WHO calls on US and China to release intelligence about origins of COVID-19

March 8, 2023 2 Comments

World Health OrganisationTHE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION has called on the United States and China to share what they know about the source of the COVID-19 pandemic. The call, made by WHO’s Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and others, came days after United States Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray said in a television interview that COVID-19 “most likely” originated from a Chinese government laboratory.

Wray made the statement last week in a televised interview with Fox News, in response to a question about the origins of the COVID-19 virus. Wray said that, “for quite some time now”, the FBI has “assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan”, a city in central China. Wuhan hosts the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which includes laboratories that specialize on biosecurity and the study of newly emerging infectious diseases. Wray added that Beijing has “been doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work” of the United States in trying to determine the precise origins of the virus.

Late last week, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist and the WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, said the WHO had contacted the United States’ mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, to inquire about the information that informs the FBI’s assessment. On Friday, meanwhile, Dr. Tedros called for “any country [with] information about the origins of the pandemic” to come forward. The WHO Director-General went on to say that “it’s essential for that information to be shared with WHO and the international scientific community”.

The WHO also called on China “to be transparent in sharing data and to conduct the necessary investigations and share the results” with the global scientific community, “not so as to apportion blame, but to advance our understanding of how this pandemic started, so we can prevent, prepare for and respond to future epidemics and pandemics”. When asked about the WHO’s own investigation into the origins of COVID-19, Dr. Tedros responded that “all hypotheses on the origins of the virus remain on the table”.

In the meantime, China responded angrily to the FBI director’s comments. Beijing has previously dismissed claims that COVID-19 may have emerged as a result of an accident at a Chinese government-funded lab as a disinformation campaign designed to smear its image and reputation around the world. Last week, Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reacted angrily to allegations that the government of China is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Mao called on the United States to “look to its own biological laboratories scattered across the world when searching for the virus’s source”.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 08 March 2023 | Permalink

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[Updated] Self-styled creator of pro-Russian ‘Z’ symbol reportedly assassinated

February 7, 2023 1 Comment

UkraineA LEADING RUSSIAN NATIONALIST, who styled himself as the originator of ‘Z’, the symbol of the Russian campaign in Ukraine, has reportedly died after being shot in the head in an apparent assassination. Igor Mangushev, 36, is a prominent figure in Russia’s nationalist circles. A vocal supporter of Russian premier Vladimir Putin, Mangushev’s hardline and unapologetically nationalist social media presence has helped popularize the Kremlin’s policies among younger Russians.

By the late 2010s, Mangushev had spent nearly a decade in Russian ultra-nationalist street gangs. Eventually a pro-Kremlin paramilitary group he founded and led, known as Svetlaya Rus (Light Rus), was conscripted by the Russian military to assist in grey zone operations in the separatist regions of eastern Ukraine. It was in Ukraine that Mangushev’s group merged with other armed ultra-nationalist clusters to form the so-called Yenot (Raccoon) private military company, or Yenot PMC. Soon after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Mangushev began to describe himself (without evidence) as the creator of the ‘Z’ symbol that the Kremlin uses as a sign of support for the Russian military campaign.

In the ensuing years, Yenot PMC paramilitaries saw action in several battles in Ukraine and in Syria. In the meantime, Mangushev worked alongside close Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, the alleged owner of the Wagner Group, one of the world’s largest private military companies. There was much fanfare in Russian nationalist social media circles last year, when Mangushev (using the moniker “Bereg”) announced he had joined the Russian Armed Forces at the rank of captain. It is believed, however, that Mangushev’s Russian military title was nominal, and that continued to operate as leader of the Yenot PMC. Read more of this post

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Embattled Libyan government announces surprise visit by CIA director

January 13, 2023 Leave a comment

THE GOVERNMENT OF WAR-torn Libya announced on Thursday that William Burns, director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was in capital Tripoli for discussions with senior Libyan officials. By visiting Tripoli, Burns became the highest-ranking American government official to travel to the North African country under the presidency of Joe Biden.

