Transcript

1.15.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post for Thursday,
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the fifteenth of January of twenty twenty six. Is that
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your reader is Alice Stainer, and I will start with
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the front page of Today's Washington Post.
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Speaker 2: From the top left. There is a picture of.
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Speaker 1: Looks like it doesn't look like a prison cell, but
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there are bars around a room with people lying on
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mattresses on the floor. Blankets are disheveled. There must be
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sort of sometime nighttime, daytime because most are asleep. One
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is playing with a cell phone with the only light shining.
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There's a candle in the room. Colors of red and green,
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blue wall and entitled US prisoners freed in Venezuela State Department.
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State Department says release of multiple Americans mark an important
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step in the right direction. Andrew Jong and Lauren Webber.
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There's also a picture of that in that article of
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a woman and a gentleman giving each other a huge hug.
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And it's a family member of a detainee sleep out
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o top. Okay, all right, this is what it is.
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In the top. Family members of detainees sleep outside of
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prison in Gutia, Venezuela as they await release Wednesday. And
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the picture that I just talked about the people hugging
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Venezuelan journalist and politician Roland Kerfio hugs his son Wednesday
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after Carino was freed from prison in Gutia. Okay, So
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those of those two pictures, one is the group sleeping
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outside on the mattresses and the other is when freed,
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hugging his son. To the right of those pictures, Trump
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says Iran has halted killings amid US threat troop maneuvers
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echo Summer strikes. Thousands feared dead in Tehran's brutal crackdown
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by Tera Kopp, Warren P.
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Speaker 2: Strobel, and Ellen Nakashima. Below that.
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Speaker 1: Meeting on Greenland ends in disagreement. Foreign ministers hosted by
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VANCE at White House say little consensus so far by
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Adam Taylor and Michael Bernbaum. And below the fold on
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the far left Post journalist home is searched in FBI probe.
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Pentagon contractor is focus of warrant action. Decride is outrageous
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by Perry Stein and Jeremy Roebuck. And the reporter is
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Hannah Nattison, and we have read many articles by her
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in The Washington Post. In the middle or to the
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middle right of the blow. The fold us to halt
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processing of immigrant visas for people from seventy five countries.
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State Department pause aims to limit applicants likely to rely
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on public benefits by Adam Taylor and David Nakamura. And
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then there's a map showing the countries in kind of
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a crew color of burnished brown color, mostly in the
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African South America, Brazil area and across Russia and.
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Speaker 2: The area of the Middle East.
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Speaker 1: And on the far right, as boomers dig in, gen
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z is finding job market a slog by Taylor Telford.
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Let's start with Vance's Greenland meeting ends with fundamental disagreement.
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Diplomats from Denmark and Greenland agreed to set up a
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high level working group after the White House talks, but
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said there was a little consensus so far. And there
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is a picture of.
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Speaker 2: JD. Vance, Vice President J. D.
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Speaker 1: Vans outside the White House and he's just framed by
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the heads of people, so you just see his head.
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That's kind of a cool picture, just head by Adam
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Taylor and Michael Bernbaum. Denmark's foreign minister said there had
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been a frank but also constructive conversation with the Trump
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administration during a high stakes White House meeting about the
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fate of Greenland on Wednesday, but that the two sides
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had come to no agreement about President Donald Trump's demands
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to own the Arctic territory. We still have a fundamental disagreement,
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said Laura's Loki Rasmussen, the top Danish diplomat, speaking alongside
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his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Madsfeldt outside the Danish Embassy in Washington.
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We didn't manage to change the American position. The White
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House meeting, which was hosted by Vice President Jay Devans,
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did see the two sides agree to form a high
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level working group to discuss Trump's concerns about Greenland. Rasmussen
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said the White House and State Department did not immediately
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provide their own redate of the meeting, which was also
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attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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Speaker 2: Trump told reporters after.
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Speaker 1: The meeting that he had not yet been briefed on
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the talks, but said that the United States had a
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good relationship with Denmark and he thought something would work out.
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The problem is there's not a thing that Denmark can
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do about it. If Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland,
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but there's everything we can do, he said in the
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Oval Office. The governments of Denmark and Greenland, a self
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governing territory that remains part of the Danish realm, requested
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a meeting, initially with Rubio. Danish officials said he did
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so last week after a series of provocative statements from
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Trump and at least one senior aide, who have suggested
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the United States could use military force to seize the
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territory of approximately fifty seven thousand people. Trump continued to
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publicly press his case ahead of the meeting, writing on
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social media earlier Wednesday that the United States needs Greenland
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for the purpose of national security, and saying that its
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strategic Arctic location made it necessary for the proposed Golden
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Dome missile defense system he wants to build. NATO becomes
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far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands
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of the United States.
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Speaker 2: That is all capital.
