95.1 The Bee

According to a report published Tuesday by the inspector general of the Small Business Administration (SBA), the federal government squandered more than $200 billion in potential fraud to prop up small businesses as the COVID-19 pandemic threatened the U.S. economy.

The report from the inspector general of the SBA gives an estimate of how much of the $1.2 trillion disbursed by the SBA was stolen by fraudulent claims. At least 17% of all COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds were given away to potentially fraudulent actors, according to Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware.  The SBA said: “In the rush to swiftly disburse COVID-19 EIDL and PPP funds, SBA calibrated its internal controls. The agency weakened or removed the controls necessary to prevent fraudsters from easily gaining access to these programs and provide assurance that only eligible entities received funds. However, the allure of ‘easy money’ in this pay and chase environment attracted an overwhelming number of fraudsters to the programs.”

The report focuses on two programs created during the pandemic to support small businesses: the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). According to the report, there was a higher potential fraud in the EIDL program, which was a low-interest disaster loan that would later require repayment. For PPP, which gave money to businesses that would later be forgiven — similar to a grant — the estimate of potential fraud was lower: around $64 billion, representing 8% of the total funds sent out.

Officials said the government watchdog report represents the first comprehensive estimate of fraud to date; nearly $30 billion of those fraudulent funds — about 15% of the fraud that’s been calculated as of May — has been reclaimed through collaboration between the inspector general’s office, the SBA, the U.S. Secret Service and other federal agencies, the report said.

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On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado man convicted of making “true threats” who repeatedly sent abusive messages to a local musician. The high court said that Billy Counterman’s conviction — for sending Facebook messages to singer-songwriter Coles Whalen — was based on the wrong legal standard.

The justices ruled on a 7-2 vote that the jury should have been required to make a finding about whether he intended his comments to be genuine threats. If such messages are not true threats, they are deemed protected speech under the Constitution’s First Amendment. The case now returns to lower courts for further proceedings on whether the conviction should be thrown out.

Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the majority: “The state had to show only that a reasonable person would understand his statements as threats. It did not have to show any awareness on his part that the statements should be understood that way. For the reasons stated, that is a violation of the First Amendment.” Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Amy Coney Barrett dissented.

Prosecutors focused on messages Counterman sent to Whalen on Facebook for two years, beginning in 2014. Examples included “I’ve had tapped phone lines before, what do you fear?” and “You’re not being good for human relationships. Die. Don’t need you.”  Whalen did not respond to any of them and ultimately reported them to the police in 2016, according to court documents. Counterman was convicted of one count of stalking and sentenced to 4½ years in prison. The conviction was upheld on appeal, prompting him to ask the Supreme Court to intervene.

The case is similar to a 2015 ruling in which the court threw out the conviction of a Pennsylvania man who made threatening remarks on Facebook aimed at his ex-wife. That case was decided on relatively narrow grounds and did not reach the broader constitutional question raised by Counterman’s attorneys.

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The shooter who pleaded guilty to killing five people and injuring 17 others at the Club Q gay nightclub in Colorado Springs was sentenced to life in prison on Monday. The victims ranged in age from 22 to 40.

The 23-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich — who identifies as nonbinary and uses Mx. Aldrich — opened fire at the popular Club Q on Nov. 19, 2022. The shooter first entered the club around 10:15 before walking back to the parking lot; they re-entered shortly before midnight, wearing a ballistic vest and carrying an AR-15-style assault rifle and allegedly carried out the attack. After being tackled and disarmed by patrons, the shooter was taken into custody by authorities.

Aldrich was charged with 323 criminal counts including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and bias-motivated crimes. FBI special agent Mark Michalek, who is in charge of the Denver field office, said during a news conference Monday that the agency has opened a case against Aldrich in conjunction with the Department of Justice. He did not provide additional details. FBI officials said later that an indictment or further charges could come from the DOJ or the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado.

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Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the University of Idaho murders. Kohberger is accused of stabbing to death four college students in an off-campus house on Nov. 13, 2022: Kaylee Goncalves; her lifelong best friend and roommate Madison Mogen; a third roommate, Xana Kernodle; and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin.

According to a new court filing, “The State gives this notice based on the fact that it has not identified or been provided with any mitigating circumstances sufficient to prohibit the triers of fact from considering all penalties authorized by the Idaho legislature including the possibility of a capital sentence. Consequently, considering all evidence currently known to the State, the State is compelled to file this notice of intent to seek the death penalty.”

After a six-week search for a suspect, 28-year-old Kohberger was arrested on Dec. 30, 2022. Kohberger was a Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University at the time of the murders. Kohberger chose to “stand silent” at his arraignment last month; by not responding, the judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. His trial is set for Oct. 2.

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