According to reports in the Libyan media, Burns spent most of Thursday in Tripoli, where he met with Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, a controversial businessman who is serving as prime minister in the Government of National Unity (GNU). Burns also met with GNU Minister of Foreign Affairs Najla al-Mangoush, as well as with Hussein al-Ayeb, who leads the GNU’s intelligence agency. The CIA director also met with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar (pictured), head of the Libyan National Army (LNA). The LNA nominally supports the GNU’s rival government in eastern Libya, the Government of National Stability (GNS). However, Haftar is seen by many as Libya’s de facto strongman. Notably, Burns did not meet with Fathi Bashagha, the self-styled ‘prime minister’ of the GNS, which, unlike the GNU, is not recognized by the United Nations, but is supported by a number of regional powers, including NATO member Turkey.

Al-Monitor reported that the subject of the GNU’s relations with Russia was high on the agenda during Burns’ visit, as was the subject of Libya’s energy exports to Europe. Counterterrorism was also discussed, which is unsurprising, given that last month the GNU surrendered Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi to American authorities. Washington alleges that Al-Marimi was involved in the 1988 downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which was conceived and plotted by the regime of the late Colonel Moammar al-Gadhafi. The move was seen as an attempt by the GNU to strengthen relations with Washington, in light of the challenge it faces from the GNS and the LNA.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 13 January 2023 | Permalink

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Female targets of QAnon conspiracy attacked up to 10 times more, study finds

November 21, 2022 1 Comment

QAnon - IAFEMALE TARGETS OF CONSPIRACY theories propagated by QAnon adherents face up to 10 times more online harassment and abuse than male targets, a behavioral study of pro-QAnon online users has found. QAnon refers to an American-rooted conspiracy theory that views former United States President Donald Trump as a central figure in a behind-the-scenes battle against a sinister cabal of enemies, known as the “deep state”. According to QAnon adherents, “deep state” elites (politicians, entertainment figures and other celebrities) consist of Satan-worshiping cannibals who traffic children for sex. QAnon adherents also believe that these elites will be routed during “The Storm”, a final reckoning between Trump and the “deep state”, which will result in the arrest and physical extermination of all elites.

But in a new study published last month by the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a team of researchers posits that not all victims of QAnon adherents are targeted with equal intensity by the conspiracy theorists. Concordia University PhD candidates Marc-André Argentino and Adnan Raja, and ISD analyst Aoife Gallagher, used online data collected in 2020 and early 2021. They categorized the data according to six case studies involving celebrity figures, ranging from Tom Hanks and Anderson Cooper to Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey, all of whom have been prominent targets of QAnon conspiracy theories.

The researchers found that, in each case, online attacks proliferated quickly once individual targets were “labelled and perception [was] hardened in narratives about their alleged role in pedophilia and/or sex trafficking”. What followed was coordinated hate and harassment campaigns that included “forms of high-volume brigading” —a coordinated attack by groups of users united by belonging to the same antagonistic subreddit. In each case, negative sentiments were amplified through the multiplication of coordinated hateful —and often violent— content.

The study shows that “[g]ender-based, racist and anti-LGBTQ+ hate and rhetoric” was present throughout the dataset. However, of all factors —gender, race or sexual orientation— relating to the identities of targets, gender was by far the most determining. According to the data analysis, female targets of QAnon brigading were subjected to volumes of hate and harassment that were as many as ten times higher than those of their male counterparts. The study also shows that this gender-based variation was true in every platform used, such as Facebook (primarily), Instagram and Twitter.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 21 November 2022 | Permalink

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Tip by confidential human source guided FBI search of Trump’s home, reports claim

August 11, 2022 4 Comments

Mar-a-Lago MULTIPLE NEWS OUTLETS CLAIMED on Wednesday that Monday’s search by authorities of a Florida residential compound belonging to former United States President Donald Trump was based on information provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation by a confidential human source. The source reportedly gave the FBI details about a number of classified documents that were allegedly hidden in Trump’s Florida estate, as well as their precise location.

America’s troubled political waters turned stormy once again on Monday morning, when around 35 FBI special agents and technical support personnel arrived at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in a convoy of unmarked vehicles. The FBI team proceeded to execute a search warrant, which authorized them to confiscate government files that were allegedly in storage at the luxury estate. According to the 1978 Presidential Records Act, these files belong to the state and should have been deposited to the National Archives upon Trump’s departure from the White House in January of 2021.