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Speaker 1: Anything else than that is unacceptable. In an apparent response
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to Trump's security criticisms, Denmark and Greenland announced Wednesday that
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there would be an expanded military presence in and around
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Greenland in cooperation with NATO allies. The purpose is to
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train the ability to operate under the unique Arctic conditions
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and to strengthen the alliance's footprint in the Arctic, benefiting
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both European and Transatlantic security. The Danish Defense Ministry said
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in his statement the lack of a firm outcome from
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the Washington meeting was not unexpected. Speaking on Tuesday, Jeremy Shapiro,
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research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations and
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a former State Department official, said it was unlikely that
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any compromise could be found. Frankly, the Danish have already
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offered everything that the Americans say they won, and they
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have been refused, Shapiro said. Shapiro said it was unclear, however,
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whether the president's staff members were enthusiastic about an aggressive
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greenland policy, and that they may try to kick things
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into the long grass. Wednesday's talks were expected to take
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place at the State Department, but the venue was changed
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after Vance expressed a desire to be included, said two
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US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe
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the diplomatic engagement. Some European officials, who had hoped Wednesday's
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meeting would provide a forum to seek clarity from Rubio
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about the administration's policy toward Greenland. Expressed apprehension ahead of
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the talks, citing Vanz's planned involvement. The Vice President has
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been critical and dismissive of America's traditional allies, including those
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in NATO. His scolding speech at a security conference in
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Germany early last year remains a sore subject on the continent,
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as does his oval office unbraiding of Ukraine's President Vladimir Zolensky,
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who had come to Washington days later seeking a commitment
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from the administration as his country's depleted military was losing
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ground to invading Russian forces. Morton mesher Schmidt, chairman of
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the hard right Danish People's Party, criticized Rasmussen and Motzfeldt
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for rushing to the meeting and said it was essentially
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playing right into President Trump's hands. Messerschmidt, whose party shares
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many viewpoints with Trump's movement in the United States, also
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criticized the US leader. It is frankly unheard of for
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an ally to issue threats against Denmark, and it is
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something we will, under no circumstances tolerate, mesher Schmidt wrote
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in an email to the Washington Post. French President Emmanuel
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Macron sounded a note of caution Wednesday, Saint France does
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not under estimate the US declarations about Greenland and promising
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to act in full solidarity with Denmark. Spanishish Spanish Danish
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officials headed into Wednesday's meeting hoping to steer their conversation
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with the US administration back toward what they considered was
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a more cooperative track throughout much of last year, European
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diplomat said, but some worried that in holding firm to
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their red line opposing US annexation of Greenland, they also
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risked inflaming tensions. Any US move to punish Denmark could
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spark European countermeasures against Washington and a quicktans Atlantic excalation escalation, or,
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in a situation that would also be damaging for Denmark
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and NATO, it could split Europe over how best to respond,
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unleashing a separate set of challenges about the future of
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the Alliance. European Commissioned President Ursula Vonderland insisted Wenesday that
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it was up to Denmark and Greenland and only to them,
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to decide on matters concerning them. VANCE has offered a
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them assessment of the Danish government's handling of Greenland, telling
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Fox News last week, I think the president's willingness to
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go as far as he has to to secure you
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as interest in Greenland. The Vice President waited into Greenland
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policy last year, making a brief visit to the Arctic
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island in March.
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Speaker 2: France.
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Speaker 1: Did not meet with Danish or Greenlandic officials during his trip,
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but he tweaked officials in a copenhat by saying that
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the US would better manage the mineral rich and strategically
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important territory.
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Speaker 2: Denmark hasn't done a.
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Speaker 1: Good job at keeping Greenland safe, the Vice President asserted
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during his trip. Tom Dance, whom Trump appointed as head
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of the US Arctic Research Commission, defended Vance's involvement ahead
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of Wednesday's meeting. The Vice President, he said in an
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interview beforehand, is the one who originally carried the torch
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to Greenland at Trump's direction, and he deserves a share
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of the honor in whatever happens. And there's a picture
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of JD. Vance and Second Lady Erscha Vance Usher Vance
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touring the US military's Patufiic space space in Greenland last March.
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Both have on well Usha has on sunglasses, and then
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the military people are in camouflage warm outfits. Though Rubio
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both serves as Secretary of State and White House National
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Security Advisor, two of the most important roles in the
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US foreign policy, to date, he has not publicly played
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a leading role on Greenland policy. Speaking to lawmakers during
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a classified briefing last week, Rubio said the president's goal
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was to purchase the territory rather than seize it militarily.
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According to previous reporting by The Post, people familiar with
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the discussion, speaking on the condition of an inimnity to
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describe private planning, said that Trump administration had not seriously
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discussed a military operation to seize Greenland. Officials in Greenland
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and Denmark have said, though, that the problem they have
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isn't just the specter of a US invasion, but that
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Washington was moving to impose its will on Greenland's residence,
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most of whom opinion polls show have no desire to
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be annexed by the United States.
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Speaker 2: Greenland is not for.
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Speaker 1: Sale, Greenland Prime Minister YenS Frederick Needlssen said this week
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in Copenhagen, adding Greenland does not want to be owned
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by the United States. Greenland does not want to be
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governed by the United States. Greenland does not want to
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be part of the United States. We choose the Greenland
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we know today, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
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Speaker 2: Nissland added.
