The New York Times - USA (2020-08-01)

(Antfer) #1

A20 Y THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONALSATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020


WASHINGTON — Joseph R.
Biden Jr. has entered the final
stage of his deliberations about
choosing a running mate as he
prepares to talk one on one with
the finalists next week, while
Democratic leaders lobby him fu-
riously to elevate their allies and
sink their enemies.
Mr. Biden’s campaign has con-
ducted extensive polling and fo-
cus groups with voters on a col-
lection of candidates and weighed
an array of factors, such as the im-
pact of the pick in battleground
states, and whether to choose a
Black woman. Aides say the an-
nouncement will come the week
before the Democratic convention
in August.
Two candidates who received
scant attention early in the
process are now among the lead-
ing contenders: Representative
Karen Bass of California and Su-
san E. Rice, the former national
security adviser, according to
Democratic officials briefed on
the selection process. Ms. Bass in
particular has moved rapidly to-
ward the top of Mr. Biden’s list
amid an intensive lobbying drive
by her fellow House Democrats,
and has impressed the former
vice president’s search commit-
tee.
Mr. Biden is said to be focused
on finding a running mate he re-
gards as capable of advancing his
priorities in governing and who
can be counted on not to stray
from the urgent challenges facing
the nation to pursue their own po-
litical priorities, according to peo-
ple familiar with his thinking. His
advisers would also prefer a run-
ning mate who would not present
a rich political target for President
Trump, given that the incumbent
is lagging badly in the polls and
has so far struggled to deliver
credible negative attacks against
Mr. Biden.
James E. Clyburn, the third-
ranking House Democrat who
helped revive Mr. Biden’s cam-
paign in South Carolina, said he
had been bombarded by support-
ers of several candidates.
“I’ve heard from the surrogates
of about all the people in the race,”
said Mr. Clyburn, who did not rule
out making a late, private recom-
mendation to Mr. Biden.
In conversations with Mr. Biden
and his vetting committee, law-
makers have recommended Ms.
Bass as a consensus candidate
who is well liked across partisan
and factional lines and would be a
loyal lieutenant to him in govern-
ment.
Ms. Bass has reinforced that
message by assuring Democratic
officials that she has no interest in
seeking the presidency herself,
according to lawmakers directly
familiar with the discussions.
That commitment could assuage
concerns in the Biden camp that
he might be overshadowed by a
running mate positioning herself
to succeed him.
Ms. Bass has also waged a pre-
viously undisclosed campaign to
woo influential liberal leaders,
telephoning union presidents to
seek their counsel and support.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is
close with Ms. Bass, whom she
named to oversee the recent polic-
ing reform bill, and has made her
admiration clear in private con-
versations, including with former
President Barack Obama. Ms.
Pelosi’s aides said she has not con-
veyed support for any one candi-
date, is fond of a number of them
and, in speaking with Mr. Biden’s
vetting team last month, urged
them to find somebody who could
ensure the ticket is victorious.
Two prominent Democrats,
Senators Elizabeth Warren of
Massachusetts and Kamala Har-
ris of California, along with a
handful of other women, remain
as possibilities; both lawmakers
have the statewide political expe-
rience and large national follow-
ings that Ms. Bass and Ms. Rice
lack. Ms. Warren has become
something of an informal adviser
to Mr. Biden on economic issues
and has won support from her
party’s progressive wing, and Ms.
Harris is regarded as a muscular
fund-raiser with the backing of
important people in the Demo-
cratic Party’s donor class.
While Mr. Biden’s advisers are
careful to stress that he has not
ruled out any of the major candi-
dates, some are clearly less likely
than others to be chosen. For
some of the long-shot candidates,
talk has already turned to other
potential roles in a Biden adminis-
tration: Gov. Michelle Lujan
Grisham of New Mexico, for in-
stance, has expressed interest in
the job of health and human serv-
ices secretary, according to offi-
cials familiar with her thinking.
Among the other candidates
Mr. Biden has looked at closely are
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michi-
gan; Representative Val Demings
of Florida, who has enlisted her
home state’s sizable congres-
sional delegation to make appeals
on her behalf; and Senator
Tammy Duckworth of Illinois,
who is backed by veterans advo-
cates.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois has
called Mr. Biden’s team to urge
them to put Ms. Duckworth, a mil-


itary veteran, on the ticket.Sena-
tor Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the
top Democrat on the Senate
Armed Services Committee, has
shared his high opinion ofMs.
Duckworth with the Biden camp,
and also urged them to pick his
home-state governor, Gina Rai-
mondo, people familiar with the
conversations said. However, Mr.

