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President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered federal officials to investigate the former head of the country’s top cybersecurity agency and revoke his security clearances, years after he first disputed Trump’s election fraud claims. In a memorandum shared Wednesday, Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to “take all appropriate action to review” Chris Krebs activities as a government employee and report those findings back to the White House. Krebs has been a prime target since he was fired by Trump over tweet in November 2020 for saying that President Biden fairly won the election, directly opposing the administration’s unsubstantiated view that there was electoral fraud. The memo describes Krebs, the former head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), as a “significant bad-faith actor who weaponized and abused his Government authority.” The memo also targets Krebs in his current position as SentinelOne’s chief intelligence and public policy officer, stripping anyone who works at the company of their security clearances. “In regard to the Executive Order dated April 9, 2025 focused on Chris Krebs in his prior role as a government employee, we will actively cooperate in any review of security clearances held by any of our personnel currently less than 10 employees overall and only where required by existing government processes and procedures to secure government systems,” the company said in a statement. It added that it doesn’t expect the review to materially impact its business. Krebs first joined SentinelOne’s advisory board in 2021. But he was further ingrained in the company when it acquired his advisory firm Krebs Stamos Group in 2023, which he founded with former Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos. The move against Krebs reflects Trump’s broader strategy for revenge as he cements his second administrative term. Since returning to office, he’s used the stripping of security clearances to punish individuals and companies that have either defied or opposed him. For example, Trump rescinded the security clearances of Biden, several top law firms who employed lawyers who worked on investigations into Trump, and many members of his first administration. Trump this week also targeted Miles Taylor, the former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff who wrote an anonymous memoir that criticized Trump’s actions in his first term. The memo accused Taylor of having “stoked dissension by manufacturing sensationalist reports on the existence of a supposed ‘resistance’ within the Federal Government.” “I said this would happen,” Taylor wrote on X. “Dissent isnt unlawful. It certainly isnt treasonous. America is headed down a dark path. Never has a man so inelegantly proved another mans point.”
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E-Commerce
On Thursday, the China Film Association (CFA) announced that it would moderately reduce the number of American films imported in response to the ongoing tariff war. The wrong move by the U.S. government to abuse tariffs on China will inevitably further reduce the domestic audiences favorability towards American films, the statement read. We will follow the market rules, respect the audiences choice, and moderately reduce the number of American films imported. The move came a day after President Trump announced a 90-day tariff pause for several countries, while raising levies on Chinese imports to 125%. The tariff hike from Trump came in response to Chinas move to impose an 84% tariff on U.S. goods. Earlier in the week, reports from China indicated that officials were considering limiting or even banning Hollywood films, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Speculation intensified when two prominent Chinese figuresone a state media editor and the other the son of a former party chiefoutlined potential countermeasures to Trumps tariffs, including restrictions on imported American films. Under current trade agreements, China had pledged to release 34 foreign films annually under revenue-sharing terms, granting overseas studios 25% of ticket sales. China is the worlds second-largest film market. We have always adhered to a high level of opening up to the outside world and will introduce more excellent films from the world to meet market demand, the statement continued. Once a crucial revenue source for Hollywood, China has now become an afterthought as geopolitical tensions rise. Chinese audiences, increasingly favoring domestic productions, have grown disenchanted with U.S. films. This shift was reflected by Ne Zha 2, released in January, which outperformed all American films to become the highest-grossing movie in a single market.
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E-Commerce
Thomas Shedd, who directs the General Services Administrations vaunted tech group, Technology Transformation Services (TTS), has just announced that a new round of firings has begun at TTS, insiders tells Fast Company. Shedd made the announcement during a midday Thursday conference call with TTS employees, according to two TTS insiders. He is requiring existing TTS staff to reapply for their jobsroles that are likely to come with new descriptions and potentially lower pay grades. Under the leadership of Shedd and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) higher-ups, TTS has seen its work slow to a directionless crawl. And for DOGE, which has been shaped by Elon Musk, that may be a feature, not a bug. One TTS source tells Fast Company that the group had 691 employees at the beginning of February and Shedd’s goal is to cut that workforce by half. No immediate timeline was given for the downsizing, but the TTS source says at least 120 people appear to be getting laid off, based on a rough head count during the phone call with Shedd. A follow-up email sent by Shedd to TTS personnel on Thursday that was shared with Fast Company said the group is “moving to smaller and flexible teams to provide support to government-wide shared services and partner agencies.” TTS has long been responsible for building and maintaining key government websites and systems that enable U.S. citizens to access services ranging from veterans benefits to tax payments. DOGE has already dismantled two of the federal governments key tech brain truststhe U.S. Digital Service and 18F (the latter of which is housed within TTS)and now appears to be stripping TTS itself of its resources and purpose. Neither DOGE nor TTS immediately responded to Fast Company‘s request for comment. Adding to the turmoil, Shedd doesnt have much time to lead TTS. The former Tesla employee recently took over as CIO of the Department of Labor. Sources within TTS say that since assuming that role, Shedd has become far less visible and less responsive on email and Slack. And when Shedd is present, he appears to be taking orders from his DOGE superiors rather than setting his own agenda, according to a second source inside TTS who spoke on condition of anonymity. Creating choke points When Shedd was named director of TTS, he expressed excitement about working with some of the brightest tech talent in government. But his decisions so far seem designed to minimize the groups impact. One tactic: insisting that only he and a small circle of others control basic resources and operations. They want to centralize control over everything, says the first TTS source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, then make it impossible for people to actually do their job because everything has to go through one choke point. Shedd has continually pushed for administrative access to TTS websites and third-party tools, while limiting access for TTS staffers. For example, TTS now has just 35 Adobe seat licenses to support its website workforcing project teams to compete for access, with Shedd deciding who gets priority. The Adobe license cuts are part of a broader DOGE cost-cutting initiative within the General Services Administration that has left thousands of agency workers without access to essential tools. DOGE leadership is now pushing for Sheddalong with the groups communications leadto become the sole administrators of TTSs social media accounts. That would prevent the staffers actually building the technology from sharing updates about their work online. Yet with much of his time now spent at Labor, Shedd has little bandwidth to write social posts himself. The centralization of power within TTS has disrupted normal workflows and stripped staff of their autonomy. They have disrupted decision making, leading to inefficient, lengthy, and unclear decision making processes, leading to lots of waiting, especially in areas where people used to know how and were able to actually make things happen, says the second TTS source Firings and morale In the first round of layoffs announced on March 1st, DOGE cut 90 employeesincluding the entire 18F group. But Shedd told staff during an all-hands meeting that DOGE intends to eliminate 50% of the groups personnel. General morale is terrible, the first TTS source says. Those of us who stuck it out are trying to pick up the pieces but they . . . just cut, cut, cut, and don’t care about the mission. So far, DOGE is moving largely unopposed in its quest to downsize the federal government and redirect remaining resources toward Trump administration priorities, such as eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Within TTS, some feel frustrated that others in governmentincluding members of Congressand the broader public remain in denial about the real harm DOGE is inflicting. All of these special government employees don’t have background checks or swear an oath or anything, says the first TTS source. People keep saying silent coup and think oh it’s just hype in Trump’s world where everything is bluster and bullshit. But it literally is happening and the collusion allowing it to happen across the branches of government is astounding.
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E-Commerce
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