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Speaker 1: Trump had spoken of his desire for the US to
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own Greenland since his first term in office. The idea
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remains persistently unpopular with Americans, however. An economist you gov
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poll published Tuesday found wide opposition to attempts to take
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Greenland under US control through military action or through payment
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to Greenlanders, with more than two thirds of Americans against
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both ideas. The rhetoric has also proved unpopular with Congress,
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with several biparties and efforts to block US attempts to
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take over Greenland. To introduce this week, Rosmussen and Maudsfeldt,
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the visiting Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers. We're planning to
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host a dinner with a variety of lawmakers on Wednesday evening,
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a Danish official said, moving on Trump administration indefinitely pauses
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immigrant visa processing for seventy five nations. Authorities said the
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action aims to crack down on immigrants. The Trump administration
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believes are likely to become reliant on public benefits. By
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Adam Taylor and David Nakamora, the Trump administration is halting
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immigrant visa processing for people from seventy five countries, including Brazil, Iran, Russia,
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and Somalia, the latest effort by officials to restrict legal
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immigration pathways. State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott said the indefinite
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pause aims to limit applicants deemed likely to become a
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public charge, a term for someone who relies on government
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benefits for their basic needs. The order takes effect January
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twenty first, and a full list of the countries on
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the administration's list has not been released. Piggot said the
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Trump administration is bringing an end to the abuse of
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America's immigration system by those who would extract wealth from
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the American people. And that same map that I talked
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about is showing here, and it does show Brazil, Venezuela.
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It shows the North African countries down into Somalia, even
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Egypt and around Mogadishu in that area, down into the
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Democratic Republic of Congo and across Russia, all across Russia,
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the Middle East and Iran, Iran Pakistan in that area.
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The State Department has ramped up efforts in recent months
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to restrict migration, particularly from nations the President has deemed
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a threat to national security. Last month, the administration expanded
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a fuller partial travel ban on entry through the United
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States to citizens of thirty nine countries, a move that
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came after an Afghan immigrant charged in the shooting in
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November of two National Guard members in d C. The
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administration also posed all asylumn cases processed by US citizens
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and Immigration services, suspended processing of citizenship and Green card
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applications for citizens of the initial nineteen countries subject to
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the travel ban, and suspended all immigration related requests from
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Afghan nationals. This new announcement is effectively an immigration ban
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on a very significant portion of the world coming to
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the United States, said Laura Mukerjee, director of Columbia Law
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School's Immigrants' Rights Clinic. She added, while claiming the decision
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was motivated by public benefits, we're seeing an administration intent
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on demolishing nearly all legal pathways for immigrants to come
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to the United States from countries where people are overwhelmingly
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brown and black. David Beer, director of Immigration Studies at
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the libertarian Cato Institute estimated that the PAWS and processing
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visas will ban nearly half of all legal immigrants to
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the United States, turning away about three hundred and fifteen
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thousand legal immigrants over the next year. Fox News Digital
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first reported the decision, citing a state Department cable explaining
20:23
the change to consular offices. The order will not affect
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processing for non immigrant visas, a category that includes student
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and tourist.
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Speaker 2: Officials said that means.
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Speaker 1: Fans seeking temporary entry into the United States to attend
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World Cup soccer matches this summer are unlikely to be affected.
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Immigration experts said Trump has long complained that immigrants are
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a drain on public resources, even those studies show that
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their labor benefits the US economy. The president has targeted
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Minnesota amid allegations that day care providers in the state
21:05
improperly collected millions of federal dollars, with state and federal
21:10
fraud investigations underway into fourteen. Minnesota runs safety net programs,
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including for child nutrition, housing, and autism assistance. The US
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Attorney's Office from Minnesota has said Somali Americans make up
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eighty two of the ninety two defendants in the fraud investigations,
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and Trumps seized on the fraud allegations to denigrate Somali immigrants.
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He sat in a cabinet meeting last month that he
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doesn't want Somali immigrants in the United States and referred
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to them as garbage. The State Department of Homeland Security
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in November proposed scrapping federal public charge regulations implemented by
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the Biden administration in twenty twenty two that got govern
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how applicants can be deemed ineligible for US visas. The
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agency said the existing regulations hamper DHS's ability to make accurate, precise,
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and reliable determinations of whether certain aliens are likely at
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any time to become a public charge. Immigrant rights groups
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have assailed the proposal, saying that Trump administration is seeking
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to replace the regulations with far stricter measures that would
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deny visas to immigrants who could rely on a range
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of benefits, including medical care and food. Undocumented immigrants and
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many legal immigrants, too, are ineligible for most federal benefits,
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though some states offer access to health and food benefits.
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There is a less a full list of the seventy
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nine read them all, but it does include those countries
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that I've said many, many African ones and Middle East ones.
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Oh my goodness, Thailand and Tanzania are on it. Thailand, interesting, Tunisia, Interesting,
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Code Devoir, Cambodia, Me and mar Kosovo, North Macedonia, along Isria, Egypt, Sdanya,
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all those that I have mentioned in those areas. The
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likely result will be that many immigrant families will be
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afraid to access any public benefits for which a household
23:46
member is eligible, foregoing supports in times of need to
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preserve future immigration prospects, Julia Jalatt, Associate director of the
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US Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute, wrote
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in an analysis posted Wednesday. Alan D. Vriard, a senior
24:09
fellow at the Conservative American Enterprise Institute, called the administration's
24:14
efforts to tight public charge regulations unnecessary. Even immigrants who
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appear at first glance to pose a physical burden may
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actually provide a net physical contribution due to indirect and
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long term effects, he wrote in an analysis last month
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an article affecting people my age and a little bit,
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Younger boomers are staying in the job market as gen
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Z struggles to break through the average age of workers
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starting new jobs has spiked. Data shows as AI and
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economic pressures lead employee years to favor experience by Taylor Telford.
