Tag Archives: espionage

ABC News reports: Foreign adversaries including Russia and China are targeting government workers who have been laid off amid the Trump administration’s attempt to downsize to recruit as spies, according to new intelligence. “New intelligence indicates agents from China, Russia, and other countries have set their sights on recently fired probationary workers, or those with security clearances, hoping to obtain …

Bloomberg News reports: A group of 200 former national security officials urged congressional leaders to investigate the motive behind the Central Intelligence Agency’s buyout offers to staff, warning they were designed to “shape the workforce in a matter that prioritizes political loyalty.” In a letter sent Friday to the chair and ranking members of the Senate and House intelligence committees, …

Reuters reports: Chinese state-sponsored hackers broke into the U.S. Treasury Department earlier this month and stole documents from its workstations, according to a letter to lawmakers, that was provided to Reuters on Monday. The hackers compromised a third-party cybersecurity service provider and were able to access unclassified documents, the letter said, calling it a “major incident.” According to the letter, …

The New York Times reports: A C.I.A. official has been charged with disclosing classified documents that appeared to show Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran for a missile attack earlier this year, according to court documents and people familiar with the matter. The official, Asif W. Rahman, was indicted last week in federal court in Virginia with two counts of …

NBC News reports: Former Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira has been sentenced to 15 years for stealing classified information from the Pentagon and sharing it online, the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts announced. Teixeira appeared before Judge Indira Talwani in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on Tuesday to receive the sentence. In March, the national guardsman …

The New York Times reports: Chinese hackers who are believed to have burrowed deep into American communications networks targeted data from phones used by former President Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. Investigators are working to determine what communications data, if any, was taken or observed …

Reuters reports: Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who has pleaded guilty in federal court to a massive leak of classified U.S. national security documents online, will face a court-martial on charges that he also violated military laws. Teixeira, 22, will face a trial on military charges that he obstructed justice following the discovery of one …

CNN reports:  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge related to his alleged role in one of the largest US government breaches of classified material, as part of a deal with the Justice Department that will allow him to avoid imprisonment in the United States, according to newly filed federal court documents. Assange was …

From the Justice Department: Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 32, of Colorado Springs, was sentenced today to 262 months in prison for attempted espionage in connections with his efforts to transmit classified National Defense Information (NDI) to an agent of the Russian Federation. According to court documents, Dalke pleaded guilty in 2023 to six counts of attempting to transmit classified NDI to …

Ars Technica reports: SpaceX is reportedly working with at least one major US defense contractor, Northrop Grumman, on a constellation of spy satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office. According to Reuters, development of the network of hundreds of spy satellites by SpaceX is being coordinated with multiple contractors to avoid putting too much control of a highly sensitive intelligence program …

The BBC reports: Julian Assange faces a further wait to see whether he can appeal against his extradition to the United States on 18 charges relating to the publication of sensitive intelligence. Two judges at the High Court in London said they would give the United States government three weeks to provide assurances that Mr Assange could rely on the …

The Guardian reports: The US government is reported to be considering a plea deal offer to Julian Assange, allowing him to admit to a misdemeanor, but his lawyers say they have been “given no indication” Washington intends to change its approach. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the US justice department was looking at ways to cut short …

The Associated Press reports: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s fight to avoid facing spying charges in the United States may be nearing an end following a protracted legal saga in the U.K. that included seven years of self-exile inside a foreign embassy and five years in prison. Assange faces what could be his final court hearing in London starting Tuesday as …

The Associated Press reports: A former American diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Bolivia has been arrested in a long-running FBI counterintelligence investigation, accused of secretly serving as an agent of Cuba’s government, The Associated Press has learned. Manuel Rocha, 73, was arrested in Miami on Friday on a criminal complaint and more details about the case are expected …

The New York Times reports: The Biden administration is hunting for malicious computer code it believes China has hidden deep inside the networks controlling power grids, communications systems and water supplies that feed military bases in the United States and around the world, according to American military, intelligence and national security officials. The discovery of the malware has raised fears …

Playbook reports: In a 60-page superseding indictment unveiled Thursday, prosecutors also accused Trump of possessing a highly classified war plan that he shared with people lacking security clearances months after his presidency ended. And prosecutors added a third defendant: Carlos De Oliveira, a worker at Mar-a-Lago who is accused of joining Trump and aide Walt Nauta to seek the destruction …

USA Today reports: The Justice Department on Monday unsealed charges against the co-director of a Maryland think tank, alleging he acted as an illegal arms broker and unregistered agent for the Beijing government while also seeking to help China obtain Iranian oil in violation of U.S. sanctions. Gal Luft, a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen, is accused of recruiting and …

The New York Times reports: A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, who posted dozens of secret intelligence reports and other sensitive documents on a gaming server, on six counts of retaining and transmitting classified national defense information. The filing of criminal charges against Mr. Teixeira, 21, comes two months after F.B.I. agents arrested him …

Mediaite reports: Trump addressed Georgia’s state Republican Convention on Saturday, just a day after special counsel Jack Smith’s 37-count criminal indictment against the ex-president was unsealed and revealed to include 31 counts of violations of the Espionage Act. “In this whole fake indictment, they don’t even once mention the Presidential Records Act, he said. “Because they want to use something …

Reuters reports: Donald Trump has been indicted by a federal grand jury for retaining classified government documents and obstruction of justice, according to a lawyer for the former U.S. president and another source familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for Special Counsel Jack Smith, the Justice Department official who is handling the investigation, declined to comment. It is illegal for …