On Monday afternoon, the FBI staff reportedly left Trump’s residence with between 10 and 15 boxes of documents. In the ensuing hours, a number of commentators pointed out that, as per Trump’s attorney Lindsey Halligan, who observed the search in person, the FBI focused on just three rooms, ignoring the rest of the sprawling mansion —namely Trump’s office, a bedroom and a storage room. That, according to some, points to the strong possibility that the FBI special agents had prior information about the location of the files.

On Wednesday morning, Newsweek said it could confirm that the FBI had prior information about the precise location of the files. The news outlet cited two senior government officials, including “an intelligence source” who had “direct knowledge of the FBI’s deliberations” in the days leading up to the search. According to the sources, during the first week of August the government prosecutor in charge of the case was able to secure a search warrant by a West Palm Beach judge. The prosecutor reportedly did so by providing the judge with “abundant and persuasive detail” about the files, which “proved that those records were contained at Mar-a-Lago […] in a specific safe in a specific room”.

On Wednesday evening, The Wall Street Journal also reported that the FBI had been approached by “someone familiar with stored papers”. The source allegedly provided government investigators with information about the precise location of “classified documents” at Mar-a-Lago. The paper added that the FBI confidential source had direct access to the documents.

The US attorney general’s guidelines [PDF] define FBI confidential human sources as individuals who are “believed to be providing useful and credible information to the FBI for any authorized information collection activity”. They further stipulates that the FBI expects or intends to obtain “additional useful and credible information” from confidential human sources in the future, thus it usually builds a long-term relationship with these individuals. The guidelines also note that, given the sensitivity of the role of confidential human sources, their “identity, information or relationship with the FBI warrants confidential handling”.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 11 August 2022 | Permalink

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Ukraine war prompts European Union to overhaul counter-surveillance practices

July 18, 2022 1 Comment

European Commission buildingTHE POLITICAL FALLOUT OF the Russian invasion of Ukraine is prompting the European Union (EU) to radically upgrade the security of its facilities, according to a series of internal memoranda. On July 14, the EUObserver, an EU-focused news agency based in Brussels, said it had seen an internal EU document that describes the creation of a new anti-surveillance unit. The unit’s mission will reportedly center on providing security for closed-door EU meetings, using counter-measures standards employed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

According to EUObserver, EU member states have agreed to establish a so-called “CSC-TSCM Expert Group,” which will spearhead the formation of this new unit. In security parlance, TSCM stands for technical security counter-measures, a method of counter-surveillance. In their most basic form, TSCM operations are carried out by teams of technical experts trained in the use of anti-bugging equipment. These are able to detect radio emissions, which are generated by most surveillance devices —commonly referred to as ‘bugs’.

The internal memorandum stipulates that the “CSC-TSCM Expert Group” will be officially set up after July 25. It will consist of experts from several EU states. The resulting unit’s mission will be to “prevent, detect and potentially neutralise eavesdropping of information in any physical or electronic form,” the memorandum states. Counter-measures operations will include regular inspections of “facilities and vehicles and the protection of classified meetings” in buildings that house the EU Council, EU Parliament, and the European Commission.

The forthcoming formation of the “CSC-TSCM Expert Group” appears to be closely linked to news, published earlier this month, relating to the construction of a new facility. The new facility is described in the media as an EU “secure bunker.” According to the EUObserver, the €8 million ($8.07 million) enclosed space will operate as a designated EU sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF). The term denotes a secure area within a larger building, which is used to discuss sensitive topics and process classified information. Read more of this post

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In rare move, Israel identifies special operations officer killed in Gaza Strip raid

May 17, 2022 1 Comment

IDF Gaza Strip HamasIN A RARE MOVE, Israel released the identity last weekend of a special operations officer who was killed by Islamic Hamas during a 2018 covert mission in the Gaza Strip. As intelNews reported at the time, an undercover team of Israeli operatives was exfiltrated by helicopter from Gaza on November 11, 2018. The exfiltration took place after the Israelis were spotted by members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which is part of Hamas’ armed wing.

The incident was followed by a barrage of nearly 500 rockets and mortars fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel. The Israelis responded by firing more than 160 missiles that fell throughout the Palestinian enclave. Hostilities were halted on November 13, when Hamas declared a unilateral ceasefire brokered by Egypt. The incident prompted the resignation of Israel’s Defense Minister, Avigdor Liberman. At the time, the Israel Defense Forces, which were behind the botched operation, refused to comment on the team’s mission, admitting only that its troops “operated […] in the Gaza Strip”.