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Since graduating from Bernard College of Columbia University in twenty
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twenty four, Minasha Thomas has learned to gavigate the swirl
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of networking and referrals, online job search groups, and interview processes.
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But after fourteen months of soldering through scores of applications,
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the twenty three year old has yet to put her
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urban planning degree to use in a full time job.
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In the meantime, she took professional certification in real estate
25:38
courses to make herself more horrible while working as a
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nanny and at New York City cafes. It has been challenging,
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but not entirely isolating, she said, because she knows many
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other recent grads are also struggling to get started professionally.
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She recently landed a pay internship with the real estate company,
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for which she feels extremely grateful. Fresh research from the
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workforce data company Revellio Labs sheds light on the factors
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making it harder for applicants like Thomas, chiefly in aging
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population and more people working well into their sixties and seventies,
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coupled with a labor market in which companies are culling
26:28
roles and seeking more experienced candidates when they do higher.
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The average new hire was forty two years old in
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twenty twenty five, according to a Revealo analysis released January six,
26:45
versus forty point five in twenty twenty two and forty
26:50
in twenty sixteen. Rialio chief economist Lisa Simon, who conducted
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the analysis, said year of economic and political uncertainty and
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the push to use artificial intelligence to reshape how work
27:07
is done have led employers to place a higher value
27:11
on experience and be a little more risk averse in
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terms of who they are hiring and who they're willing
27:19
to bet in On this labor market, it underscores the
27:24
uphill battle facing younger workers in an era win Employers
27:29
are just expecting candidates to hit the ground running from
27:33
day one without really giving them the opportunity to train up.
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Speaker 2: Simon said.
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Speaker 1: The share of workers twenty five and younger went from
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fourteen point nine percent to eight point eight percent from
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twenty twenty two to twenty twenty five. The analysis shows
27:52
hiring inflows for this age group are down more than
27:55
forty five percent compared with twenty nineteen, when, like the
28:00
economy was deep into an expansion. In contrast, inflows for
28:06
workers sixty five and older up nearly eighty percent in
28:10
that time, Vilio's data showed younger workers face fewer entry opportunities.
28:18
This pattern is consistent with the labor market that is slowing,
28:21
becoming more selective, and prioritizing experience of a long term potential.
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Speaker 2: The report said.
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Speaker 1: Meanwhile, US employers are pulling back on hiring. Data released
28:34
Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed that twenty
28:38
twenty five marked the worst year for the labor market
28:41
since the pandemic era of recession. Jobs growth slumped to
28:46
levels typically seen during economic downturns, with healthcare and social
28:51
services among the few industries still adding roles. Unemployments stood
28:57
at four point four percent. Data showed last year, employers
29:02
announced over five hundred and seven thousand planned hires, down
29:08
thirty four percent from the seven hundred and sixty nine
29:12
thousand plus announced in twenty twenty four, According to data
29:17
from Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a global human resources and
29:22
outplacement firm. It also marked the lowest year to date
29:26
total since twenty ten. Employers also announced more than one
29:31
point two million layoffs in twenty twenty five, the highest
29:35
level since twenty twenty, and a fifty eight percent spike
29:38
from twenty twenty four, according to Challenger's data, Tight labor
29:44
markets have tended to pull more entry level applicants into
29:48
the workforce, which in turn lowers the average age of
29:52
people being hired. Simon said, but that doesn't seem to
29:57
be happening now. Evidence of older workers sticking around as
30:02
darkest In occupations that are people facing and service intensive,
30:06
such as sales representatives, real estate agents, and office assistance.
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Revilio's data shows that the average starting age in those
30:16
or these positions has crept up by two and a
30:18
half years since twenty fifteen. These are roles where I
30:24
accumulated experience, interpersonal skills, and institutional knowledge is central to productivity,
30:31
and where performance does not depend on keeping up with
30:34
rapidly changing technical toolkits. The report states these shifts come
30:41
as companies are rushing to embrace AI, with firms pouring
30:45
two hundred and fifty two billion dollars in twenty twenty four.
30:50
According to data from Stanford University. With billions more flooding
30:55
the market in twenty twenty five, workers' ages twenty two
30:59
to twenty five have seen a thirteen percent drop off
31:02
in employment in the most AI exposed occupation since twenty
31:06
twenty two. According to another recent piece of research from Stanford,
31:11
this technological change is altering how firms evaluate candidates. According
31:16
to Matt Baird, a senior staff economist at LinkedIn, in
31:21
today's markets, employers are increasingly valuing experience, judgment, and people's skills,
31:29
area where older workers have an advantage. When Kim Anderson
31:35
founded Gray Source, a recruiting firm geared toward older applicants,
31:41
in twenty twenty two, she used to get about twenty
31:44
five request a month from candidates asking for help. Now
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she's seeing that many on a weekly basis. From what
31:54
she sees with her clients, Anderson suspects that AI and
31:59
economic disruption a weighing heaviest on young workers' job prospects.
