Overnight Defense: Pentagon details flawed security clearance vetting | Trump urges Turkey to pull back in Syria | Military investigating photos purportedly of Niger ambush

View in your browser     THE TOPLINE: A Pentagon agency gave preliminary security clearances that were later revoked to contractors with criminal or otherwise problematic histories, according to a new report. The Hill's Olivia Beavers has the story: The Defense Department released a report on Wednesday detailing how government contractors continued to access sensitive government data after going through a vetting process, despite prior criminal records or other questionable past activity. The government revoked the security clearances of 165 defense contractors in 2017 and in most cases further investigations revealed that they had been previously linked to troublesome or unlawful activity, according to a copy of the report obtained by The Hill. "Of those 165 cases, 151 people had pre-existing issues that they did not disclose and were not discovered during initial checks; the issues were not identified until the investigation was completed," the report reads. NBC News first reported the DOD data, provided to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) in mid-October in response to an inquiry about their vetting processes. Read the rest here.   TRUMP TELLS ERDOGAN TO 'DEESCALATE' IN SYRIA: President Trump spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about Ankara's ongoing offensive against Kurdish forces in northern Syria. The Hill's Max Greenwood reports: Trump urged Erdogan to scale back military operations in a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria during a phone call Wednesday. Trump cautioned Erdogan against taking any actions that could risk a potential clash between Turkish and American forces, according to the White House. Trump also said Ankara and Washington should instead keep their focus on defeating ISIS militants. The call came four days after Turkish forces launched an attack into Afrin, a city in northwestern Syria which is controlled by a Kurdish group known as the YPG. Read more here.   MILITARY EXAMINING PHOTOS CLAIMING TO SHOW SOLDIERS KILLED IN NIGER: The U.S. military is investigating the authenticity of photos posted online claiming to show soldiers killed in the October ambush in Niger. The Hill's Ellen Mitchell reports: One author and researcher posted on Twitter that a video broadcast by an affiliate of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) lasted more than 10 minutes and included scenes of a wounded soldier and the bodies of three other U.S. soldiers killed in the ambush. U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement it is aware of the images on Twitter and is investigating the claims. "USAFRICOM is aware of a post on Twitter purporting to show a US Soldier from the Oct. 4 ambush in Tongo Tongo, Niger," AFRICOM said in a release. "We are reviewing the post and determining the veracity of the tweet and the assertions that there is an associated video," officials continued. Read more here.   MATTIS THANKS VIETNAM FOR ENFORCING NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS: Defense Secretary James Mattis' overseas trip continued Wednesday with a stop in Hanoi, Vietnam, that comes just before the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive. En route to the capital city, Mattis told reporters that Vietnam deserves credit for enforcing sanctions against North Korea despite costs to it from lost trade. "I have to pay my respects there and thank them for their support on the DPRK issue," he said, using an acronym for North Korea's official name. "They have been supporting the United Nations sanctions, at some cost to them, and so we appreciate the leadership on that leading by example and stepping up." Read more on Mattis' comments here.   Mattis' trip also lit up the internet Wednesday as his stop in Jakarta included a splashy show by Indonesian special forces that featured the troops decapitating snakes and drinking their blood. The Washington Post, which is traveling with him, has video and pictures.   ON TAP FOR TOMORROW: Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller will speak at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) at 9 a.m. http://bit.ly/2reLhYW Former secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, and former deputy secretary of State Richard Armitage will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the U.S. national security strategy at 10 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room G-50. http://bit.ly/2DkUT5S Gen. James Holmes, the commander of the Air Force's Air Combat Command, will speak at the Brookings Institution on the future of warfare and multi-domain battle spaces at 10 a.m. http://brook.gs/2rmRu55 CSIS will hear from military officials on new operational concepts for integrated air and missile defense at 2 p.m. Thursday in Washington. http://bit.ly/2DaFEMK   ICYMI: -- The Hill: Armed Services Dem: US nuclear policy shouldn't reflect Trump tweet -- The Hill: US slaps new sanctions on North Korea over weapons program -- The Hill: State Dept: Four US citizens killed, two injured in Kabul attack -- Defense News: Interview: Nuke warhead chief talks risk of nuclear war -- Fayetteville Observer: At Fort Bragg, six women become 1st in Army to earn Expert Infantryman Badge -- Washington Post: Judge orders US to give notice before transferring American ISIS suspect held in Iraq     Please send tips and comments to Rebecca Kheel, rkheel@thehill.com, and Ellen Mitchell, emitchell@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @thehill, @Rebecca_H_K, @EllenMitchell23         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Defense Newsletters     Forward Defense Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Overnight Tech: Watchdog to investigate fake net neutrality comments | AT&T calls for 'internet bill of rights' | Lawmakers want answers on computer chip cyber flaws