It was said at the time that the members of the undercover team were dressed in civilian clothes and that at least two of them were disguised as women. After entering Gaza in a civilian Volkswagen vehicle, they drove to Khan Yunis, a city in the south of the Strip, near the Egyptian border. It was there that they were discovered by the al-Qassam Brigades, who stopped them at a checkpoint, asking for identification. The Israeli team opened fire using a silenced gun. Following a high-speed car chase, the Israelis left via helicopter. Their abandoned Volkswagen car was then blown up by an Israeli fighter jet.

On Sunday, the IDF declassified the name of the fallen officer. It also released a photograph of the man, who has been identified as Lt. Col. Mahmoud Kheir el-Din, 41, from Galilee. A member of Israel’s Druze community, el-Din served in the Mista’arvim, a counter-terrorism unit of the IDF’s Special Operations division that is trained to capture or assassinate targets in enemy territory. El-Din joined the IDF’s Special Operations division in 2002, after having served as a platoon commander.

The IDF also provided limited details about the botched operation that led to el-Din’s death. It claims that el-Din “physically confronted” one of the Hamas operatives, thus giving another one of the Israeli soldiers the opportunity to open fire and kill seven Hamas members. El-Din was killed during the shootout, according to the IDF. The Israeli government said the decision to release el-Din’s identity was coordinated with his family. It added, however, that it does not plan to release further details about the botched operation.

► Author: Ian Alen | Date: 17 May 2022 | Permalink

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Russia targeted by unprecedented wave of cyber-attacks, experts say

May 3, 2022 1 Comment

Computer hackers AnonymousRUSSIAN STATE COMPANIES, BUSINESSES and individuals are being targeted in an unprecedented wave of attacks by digital assailants, according to observers, who say they are surprised by its ferocity. Since February of this year, hackers have accessed the personal financial data of pro-Kremlin oligarchs, stolen millions of internal emails stored on Russian government severs, and defaced high-profile websites across the nation. The Washington Post, which summarized the wave of attacks last Sunday, said they are being waged by hacker collectives, as well as common criminals. The paper claimed that the assailants are not connected to foreign governments.

According to observers, Russia currently tops the global list of targeted attacks by hackers for the first time since records began. Major targets include Russia’s media regulator, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, which anti-government activists blame for implementing Soviet-style censorship. Hackers have also attacked Russia’s state-owned broadcaster, known as VGTRK, as well the Russian intelligence and defense establishments. Tens of thousands of emails exchanged by senior VGTRK officials since 2013 were recently stolen and leaked in a massive data dump. Additionally, lengthy lists containing the names of alleged Russian intelligence officers, as well as of soldiers, have been leaked online by unknown hackers.

The attacks are led by political hacker collectives, including Network Battalion 65 (NB65), which announced its existence on Twitter just hours after Russian troops began to march toward Kyiv. The group is believed to have links to the international hacktivist collective Anonymous, and claims to have no ties to governments. Another hacker collective that is behind the attacks on Russia is a group calling itself AgainstTheWest. Despite its name, it is led by a group of pro-Western, “English-speaking hackers […] with intelligence backgrounds”, according to The Post. Attacks are also being perpetrated by smaller groups of hackers, some of them based in Ukraine, and by criminal groups, whose members are motivated by profit and are attacking Russian state targets at a time when the Kremlin appears vulnerable.

According to the paper, the Ukrainian government is not directly involved in these cyber-attacks. However, it has repeatedly endorsed attacks by hackers aimed at weakening the Russian state. Back in February, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Transformation Minister issued an open call for the formation of a “volunteer cyber army” to fight for Ukraine. As intelNews reported at the time, the Ukrainian government claimed that nearly 200,000 people had shown interest in joining the initiative. However, little has been mentioned since. The government of Ukraine maintains an “IT Army” channel on Telegram, where it frequently suggests Russian targets that pro-Ukrainian hackers should attack. However, any evidence of links between it and the wave of cyber-attacks that Russia has been experiencing remains speculative.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 03 May 2022 | Permalink

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South Korea busts alleged North Korean spy ring, handler remains at large

April 29, 2022 Leave a comment

North and South KoreaSOUTH KOREAN AUTHORITIES HAVE busted an alleed spy ring run by a North Korean handler, who remains at large. Two men have been arrested so far in connection with the ring. One of them, identified only as “Lee”, is reportedly the chief executive of a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange. The other man, a Republic of Korea Army officer, is identified as “Captain B.” in court documents.

