IRAN — Professor Djalali Death Sentence Now Definitive

Posted on February 5, 2018 by L

“This time, the sentence is definitive. The death penalty was declared feasible, which means it can be carried out at any point.”

Zouhaier Chichaoui  — Professor Djalali’s lawyer (February 4 2018)

“The indisputable fact is that Dr. [Masoud] Ali-Mohammadi was martyred on January 12, 2010, at least three months before European agents approached me in the spring of 2010.

This was even mentioned in the TV program based on my montaged statements, which prove that the accusations against me are contradictory lies.

How could I be accused of giving information about someone who was martyred four months earlier?”

Professor Djalali —  Letter from Evin Prison to Judiciary Chief Sadegh Larijani (Mid January 2018)

A final attempt to persuade the Iranian judiciary to review the death sentence handed to Ahmadreza Djalali for allegedly spying on behalf of Israel has failed. His death sentence is now definitive. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Former CIA Director : “Fair Amount Of Naivety On Russian Ops In Trump Campaign”

Posted on February 5, 2018 by L

“I encountered and am aware of information and intelligence that revealed contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign that I was concerned about because of known Russian efforts to suborn such individuals.”

John O. Brennan — Former Director of the C.I.A. (May 23 2017)

Former CIA Director John Brennan

On Sunday (February 4 2018), Former Director of the CIA John Brennan told Chuck Todd (Exclusive interview on Meet the Press) that the Steele dossier did not play a role in the intelligence assessment presented to President Obama. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

Continue reading →

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Dutch Intel Agency Witnessed 2016 DNC Attack by Russian Hackers — Q&A with Dutch Intel Expert Dr Peter Koop

Posted on February 5, 2018 by L

“We’d never expected that the Russians would do this, attacking our vital infrastructure and undermining our democracy.”

Chris Painter — Former cyber official at the U.S. State Department

aivd_zoetermeer

AIVD Headquarters — Zoetermeer

A Dutch Intelligence Agency directly witnessed the Russian involvement in the hacking of the Democratic Party, according to six (anonymous) American and Dutch sources. The story certainly sounds too good to be true but  a Dutch expert told Intel Today that the narrative is entirely credible. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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On This Day — The Cavalese Cable Car Disaster (February 3 1998)

Posted on February 4, 2018 by L

“Many believe one of the reasons the Italian judges went after the CIA RDI and [former CIA Officer] Sabrina De Sousa in the Abu Omar case was the USMC and USG accountability failures and arrogance.”

Mark Fallon — International Security Consultant & Author (February 4 2018)

On February 3 1998, a U.S. Marine Corps jet on a low-level training flight sliced through steel wires supporting a cable car near the ski resort of Cavalese in the Italian Alps, sending a gondola plunging to the ground. All 20 people inside the gondola were killed. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Former CIA Robert Baer : “The Republican Memo is a Piece of Trash”

Posted on February 4, 2018 by L

“The memo is going to do our institutions serious damage. I really worry about it.”

Former CIA officer Baer

“I had many fights with Congressional Dems over the years on national security matters. But I never witnessed the type of reckless partisan behavior I am now seeing from (Devin) Nunes and House Republicans.”

Former CIA Director John Brennan

Former CIA Robert Baer

On Friday (February 2 2018), former CIA officer Robert Baer slammed the release of the “piece of trash” memo — drafted by staffers for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) — arguing if he “were an FBI agent in the field right now” he would “think twice” about reporting information on Russia and Donald Trump. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Book Review — “Enemies Within: Communists, the Cambridge Spies and the Making of Modern Britain”

Posted on February 4, 2018 by L

“The old easy-going confidence [of the Foreign Office] will be destroyed and henceforth everybody will begin to distrust everybody else. I do hate that. It is the loss of one more element of civilization.”

UK Diplomat Harold Nicolson  (1951)

Enemies Within is a new history of the influence of Moscow on Britain told through the stories of those who chose to spy for the Soviet Union. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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SEXPIONAGE: From Russia with Love [2018]

Posted on February 3, 2018 by L

“Every westerner who goes to Moscow knows that some girl may get into his bedroom, but people continue to get trapped… It’s human nature, I suppose.”

