News stories about purported Russian hacking in the presidential
election continue to omit a very important fact. The Russian
government has arrested four of the hackers, including Col.Sergei
Mikhailov, and charged them with working for the CIA.
Thus if Russians did any election hacking it was with the
knowledge and consent of the CIA and President Barack
Obama. The knowledge received would have allowed
the Obama administration to prevent any action that could have
affected the outcome of the election. If the
president knew terrorists threatened to attack, he would assign
federal agents to protect those who might be attacked.
Wouldn't a president who thought foreign government hackers
threatened an organization assign government computer experts to
protect against the attack?
If the hackers tried to help Donald Trump win, it was because
someone in the Obama administration wanted Trump to win. It
seems unlikely the CIA would have tried to help Trump win
without Obama's approval. Incidentally with an FSB
colonel on the CIA's payroll it would have been easy to
have Russians meet with Trump's associates where the
meetings would be noticed. [The FSB is the successor to
the KGB.]
Why would Barack Obama want Donald Trump to win the election?
Perhaps Obama thought if Trump won, it might be possible to convince
Congress to change the Constitution to allow Obama to seek a third
term in 2020, particularly if Congress thought Trump was involved
with the Russians. That strategy wouldn't have been possible
if Hillary Clinton had won.
I doubt the claim that Russian hackers did anything that
affected the outcome of the election. even if they tried to do
so. However, if they did then any federal
investigation should ask what did the CIA and President Barack
Obama know, when did they know it and what did they do with the
knowledge? If CIA officials didn't tell Obama about the
Russians, why didn't they?
Showing posts with label FSB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FSB. Show all posts
Friday, September 8, 2017
Thursday, June 29, 2017
Was "Russian Hacking" a CIA Sting?
Until I found stories about FSB's
[Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation] arrest of
Col.Sergei Mikhailov, I thought the claims about Russian
hacking during last year's presidential
election were probably false. I know the FSB is unlikely to be as effective as the legendary KGB, but I wouldn't expect it to engage in the amateurish activities attributed to Russian hackers. The CIA's connection with Col. Mikhailov raises the possibility the CIA was operating a sting to discredit Donald Trump.
s
For example, the KGB wouldn't have been satisfied with using hacking to get some emails from the Democratic Party headquarters. The old KGB would have planted an agent in Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters. This agent would have occasionally downloaded documents, including summaries of meetings, onto a zip drive. Russians have been planting people in American organizations for 70 years. Why would the FSB switch to a less productive means of acquiring information? A human agent can overhear conversations that contain information that doesn't get into the computer.
The CIA could have used Col. Mikhailov for more than just a source of information about Russian activities. The association potentially allowed the CIA to use Russian hackers to spy on Americans or on "friendly" governments like Britain or Germany. Those detecting the hacking would blame the Russians rather than the Americans. European governments would complain if they caught the CIA spying on them. Using Russian hackers potentially allowed the CIA to gain information risk free.
CIA could also have had Mikhailov send Russian agents to try to compromise American politicians. Spy agencies sometimes have trouble resisting an urge to become power brokers. The CIA has a history of involvement in other countries, particularly in the Middle East. An agent of the World War II OSS [predecessor to the CIA] admitted before he died that he was responsible for killing American World War II General George Patton. Many Americans believe the CIA was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
The following statement is not intended to accuse the CIA of attempting to interfere in the process of determining who is the President of the United States. I merely want to point out its actions are consistent with that possibility. The CIA could have used the Russian hackers to keep Hillary Clinton from winning the election and then used other Russian agents to discredit her opponent Donald Trump and make him appear to be responsible for the Russian hackers.
election were probably false. I know the FSB is unlikely to be as effective as the legendary KGB, but I wouldn't expect it to engage in the amateurish activities attributed to Russian hackers. The CIA's connection with Col. Mikhailov raises the possibility the CIA was operating a sting to discredit Donald Trump.
s
For example, the KGB wouldn't have been satisfied with using hacking to get some emails from the Democratic Party headquarters. The old KGB would have planted an agent in Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters. This agent would have occasionally downloaded documents, including summaries of meetings, onto a zip drive. Russians have been planting people in American organizations for 70 years. Why would the FSB switch to a less productive means of acquiring information? A human agent can overhear conversations that contain information that doesn't get into the computer.
The CIA could have used Col. Mikhailov for more than just a source of information about Russian activities. The association potentially allowed the CIA to use Russian hackers to spy on Americans or on "friendly" governments like Britain or Germany. Those detecting the hacking would blame the Russians rather than the Americans. European governments would complain if they caught the CIA spying on them. Using Russian hackers potentially allowed the CIA to gain information risk free.
CIA could also have had Mikhailov send Russian agents to try to compromise American politicians. Spy agencies sometimes have trouble resisting an urge to become power brokers. The CIA has a history of involvement in other countries, particularly in the Middle East. An agent of the World War II OSS [predecessor to the CIA] admitted before he died that he was responsible for killing American World War II General George Patton. Many Americans believe the CIA was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
The following statement is not intended to accuse the CIA of attempting to interfere in the process of determining who is the President of the United States. I merely want to point out its actions are consistent with that possibility. The CIA could have used the Russian hackers to keep Hillary Clinton from winning the election and then used other Russian agents to discredit her opponent Donald Trump and make him appear to be responsible for the Russian hackers.
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