Lee was arrested on April 2, while Captain B. was arrested on April 15. They are facing charges of violating South Korea’s 1948 National Security Act. Prosecutors alleged that the two men divulged to their North Korean handler the log-in credentials to the online command-and-control portal of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. The men are accused of having received substantial financial compensation in return for their services.

According to the prosecution, Lee was approached in July 2021 by a North Korean intelligence officer, who recruited him to work for North Korean intelligence. In August of the same year, Lee approached Captain B., and recruited as a subcontractor, with the promise of substantial financial compensation in the form of bitcoin. Captain B. then began giving military secrets to Lee, who passed them on to the North Koreans.

Eventually, Lee’s handler allegedly provided him with a miniature camera hidden inside an electronic watch. Lee gave this spy device to Captain B., along with a hacking device hidden inside a flash drive, which is commonly known as a “poison tap”. This device gave the North Korean handler access to the laptop used by the men to access the South Korean military’s command-and-control portal. The two alleged spies were compensated with nearly $600,000 in bitcoin for their services.

South Korean authorities claim that the North Korean handler of the spy ring, as well as a man who worked as a courier between the handler and the two agents, remain at large. Public court documents do not specify the kind of information that was allegedly accessed by the North Koreans as a result of this breach.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 29 April 2022 | Permalink

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China steps up ‘people’s war’ against alleged Western espionage offensive

April 18, 2022 Leave a comment

Supreme People’s ProcuratorateCHINESE STATE-OWNED MEDIA has stepped up warnings of an alleged Western espionage offensive, to mark China’s annual “national security education day”, a new initiative promoted by the Chinese Communist Party (CPC). The decision to designate April 15 “national security education day” was adopted by the CPC in 2015, during its 12th National People’s Congress. Since then, the Chinese government has promoted the day as an effort to create a “positive atmosphere of national security” across the nation.

In recent months, Beijing has called on the country’s citizens to combat an alleged espionage offensive against China. According to Chinese officials, the alleged offensive is being led by the United States. Chinese citizens are being called to “wage a people’s war” against foreign espionage, by reporting suspicious activities by foreigners and locals alike to the authorities.

The call to war against alleged espionage follows a resolution by the CPC in November of last year, which critiqued the country’s inability to maintain a high level of national security. The resolution called on various elements of the government and general population to address the nation’s “ability to respond to various major risks […] and the coordination mechanisms for maintaining national security”. Notably, the resolution described these efforts as “currently not strong”.

On Friday, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP), China’s highest government agency responsible for investigating and prosecuting criminal activity, issued a call to Chinese citizens to be watchful of using “popular social media platforms”. The SPP noted that such platforms had become “a hotbed for the infiltration of foreign hostile forces”. The warning made special mention of employment and dating websites, which prayed on “students, migrant workers and unemployed youth who know little about national security”.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 18 April 2022 | Permalink

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Dozens purged as Kremlin blames Russian spy services for botched Ukraine invasion

April 14, 2022 1 Comment

FSB - IAMore than 150 officers have been purged form the ranks of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), as President Vladimir Putin is placing blame on his intelligence agencies for the setbacks experienced during the invasion of Ukraine. This assessment was communicated to the London-based Times newspaper by British intelligence sources, who added that many of those purged have been dismissed from the service, while others remain under house arrest. A few —among them senior FSB officials— are in prison. The FSB is tasked with domestic security and counterintelligence operations, which were carried out by the KGB during the Cold War.

According to The Times, the purge has mostly targeted officers in the FSB’s Service for Operational Information and International Communications, which is informally known as the Fifth Service of the FSB. As intelNews has previously explained, the FSB’s Fifth Service was established in 1992 in order to fill the vacuum created by a host of no-spy agreements between Moscow and the governments of former Soviet Republics. These agreements prevent Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) from spying inside the territories of former Soviet states.

