM) security, if needed, about every case.”

Earlier this month, Mandiant also revealed that the same hacking group distributed an attachment to an email that appeared to be from a recruiter for The New York Times.

There has been similar activity linked to Pyongyang in recent years, including a phishing scam targeting journalists in South Korea in which the sender posed as a scriptwriter for the Korean Broadcasting System seeking information about North Korea.

“State-sponsored hackers regularly target or pose as journalists,” Joseph Bodnar, a research analyst for the Alliance for Securing Democracy, told VOA. “Reporters have information and access that most people don’t have. Masquerading as a journalist can be an easy way for hackers to gain and exploit a target’s trust.”

Proofpoint, a cybersecurity firm, issued a report last year detailing efforts by state-sponsored hackers in North Korea, as well as China, Iran and Turkey, to spy on or impersonate mostly U.S.-based journalists.

“These hackers can be sloppy, sending messages with incorrect grammar or misspelled words,” Bodnar said. “Google searches could reveal that the reporter they’re posing as doesn’t exist or uses a different email address. There are basic cybersecurity practices that can help people defend against this threat.”

At the State Department on Wednesday, principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said that while he couldn’t address the specific events involving the impersonation of New York Times and VOA personnel, “of course the DPRK is known for taking a number of destabilizing and malign steps. This is something we are being vigilant about.”

DPRK refers to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.

North Korea “often leverages nation-state malicious cyber actors to generate revenue for the regime while evading sanctions,” the U.S. Cyber National Mission Force’s Major Katrina Cheesman told VOA. “The DPRK cyber actors do this through a range of illicit means, such as cryptocurrency theft, money-laundering, ransomware and fraudulent activities of DPRK IT workers abroad.”

The Kimsuky APT group has most likely been operating since 2012, according to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. It is primarily focused on carrying out financially motivated cybercrime to support the North Korean government, according to intelligence analysts.

During the coronavirus pandemic, attention shifted to pharmaceutical and other health-related companies. Other related activities APT43 is alleged to be involved with include registering web domains meant to look like legitimate websites, including one for Cornell University, an Ivy League school. The group has also used malicious apps to steal usernames and passwords and to generate cryptocurrency.

“APT43 is exceptionally good at convincing its targets,” Freas, the Mandiant analyst, said. “We’ve seen APT43 create email addresses that look similar to news reporters, or analysts at think tanks, and simultaneously spin up fake domains that also look similar to the real news outlet they are spoofing. They’ll add these to their email signatures so even if the victim grows suspicious and visits APT43’s hosted domain, it has the look and feel of a real news site.”
…

your ad here

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved selling the leading version of naloxone without a prescription, setting the overdose-reversing drug on course to become the first opioid treatment drug to be sold over the counter.

It’s a move that some advocates have long sought as a way to improve access to a life-saving drug, though the exact impact will not be clear immediately.

Here’s a look at the issues involved.

What is Narcan?

The approved nasal spray from Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Emergent BioSolutions is the best-known form of naloxone.

It can reverse overdoses of opioids, including street drugs such as heroin and fentanyl and prescription versions including oxycodone.

Making naloxone available more widely is seen as a key strategy to control the nationwide overdose crisis, which has been linked to more than 100,000 U.S. deaths a year. The majority of those deaths are tied to opioids, primarily potent synthetic versions such as fentanyl, which can take multiple doses of naloxone to reverse.

The drug has been distributed to police and other first responders nationwide.

Advocates believe it’s important to get naloxone to the people most likely to be around overdoses, including drug users and their relatives.

The decision “represents a decisive, practical and humane approach to help people and flatten the curve of overdose deaths,” said Chuck Ingoglia of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing in a statement.

What does the FDA approval mean?

Narcan will become available over the counter by late summer, the company said.

Other brands of naloxone and injectable forms will not yet be available over the counter, but they could be soon.

Several manufacturers of generic naloxone, which is made similarly to Narcan, will now be required to file applications to switch their drugs to over the counter as part of an FDA requirement.

The nonprofit Harm Reduction Therapeutics Inc., which has funding from OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, already has an application before the FDA to distribute its version of spray naloxone without a prescription.

How is naloxone distributed now?

Even before the FDA’s action, pharmacies could sell naloxone without a prescription because officials in every state have allowed it.

But not every pharmacy carries it. And buyers have to pay for the medication — either with an insurance co-pay or for the full retail price. The cost varies, but two doses of Narcan often go for around $50.

The drug is also distributed by community organizations that serve people who use drugs, though it’s not easily accessible to everyone who needs it.

Emergent has not announced its price, and it’s not clear yet whether insurers will continue to cover it as a prescription drug if it’s available over the counter.

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf in a statement encouraged Emergent to make the drug available “at an affordable price.”

Does making naloxone over the counter improve access?

It clears the way for Narcan to be made available in places without pharmacies — convenience stores, supermarkets and online retailers, for instance.

Jose Benitez, the lead executive officer at Prevention Point Philadelphia, an organization that tries to reduce risk for drug users through services including handing out free naloxone, said it could greatly help people who don’t seek services — or who live in places where they are not available.

Now, he said, some people are concerned about getting naloxone at pharmacies because their insurers will know they are getting it.

“Putting it out on the shelves is going to allow people just to pick it up, not have stigma attached to it,” he said.

But it remains to be seen how many stores will carry it and what the prices will be. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, which now covers prescription naloxone for people on the government insurance programs, says that coverage of over-the-counter naloxone would depend on the insurance program. CMS has not given any official guidance.

Maya Doe-Simkins, a co-director of Remedy Alliance/For The People, which launched last year to provide low-cost — and sometimes free — naloxone to community organizations, said her group will continue to distribute injectable naloxone.

How will people learn to use Narcan?

Emergent had to conduct a study examining whether untrained people could follow directions for using Narcan.

Last month, an FDA expert panel voted to make the drug available over the counter, despite the numerous errors in using the device reported in the company study. The FDA suggested Emergent make several changes to how the directions will be displayed on the packaging and said the device could be safely used “without the supervision” of a health care worker.

Keith Humphreys, a Stanford University addiction expert, said one benefit of currently having pharmacists involved in dispensing the drug is that they can show buyers how to use it. One key thing people need to remember: Always call an ambulance for the person who has received the naloxone.

He also said there are fears that if the drug isn’t profitable as an over-the-counter option, the drugmaker could stop producing it. 
…

your ad here