View in your browser     AT&T CALLS FOR 'INTERNET BILL OF RIGHTS': AT&T is calling on Congress to pass a net neutrality law that would cover not only internet service providers but also platforms like Facebook and Google. The telecom giant took out full-page ads in major newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post on Wednesday calling for an "internet bill of rights." "Legislation would not only ensure consumers' rights are protected, but it would provide consistent rules of the road for all internet companies across all websites, content, devices and applications," AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson wrote in the ad. AT&T has been an outspoken champion of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision last month to repeal its 2015 net neutrality rules, which prevented internet providers from discriminating against web content or from creating internet fast lanes. The company also pushed Congress last year to eliminate a set of FCC privacy rules that would have required broadband companies to obtain permission from consumers before using their data to sell targeted ads. Gigi Sohn, who served as an adviser to former Democratic FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, said AT&T was being hypocritical in its call for internet legislation. "Among other things, the company has led the charge to repeal the Wheeler FCC's strong broadband privacy rules and rules protecting Americans with landline phones, promoted state laws that ban communities from building their own broadband networks, and of course, has been a central player in the FCC's recent repeal of its network neutrality rules and the agency's abdication of its role protecting consumers and competition," Sohn said in a statement. Read more here.   Please send your tips, comments and compliments to Ali Breland (abreland@thehill.com) and Harper Neidig (hneidig@thehill.com) and follow us on Twitter: @alibreland and @hneidig. We're also on Signal and WhatsApp. Email or DM us for our numbers.   GAO TO PROBE FAKE NET NEUTRALITY COMMENTS: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has agreed to take up an investigation into fake comments being filed to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding its plan to roll back net neutrality rules. The GAO's decision to probe the comments comes after a request from Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.), Elijah Cummings (Md.) and Frank Pallone Jr. (N.J.) asking it review the matter. "We understand that the FCC's rulemaking process requires it to address all comments it receives, regardless of who submits them," the lawmakers wrote in their letter to the GAO in December. "However, we do not believe any outside parties should be permitted to generate any comments to any federal governmental entity using information it knows to be false, such as the identities of those submitting the comments." Read more here.   CUOMO SIGNS NET NEUTRALITY ORDER: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed an executive order protecting net neutrality in New York on Wednesday, making it the second state to issue such a rule after the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision to repeal the open internet regulations late last year. The order directs New York's government not to enter into contracts with internet service providers unless the providers abide by net neutrality rules, which require they treat all web traffic equally. "The FCC's dangerous ruling goes against the core values of our democracy, and New York will do everything in our power to protect net neutrality and the free exchange of ideas," Cuomo said in a statement. Read more here.   HOUSE COMMERCE PRESSES TECH COMPANIES OVER VULNERABILITIES: House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders are demanding answers from major technology companies affected by the Spectre and Meltdown cybersecurity flaws that leave computer chips vulnerable to hackers. In a letter, lawmakers pressed the CEOs of Intel, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, AMD and ARM to explain the need for an "information embargo" agreement between the companies to keep information on the cybersecurity vulnerabilities from the public. "While we acknowledge that critical vulnerabilities such as these create challenging trade-offs between disclosure and secrecy, as premature disclosure may give malicious actors time to exploit the vulnerabilities before mitigations are developed and deployed, we believe that this situation has shown the need for additional scrutiny regarding multi-party coordinated vulnerability disclosures," the letter reads. Read more here.   EU HITS QUALCOMM WITH $1.2 BILLION ANTITRUST FINE: The European Union on Wednesday fined chipmaker Qualcomm $1.2 billion for paying Apple not to purchase components from its competitors. Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition commissioner, said the arrangement gave Qualcomm dominance in the market for LTE baseband chips. "Qualcomm paid billions of US Dollars to a key customer, Apple, so that it would not buy from rivals," Vestager said in a statement. "These payments were not just reductions in price -- they were made on the condition that Apple would exclusively use Qualcomm's baseband chipsets in all its iPhones and iPads." Read more here.   BURGER KING ON NET NEUTRALITY: Burger King is blasting the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision to scrap net neutrality rules in a new ad released Wednesday, using its signature sandwich to do it. The fast food chain posted a video illustrating what it would be like if its restaurants implemented a policy of "Whopper neutrality," in which customers had to pay more to receive their burger faster. Customers ordering Whoppers were given the option to pay for various MBPS -- "Making Burgers Per Second" -- rates. The slowest rate cost only $4.99, but came with a long wait time. Customers who wanted a Whopper as fast as possible were charged $25.99. Read more here.   ON TAP: CompTIA's Space Enterprise Council will hold a Capitol Hill briefing at 10:00 a.m. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on emergency alert systems at 10:00 a.m. USTelecom will hold a cybersecurity policy forum at 11:30 a.m.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The Baffler: The peasants of code The Wall Street Journal: Google parent launches cybersecurity firm TechDirt: New bill would prevent Comcast-loyal states from blocking broadband competition Stratechery: Amazon Go and the future Bloomberg: Why Twitter let Noto walk away         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Technology Newsletters     Forward Technology Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Overnight Regulation: Government watchdog to probe fake net neutrality comments | California, greens sue over fracking rule | EU fines Qualcomm $1.2B over payments to Apple

