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☆ 'Reality' recreates fateful day for U.S. whistleblower in Berlinale premiere
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Cast members Marchant Davis, Sydney Sweeney, Josh Hamilton and Director Tina Satter attend a photo call to promote the movie 'Reality' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 18, 2023. Director Tina Satter aims to change that with the movie "Reality," a 85-minute re-enactment of the day FBI agents came to Winner's house based off the transcript of the audio they recorded which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday. Winner's sister and mother also attended the premiere, prompting a burst of applause from the crowded theatre. "After spending time speaking with her, I wanted to make sure that I captured her as much as possible," said Sweeney. "I hope that they see this moment in a woman's life, that it was a really hard decision to make, and to not reduce Reality to just a headline," she added.

☆ House GOP asks Fauci and dozens of health officials to testify in investigation into Covid origins
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

House Republicans have asked former White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony to testify before Congress as they launch a new investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. "If there are oversight hearings I absolutely will cooperate fully and testify before the Congress," Fauci told reporters during his final briefing at the White House. He stepped down from his posts at the White House and at the helm of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in December. EcoHealth Alliance provided funding, which originated at NIH, to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study coronaviruses. About $600,000 of that money went directly to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study the threat posed by bat coronaviruses.

☆ A Marine who got a highly sensitive intelligence job after participating in the Jan. 6 attack was charged after admitting to his role in the riot during a security clearance interview
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Three active-duty Marines were arrested and charged on Jan. 6 charges last month. All three held intelligence roles even after their alleged participation in the deadly Capitol attack. Abate ultimately confessed to participating in the riot in June 2022 while he was undergoing a security clearance process, according to prosecutors. The Intercept reported that both Abate and Hellonen received promotions in ranks in the aftermath of the riot. Lawyers for Abate and Hellonen did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, and Coomer did not have an attorney listed.

☆ Classified records pose conundrum stretching back to Carter
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

The mishandling of classified documents is not a problem unique to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. He contrasted that pattern for top officials to senators, who are required to retain classified materials in secure rooms at the Capitol. It's notable that Carter signed the Presidential Records Act in 1978 but it did not apply to records of his administration, taking effect years later when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. Former President Bill Clinton's office said, "All of President Clinton's classified materials were properly turned over to NARA in accordance with the Presidential Records Act." The power to change or amend how classified documents are handled rests largely with the president.

☆ Mike Pompeo is using his memoir to try to demolish the Trump adviser-turned-critic John Bolton
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Pompeo compares Bolton writing a memoir to Edward Snowden, who leaked classified information from the National Security Agency to reporters in 2013. "At least Snowden had the decency not to lie about his motive," Pompeo writes. Former President Donald Trump listens to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the White House, on October 21, 2019. "Memo to John Bolton: I'm talking about you," Pompeo writes. Pompeo writes that he was having lunch with reporters the day of the firing and got a note saying that the president needed to speak with him.

Three active-duty U.S. Marines were arrested and charged this week with breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the latest in a line of current or former members of the military associated with the riot. All three men have been enlisted in the Marines for more than four years, according to a Marine Corps spokesman. Micah Coomer, circled in red, Dodge Dale Hellonen, circled in blue, and Joshua Abate at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. "We are aware of an investigation and the allegations," a Marine Corps spokesperson said. "The Marine Corps is fully cooperating with the appropriate authorities in support of the investigation."

☆ 3 active-duty Marines who work in intelligence arrested over alleged participation in the January 6 riot
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Konstantin Toropin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Three Marines were arrested Wednesday in relation to the US Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. All three Marines work in jobs connected to the intelligence community. All three Marines, who were arrested more than two years after the attack, work in jobs connected to the intelligence community. Records provided by the Marine Corps show that among his awards was a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, an unusual and prestigious medal for a junior Marine. However, the men are not the only members of the intelligence community to be arrested for their alleged part in the siege.

☆ How China planted an FBI mole who was discovered only after gutting the CIA's vast spy network
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( James Bamford | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +25 min

At the time, four years after the handover from Britain to China, much of Hong Kong remained a world of neon and noise. "Five years ago, everyone looked down on you if you spoke Mandarin," said a Beijing executive living in Hong Kong. As soon as the Hong Kong Arts Festival ended, the Hong Kong International Film Festival began. In February 2006, Alex Ma, China's mole in the FBI, sent David photos he received from his handlers of five suspected human sources. Born in Hong Kong like Alex, Lee grew up in Hawaii and became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

☆ Air Force, Marine Generals Seen as Top Picks for Joint Chiefs Job
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Nancy A. Youssef | Gordon Lubold | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Army Gen. Mark Milley found himself a target of critics on the right and the left during his time as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. WASHINGTON—President Biden is considering two service chiefs and the head of the U.S. cyber defense command to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in what will be the president’s biggest opportunity to date to shape U.S. military leadership. Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, the Air Force chief of staff, and Gen. David Berger, the Marine Corps commandant, are leading candidates to succeed Army Gen. Mark Milley as the Pentagon’s top officer when his four-year appointment ends Sept. 30. Army Gen. Paul Nakasone , who serves as both head of U.S. Cyber Command and the director of the National Security Agency, also is a contender, U.S. and defense officials said.

