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That, all on its own, is bad enough. But it is much worse that the spying continued into Trump's term in office. It included the exploitation of data from the Executive Office of the President. That this could occur, and that it should go unpunished so long, should frighten everyone.
Last September, special counsel John Durham indicted Democratic National Committee and Clinton Foundation lawyer Michael Sussmann on charges of lying to the FBI. Durham's indictment revealed a broad conspiracy whereby a "Technology Executive 1" (reported to be Neustar Senior Vice President Rodney Joffe) used his access to nonpublic internet information to collect domain name system data on candidate Trump.
Joffe then enlisted researchers at a "U.S.-based university" (reportedly Georgia Tech) who were working on a "federal government cybersecurity research contract" (reported to be the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) that helped Joffe analyze the stolen data. Joffe and his researcher friends then produced a white paper, with Sussmann's help, that made the (later debunked) allegation that Trump was involved in a nefarious relationship with "Russian Bank-1" (reported to be Russia's Alfa Bank).
Sussmann then took this white paper to the FBI, allegedly claiming that he was not working for any client — he was only coming to the FBI as a concerned citizen. In reality, Sussmann had been billing both Joffe and the Clinton campaign for his work in writing and disseminating the white paper to the press. The goal of both Joffe and the Clinton campaign was to use the white paper to further the "narrative" that Trump had been compromised by Russia and, in turn, to use any official investigation he could initiate to legitimize the white paper.
As bad as the original indictment was, Durham filed a new motion Friday alleging that even after Trump was sworn into office, Joffe continued to collect data not only from Trump's private properties but also from the EOP. Joffe's firm, Neustar, had a contract with the EOP to provide DNS resolution services. Joffe then shared this data again with Sussmann, who this time took his "narrative" against Trump to "Agency-2" (reported to be the CIA).
The specific motion that Durham filed Friday is unusual, but it speaks again to the breadth of institutions tied into perpetrating and now covering up the theft of sensitive and private data and its attempted exploitation for partisan political purposes.
Durham asked the court to procure a waiver from Sussmann acknowledging that the firm now defending him, Latham & Watkins, has defended the Clinton campaign and the DNC in the past and therefore may have a conflict of interest between Sussmann's interests and the interests of the Clinton campaign and the DNC. Over seven pages, Durham details how intimately involved Latham & Watkins has been in representing other members of Joffe and Sussmann's conspiracy.
While Sussmann's alleged crimes are concerning by themselves, the public should be even more worried about the ease with which the power of elite institutions was so easily co-opted into this scheme. The people in decision-making roles at Big Tech, Big Law, higher education, and the Defense Department all allowed this nefarious activity to go unnoticed and unpunished until the Durham investigation brought it to light.
Where is Neustar's review of its company's failure to safeguard clients' data?The scariest part about the Sussmann conspiracy is not the depravity of the Clintons and their minions — that has been obvious for years. No, the scariest part is the hyperpolarization of the country's most powerful elite institutions and their willingness to conspire together against democracy.
Where is Georgia Tech's review of how its researchers were enlisted in this scam?
Where is DARPA's review of Georgia Tech's contract?
Big Tech, Big Law, higher education, defense contractors, the Democratic Party — the Durham indictment shows that the nation's elites have no respect for democracy or the rule of law.
Reader Comments
RT correspondent Murat Gazdiev spoke to a US citizen named Adam, who claims he arrived in Ukraine and joined the Ukrainian military with what he believed was a "divine calling"
“Adam joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine, why did you come to Ukraine and when?
- I arrived last Sunday because Ukraine needed help. I think the holy spirit pushed me to this.
How can you help? Do you have experience in military service?
- Yes, I have 4 years of army behind me, two business trips to Afghanistan, I followed the training of the rangers (the rangers are an airborne reconnaissance unit of the US army).
Are you afraid of Putin, who can conquer this country?
- No, I'm not afraid.
So why did you, an American, come here?
- I came to help, it seems to me that the Lord has called me here, and I can do more here than at home, in the USA.
How long will you stay in Ukraine?
I had planned to stay for a year, maybe more. In the week that I've already been here, I like everything more than at home in South Carolina.
Do you expect a great war to start here?
Do you expect war? Yes, I'm waiting ".
The president of the plenary session of the European Parliament interrupted the speech of the Latvian deputy, Tatiana Zhdanok, who was outraged by the Nazi slogans of some speakers and asked for objectivity, reports RIA Novosti.
The European Parliament held a debate on Wednesday on " EU relations with Russia, European security and the Russian military threat to Ukraine ".
Some of the speakers during the discussion shouted the Ukrainian nationalist slogan "Glory to Ukraine!"
" Until now, I could not imagine that the Nazi slogans, the slogans of the collaborator of the Nazi regime Stepan Bandera, could be pronounced from this podium ... We live in the age of information wars, one of the tools of such wars is this slogans, as well as disinformation . An example of this is at least the name of today's debate is "Russian military threat against Ukraine." This has not been proven ... And I will only talk about facts, facts that are recorded by the UN, OSCE and other facilities. These are children killed in Donbas. Over the past eight years, 152 children have been killed and 146 injured. The latest tragedy is ... a four-year-old boy killed by a drone. His parents asked us. to say: "Stop killing the children of the Donbass! " -
Zhdanok turned to those present and showed a photo of the deceased child .
The chairman of the plenary session tried to interrupt the Latvian MEP's speech.
"Colleague, our rules forbid it ... I'm sorry, but according to our procedure, this is not allowed, please leave the podium, your time is up and you have to do it outside the plenary session," said the president.
Zhdanok managed to finish her speech as a European Parliament employee approached her and tried to take away the baby's photo.
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