32:06
Firms that are hiring are increasingly looking for people that
32:11
have a lot of capability organizing and leading teams, she said,
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noting that there has been a shift to skills based hiring,
32:20
which benefits workers who have had years in the job
32:23
to develop such skills. CEOs have been blunt in telegraphing
32:28
this to younger workers, cautioning that traditional career advice is
32:33
now less relevant. During a CNN appearance in November, JP
32:38
Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Diamond urged gen Z workers to
32:43
focus on in demand skilled because it's not enough anymore
32:49
to say I can work hard. He added that AI
32:53
and coding are the areas where we know we need
32:57
the skills. In a December and LinkedIn, CEO Ryan Rosslansky
33:03
argued that having a five year career plan is outdated
33:08
and a little bit foolish in an era when workers
33:12
should be more adaptable, giving that technology and the labor
33:17
market and everything is moving beneath you. McDonald's CEO Chris
33:23
Kempzinsky put out an Instagram video in December that went
33:29
viral in which he told young professionals that they should
33:32
take responsibility for their own growth and career advancement because
33:37
nobody cares about your career as much as you do.
33:41
This idea that there's someone out there who's looking at
33:45
for you, who's going to make sure that you get
33:47
that opportunity dot dot. Great if it happens, but if
33:51
you've got to make things happen for yourself, Kimzinsky said,
33:59
the pivot toward experiences weighing on many kinds of young workers.
34:04
Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found that
34:07
unemployment gap between high school and college graduates has shrunk
34:11
to just two point five percentage points, nearly an all
34:15
time load, as entry level candidates reckon with the labor
34:19
market that seems to have fewer rungs on.
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Speaker 2: The bottom near the bottom.
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Speaker 1: The US population overall is aging, and many of the
34:28
older workers who are starting to retire hold senior level
34:32
positions that younger workers are not able to fill, said
34:36
Nicole Brackhood, a labor economist at zip Recrudo, adding in
34:42
the low higher, low fire environment that has defined much
34:47
of the last year, there is a little movement elsewhere
34:50
in the labor market for those young workers to break in.
34:54
Longer life expectancies are one reason the workforce is aging,
34:58
Backard said, because as people live longer, they tend to
35:03
delay major milestones like marriage and retirement, and prolonged life
35:07
phases like working at sixty seven. Janet Masters often hears
35:13
friends in her age group talk wistfully about how they
35:16
can't wait to retire. She can't relate. She was fifty
35:21
five when she got a second master's degree, and after
35:25
decades working with Fortune five hundred companies, switched to working
35:29
with startups. Masters, who lives in Colorado, says, continuing to
35:33
work allows me to actually explore and learn and grow,
35:38
and she added with a laugh, she also enjoys seeing
35:42
the money come in. It feels good to continue to
35:45
develop my skilled set. Master said, I'm not ready to
35:49
say this is what I learned, this is all I knew.
35:52
Shut the book and go off and travel the world.
35:56
Those some older Americans are working because they have the
36:00
time and they want to. There's also the drive of necessity,
36:05
Wilkart said, noting that inflation has increased the cost of
36:08
living significantly since twenty nineteen. Many older Americans are ill
36:15
equipped financially to sustain themselves for a long retirement, keeping
36:19
many active in the labor force for longer.
36:22
Speaker 2: She added.
36:24
Speaker 1: Inflation has driven up the price of necessities such as
36:27
food and health care in recent years, and it has
36:30
substantially pushed up housing cost. The median US home price
36:36
has risen nearly one hundred thousand dollars since twenty nineteen
36:39
and is now more than four hundred and ten thousand
36:42
dollars according to data from the Federal Reserve. Deborah Whitman,
36:48
chief public policy officer at AARP, noted that there has
36:52
been a recent rise in on retirement in which workers
36:56
rejoined the labor force sometime after retiring. Financial needs are
37:01
a primary drima in retirees returning to the labor force,
37:05
she said, But others keep working because they're not ready
37:09
to give up the sense of purpose and identity they
37:12
get from work. We're realizing that work doesn't necessarily stop
37:16
at one age, Whitman said. And my comment on this
37:21
is I have a friend who is still not retired
37:24
and she just turned eighty. And I have a grandchild
37:28
graduating from college who has decided to go on to
37:32
get a higher degree and not into the workforce right now.
