The problem is that the DOJ isn't as independent as people would like it to be, so you basically need a change in administration to hold someone to account, which could take longer than 5 years.
I mean, you could probably use them that way, but there's no indication that they were planning on doing that. One of those devices is only ~$3000, so if you want to spam all of New York and the upside is a bunch of people sending you their life savings it's not exactly an investment that's out of reach for your average crime syndicate.
State actors would probably hack into the Telco systems themselves instead, which you can do without needing to be on the ground. Or they'd keep their DDoS device in their embassy and do it from there.
This looks like the gear normally used by gangs that do text spam scams, what makes this exactly out of the range for a run of the mill criminal syndicate? Unless they have some other information that they're not sharing?
It's definitely the core of the issue. Trump ran on cost of living issues and deporting immigrants (which is essentially a cost of living argument as well to a lot of people, even if empirically it's a policy that has an opposite effect).
Kamala ran on essentially upholding existing institutions, 'democracy' and hanging out with the people that got the US into the Iraq war.
A lot of people picked the lying conman over the person that didn't even promise to do the bare minimum. If the government doesn't work for the people (and granted, a lot of it is due to Republicans cynically sabotaging things at every level), people will vote to change it one way or another.
Raising half a billion more than Trump didn't do her a lot of good. Maybe next time a candidate should try running on what the people want instead of the donors.
The Venn diagram of black people that know their own history and the ones that voted for Trump are probably 2 distinct circles. I doubt they care about more erasure of history.
Honestly, the democratic brand is so tainted the the left really should embrace a strategy of running independents in solid red states. They're receptive to a Bernie style message (tell them big Ag is trying to buy your farm, go big on right to repair so John Deere can't screw you on parts, tell them that Medicare for all is actually good for small businesses that can't compete on health care, etc), but after decades of right wing propaganda you can't do anything under a democratic banner in those places (especially since the democratic party would put their thumb on the scale for the centrist guy in a primary).
And electorally, their inaction cost them. FDR's popularity rose because he did shit. There's this view democrats have that they only have limited political capital and they have to choose where to 'spend it', but it just doesn't work that way.
The problem is that the DOJ isn't as independent as people would like it to be, so you basically need a change in administration to hold someone to account, which could take longer than 5 years.