☆ Robert Hur: special counsel on Biden classified document probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Michael A. McCoyWASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday named Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate whether President Joe Biden had improperly handled sensitive government documents. Hur was the U.S. attorney in Maryland during the Trump administration and most recently served as litigation partner at law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. A graduate of Stanford Law School and Harvard College, Hur served as top aide to then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein before his appointment as the U.S. Attorney in Maryland. He knows what he is getting into," Rosenstein told CNN on Thursday after Hur's appointment as special counsel. "I will conduct the assigned investigation with fair, impartial, and dispassionate judgment," Hur said in a statement released after his appointment as special counsel.

☆ The feds say they're in for the long haul on Jan. 6 investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Ryan J. Reilly | Ryan J. Reilly Is A Justice Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +16 min

But the federal investigation has been strained, spread thin and strapped for resources as a sometimes less-than-agile federal bureaucracy adapts to the overwhelming scope of the caseload. While the FBI arrested more than 700 defendants in the first year of the investigation, it arrested about 200 in the second. Online sleuths have done their best to bust those myths, too. “That was it.”The Sedition Hunters website features images of people online sleuths say took part in the Jan. 6 attack, including many (in blue) who have been identified. Some charging documents in Jan. 6 cases make the role that online sleuths played clear.

LONDON/WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - A Russian hacking team known as Cold River targeted three nuclear research laboratories in the United States this past summer, according to internet records reviewed by Reuters and five cyber security experts. Cold River has escalated its hacking campaign against Kyiv's allies since the invasion of Ukraine, according to cybersecurity researchers and western government officials. 'INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION'In May, Cold River broke into and leaked emails belonging to the former head of Britain's MI6 spy service. Reuters was unable independently to confirm why Cold River targeted the NGOs. "Google has tied this individual to the Russian hacking group Cold River and their early operations," he said.

☆ The Michigan lawyer pushing Trump’s voter-fraud fictions in U.S. court
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +27 min

Lambert started in her home state of Michigan, joining four lawsuits on behalf of Trump supporters. As Trump zeroed in on vote-rigging allegations in Michigan, Lambert emailed the White House, according to her July 2021 video interview with two right-wing websites. Cotton and Penrose also were involved in examining breached voting machines in Michigan for DePerno and Lambert, according to the Michigan attorney general investigation. In the process, the commissioners were accused of flouting a court order by allowing a forensics company to inspect county voting equipment. In August 2021, a federal judge reprimanded Lambert, Powell and seven other lawyers who joined the failed lawsuit seeking to overturn Michigan’s vote after Trump’s 2020 defeat.

☆ The man behind Trump World’s myth of rigged voting machines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +32 min

He publicly announced his purchase of Montgomery’s data in August at a gathering in Missouri of hundreds of his followers. “I own it,” Lindell said of Montgomery’s data, touting it as irrefutable proof Trump was cheated. On Nov. 9, far-right podcaster Joe Oltmann linked Montgomery’s Hammer and Scorecard claims to a parallel conspiracy theory: that widely used voting machines manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems were rigged to flip votes from Trump to Biden. Powell amended her complaint a few days later and dropped the expert’s declaration and the references to Montgomery’s claims. But the government said in a recent court filing that the order has nothing to do with election data.

WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. military's Cyber Command hunted down foreign adversaries overseas ahead of this year's mid-term elections, taking down their infrastructure before they could strike, the head of U.S. Cyber Command said. "We understood how foreign adversaries utilize infrastructure throughout the world, we had that mapped pretty well, and we wanted to make sure that we took it down at key times." Nakasone's language suggests Cyber Command carried out both offensive and defensive cyber operations. He declined to identify which adversaries were targeted but acknowledged he saw the same kinds of foreign adversaries as he had in the past. "This is the idea of understanding your foreign adversaries and operating outside the United States," he said.

☆ A sneaky photo taken the last time a stealth bomber was unveiled shows why some parts of the new B-21 are still under wraps
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

On December 2, the US Air Force revealed its new stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider. That may have been an effort to avoid what happened the last time a stealth bomber was unveiled. One reason for that may be what happened the last time the Air Force unveiled a stealth bomber. Scott told Aviation Week in an article about the photo scoop published on the same day as the B-21's rollout. A US Air Force B-2 stealth bomber.

"We have been bearing down on terrorists for a few days with our planes, cannons and guns," Erdogan said in a speech in northeastern Turkey. "God willing, we will root out all of them as soon as possible, together with our tanks, our soldiers." Turkey has mounted several major military operations against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and Islamic State militants in northern Syria in recent years. The YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said 15 civilians and fighters were killed in Turkish strikes in recent days. Turkey said its warplanes destroyed 89 targets in Syria and Iraq on Sunday, with 184 militants killed in operations targeting the YPG and PKK on Sunday and Monday.