37:39
The next article is the search warrant of a Washington
37:44
Post reporter's home, and she is one that we have
37:48
read many articles from FBI executes search warrant at Washington
37:53
Post reporters home. The search came as part of an
37:57
investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified
38:03
government materials by Pierry Stein and Jeremy Roebuck. The FBI
38:11
executed a search warrant Wednesday morning at a Washington Post
38:15
reporter's home as part of an investigation into government contractor
38:20
accused of illegally retaining classified government materials. The reporter, Hannah Nattinson,
38:28
was at her home in Virginia at the time of
38:30
the search. Federal agent searched her home and her devices,
38:34
seizing her phone, two laptops, and a garment watch. One
38:38
of the laptops was her personal computer, the other a
38:42
Post issued laptop. The Post also received a subpoena Wednesday
38:47
morning seeking information related to the same government contractor. According
38:52
to a person familiar with the law enforcement action, the
38:55
subpoena asked the Post to hand over any communications between
38:59
the tractor and other employees. It's exceptionally rare for law
39:06
enforcement officials to conduct searches at reporters' home. Federal regulations
39:12
intended to protect a free press and designed to make
39:15
it difficult to use aggressive law enforcement tactics against reporters
39:20
to obtain the identities of their sources or information. In
39:25
an email to The Postnewsroom executive editor Matt Mourray called
39:30
the search an extraordinary aggressive action that is deeply concerning
39:36
and raises profound questions and concern around the constitutional protection
39:41
for their work. Investigators told Natanson that she is not
39:47
the focus of the probe. The warrant said that law
39:50
enforcement was Investigatingrileo Perez Lugones, a system administrator in Maryland
39:57
who has a top secret security clearance and has been
40:00
accused of accessing and taking home classified intelligence reports from
40:06
secure government facilities that were later found in his lunch
40:09
box and his basement, According to an FBI Affidavid, a
40:15
Justice Department official, said that Perez Lugones searched for classified
40:19
information without authorization on his work systems, including classified intelligence
40:25
about a nation identified in the court documents as Country I.
40:31
At the time of his arrest last Thursday, Perez Lugones
40:35
was messaging the reporter, the official said, speaking on the
40:39
condition of anonymity to discuss an active investigation. Investigators determined
40:45
that there was classified information in their chat, the official said.
40:50
In social media post Wednesday morning, Attorney General Pam Bondi
40:55
said this past week, at the request of the Department
40:59
of law, that Department of Justice and FBI executed a
41:06
search warrant at the home of a Washington Post journalist
41:09
who was obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information
41:14
from a Pentagon contractor. That Trump administration will not tolerate
41:20
illegal leaks of classified information that, when reported, pose a
41:24
grave risk to our nation's national security and the brave
41:28
men and women who are serving our country. Bondy wrote,
41:32
Latinson has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and the
41:36
criminal complaint filed against Perezlagones does not accuse him of
41:40
leaking classified information. He is alleged to have taken. Federal
41:45
authorities in Maryland charged perezla Goones, a Navy veteran, on Friday,
41:50
with unlawfully retaining national defense information. He has his initial
41:56
court appearance that same day and remains in federal customs
42:00
in Maryland. He is scheduled to appear in court again Thursday,
42:05
that is today. President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to
42:09
refer to Perez Lagon's in remarks before Bill's signing at
42:13
the White House. The leaker has been found and is
42:16
in jailed right now, and that's the leaker. On Venezuela
42:19
and a very bad liquor. He said, the US has
42:24
no law that explicitly makes it a crime for a
42:27
journalist to obtain or publish classified information. In twenty nineteen,
42:32
when Wiki Leaks founder Julian Assange was indicted under the
42:37
Espionage Act for disclosing classified information, First Amendment scholars warned
42:42
that his case could set a precedent that could be
42:45
used against journalists. That issue was never tested in court
42:50
because assigns in the government reached a plea deal in
42:53
twenty twenty four. In his email to the newspaper staff,
42:57
Murray wrote, the Washington Post has a long history of
43:02
zealous support for robust press freedoms. The entire institution stands
43:07
by those freedoms and their work. We have been in
43:11
close touch with Hannah, with authorities, and with legal counsel,
43:14
and will keep you updated as we learn more. In
43:18
the meantime, the best thing all of us can do
43:21
is to continue to vigorously exercise those freedoms as we
43:25
do every day. Nadison covers the federal workforce and has
43:30
been part of the Post's most high profile and sensitive
43:33
coverage related to government firings, national security, and diplomacy. During
43:38
the first year of the second Trump administration. Her most
43:42
recent articles included in depth reporting on topics such as
43:47
disparate as, Venezuela and social security. In December, Madison wrote
43:55
a first person account about her experience covering the workforce
43:58
as Trump's administration created upheaval across the federal government. She
44:03
detailed how she posted her secure phone number to an
44:07
online forum for government workers and amassed more than a
44:10
thousand sources, with federal workers frequently reaching out to her
44:15
to share frustrations and accounts from their offices. Hannah is
44:19
one of our finest reporters who works tirelessly to inform
44:23
her rediservate what is actually happening in government. Will Lewis,
44:27
the publisher of The Post and CEO of the Post Company,
44:31
said in a statement, Unsurprisingly, her spirit is not dimmed
44:36
by the outrageous action that was taken against her at
44:39
six a m. This morning at her home, even with
44:42
her laptops and phone taken. What did she most want
44:46
to do today? Get back to work and found some
44:49
new hard hitting stories, thus exemplifying the indomitable spirit of
44:53
the Washington Post. After all, this is what we do,
44:58
Lewis said, It is not unusual for FBI agents to
45:02
conduct leak investigations into public reporting of classified information. It
45:08
is highly unusual and aggressive for law enforcement to conduct
45:12
a search on a reporter's home.
45:14
Speaker 2: Bruce D.
