Bolton adds 3 countries to meddling list
WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials are concerned that not only Russia but also China, Iran and North Korea will try to meddle in this fall's midterm elections, national security adviser John Bolton said Sunday.
"Well, I can say definitively that it's a sufficient national security concern about Chinese meddling, Iranian meddling and North Korean meddling that we're taking steps to try and prevent it," Bolton said on ABC News' This Week when asked about a tweet by President Donald Trump saying that "all the fools" are focused on election meddling by Russia alone. "So all four of these countries, really."
Bolton said elections are not the only potential targets for hostile international hackers, and he cited a "whole range of vulnerable systems" in both the government and the private sector.
"What we want is not war in cyberspace, we want peace in cyberspace," he said. "And to do that, I think you need to establish structures of deterrence so that our adversaries who have conducted cyber operations against us or who are contemplating it come to understand they will pay a much higher price if they do that than if they simply refrain."
Bishop defends response to abuse claims
PITTSBURGH -- The bishop of Pittsburgh's Roman Catholic diocese pushed back against a call for his resignation and said the diocese has "followed every single step" needed for responsible action after allegations of child sexual abuse.
Bishop David Zubik spoke Sunday to George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week after the Tuesday release of a report detailing widespread child sexual abuse in six Pennsylvania Roman Catholic dioceses. The report accused Zubik of not reporting credible allegations.
Zubik said he can understand the rage people have reading the report and "I feel that rage too." But he said that since he became the bishop in 2007, "we have followed every single step that we needed to follow to be responsible in our response to the victims."
Officials have, he said, listened to victims "very carefully," removed priests from dioceses, turned allegations over to appropriate district attorneys, let an independent review board look at whether a return to ministry is warranted and finally, informed parishioners of the diocese's actions.
"The church of Pittsburgh today is not the church that's described in the grand jury report," he said.
Ex-Navy captain charged in bribery case
HONOLULU -- A retired U.S. Navy captain in Hawaii has been indicted on federal charges of receiving at least $145,000 in bribes from a Malaysian defense contractor.
David Haas is the latest former or current Navy official to be caught up in a wide-ranging bribery and fraud scandal, which the Navy said cost taxpayers nearly $35 million, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
Leonard Francis pleaded guilty in 2015 to bribery and fraud charges in a decadelong conspiracy to overbill the U.S. Navy for fuel, food and other services that his company provided to ships in Southeast Asia.
Haas used his influence to steer ships to ports controlled by Francis' company and otherwise advance Francis' interests, according to the indictment Thursday.
In return, the Justice Department alleges, Francis paid for expensive dinners, prostitutes and alcohol for Haas and others.
Report: Ex-lawmaker tried to steer deal
VICTORIA, Texas -- A former Texas congressman tried steering a federal contract to the owner of a business who gave him a $160,000-a-year job after the congressman resigned amid sexual harassment allegations, according to a newspaper investigation published Sunday.
Republican Blake Farenthold resigned in April after revelations that he used taxpayer money to settle a lawsuit brought by a former aide who accused him of sexual harassment. A month after leaving Congress, Farenthold was hired as the lobbyist for the Calhoun Port Authority on the Texas coast. His hiring was directed by port chairman Randy Boyd, who owns a dredging company and was a political donor to Farenthold.
Emails obtained by the Victoria Advocate show that Farenthold's office arranged a meeting in May 2015 between Boyd and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about a government project. Federal officials took the meeting but declined working with Boyd's company, citing ethical and environmental rules.
Boyd donated $5,000 to Farenthold's campaign a day after the congressman's office began arranging a meeting for him with the Corps, according to Federal Election Commission records.
The Victoria Advocate is suing the port over allegations of open meetings law violations when it hired Farenthold. In a deposition this month, Farenthold said his favor to Boyd wasn't exceptional.
Boyd said during a July deposition that he considered Farenthold a friend, but he didn't think the former congressman had helped him or any board member in securing a government contract.
Boyd told the newspaper that his donation to Farenthold after the meeting was arranged was "coincidental."
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 08/20/2018