Biden Intel Nominee Grilled for Huawei Work . . . A Biden administration nominee for a senior intelligence post admitted to doing contract work for Chinese tech giant Huawei while employed at the company's top lobbying firm. Christopher Fonzone, the nominee for the director of national intelligence's general counsel position, would join the DNI office from Sidley Austin LLP, one of Huawei's top lobbying firms in the beltway. Fonzone told Sen. Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) he did work for the Chinese tech company—widely considered a national security threat—while employed by the firm. Washington Free Beacon

 

 

 

 

Socialist AOC’s Tesla Parked Illegally Outside Whole Foods in Posh DC Neighborhood . . . Like most celebrities, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) doesn't always play by the rules. The socialist congresswoman's white Tesla was parked illegally outside the Whole Foods near her posh apartment complex in Washington, D.C. Ocasio-Cortez's office did not immediately return a request for comment on the parking scandal. There is more than sufficient evidence, however, to conclude that the illegally parked white Tesla belongs to her. Washington Free Beacon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colonial Pipeline CEO Tells Why He Paid Hackers a $4.4 Million Ransom . . . Joseph Blount, CEO of Colonial Pipeline Co., told The Wall Street Journal that he authorized the ransom payment of $4.4 million because executives were unsure how badly the cyberattack had breached its systems, and consequently, how long it would take to bring the pipeline back. For years, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has advised companies not to pay when hit with ransomware, a type of code that takes computer systems hostage and demands payment to have files unlocked. Doing so, officials have said, would support a booming criminal marketplace. But many companies, municipalities and others debilitated by attacks do pay, concluding it is the only way to avoid costly disruptions to their operations. Wall Street Journal

 

 

 

Face Masks and First Amendment . . . Masking has become a form of virtue signaling. David Rivkin, a Washington lawyer, teamed up with The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto to explore how mask wearing fits with the First Amendment. They concluded that if wearing a mask conveys a political message, mandating it is constitutionally suspect. To wear a mask in public is to affirm a viewpoint no less powerful than the Pledge of Allegiance: that Covid poses a crisis so dire as to demand unprecedented government control of our lives and a transformation of the norms of interpersonal behavior. “There is no reason to deny any American the freedom” to decide for himself or herself whether to continue wearing a mask. Patriot Post

 

Israel's Defense Chief tells IDF to work fast in the time left before a truce . . . Defense Minister Benny Gantz ordered IDF chiefs to use the short time left before a ceasefire is agreed to achieve its goals. He laid stress on destroying Hamas’ underground commands and arsenals and targeted assassinations of its senior officers. Hamas is intent on hitting a high-profile target in the time left. Government and military officials were drafting a carefully worded text on Thursday about winding down Gaza campaign ahead of the release of a unilateral announcement in a day or two that the operation is over. DEBKAFile

 

Israeli PM Rebuffs Biden’s Push For De-Escalation . . . Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’s “determined” to continue the Gaza operation, despite President Joe Biden’s push on Wednesday for “a significant de-escalation.” Biden spoke with Netanyahu on Wednesday in the leader’s third call this week and “conveyed to the Prime Minister that he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire,” according to the White House. Daily Caller

 

US and Russia's top diplomats meet face-to-face for first time as tensions grow . . . US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke of their differences during their first face-to-face talks Wednesday in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik. "We seek a predictable, stable relationship with Russia," Blinken told Lavrov, echoing comments made by President Joe Biden, who has proposed a summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin next month. But even before Wednesday's talks the two diplomats had laid down near diametrically opposed positions for the meeting, previewing what was likely to be a difficult and contentious exchange over myriad issues including Ukraine, the Arctic, Russia’s treatment of opposition figure Alexey Navalny and accusations of cyber malfeasance, including the recent cyber attack on a key US pipeline by Russia-based hackers. "However, if [stable and predictable] includes constant and predictable sanctions, that’s not what we need," Lavrov stated. Lavrov dismissed Blinken's criticism of Russia's military activities in the Arctic, stating that Arctic "is our territory, our land." Fox News

 

 

Police swarm home of mortified mom who left her ‘corpse’ outside . . . A U.K. woman was mortified after an errantly placed Halloween prop prompted a squad of 10 police officers to surround her home on the suspicion that she’d committed murder. The fiasco was sparked by a dummy wrapped in garbage bags and duct tape that the mother of two had used as a spooky decoration at a holiday kids’ party. Cara Louise, 28, had kept the faux cadaver in the garden since November. However, the hairdresser had recently relocated the holiday holdover behind some garbage bins while gardening and forgot to put it back before picking up her elder son from school.

 

The macabre prop sparked suspicion among Louise’s neighbors, who dialed the U.K. emergency number, 999, prompting a whopping 10 officers to descend upon the unsuspecting mother’s home. She did recall asking the police how they could think the prop was a person with "legs that short." "You might have cut them," was the police’s reported reply. "I said, ‘Oh, did you check my bins?’ she recounted, adding that "they looked a bit concerned and asked, ‘Should we?’ " Fox News