Phillip Knightley, author of “The Second Oldest Profession — Spies and Spying in the Twentieth Century”

“[The ghost-written book] got me right, it has got me emotionally right. There’s one word I don’t like: ‘Ruining my life may not seem very important to some, considering what I was, just a pretty scrubber…’ I wanted them to change it to ‘tart.’ ‘Scrubber’ implies someone who can’t talk properly and wears horrible clothes, but I always spoke well and had good clothes. I’ve always had a bit of class to me. I’m sure Jack Profumo wouldn’t have gone out with a scrubber. Perhaps they should have written ‘just a pretty nobody.’”

Christine Keeler — Interview by Simon Hoggart about her second autobiography (The Observer – March 13, 1983)

keeler

Lewis Morley’s 1963 portrait of Christine Keeler became an iconic image of the cold war.

The long, distinguished and surprisingly varied list of known KGB entrapment victims since World War II proves that no category of western resident in Moscow has been immune from the charms of Soviet “swallows” and “ravens”.  “Honey traps” may indeed be a Russian specialty, but let us not forget that, just like hacking, all Intel Agencies are using the old technique. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Russia Intelligence Chiefs Visit Washington to Meet American Spooks

Posted on February 2, 2018 by L

“Sergey Naryshkin was here [in the United States]. He held consultations with his counterparts. Joint struggle against terrorism was discussed. We maintained contact in 2014 during the Sochi Olympics. Of course, we consider joint work this year, during the FIFA World Cup finals.”

Anatoly Antonov — Russian ambassador in Washington

“We periodically meet with our Russian intelligence counterparts for the same reason our predecessors did — to keep Americans safe. (…)

When those meetings take place, you and the American people should rest assured that we cover very difficult subjects in which American and Russian interests do not align.

Neither side is bashful about raising concerns. We vigorously defend America in these encounters and pull no punches — we never will.”

CIA Director Mike Pompeo — Letter  to Senator Charles E. Schumer (February 1 2018)

The director of Russia’s foreign intelligence SVR, Sergey Naryshkin, and the director of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, have visited the United States last week for consultations with their US counterparts to discuss counter-terrorism issues.

Lieutenant-General Igor Valentinovich Korobov — the head of Russia’s military intelligence better known as the GRU — also came to Washington.

A senior U.S. intelligence official based in Moscow was called back to Washington for the meeting.

The joint visit represented an exceptionally high-level Russian intelligence presence in Washington. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — Gina Haspel Selected to be Deputy Director of CIA

Posted on February 2, 2018 by L

“Gina is an exemplary intelligence officer and a devoted patriot who brings more than 30 years of Agency experience to the job. She is also a proven leader with an uncanny ability to get things done and to inspire those around her. We are fortunate that someone of her intellect, skill, and experience will be our Deputy Director. I know she will do an outstanding job, and I look forward to working with her closely in the years ahead.”

Mike Pompeo — CIA Director

“I am especially concerned by reports that this individual [Gina Haspel] was involved in the unauthorized destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes, which documented the CIA’s use of torture against two CIA detainees. My colleagues Senators Wyden and Heinrich have stated that classified information details why the newly appointed Deputy Director is ‘unsuitable’ for the position and have requested that this information be declassified. I join their request.”

US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (February 8 2017)

Gina Cheri Haspel (born October 1 1956) is an American intelligence officer. She joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1985. In February 2017 she was appointed by President Donald Trump as Deputy Director of the CIA. She is the “first female career CIA officer” to receive that appointment, although she is the second woman, as Avril Haines had been appointed by Barack Obama in 2013. Haspel ran a “black site” CIA prison located in Thailand in 2002.

February 2 2017 — Gina Haspel is the first female career CIA officer to be named deputy director. Haspel has an extensive overseas experience, including several stints as chief of station at outposts abroad. In Washington, she has held several top senior leadership positions. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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On This day — Ayatollah Khomeini Returns to Iran (February 1 1979)

Posted on February 1, 2018 by L

“You will see we are not in any particular animosity with the Americans. [The Islamic Republic of Iran] will be a humanitarian one, which will benefit the cause of peace and tranquillity for all mankind. (…) It is advisable that you recommend to the army not to follow [Shah’s prime minister Shapour] Bakhtiar.”

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini — Letter to US President Jimmy Carter (January 29 1979)

On January 17 1979, the Shah left the country, never to return. Two weeks later, on Thursday February 1st 1979, Khomeini returned in triumph to Iran, welcomed by a joyous crowd estimated by the BBC to be of up to five million people. The communications between Khomeini and the president Jimmy Carter’s administration during the last two weeks of January 1979 remain largely classified and — not surprisingly — highly controversial. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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