*By Conor White*
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday contradicted claims by President Trump, the man who appointed him to the position, that Russia is no longer targeting the United States with cyberattacks.
At the Aspen Security Forum Wray remarked, "The intelligence community’s assessment has not changed, my view has not changedーwhich is that Russia attempted to interfere with the last election and continues to engage in malign influence operations to this day."
For Reason.com reporter Eric Boehm, Trump's repeated denial of Russia's activities can only mean one thing.
"The President clearly has personal interests, or some sort of interests, that are separate from what the U.S. intelligence community has when it comes to Russia," he told Cheddar on Thursday.
During a briefing this week, Trump denied that Russia poses any threat to Americans, simply responding "no" when asked about the danger.
Boehm explained that Trump may have reason to doubt American intelligence agenciesーbut that still doesn't explain his unwavering defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"It's possible to believe that well, maybe we should trust everything that the head of the \[Office of the Director of National Intelligence\] or the director of the CIA or the head of the FBI tells us," he said. "At the same time Trump's behavior still doesn't really make sense."
For the full segment, [click here.]( https://cheddar.com/videos/trump-contradicts-fbi-director-on-russian-meddling)
Israel and Hamas have announced a cease-fire to end a bruising 11-day war that caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip and brought life in much of Israel to a standstill.
President Joe Biden signed legislation Thursday designed to curtail a dramatic rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Anyone who gets vaccinated at select state-run vaccination sites in New York next week will receive a lottery scratch ticket with prizes potentially worth millions, as the state tries to boost slowing vaccination rates.
Amazon says it will extend its ban on police use of its face-recognition technology beyond the one-year pause it announced last year.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to 444,000, a new pandemic low and a sign that the job market keeps strengthening as consumers spend freely again, viral infections drop and business restrictions ease.
The U.S. economy’s faster-than-expected reawakening had some Federal Reserve officials discussing whether it might be time to start planning for easing back on one of the central bank’s levers for keeping interest rates low.
The European Union has taken a step toward relaxing travel for visitors from outside the bloc, with EU ambassadors agreeing on measures to make it easier for fully vaccinated visitors to get in.
Congress has passed legislation aimed at combating hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. It would expedite federal reviews of hate crimes and provide grants to local law enforcement.
NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo has disclosed that he was paid a $3.1 million advance to write his COVID-19 leadership book last year and will make another $2 million on the memoir over the next two years.
President Joe Biden says the U.S. will share an additional 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with the world in the coming six weeks.
