Friday Afternoon Update: More Electricity Substations Attacked, Biden Slammed For Prisoner Swap, Weekly Jobless Claims Increase

This article is a companion piece to today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click here.

FBI Looking Into Northwest Electricity Substations Attacks

The FBI says there have been reports of apparent attacks against at least five electricity substations in Washington State and Oregon in November. The incidents followed what appeared to be deliberate attacks on two substations in North Carolina that resulted in the loss of power for tens of thousands of residents.

Biden Gets Blowback For Prisoner Swap

President Biden has suffered some blowback from his own party for his agreement to a one-for-one swap of WNBA star Britney Griner for infamous Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as “The Merchant of Death.”

Democratic Senator Bob Menendez called it a “deeply disturbing decision,” saying quote, “The Russians and other regimes that take American citizens hostage cannot pretend that there is equivalence between the Brittney Griner’s of the world and people like Viktor Bout, the so-called ‘Merchant of Death.’ Nothing could be further from the truth, and we cannot ignore that releasing Bout back into the world is a deeply disturbing decision.”

Former Marine Disappointed He Hasn’t Been Freed

Paul Whelan, the former Marine who has been imprisoned in Russia for more than three years, told CNN that he doesn’t understand why the Biden administration hasn’t done more to free him, saying, “I am greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four year anniversary of my arrest is coming up. I was arrested for a crime that never occurred. I don’t understand why I’m still sitting here.”

Biden’s Approval Remains Low

President Biden’s approval rating remains at 43% among U.S. adults, about the same as last month. 55% of people disapprove of the job Biden is doing, while just 25% of people describe the economy as “good.”

Detroit School Board Changes Name Of Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine

The Detroit School Board recently voted to change the name of Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine, named for famed neurosurgeon and former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson. The new name will be Crockett Midtown High School of Science and Medicine. Carson commented this week on the name change.

“I think it’s ridiculous that they believe that to solve a problem, you redefine it,” Carson recently said. “Call it something else and it’s not a problem anymore … basically it depends on people being less than intellectually strong. That’s a good way of saying stupid. They know exactly what’s going on.”

Theranos Executive Sentenced

Former Theranos executive Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 13 years in prison for his role in the company’s blood-testing fraud. That punishment is slightly longer than that given to CEO Elizabeth Homes, who was his accomplice in one of Silicon Valley’s biggest scandals. The 57-year-old was convicted in July of fraud and conspiracy connected to the company’s faulty medical technology that duped investors and endangered patients.

DOJ Claims ‘Bureaucratic Incompetence’ In Whitey Bulger Killing

“Serious mismanagement,” “bureaucratic incompetence,” and bad policy contributed to the death of Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger.

That’s according to a report from the Department of Justice Inspector General released Wednesday. Bulger was killed in the Hazelton prison by three inmates in West Virginia shortly after being transferred from a federal prison in Florida. Bulger was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list in 1999 until his arrest in 2011.

Weekly Jobless Claims Increase

And, weekly jobless claims increased by 4,000 to 230,000 and long-term or continuing claims rose by 62,000 to 1.67 million — a 10-month high — as the labor market remains tight.

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