TOP INTEL TODAY 2017 STORIES #2 : “NSA Hacked French President’s House”

Posted on January 22, 2018 by L

“Keith Alexander (Director of the NSA) told me he was disappointed because he never thought we would detect them and he even added: You guys are good.”

“In the Intelligence World, you have some allies. You don’t have friends.”

Bernard Barbier –Director of the DGSE Technical Division from 2006 to 2013

NSAFrench

“French newspaper ‘Le Monde’ just published an article confirming that the NSA hacked the Élysée Palace during the 2012 Presidential campaign.” This post was first published on September 4 2016. The piece was so popular that several French TV channels covered the story during their evening News. The recorded interview of Bernard Barbier ‘disappeared’ for a few days but eventually came back and remains available to this day.

RELATED POST: INTEL TODAY — Top 10 Stories of 2017

I will not pull a “Chomsky” analysis on this story, but ask yourself what would have happened if the shoe had been on the other foot? Worse, can you imagine the furor of the US media if the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service had been caught hacking the White House?

Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

Posted in Belgacom, Bernard Barbier, DGSE, Keith Alexander, NSA, Quantum Insert | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

India — Former Head Spook Denounces Kafkaesque AADHAAR Database

Posted on January 22, 2018 by L

“I have come across any number of stupidities, fallacies, misconceptions, notions, whims and fancies regarding Aadhaar. Possibly the only Kafkaesque stipulation I have yet to encounter is the need to have an Aadhaar number in order to apply for an Aadhaar number.”

K.C. Verma — Former head of India’s external intelligence agency (Research and Analysis Wing)

“Rarely do former intel chiefs and I agree, but the head of India’s RAW writes #Aadhaar is being abused by banks, telcos, and transport not to police entitlements, but as a proxy for identity– an improper gate to service. Such demands must be criminalized.”

Edward Snowden — January 21 2018

K.C. Verma — Former head of India’s external intelligence agency (RAW)

Threatening in India appears to have become a standard business practice. Telecom operators threaten users with disconnection of service if they fail to link their Aadhaar card to their mobile numbers. Banks are also threatening account closures.  Without sharing your Aadhaar number you can no longer get a ‘sim card’, an insurance, a bank account, or a delivery of goods shopped online. And, even if you had an old bank account or insurance policies (whether private or from government companies ) you can not keep them without sharing your Aadhaar ID number. Welcome to the dystopian world of “1984” ! Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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CIA Director Mike Pompeo Top 10 Lies — #1 : “We don’t do it to help American businesses.”

Posted on January 21, 2018 by L

“What is the recent flap regarding Echelon and U.S. spying on European industries all about? We’ll begin with some candor from the American side. Yes, my continental European friends, we have spied on you. And it’s true that we use computers to sort through data by using keywords. Have you stopped to ask yourselves what we’re looking for? ”

James Woolsey — Former CIA Director

“We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”

William Casey, CIA Director 1981-1987 (Attributed)

In this semi-serious series running the gamut of dramatic emotions, we shall look into obviously incorrect statements made by the current Director of the CIA. Some of these stories will make you laugh, others will make you upset. We hope that all will make you think. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Spy Schools: How the CIA, FBI and Foreign Intelligence Secretly Exploit America’s Universities [UPDATE : VIDEO]

Posted on January 21, 2018 by L

“Kenneth Moskow is one of a long line of CIA officers who have enrolled undercover at the Kennedy School, generally with Harvard’s knowledge and approval, gaining access to up-and-comers worldwide. For four decades the CIA and Harvard have concealed this practice, which raises larger questions about academic boundaries, the integrity of class discussions and student interactions, and whether an American university has a responsibility to accommodate U.S. intelligence.”

 Daniel Golden —  Investigative journalist

A new book documents how US foreign and domestic intelligence agencies use — and perhaps exploit — higher education and academe for spy operations. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — Obama’s Cryptic Comment on the DNC Leaks

Posted on January 20, 2018 by L

“The conclusions of the intelligence community with respect to the Russian hacking were not conclusive as to whether WikiLeaks was witting or not in being the conduit through which we heard about the DNC e-mails that were leaked.”

