FBI investigating fake tweet about White House explosions, Obama injury

The FBI is investigating a fake tweet from an Associated Press account that claimed that two explosions had occurred at the White House and injured President Obama. The AP suspended its account on Tuesday afternoon after hackers gained access. 

The bogus tweet briefly set off a firestorm of confusion on the microblogging service.  

"Earlier this afternoon the @AP Twitter account was hacked. Out of a sense of caution, we have suspended other AP Twitter feeds," said Paul Colford, director of AP media relations, in a statement. "We are working with Twitter to sort this out.”

A spokesman for the Secret Service said Tuesday that the agency was aware of the Twitter hack, and would be monitoring the situation and take any appropriate steps to follow up.

In its own report, the AP said the hacker attack on its Twitter account and mobile Twitter account were preceded by phishing attempts on the wire service's corporate network. 

For phishing attacks, hackers send people malware-laced messages that appear to be from people they know in an attempt to compromise their computer and get access to their passwords and other information. 

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed that the president is "fine" during the daily press briefing with the White House press corps.  

At the top of the briefing, AP reporter Julie Pace — who traditionally asks the first question of press secretary Jay Carney — noted that the wire service's Twitter feed had been hacked and was posting "obviously false" reports.

White House press secretary Jay Carney thanked her for the clarification.

"I appreciate that," Carney told Pace. "And I can say that the president is fine, I was just with him."

The false tweet also sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging after it was posted, but it quickly recovered after Carney confirmed that the report was erroneous.

The Syrian Electronic Army, or SEA, claimed responsibility for the hacker attack on the AP. 

"This small tweet created some chaos in the United States in addition to a decline in some U.S. stocks," SEA said on its website. 

The group says its cause is to support the Syrian government and President Bashar Assad, as well as "spread the truth about all those who wish ill of our country." 

It has claimed responsibility for recent hacker attacks on the "60 Minutes" Twitter account and NPR's website and social media accounts.

--This report was originally published at 2:06 p.m. and last updated at 6:08 p.m.

View Comments

View the original article here

Report: Federal grand jury in Miami investigating Sen. Menendez

A grand jury is investigating Sen. Robert Menendez’s (D-N.J.) role in advocating for the business interests of Salomon Melgen, a political donor and Florida eye doctor, The Washington Post reported Thursday evening.

“Three people aware of the probe” told the newspaper that federal agents have questioned witnesses. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity, the Post said. 

Two people briefed on the probe told the Post that the federal grand jury in Miami has issued subpoenas for Melgen’s business and financial records.

“I welcome any review, because I believe, at the end of the day, that my actions have been appropriate,” the senator told the Post.

Menendez has steadfastly maintained his innocence against charges that he has improperly helped his “friend and political supporter.”

The Post previously reported Menendez admitted to contacting officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to raise questions about a finding Melgen had overbilled the government by nearly $9 million.

The New York Times, meanwhile, has reported Menendez discouraged the federal government from donating port security equipment to the Dominican Republic, which would have undermined a contract a company owned by Melgen had to provide security screenings.

And the Associated Press reported earlier this month that Menendez sponsored legislation to boost tax credits and grants to companies that converted their vehicle fleets to use alternative fuels that would have financially benefited Melgen.

The Senate Ethics Committee is also looking into claims that Menendez acted improperly by flying to the Dominican Republic on Melgen’s private plane.

Menendez recently reimbursed Melgen’s company $58,500, the cost of two previously undisclosed trips from personal funds.

Melgen took him on at least three trips to the Dominican Republic aboard his private plane in 2010.

Earlier this month, Menendez urged reporters to investigate who was behind the accusations that he had sex with Dominican prostitutes on those trips with the same gusto they brought to scrutinizing his relationship with Melgen.

View Comments

View the original article here

The IRS is NOT investigating Gov. Nikki Haley (R, SC).

Welcome to South Carolina! Here's your accordion.

You may remember that a few days ago a minor South Carolinian political blog tossed out the very serious allegation that South Carolina governor Nikki Haley was about to be indicted by the Justice Department for alleged tax fraud involving her parents’ temple*.  The keyword?  “Imminent.”  Well, it turns out that the IRS is not actually investigating either the Governor or the temple (H/T @RBPundit) in fact, if I’m reading this correctly the entire thing was more or less based off of the usual bureaucratic paperwork (H/T Hot Air Headlines).  The goofball progressive blogger n00b (some guy named Logan Smith) that put up the article in the first place at first tried to stand by his anonymously-sourced allegations, but has since more or less given up and done one of the more grudging and passive-aggressive retractions that it’s been my pleasure to read lately.  I don’t even think that Smith is going to get fifteen minutes out of this; and, of course, he’ll never get another shot.

Tragic.

Annnnnd that’s pretty much it, at this point: absent further developments this story looks to be going nowhere.  I’m sure that people are not surprised.  I’m also sure that people remember the fun and games from the 2010 gubernatorial elections; back during the primary the establishment put together what had to have been one of the most laughable accusations of adultery in recent political history.  That it obviously doesn’t work doesn’t really matter; this is how they play down in South Carolina.  Which is to say, dirty – and as this exercise indicates they’re not particularly shy about using New Media sources to do their dirty work for them.  Note that I am not saying that every single political blog in South Carolina is corrupt: merely that it’s wise to get… confirmation… on some of the juicier stories that bubble up out of there.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*You may be forgiven for thinking that reminding South Carolinian voters that Governor Haley’s parents are practicing Sikhs was actually the whole point of the exercise.  Progressive blogger, remember?  Those people really do think that the Right cares about that sort of thing.

View the original article here