text: SUPER PACS MANUFACTURING CONSENT: Political Action Committee Priorities USA spent $30 million on digital advertising for voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The political action committee is just one of numerous groups attempting to improve the President’s favorability ratings nearly ten months out from the midterm elections. The Priorities USA chairman said, “We have to raise the stakes of the election, talk about what role they play in that election, and we have to give them the tools to vote.” Citing the lack of former President Trump on the ballot, Democratic operatives are concerned too many people have “tuned out of politics, and our job is to now tune them back in creative ways.” (AC: “Doing your part” will remain a consistent theme in midterm election political advertising, despite lack of popular support for Build Back Better and federalizing elections. Expect a three-pronged effort from media, private companies, and political activists to “manufacture consent” for controversial legislation prior to the election in an attempt to secure power despite expected midterm losses for the Left. I recommend increasing your scrutiny of social media advertising in the coming months as advocacy efforts ramp up and are often exacerbated by foreign election influence efforts. – D.M.)CISA PUSHES GOVERNORS ON STATE SECURITY: At the National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington, Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) Director Jean Easterly pushed for cybersecurity practices adoption by states. The focus was on replacing legacy technology, moving toward secure cloud services, and adopting multi-factor authentication across all sectors to cut down the risk of cyberattacks. Director Easterly cited a 2019 Microsoft study which found that requiring users to supply additional credentials prevented almost 100% of compromises (AC: This push for adopting cybersecurity verification standards by states is part of the U.S. strategy for securing the Homeland’s critical infrastructure. CISA leadership is flexing its approach to be a supporting role with state and local entities on the front line. Vulnerabilities on critical infrastructure from a Russian cyberattack have exposed the need for cyber resiliency to negotiate from a position of strength. – D.F.) GREAT POWERS TAKE ON ENERGY SUPPLIES: Russian media is pushing an announcement from state-owned Gazprom over dwindling European natural gas stores. According to the latest release, the continent has 39% or less of its winter storage facilities filled. Coinciding with the announcement, Gazprom made no February booking for the Yamal pipeline through Poland after reversing flows in December ‘21. In an apparent effort to stem the coming energy disruption, President Biden said, “I am notifying Congress that I will designate Qatar as a major non-NATO ally to reflect the importance of our relationship.” (AC: Gazprom’s increased public mockery of Europe’s energy supplies are likely part of a broader Russian information operations campaign to divide NATO members along their most sensitive vulnerabilities. Qatar remains the number one natural gas producer globally. The U.S. is attempting to convince Qatar to bolster its production and potentially violate contracts with Asian countries to maintain gas supplies to Europe. The increased frequency of these announcements indicates anticipated energy disruptions in Europe, regardless of a renewed invasion of Ukraine. – D.M.)