45:15
Speaker 1: Brown, president of the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press,
45:20
called the search of Madison's home a tremendous escalation in
45:24
the administration's intrusion into the independence of the press. The
45:29
FBI did not immediately respond to her request for comment,
45:34
though the Bureau's director Cash Burttel wrote on social media
45:39
that the alleged leaked information endangered the military. This morning,
45:44
the FBI and partners executed a search warrant of an
45:50
individual at the Washington Post who was found to allegedly
45:53
be obtaining and reporting classified sensitive military information from a
45:58
government contractor. In daydreing our war fighters and compromising America's
46:03
national security, Patel wrote. In April, Bondi rescinded a bidinary
46:10
policy that permitted officials from searching reporters' phone records when
46:15
trying to identify government personnel who had provided sensitive information
46:19
to news organizations. Bondi said in an internal memo at
46:24
the time that the media should not be afforded such protections,
46:28
noting leaks of government information during the Trump administration. This
46:33
conduct is illegal and wrong, and it must stop, she
46:37
wrote in a memo, a copy of which was obtained
46:40
by the Post. But Bondi said that the Justice Department
46:44
would search reporters communication records only when other investigative methods
46:49
had been exhausted. The search warrant and sigus appeared to
46:53
be Natanson's first interaction with investigators. Historically, the Justice Department
47:00
does not investigate or prosecute reporters who share information that
47:04
is given to them by confidential sources. Under Bondi's predecessor,
47:10
Attorney General Merrick Garland, internal regulations prohibited law enforcement officials
47:15
from issuing subpoenas to reporters or conducting searches to obtain
47:19
the identities of their sources or information for criminal investigations,
47:24
including investigations against government employees accused of leaking.
47:29
Speaker 2: To the media.
47:31
Speaker 1: If law enforcement to take investigatory tests steps against reporters,
47:36
top just Department officials needed to sign off on those
47:40
steps and publicly report the actions. First Amendment advocacy organizations
47:47
condemned the FBI's search of a reporter's home, saying it
47:50
undermines a free press, and a search targeting a journalist
47:55
warrants intense scrutiny because these kinds of searches can deter
48:01
and impede reporting that is vital to a democracy, said
48:05
Jamil Jaffa, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute.
48:12
Jeffer said Attorney General Bundy has weakened guidelines that were
48:17
intended to protect the freedom of the press, but there
48:20
are still important legal limits, including constitutional ones on the
48:25
government's authority to use subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants
48:29
to obtain information from journalists. And speaking of Washington Post
48:39
and reporting independence, an article on Stars and Stripes job
48:47
applicants are asked if they'd back Trump's policies. People seeking
48:53
jobs at Stars and Stripes, which Congress guaranteed editorial independence,
49:00
are being asked how they would advance administration priorities. And
49:05
there is a picture of two American soldiers reading The
49:08
Stars and Stripes in South Vietnam in nineteen sixty nine,
49:14
and that really was a paper that are troops used
49:17
to catch up on news while fighting the war? By
49:21
William Scott. Applicants for positions at the US military newspaper
49:27
Stars and Stripes are being asked how they would support
49:30
the president's policy priorities, raising concerns among some staffers and
49:36
media watches about the prospects for the historic outlets editorial independence.
49:42
First published during the Civil War and continually published since
49:47
World War II, Stars and Stripes reports on and for
49:51
the US military community. While it is partly funded by
49:55
the Pentagon and its staffers or Defense Department employees, Congress
50:00
has mandated the publication's independence and taken measures to guarantee it.
50:06
But in recent months, applicants for positions at the publication,
50:11
which reaches about one point four million people a day
50:14
across its platforms, according to the publisher, have been asked,
50:19
how would you advance the President's executive orders and policy
50:23
priorities in this role. Identify one or two relevant executive
50:29
orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and
50:33
explain how you would help implement them if hired. That
50:38
question has prompted worries about whether President Donald Trump's administration
50:43
is seeking to influence the newspaper's independence by making an
50:47
ideological litmus test part of the hiring process. A concern
50:52
one administration official said was unjustified. Stars and Stripp's leadership
50:59
was not aware that applicants were being asked that question
51:02
until The Washington Post inquired about it this month. According
51:07
to Jacqueline Smith, the newspaper's ombudsman, a congressionally mandated position
51:13
charged with defending the newspaper's editorial independence. Smith said asking
51:20
prospective employees how they would support the administration's policies is
51:25
antithetical to Stripe's journalistic and federally mandated mission. Journalistically, it's
51:32
against ethics because reporters or any staff member, editors, photographers
51:38
should be impartial. Smith confirmed that applicants of being asked
51:43
that question when applying for Stars and Strikes positions on
51:47
USA jobs. The US government's employment site, the Office of
51:52
Personnel Management, not the newspaper's leadership, was responsible for adding
51:57
the question. She added, regarding our recruiting, the federal government's
52:03
platform wasn't designed with Stars and Stripes in mind. Editor
52:07
in chief Eric Slaven told The Poston in email, we
52:11
pride ourselves on objectivity. We've reinforced our commitment to scrupulous
52:17
balance and accuracy. We do not shy away from holding
52:20
military officials accountable when a story calls for it. Max Letterer,
52:26
the newspaper publisher, said OPM did not notify Stripes that
52:31
several questions have been added to the application form. We
52:35
have not had an applicant inquire about the questions. My
52:39
understanding is answering the optional and they are not a
52:43
qualification criterion, Letterer told the Post.