President Obama

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January 20 2017 — More than 20 U.S. intelligence, military and diplomatic veterans are calling on President Obama to release the evidence backing up allegations that Russia aided the Trump campaign – or admit that the proof is lacking. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

Posted in Assange, Barack Obama, CIA, Craig Murray, DNC & Podesta Leaks, FBI, Hacking, Hillary Clinton, James R. Clapper, NSA, NYT, Obama, ODNI, Putin, Ray McGovern, Wikileaks | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Statement from CIA Director Pompeo on Former DCI Admiral Stansfield Turner

Posted on January 20, 2018 by L

“I think Mike Hayden is extremely well qualified for the job, but there is this big question mark over the legality of the wiretapping that was done under his supervision. I happen to think it was illegal.”

Former DCI Admiral Stansfield Turner — (On the nomination of  General Michael Hayden as head of the CIA )

Former DCI Stansfield Turner died on January 18 at home in Seattle, Washington.  Turner was sworn in as 12th DCI on 9 March 1977 and remained at the helm of the Agency until January 20, 1981. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — Obama’s Crackdown on National Security Leaks

Posted on January 19, 2018 by L

“The current state of whistleblowing prosecutions under the Espionage Act makes a truly fair trial wholly unavailable to an American who has exposed classified wrongdoing. Legal scholars have strongly argued that the US Supreme Court – which has never yet addressed the constitutionality of applying the Espionage Act to leaks to the American public – should find the use of it overbroad and unconstitutional in the absence of a public interest defense.”

Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg

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January 19 2017 — Out of a total ten prosecutions under the Espionage Act against government officials accused of providing classified information to the media, seven have occurred during Obama’s Presidency. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

Posted in Assange, Barack Obama, CIA, FBI, Kiriakou, Mike Pompeo, NSA, Obama, Operation 'MERLIN', Pompeo, Snowden, US Espionage Act, waterboardong | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ex-CIA Officer Suspected of Spying for China

Posted on January 19, 2018 by L

“The disclosure [of this information] could have caused exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the United States.”

Anonymous FBI investigator

“Some former officials who reviewed the evidence described the case against Mr. Lee as strong but circumstantial, not bulletproof. Some at the C.I.A. argued that officials were too quick to suspect a mole — especially a Chinese-American — when there were other explanations.”

New York Times

A former Central Intelligence Agency officer was arrested at JFK airport on Monday night (January 15 2018 ). According to the charges, Lee illegally retained highly classified information. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — No Presidential Pardon for Ex-CIA Jeffrey Sterling

Posted on January 18, 2018 by L

“At the same time that Mr. Obama commuted the sentence of Ms. Manning, a low-ranking enlisted soldier at the time of her leaks, he also pardoned James E. Cartwright, the retired Marine general and former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who pleaded guilty to lying about his conversations with reporters to F.B.I. agents investigating a leak of classified information about cyberattacks on Iran’s nuclear program.”

Charles Savage — NYT 17 January 2017

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January 18 2017 — Chelsea Manning will be released in the spring 2017, so that is good news for her and her family. Unfortunately, Jeffrey Sterling’s name was not on the list of people receiving clemency. UPDATE (January 18 2018) Two days ago — January 16 2018 — Jeffrey Sterling was released from prison to a halfway house, ahead of the original end date of his 3.5 year prison sentence on June 14, 2018. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

Posted in CIA, James Risen, Jeffrey Sterling, NYT, Obama, Snowden | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Steven Spielberg to Direct ‘Pentagon Papers’ Film — UPDATE : Film Review

Posted on January 18, 2018 by L

“For an American to be patriotic is to be loyal to the principles of our Constitution, and the First Amendment. The truth is that the policies of the government is sometimes in conflict with that. In our country, patriotism should not be defined as obedience to an authority. ”

Daniel Ellsberg

“A much bigger hats off to the movie as a whole, a commercial feature film that focuses on a core concern of our time—the role of honest, fearless journalism in a free society—and rises to it with steady intelligence and the unforced beauty of Meryl Streep’s performance. ”

Wall Street Journal

March 7 2017 — Spielberg’s next movie “The Post” is a film about American journalists challenging the US government over whistleblowing documents leaked by Daniel Ellsberg in 1971. Update — “The Post” was released on January 12, 2018 and received highly positive reviews. A year ago, I wrote: “My feeling is that there is an audience for such movies and documentaries right now.” The $50m-budgeted 20th Century Fox release earned $18.6m over the Friday-Sunday frame. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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