Biden’s vetting committee has
raised questions about whether
tapping Ms. Duckworth could
prompt legal challenges because
she was born overseas.
There also some wild cards:
Former President Bill Clinton has
expressed enthusiasm about At-
lanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bot-
toms, according to Democrats fa-
miliar with his assessment.
The former vice-president’s de-
cision has become both enor-
mously consequential and highly
delicate because of the unresolved
question of whether, should he win
in November, he would seek re-
election in four years, when he
would be nearly 82 years old. With

his selection, Mr. Biden may be ef-
fectively coronating the next
Democratic presidential nominee
and charting the party’s course
for the next decade.
This is why some progressives
are hoping he balances the ticket
by picking a more liberal running
mate.
“It shouldn’t be someone that
just amplifies what Biden does
well,” said Representative Alex-
andria Ocasio-Cortez of New
York. “It should be somebody that
brings new constituencies to the
table.”
Some of his top advisers, how-
ever, are warning against tapping
somebody who would immedi-
ately begin eyeing the next Demo-
cratic primary.
“There’s going to be an awful lot
to do starting on Day 1, so I think
it’s important to have somebody
who can be focused on that task
and not running for president as
soon as we finish the inaugura-
tion,” said Representative Cedric
Richmond of Louisiana, one of Mr.
Biden’s campaign chairs.
Mr. Biden’s top aides have made
clear the premium he places on a
trusting relationship is informed
by his own experience as a vice
president — and he will not make
a nakedly political choice, a deter-
mination made easier by the siz-
able advantage he enjoys over Mr.
Trump in the polls.
“The Bidens are looking for

somebody as loyal to them as they
were to Barack and Michelle
Obama,” said Christine Pelosi, the
daughter of the speaker.
Mr. Biden’s campaign is angry
about a leak to Politico this week
that revealed that former Senator
Christopher J. Dodd, one of the
leaders of Mr. Biden’s search
team, is uneasy with Ms. Harris.
Mr. Dodd has repeatedly indi-
cated to allies that he believed Mr.
Biden should broaden the
prospects and not focus on only
well-known possibilities.
Mr. Dodd is scarcely alone in his
lack of enthusiasm for Ms. Harris,
whose own presidential campaign
never matched its high expecta-
tions; she dropped out two
months before voting began.
“The thing I keep thinking
about Kamala is her performance
in the primary,” said Representa-
tive Filemon Vela of Texas, an
early supporter of Mr. Biden. Mr.
Vela said his top three choices
were Ms. Bass, Ms. Rice and Ms.
Duckworth — but he said the last
two would fare best in his state.
One Democrat close to Mr. Bi-
den’s campaign said its polling in-
dicated that Ms. Harris has little
allure with Black voters. More
telling, a Biden campaign official
reached out to The New York
Times, unprompted, to say that
some of the former vice presi-
dent’s own staff members are not
supportive of her.
California Democrats, includ-
ing several in Congress, have ex-
pressed their wariness about Ms.
Harris to Mr. Biden’s advisers. In
some cases, they have guided him
in the direction of Ms. Bass, who is
highly regarded in her home state.
David Crane, a Democrat and
former top adviser to Arnold
Schwarzenegger when he was
governor of California, said he had
reached out to Mr. Biden’s camp to
tell them Ms. Bass was “a good
person who cares about legisla-
tion.” He said he conveyed his be-
lief that she would be a far better
partner for Mr. Biden than Ms.
Harris, who he said did not “walk
her talk” on policy.
“They’ve got to pick somebody
who really knows how to govern,”
Mr. Crane said, stressing what he
described as Ms. Bass’s gift for
steering complex legislation.
“Karen Bass knows how to do
that. Kamala Harris has never
been in that position.”
Ms. Harris addressed the criti-
cism she is receiving on Friday
during a livestream conversation
for the Black Women Lead 2020
conference. “There will be a re-
sistance to your ambition,’’ adding
that the people resisting are “bur-
dened by only having the capacity
to see what has always been in-
stead of what can be.’’
And Ms. Harris does have allies.
“You only need to look at her
record at the local, state and fed-
eral levels to know that she’d be a
quality, experienced partner
who’s ready to lead on Day 1,” said
Rusty Hicks, who also praised Ms.
Bass and is neutral in his capacity
as chair of the California Demo-
cratic Party.
While Ms. Rice has a close rela-
tionship with Mr. Biden, many in
the party are wary of elevating
somebody who has never run for
office.
Ms. Bass, too, has drawbacks.
She has never been in a setting
comparable to a high-stakes de-
bate with Vice President Mike
Pence. And in private vetting con-
versations, members of Mr. Bi-
den’s team have asked Ms. Bass to
explain aspects of her record on
Cuba: She visited the country
multiple times in Fidel Castro era
and issued a respectful statement
when he died. Ms. Bass has said
publicly that she had reconsid-
ered those comments.
Clearly, though, Mr. Biden is
facing the most intense lobbying
to choose a Black running mate.
A small group of strategists and
activists who have been pressing
for a Black woman recently spoke
with members of the search com-
mittee, according to two people
with knowledge of the conversa-
tion. They discussed the electoral
map and how the political envi-
ronment in the country had
shifted following the killing of
George Floyd in police custody in
May.
When given the opportunity to
make a case for a specific candi-
date, participants indicated their
support of any of the Black women
considered, but Ms. Harris and
Ms. Rice came up the most, the
people familiar with the conversa-
tion said. They noted that the
meeting unfolded before it was ev-
ident how seriously Ms. Bass was
being considered.
In the House, several Demo-
cratic lawmakers have made the
case for Ms. Bass to Mr. Biden’s
advisers.
Representative Josh Gottheim-
er of New Jersey, a centrist leader
of the bipartisan Problem Solvers
Caucus, called Ms. Bass “a bridge-
builder,” who “wants to figure out
how to get to yes.”
Representative Ro Khanna of
California, an outspoken progres-
sive, was equally succinct: “She’d
be a pick that every part of the
Democratic coalition would re-
spect and be excited about.”

