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U.S. attorney general eliminated the FBI's foreign influence unit

NBC: U.S. disbanded FBI's foreign influence unit
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Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
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U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi during her first day in office ordered a halt to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) initiatives to combat the possible influence of countries influencing the domestic politics of the United States. The NBC television station reported on February 7.

"To free up resources to address more pressing priorities and to end the risks of further abuse of prosecutorial discretion, the Foreign Influence Task Force must be disbanded," the order reads.

In addition, the order significantly limits the application of the law on the registration of foreign agents. Criminal prosecutions under it now "should be limited to cases of alleged behavior similar to more traditional espionage by foreign governments."

Bondi's separate directive also rolls back efforts to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs, including halting Task Force KleptoCapture and the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative program, which were actively involved in the process.

"The order states that personnel working on these projects will be reassigned to fight drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations," NBC notes.

The order also halts prosecutions of Americans who lobby for foreign interests in the US. According to US President Donald Trump, many Republicans have previously been unfairly prosecuted for this reason.

On January 20, Trump's executive order suspending Washington's development aid to other countries for 90 days was published on the White House website. Later, on January 25, Reuters reported that USAID froze programs to support foreign countries, including Ukraine, following a State Department dispatch approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Musk later announced on Feb. 3 that he had launched a process to liquidate USAID. The billionaire noted that this agency is not recoverable, it should be closed. At the same time, Trump called the heads of the agency radical madmen.

Bloomberg reported on February 5 that Musk's team gained access to the room where secret USAID documents are stored. In addition, more than 100 employees of the agency were sent on administrative leave. Later, on February 7, it became known that a court in the United States blocked Trump's decision to recall USAID employees from their positions and send them on leave until February 14.

Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»

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