By 1995, the Fifth Service had become known as the “foreign spy wing” of the FSB. It grew in size drastically after 1999, and some claim it “graduated into [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s imperial gendarme”. Today, the Fifth Service is reportedly in charge of Kremlin’s “kill list” of Ukrainian senior officials and other dissidents who live in Ukraine. Until recently, the Fifth Service was led by Sergei Beseda and Anatoly Bolyukh (or Bolukh).

However, The Times claims that both officials have been dismissed from their posts in recent weeks. Initially, the Russian government claimed that Beseda had embezzled funds, and placed him under house arrest. He has since been transferred to a prison, according to the paper, and has now been formally charged with misinforming the Kremlin about the conditions on the ground in Ukraine. Bolyukh has been dismissed from his post but is reportedly not in prison. His current whereabouts remain unclear.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 14 April 2022 | Permalink

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Russia gives indirect support to Western far-right groups: US intelligence report

February 11, 2022 1 Comment

Pro-Russian forces in UkraineTHE KREMLIN IS PROVIDING “indirect and passive support” to Western neo-Nazi, white supremacist and other far-right groups, in an effort to subvert Western security, according to a leaked report produced by United States intelligence agencies. The report is titled “Russian Federation Support of Racially and Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists”. It was produced in July of 2021 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), with information provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency.

According to Yahoo News, which obtained a copy of the unclassified report, it “stops short” of claiming that the government of Russia is giving direct financial and other material assistance to Western far-right groups. The report admits that US intelligence agencies do not have “indications of direct Russian government support” for such groups. However, it claims that Moscow appears to tolerate “some private Russian entities’ support” for American and European far-right organizations.

A number of Russian far-right groups are “actively training foreign white nationalists” and are engaged in efforts to recruit Western far-right extremists. These recruits come from countries such as Germany, Canada and the United States. They regularly travel to Russia, where they receive paramilitary training. Upon returning to their home countries, they help Russian far-right groups to “expand their reach into the West, increase membership and raise money”, the report claims.

The report cites the example of the St. Petersburg-based Russian Imperial Movement (RIM), which is known to have provided paramilitary training to Western white supremacists and neo-Nazis. In 2020 the US Department of State designated the RIM a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group. The designation marked the first time in history that the US Department of State had formally applied the label of terrorist to a white supremacist organization. The ODNI report also cites the case of the neo-Nazi Rusich Reconnaissance and Sabotage Group, which has links with Russia’s Wagner Group, a private military contractor with significant presence in Ukraine, Africa and elsewhere.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 11 February 2022 | Permalink

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FBI confidential informant who infiltrated the KKK speaks publicly for the first time

December 24, 2021 2 Comments

Joseph MooreA UNITED STATES ARMY veteran and government informant, who infiltrated the white supremacist organization known as the Ku Klux Klan for over a decade, has spoken publicly about his work for the first time. The informant’s birth name is Joseph Moore, but in 2018 he changed it in order to evade detection by KKK members who might be tempted to track him down. Today the 50-year-old former Army sniper lives with his wife and four children somewhere in Florida, according to the Associated Press.

The news agency said Moore reached out to one of its reporters who had authored a series of exposés about white supremacists working in Florida’s penitentiary system. The reports relied on evidence uncovered by Moore. The former FBI informant told the Associated Press that he has never discussed his undercover work in public, until now. He added that he was not a member of the KKK before “the government approached him, and asked for his help”. That took place in 2007, according to the report.

Moore’s primary mission as an informant for the FBI was to provide evidence of active law enforcement personnel who were active in KKK groups based in Florida and Georgia. After joining the Englewood, Florida-headquartered United Northern & Southern Knights of the KKK, Moore began to regularly attend the group’s meetings wearing hidden surveillance devices. According to the Associated Press, he was able to identify “dozens of police officers, prison guards, sheriff deputies and other law enforcement officers who were involved with the Klan and outlaw motorcycle clubs”.

After a brief respite, the FBI re-established contact with Moore in 2013 and asked him to infiltrate another white supremacist group, known as the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Within a year, Moore had gained the group’s trust and was operating as its director of security, with tasks that included safeguarding the group’s internal communications. During that time, Moore reportedly helped the FBI “foil at least two murder plots” by KKK members, and assisted the government in identifying Klan members who were also working as law enforcement officers throughout Florida.

