US intelligence reports warn of political violence during presidential election
September 30, 2020 1 Comment
Intelligence reports by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other American security agencies warn that domestic extremists are preparing to wage violence in November, with one official calling the situation a “witch’s brew” that could spell unprecedented chaos throughout the country.
Security agencies have issued numerous reports warning of possible election violence in recent months, with the majority of these warnings coming from the FBI and the DHS. Earlier this month, Yahoo News reported sobering passages from a security alert issued jointly by the two agencies, which saw an increasing likelihood of election-related violence by domestic extremists. According to Yahoo News, the warning focused on domestic violent extremists “across the ideological spectrum”, who were likely to “continue to plot against government and election-related targets to express their diverse grievances involving government policies and actions”.
Last month a similar report from the DHS said law enforcement personnel should anticipate rapid mobilization by ideologically driven violent extremists, who are preparing to wage violence in the run-up to the November election, as well after. Until recently, the FBI and DHS reports had been circulated internally and were made available mostly to government personnel. Last week, however, New Jersey’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJ OHSP) took the rare step of issuing public warnings relating to possible election violence.
In a statement, the NJ OHSP said that Americans should remain vigilant as the November elections approach. The statement includes comments by OHSP director Jared Maples (pictured), who warns that the country is facing “a witch’s brew that really hasn’t happened in America’s history. And if it has, it’s been decades if not centuries”. The elements of this instability include the coronavirus pandemic, growing civil unrest, rising political tensions between rival groups, as well as concerted disinformation campaigns from America’s foreign adversaries, according to the NJ OHSP.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 30 September 2020 | Permalink
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Russian dissident sues US government to force release of records on alleged poisoning
October 1, 2020 by Joseph Fitsanakis Leave a comment
Kara-Murza rose to prominence in 2013, when he became a member of a network of Putin critics who helped organize opposition protests in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. He also co-authored a number of reports accusing the administration of Russian President Vladimir Putin of corruption. For several years now, Kara-Murza, his wife and three children have been living in the United States. But he frequently travels back to Russia to meet with opposition activists and other organizers. During one of those visits in 2015, he was hospitalized with acute respiratory symptoms and was diagnosed with “kidney failure in connection with poisoning”. He claimed that his hospitalization resulted from an assassination attempt against him by people in power who wanted to silence him. He was also hospitalized in 2017 in Moscow with similar symptoms.
Earlier this year Kara-Murza filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, seeking access to all documents held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation relating to his alleged poisonings. After six months, the Russian dissident sued the Department of Justice, arguing that the Department was in violation of law by withholding documents about his case. On August 10, the court handling Kara-Murza’s case received a notice from the Department of Justice, stating that 400 pages would be released within a month, and another 1,100 pages would be released by October 15.
The 400 pages released earlier this month show that the FBI monitored Kara-Murza’s case closely, and that it sought the assistance of toxicologists and other experts to determine whether the Russian dissident had been the target of assassination attempts. The documents also show that FBI Director Christopher Wray was personally involved in the investigation and that, according to the Voice of America, the Bureau’s findings “reached the top levels of the White House”.
However, the Department of Justice recently communicated with the court handling Kara-Murza’s lawsuit, to announce that it would be unable to release the remaining 1,100 pages by October 15. Instead, it said it would do so by November 15 instead. Kara-Murza’s lawyer, Stephen Rademaker, said his client will challenge the Department of Justice’s request. The Department of Justice, the White House and the FBI have not issued any statements about Kara-Murza’s case.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 01 October 2020 | Permalink
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with News, Russia, lawsuits, poisoning, FOIA, suspicious deaths, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Open Russia Foundation, Mikhail Khodorkovsky