52:46
Speaker 2: In an email.
52:49
Speaker 1: Oh PM director Scott Kupar said the essay questions are
52:53
optional and give candidates an opportunity to provide additional information
52:59
about themselves. We have been very clear that hiring decisions
53:03
cannot consider political or ideological beliefs. Cooper said in an
53:08
emailed statement to the Post. The plan prohibits any ideological
53:14
litmus test and reinforces the non partisan character of the
53:18
federal workforce. The question is one of four that the
53:22
Office of Personnel Management said in June must appear on
53:26
nearly all government job applications as part of its new
53:30
merit hiring plan. Smith said she understood why applicants for
53:36
other types of government jobs would be asked to express
53:39
their support for administration policies, but for a journalism job,
53:44
it's just inappropriate, she said. The three of the new
53:49
questions ask how the applicants' commitment to the Constitution inspired
53:54
them to pursue the role, how the applicant would improve
53:58
government efficiency and effectiveness, and how the applicant's work ethic
54:04
has contribute to his or her achievements. Three formont and
54:09
two current Stripes reporters, all of whom were hired at
54:13
Stripes before the current Trump administration, told the Post they
54:18
had not been asked about supporting the president's policies or
54:21
any similar questions when they applied for their positions with
54:24
the military newspaper. They spoke on the condition of anonymity
54:29
because their employers did not authorize them to comment. This
54:34
is really shocking and sad development. Stars and Stripe says
54:40
it provides independent news and information that seems impossible if
54:47
reporters are concerned about advancing the president's policy priorities.
54:52
Speaker 2: One form of Stripes reporter.
54:54
Speaker 1: Said any sort of loyalty pledge to the government is unacceptable.
55:00
Another formal Stripes reporter said a current reporter for the
55:05
newspaper said it was troubling that prospective newspaper staffers were
55:10
being asked the question. It stings, the reporter said, if
55:16
I were being asked that now I would have to
55:18
go with my morals and not apply. A Washington based
55:23
journalist planned to apply for a writer editor position at
55:28
the newspaper in November until encountering the question about supporting
55:32
the president's policies. It struck me as a very savvy
55:37
phrasing of a loyalty test, said the journalist, who for
55:40
that reason ultimately decided not to apply. Under the first
55:45
Trump administration, in twenty twenty, the Pentagon planned to shut
55:49
Stars and Stripes down, but after a bipartisan outcry from
55:54
lawmakers and veterans, Trump said he would spare the publication.
55:58
It will continue to be a wonderful source of information
56:01
to add great military, he said in the twenty twenty
56:05
social media post. Since Trump's return to the White House,
56:10
the paper has been trying to avoid attention from the administration.
56:14
According to current and former staffers, we are still trying
56:18
to go under the radar. The current Stripes reporters said
56:23
there are folks at Stripes who are like, don't poke.
56:27
The bayl letterers said the newspaper has not withheld coverage
56:32
oight of concern of retaliation for the administration. There has
56:36
been no pressure by anyone in the administration to adjust coverage,
56:40
The publisher wrote in an email, Hanging over the military
56:44
newspaper is the specter of what has happened other news
56:47
outlets that receive federal funds. At Trump's behest Congress in July,
56:53
rescinded one point one billion dollars in federal funding from NPR,
56:57
PBS and their members station over allegations of liberal bias.
57:03
In October, journalists from the Post and dozens of outlets
57:07
turned in their Pentagon press credentials after refusing to agree
57:11
to the Defense Department's new news gathering restrictions, which bar
57:15
report us from soliciting information that the government hasn't authorized
57:20
for them. Kathy Keelley, a professor at the Missouri School
57:24
of Journalism, condemned the applications inclusion of what she called
57:28
a loyalty test. The DoD has a lot of people
57:31
during PR for them very well. They do not need
57:34
to turn the newspaper that is supposed to serve the
57:37
troops into another PR arm, which is effectively what this
57:42
would do. Keey said, this is advanced censorship. Let's make
57:47
sure you're a loyalist before you can be a journalist,
57:50
and that's antithetical to the profession. Stars and Stripes has
57:56
historically published stories about issues that affect service miss members
58:01
in their daily lives, but what might not be covered
58:04
by the mainstream press, such as employment challenges based by
58:08
spaces of service members abroad. That reporting has sometimes touched
58:12
on policies that have been sharply criticized by opponents of
58:16
the administration. For example, the newspapers has published detailed coverage
58:22
on how the Trumpe administration's campaigns against diversity, equity, and
58:26
inclusion is playing out in the military. A lot is
58:30
a state for service members who rely on the newspaper
58:33
for information they need to make decisions in their daily lives.
58:36
According to Kelly McBride, senior vice president at the Pointer Institute,
58:42
that audience has a different set of needs than the
58:45
President of the United States. She said, that ends the
58:49
article and my reading of the Washington Post for today, Thursday,
58:53
February third, fifteenth of twenty sixteen. Have a good day,
59:00
stay warm, and I'll be back on Saturday.
59:04
Speaker 2: Bye.