Moore told the Associated Press that he and his family adopted new names in 2018, in an effort to prevent the men he helped put in prison from finding him once they complete their sentences. But he fears for his and his family’s safety, which is why he chose to go public with his story, in the hope that the exposure will make it harder for the KKK to hurt him. He also said that a number of people associated with the KKK had “appeared at his house” in recent months, prompting him to contact the FBI and his local sheriff’s office. The Associated Press said it reached out to the FBI about Moore’s work as an informant, but received no response.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 24 December 2021 | Permalink

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Spain’s former prime minister denies knowledge of high-level spy operation

December 14, 2021 Leave a comment

Mariano RajoySPAIN’S FORMER PRIME MINISTER, Mariano Rajoy, has denied knowledge of an alleged spy operation that prosecutors say is connected to one of the most extensive corruption scandals in Spanish political history. The alleged spy scandal relates to what is known in Spain as the Gürtel case, which centers on an extensive network of tax evasion, bribery and money laundering. The Gürtel case brought together leading business executives, criminal kingpins, and senior politicians from Rajoy’s conservative Partido Popular (PP).

In May of 2018, Spain’s highest criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, ruled that senior PP officials had enriched themselves with kickbacks and bribes, and had laundered large sums of money with assistance from the criminal underworld. The scandal effectively brought an end to the government of Prime Minister Rajoy later that year, and has virtually annihilated the once robust electoral popularity of the PP.

In 2020, another side of the Gürtel case emerged, which became known as Operation KITCHEN. This refers to an espionage effort that targeted senator Luis Bárcenas, who also served as treasurer of the PP. It was discovered that Bárcenas had in his possession bookkeeping documents that shed light on a secret system for recording illicit bribes paid to PP administrators and senior party figures. For his implication in the Gürtel case, Bárcenas was eventually given a 33-year prison sentence, which he is currently serving.

It appears that, once senior PP executives realized that Bárcenas had these documents in his possession, and that he may share them with the authorities so as to secure a lighter prison sentence for himself, they allegedly set up an espionage operation aimed at preventing Bárcenas’ documents from ending up in the hands of the authorities.

On Monday, however, Rajoy, who served as prime minister from 2011 to 2018, claimed he had no knowledge of any espionage efforts undertaken against Bárcenas. Speaking before a parliamentary committee that is investigating Operation KITCHEN, Rajoy said he had nothing to do with the spy affair. He later told reporters: “I never had any knowledge of the existence of this operation […], so I gave instructions on something I knew nothing about? I don’t know what they [the committee] were looking for”. Rajoy also told the parliamentary committee: “I really don’t care what Mr. Bárcenas [and others implicated in the Gürtel case] might have said about me”.

The investigation into Operation KITCHEN continues.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 14 December 2021 | Permalink

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Turkey launches investigation after explosive found under Erdoğan guardsman’s car

December 6, 2021 1 Comment

Nusaybin TurkeyTURKISH AUTHORITIES HAVE LAUNCHED an investigation after a makeshift explosive device was found under the car of a police officer guarding an open-air speech by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The rally took place on Saturday in Siirt, a Kurdish-majority town located about 90 miles from the Turkish-Syrian border. The town has a symbolic significance for Erdoğan, as it is the hometown of his wife, Emine Erdoğan, and was his constituency for four years. In 2003 he won a by-election there and entered the Turkish Grand National Assembly as a member.

According to pro-government Turkish media, the makeshift bomb was affixed to the undercarriage of a private car. The car belongs to a police officer in the city of Nusaybin (pictured), in the province of Mardin, which is situated on the Turkish-Syrian border. The explosive device was detected by a bomb squad on Saturday morning, as the police officer was preparing to depart for Siirt, where he was going to help secure an outdoor rally by Erdoğan. The purpose of the rally was to gather support for the embattled Erdoğan, as the Turkish economy is undergoing its most serious recession in a generation.

Turkish media said that a specialist bomb squad was dispatched to Nusaybin upon the discovery of the device, and defused it “in a controlled manner”. Later that day, Erdoğan began his speech at the rally in Siirt by mentioning the discovery of the device, saying that the “defeats suffered by the terrorists” were bound to prompt “confessions of treachery and meanness”, which will be “revealed in time”. Southeastern Turkey, where Siirt is located, is a stronghold of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an armed secessionist group that Turkey has been battling for nearly 40 years.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 06 December 2021 | Permalink

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