☆ 2 little-known intel agencies are helping US partners keep an eye on Russia's and China's frontline forces
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Two little-known US intelligence agencies have made significant contributions to countering Russia in Ukraine. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office have gathered and distributed valuable information about Russian activity. Little-known intel agenciesA National Reconnaissance Office payload is launched into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in September 2017. US Air Force/Senior Airman Ian DudleyThe US response to Russia's war in Ukraine has pulled the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office out of the shadows. NRO satellites have many customers, but the NGA is probably the most reliant on the satellites operated by the NRO.

The sources say Justice Department officials are looking carefully at a cross section of past cases involving the mishandling of classified material. Though his comments were about the separate Jan. 6 investigation, Justice Department officials said they apply broadly. Experts say the public evidence in the Mar-a-Lago case seems unambiguous. Less clear is whether there are aggravating factors — such as whether the Justice Department can prove Trump obstructed justice by failing to turn over documents despite a grand jury subpoena. Martin’s lawyers said he was a hoarder, and prosecutors concluded that he had not given classified information to anyone.

☆ This 29-year-old super-saver earns $135,000 a year and plans to retire by 35: I'm in 'the top 1% of the most frugal people'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Ryan Ermey | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Firl is part of the FIRE — short for financial independence, retire early — movement, and specifically adheres to a strategy known as "lean" FIRE. LoonarCity | Jack Davis & Sara MillerSo far, Firl stashed away roughly $380,000 and hopes to save at least $625,000 to fund an early retirement at age 35. He earns $135,000 a year as a software engineer, and about half of each paycheck goes toward food and living expenses every month. The Firl family wasn't hurting for money. LoonarCity | Jack Davis & Sara Miller"We also have garnered a reputation with our friends and family as being very frugal and thrifty," Firl says.

Twitter, a social network with hundreds of millions of users, “was over a decade behind industry security standards,” he later testified. His concerns, raised privately at first and later in a whistleblower disclosure that became public, would upend one of the world’s most influential social networks and raise new questions about its pending acquisition by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. A big part of the issue, Zatko told a Senate panel, was that software and e-commerce companies “want to ignore problems as long as possible. When he was hired to join Twitter, Zatko framed the move in terms of the public good. “This wasn’t my first choice,” he previously told CNN.

☆ U.S. Has Made ‘Dramatic Change’ in Technology Used for Nuclear Code System
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Daniella Cheslow | Photographs Elizabeth Frantz For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

FORT MEADE, Md.—The museum of one of the nation’s most secretive government agencies has recently reopened following a two-year pandemic closure, and among its new exhibits is one that provides a rare window into a technological upgrade to the nation’s nuclear command and control system. The National Cryptologic Museum located outside Washington, D.C. is now home to several pieces of equipment that were in operation until just a few years ago to generate the codes the president could use to authorize the launch of nuclear weapons. The placement of the retired equipment in the National Security Agency’s museum reveals an upgrade to the classified system that is rarely talked about by government officials.

☆ Judge Rebuffs DOJ Request to Block Booz Allen Hamilton’s Cybersecurity Deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Dave Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A federal judge in Maryland on Tuesday declined to halt Booz Allen Hamilton Holding purchase of a competing cybersecurity firm, turning back the Justice Department’s effort to block the deal on antitrust grounds. Booz Allen in March moved to acquire EverWatch, a company it had been competing against to win a five-year contract to support the National Security Agency’s mission of collecting foreign communications. The Justice Department sued in June, alleging the acquisition would drive up prices for the U.S. government and create a monopoly supplier for a critical national-security service.

☆ Facebook whistleblower, former defense and intel officials form group to fix social media
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

A Facebook whistleblower, two former U.S. defense secretaries, several past lawmakers and intelligence chiefs are forming a new group to address the harmful impacts social media can have on kids, communities and national security. The council said it aims to drive bipartisan conversation around tech in Washington, D.C., and across the country, elevate nonpartisan voices like parents and pediatricians, and advance effective solutions to reform social media. Haugen said the issues stemming from social media are truly bipartisan in nature, which could be made more clear by avoiding framing them as issues of content moderation. Many conservatives are skeptical of content moderation because they believe platforms can use it to censor certain viewpoints, though mainstream platforms have repeatedly denied they do so. Haugen said she sees content moderation as largely a "distraction from the real path forward, which is around product design, safety by design, transparency."

☆ Opinion | Chelsea Manning: ‘I’m Still Bound to Secrecy’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-08 | by ( Chelsea Manning | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

He’d faced charges that carried a 35-year prison sentence, but shortly before trial he’d cut a deal that left him with only probation and community service. I never really reckoned with the notion of a life spent in prison, or worse. I was sentenced to 35 years in a maximum-security prison, where I spent seven years, much of it in solitary confinement. It also included fixes to the Freedom of Information Act and would give stronger federal protections to journalists. Even in prison, with restrictions on hair length and clothing, people had begun to accept me as a woman.

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