This article is by Jonathan Mar-
tin, Alexander Burnsand Katie
Glueck.


As Biden Narrows List, the Lobbying Intensifies


KAREN BASSThe representative from California is being seen as a
consensus candidate who is well liked across partisan lines.

ERIN SCHAFF/THE NEW YORK TIMES

KAMALA HARRISThe California senator has been prominent after
a run of her own and has the backing of some major donors.

JEFF KOWALSKY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

SUSAN E. RICEThe former national security adviser has emerged
as a late favorite, according to some Democratic officials.

MARK HUMPHREY/ASSOCIATED PRESS

TAMMY DUCKWORTHThe Illinois senator, a veteran, is backed by
the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES

After one-on-one


interviews, a running


mate is expected just


before the convention.
ARTS & LEISURE
An article on Page 10 about the
Netflix documentary series “Last
Chance U” refers imprecisely to
coach John Beam. He identifies as
multiracial, not white.

Errors are corrected during the press
run whenever possible, so some errors
noted here may not have appeared in
all editions.

Corrections


Contact the Newsroom
[email protected] or call
1-844-NYT-NEWS (1-844-698-6397).
Editorials
[email protected]
Newspaper Delivery
[email protected] or call
1-800-NYTIMES (1-800-698-4637).

Florida state attorney handling
the case.
“This was not an ordinary 17-
year-old,” Mr. Warren said.
Mr. Clark convinced one of the
company’s employees that he was
a co-worker in the technology de-
partment who needed the employ-
ee’s credentials to access the
customer service portal, a crimi-
nal affidavit from Florida said. By
the time the hackers were done,
they had broken into 130 accounts
and raised significant new ques-
tions about Twitter’s security.
Despite the hackers’ cle-
verness, their plan quickly fell
apart, according to court docu-
ments. They left hints about their
real identities and scrambled to
hide the money they’d made once
the hack became public. Their
mistakes allowed law enforce-
ment to quickly track them down.
Less than a week after the inci-
dent, federal agents, search war-
rant in hand, went to a home in
Northern California, according to
the documents. There, they inter-
viewed another youngster who
admitted participating in the
scheme. The individual, who is not
named in the documents because
he or she is a minor, gave authori-
ties information that helped them
identify Mr. Sheppard and said
that Mr. Sheppard had discussed
turning himself in to law enforce-
ment.
Because Mr. Clark is under 18,
he was charged by the Florida
state attorney in Tampa, rather
than by federal authorities. His
age also means that many details
of his case are being kept under
wraps.
Federal authorities were al-
ready tracking Mr. Clark’s online
activity before the Twitter hack,
according to legal documents. In
April, the Secret Service seized
over $700,000 worth of Bitcoin
from him, but it was unclear why.
The documents released on Fri-
day largely repeat what several
hackers involved in the attack told
The New York Times two weeks
ago: The hack began early on July
15 as a quiet scheme to steal and
sell unusual user names.
But as the day wore on, the at-
tack, led by Kirk, took over dozens
of accounts belonging to cryp-
tocurrency companies and celeb-
rities. Bitcoin flowed into the
hackers’ accounts. The scheme
netted Bitcoin worth more than
$180,000, according to a New York
Times estimate.
A special agent with an Internal
Revenue Service investigative
unit said in a court filing that Mr.
Sheppard participated in the hack
while using the screen name “ever
so anxious.” A person using that
name told The Times a few days
after the attack that he got in-
