Tag Archives: espionage

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 …

CNN reports: The Air National Guardsman who is accused of posting a trove of classified documents to social media was repeatedly warned by his superiors in the Air Force over his mishandling of classified documents, prosecutors say. In court documents arguing for Jack Teixeira’s continued detention, prosecutors said that the 21-year-old’s “willful disregard” of his obligation to protect classified information …

The New York Times reports: Federal investigators on Thursday arrested a 21-year-old air national guardsman who they believe is linked to a trove of leaked classified U.S. intelligence documents, which have upended relations with American allies and exposed weaknesses in the Ukrainian military. The man, who The New York Times first identified as Jack Teixeira, is a member of the …

ABC News reports: A close-up photo of the Chinese spy balloon, taken mid-air from a U-2 spy plane, has been released by the U.S. military The photo was taken on Friday, Feb. 3 as the balloon flew over the American Midwest at an altitude of 60,000 feet — as the U-2 spy plane trailed it flew across the continental United …

The Wall Street Journal reports: A small circle of intelligence officials at the Pentagon during the Trump administration monitored a series of mysterious objects—now suspected to be balloons—but the incidents were never reported to the White House because it wasn’t clear what they were, former U.S. officials said. Following the shootdown earlier this month of a Chinese high-altitude balloon, the …

The Associated Press reports: China said Wednesday it will take measures against U.S. entities related to the downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the American East Coast. At a daily briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin gave no details and did not identify the targets of the measures. China says the balloon was a unmanned weather airship that …

Reuters reports: The U.S. military said on Monday it had recovered critical electronics from the suspected Chinese spy balloon downed by a U.S. fighter jet off South Carolina’s coast on Feb. 4, including key sensors presumably used for intelligence gathering. “Crews have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces …

The Washington Examiner reports: A senior U.S. official denied China’s accusations that the United States flew multiple balloons into its airspace over the past year. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby rejected the allegation and revealed that the U.S. has communicated with Chinese leaders in “private settings” about the balloon incidents. “Not true. Not doing it. Just absolutely …

Bloomberg News reports: US balloons illegally flew over China more than 10 times since the beginning of 2022, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. “It is nothing rare for US balloons to illegally enter other country’s airspace,” Wang told reporters at a regular briefing in Beijing on Monday. “The US needs to reflect upon itself and change its wrong …

The Hill reports: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Sunday the U.S. believes objects that were shot down over American and Canadian territory over the past few days were balloons, citing a briefing by President Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Schumer said the administration believes the objects were “much smaller” than the suspected Chinese spy balloon shot …