View in your browser     Welcome to Overnight Regulation, your daily rundown of news from the federal agencies, Capitol Hill, the courts and beyond. It's Wednesday night in Washington, the House is on recess, and the Senate is looking to wrap up its week tomorrow.   THE BIG STORY The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has agreed to take up an investigation into fake comments being filed to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding its plan to roll back net neutrality rules. The GAO's decision to probe the comments comes after a request from Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.), Elijah Cummings (Md.) and Frank Pallone Jr. (N.J.) asking it to review the matter. What's the issue here? During the FCC comment period ahead of December's rule change, several studies found that large amounts of net neutrality comments, mostly in support of scrapping the regulations, were actually filed under fake identities or fraudulently under the identities of people who said they didn't file comments or who were dead. What did FCC do about that? Basically, nothing. In the final version of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plan to get rid of the rules, the agency said that such public comments "in no way impeded the Commission's ability to identify or respond to material issues in the record." Read more from Ali Breland here.   More on fake comments... It's not just the GAO. House Democrats are calling on the Justice Department to expand any planned investigation into the hundreds of fake comments that appeared on the FCC's net neutrality rule to rulemakings from all agencies. In a letter Wednesday, Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray to expand a previous request they received to investigate the potentially illegal submission of fake comments. Read more from Lydia Wheeler here.   ON TAP FOR THURSDAY: The Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing on reforming the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee holds a hearing on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act.   REG ROUNDUP Environment: California's attorney general and a coalition of environmental groups are challenging the Trump administration's repeal of a rule that set standards for hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas on federal land. Xavier Becerra (D), a frequent litigant against Trump, announced a lawsuit Wednesday, saying the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the law when it repealed the rule last month. "They didn't follow the law. They didn't let the law or the facts get in their way in their zeal to repeal what was a commonsense measure. And so California was left with no choice but to take them to court," Becerra told reporters before filing the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. A coalition of environmental groups also filed their own lawsuit against the rule in the same court on Wednesday, the first day cases could be filed. Timothy Cama has the rest here   Health care: Three groups opposed to the drastic changes in Kentucky's Medicaid program are leading a lawsuit filed Wednesday against the Trump administration's approval of a state waiver. The litigation challenges a waiver the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently approved in Kentucky allowing the state to institute first-of-its-kind changes to the Medicaid program, including work requirements, arguing the measures are inconsistent with the purpose of the program. Fifteen Kentuckians joined in the class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Three major groups are representing them -- the National Health Law Program (NHeLP), Kentucky Equal Justice Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Read the rest of the story from Rachel Roubein here.   Health care: Thousands of Medicaid recipients in Mississippi would be required to work to be eligible for the program if the Trump administration approves a controversial state waiver request that recently opened for public comment. The proposal is likely to set off a firestorm of criticism from Democrats and health advocates, who argue that work requirements, combined with Mississippi's strict Medicaid eligibility requirements, will result in thousands of people losing their coverage. The five-year waiver request from Republican Gov. Phil Bryant seeks to require nondisabled adults, including low-income parents and caretakers, to participate in at least 20 hours per week of "workforce training." Read the story here.   Tech: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed an executive order protecting net neutrality in New York on Wednesday, making it the second state to issue such a rule after the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision to repeal the open internet regulations late last year.  The order directs New York's government not to enter into contracts with internet service providers unless the providers abide by net neutrality rules, which require they treat all web traffic equally.  "The FCC's dangerous ruling goes against the core values of our democracy, and New York will do everything in our power to protect net neutrality and the free exchange of ideas," Cuomo said in a statement. Julia Manchester has more here.   