volved because he wanted to ac-
quire unique Twitter user names.
“i just kinda found it cool having
a username that other people
would want,” “ever so anxious”
said in a chat with The Times. He
ultimately brokered the sale of at
least 10 addresses, such as
@drug, @w and @L, according to
the indictment against him.
Mr. Fazeli is also accused of
serving as a middleman, helping
to sell stolen Twitter accounts on
the day of the attack under the
user name “Rolex.” But the indict-
ment provides few details on Mr.
Fazeli’s work as a middleman.
By the time Twitter finally man-
aged to stop the attack, the hack-
ers had tweeted from 45 of the ac-
counts they had broken into,
gained access to the direct mes-
sages of 36 accounts, and down-
loaded full information from sev-
en accounts, the company said.
Mr. Fazeli and Mr. Clark were
arrested on Friday. Mr. Sheppard
has not been arrested but is ex-
pected to be taken into custody,
the F.B.I. said.
“While investigations into cy-
ber breaches can sometimes take
years, our investigators were able
to bring these hackers into cus-
tody in a matter of weeks,” said

John Bennett, a special agent in
charge with the F.B.I. The investi-
gation is still underway, and it is
possible there will be additional
arrests, a bureau spokeswoman
said.
The young men who partici-
pated in the breach come from a
loose-knit community of hackers
who focus on account takeovers,
cybersecurity experts said. Using
a practice known as SIM-swap-
ping, they often target telecom
companies to compromise vic-
tims’ phone numbers and inter-
cept login credentials.
The attackers targeted Twitter
employees, stealing their account
credentials in order to gain access
to an internal system that allowed
them to reset the passwords of
most Twitter users. (Some users,
like President Trump, have extra

security on their accounts to pre-
vent takeovers.)
“These people come trained to
be efficient and creative at their
attack methods,” said Allison
Nixon, the chief research officer of
the security firm Unit 221B.
“They’ve realized there’s this
world of soft targets.”
These hackers often focus on fi-
nancial fraud, but their ability to
gain access to the accounts of po-
litical figures could attract new
and dangerous customers, Ms.
Nixon said.
“One of the things that concerns
me is that, as these actors contin-
ue to refine their techniques and
learn, they’re going to realize that
there are other customers who
will pay a lot more for things other
than a single-character user
name,” she said. “I don’t think
they’ve even scratched the sur-
face of how much damage they
could cause.”
In a statement, Twitter thanked
law enforcement for its “swift ac-
tions” and said it would continue
to cooperate with the investiga-
tion.
The relatively young age of the
hackers did not come as a surprise
to security professionals who
monitor the SIM-swapper com-
munity. Many of the people drawn
to it are teenagers who pursue
unique user names because con-
trolling them conveys a sense of
importance and clout.
“This activity is addictive in a
way, it’s a thrill,” Ms. Nixon.
“Breaking into gigantic compa-
nies and stealing ridiculous
amounts of money is a huge thrill
for them.”

Police Arrest 17-Year-Old


Called the ‘Mastermind’


Of a Major Twitter Hack


From Page A

Graham Ivan Clark, 17, faces
30 felony charges related to
breaches, including a high-
profile Twitter hack.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, VIA AP

Hackers stole login credentials from Twitter employees and then
broke into dozens of prominent accounts for a Bitcoin scheme.

JIM WILSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Books of The Times:
Monday through Friday,
The New York Times
Free download pdf