Tech: The European Union on Wednesday fined chipmaker Qualcomm $1.2 billion for paying Apple not to purchase components from its competitors. Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition commissioner, said the arrangement gave Qualcomm dominance in the market for LTE baseband chips. "Qualcomm paid billions of US Dollars to a key customer, Apple, so that it would not buy from rivals," Vestager said in a statement. "These payments were not just reductions in price -- they were made on the condition that Apple would exclusively use Qualcomm's baseband chipsets in all its iPhones and iPads." Qualcomm has already promised to appeal the decision. Harper Neidig has the story.   Environment: A group of scientists is suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for blocking scientists who receive agency funding from serving on the EPA's advisory boards. The nonprofit Protect Democracy, representing the Union of Concerned Scientists, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Tuesday, claiming the policy violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act and "is an attack on science itself." The Union of Concerned Scientists slammed the policy as a way "to make it easier for Pruitt to delay, rollback, or dismantle the EPA regulations that are designed to protect clean air, water, and public health." Jacqueline Thomsen has more here.   Criminal justice: Momentum is building under the Trump administration for criminal justice reform. The path forward, however, is looking a little different than it has in the past. Previous efforts to reform the justice system have focused on cutting prison time for convicted felons. But those taking part in the current discussions say the focus has shifted to preventing ex-convicts from returning to jail, suggesting this approach has the best chance of winning approval from both Congress and the White House. A source familiar with the talks between the White House and GOP members of Congress said a bipartisan prison-reform bill offered by Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) is expected to be marked up in the House Judiciary Committee before the first quarter ends in April. Lydia Wheeler has more here.   Finance: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Wednesday published a request for comment on the subpoena process it uses to investigate companies that appear to have violated federal law. The CFPB is asking for suggestions for and complaints about its civil investigative demands (CID) system, through which the bureau has scored documents, testimony and other information relevant to bureau enforcement probes. Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney announced last week that the bureau would begin soliciting comments on the processes and procedures it uses to regulate and oversee the economy. Wednesday's request is the formal start of the process. Sylvan Lane has more here.   Tech: AT&T is calling on Congress to pass a net neutrality law that would cover not only internet service providers but also platforms like Facebook and Google. The telecom giant took out full-page ads in major newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post on Wednesday calling for an "internet bill of rights." "Legislation would not only ensure consumers' rights are protected, but it would provide consistent rules of the road for all internet companies across all websites, content, devices and applications," AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson wrote in the ad. AT&T has been an outspoken champion of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision last month to repeal its 2015 net neutrality rules, which prevented internet providers from discriminating against web content or from creating internet fast lanes. Harper Neidig has more here.   Courts: A civil rights organization is suing Motel 6 for its cooperation with federal immigration authorities by providing guest lists to immigration agents. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona this week. The suit, filed on behalf of several guests, alleges that Motel 6 employees provided Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents with guest lists and accuses the hotel chain of violating state and federal laws that prevent discrimination on the basis of national origin and unreasonable search and seizure. Brandon Carter has the rest here.   Techn: Burger King is blasting the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision to scrap net neutrality rules in a new ad released Wednesday, using its signature sandwich to do it. The fast food chain posted a video illustrating what it would be like if its restaurants implemented a policy of "Whopper neutrality," in which customers had to pay more to receive their burger faster. Customers ordering Whoppers were given the option to pay for various MBPS -- "Making Burgers Per Second" -- rates. The slowest rate cost only $4.99, but came with a long wait time. Customers who wanted a Whopper as fast as possible were charged $25.99. Max Greenwood writes more here.   FROM THE HILL'S OPINION PAGE: EPA's budget has been devastated for decades: Here's the math Trump's regulatory rollbacks could cut current safety laws and injure workers Marijuana legalization is succeeding and other states should follow Vermont's example   ELSEWHERE IN THE NEWS: Trump's FDIC nominee promises relief for small banks (The Wall Street Journal) Got ID? Korea tightens noose on anonymous cryptocurrency trading (The Wall Street Journal) Disney won't have same problem with regulators as Fox did (The Wall Street Journal) Bitcoin ETF hype meets regulatory reality in race to be first (Bloomberg) Drug maker Santhera's stock dives after regulatory setback (Reuters) Facebook on charm offensive amid new EU regulation (Reuters)   Send tips, story ideas and pictures of puppies in the snow to nweixel@thehill.com and follow me on Twitter @NateWeixel         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Regulation Newsletters     Forward Regulation Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.