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Following Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's exposure of former FBI Director James Comey's mishandling of the Hillary Clinton email case, investigative journalist John Solomon has shed light on Comey's meddling in the DOJ's negotiations with Julian Assange ahead of a massive disclosure of CIA cyber malpractice.
26.06.2018 - Vault 7, DNC Hacking: How Comey's Intervention Upset DOJ Deal With Assange
Vault 7, DNC Hacking: How Comey's Intervention Upset DOJ Deal With Assange
In a single shot, former FBI Director James Comey had put the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under fire and killed an opportunity to find out who had hacked the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) email server during the 2016 presidential race, writes award-winning investigative journalist John Solomon.
In his op-ed for The Hill, Solomon described how US Justice Department (DOJ) officials negotiated an "immunity deal" with WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange ahead of the famous "Vault 7" release. The leak exposed the CIA's global hacking techniques, which "damaged [the agency's] cyber warfare capabilities for a long time to come," as the investigative journalist remarked, citing US officials.
On February 4, 2017, WikiLeaks started leaking cryptic questions about it's forthcoming dump code-named Vault-7, attracting a lot of attention from social media users across the world.
However, the story actually began in January 2017 when Assange's lawyers approached American attorney Adam Waldman, a former Clinton Justice Department official, offering a deal.
The parties negotiated "limited immunity" for Julian Assange who has been virtually locked in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 2012. The deal was "subject to adequate and binding protections, including but not limited to an acceptable immunity and safe passage agreement," as Waldman wrote in his email to David Laufman, then head of the DOJ's counterintelligence and export controls section on March 28, 2017, following WikiLeaks' March 7 publication of the first part of the CIA-related classified documents.
In exchange, Assange agreed to consider certain redactions in the classified documents he was about to release. However, he declined to compromise his sources, or stop publishing information, according to Solomon.
Furthermore, the WikiLeaks founder dropped a hint that he could provide technical evidence shedding light on "who did not engage" in the DNC data breach in 2016. "The US government believes those emails were hacked by Russia; Assange insists they did not come from Moscow," the investigative journalist highlighted.
Nate @BeansTown106
"We Have a Crisis of Democracy" and it isn't Trump
NSA cyber chief was ordered to stand down against "Russian hacking".
DOJ was in talks with Assange for an immunity deal for DNC/Podesta hacking info and Comey shut it down.
Why did the Obama administration fear the Truth?
3:22 AM - Jun 26, 2018
However, James Comey's sudden intervention spelled the end of the potential deal: The FBI chief had signaled to Waldman that he had to "stand down" and "end the discussions with Assange" without further explanation. According to Solomon, although Comey's controversial instructions had not immediately killed the deal, they sowed deep distrust in Assange's legal team.
The second release of CIA documents unmasking the agency's specific cyber tools by WikiLeaks on April 7, 2017, triggered a storm of criticism from the US government that backed out of the negotiations, the investigative journalist stressed.
On June 25, 2018, WikiLeaks tweeted that the organization "can confirm the accuracy of the Hill report on Comey, however, it should be noted that 'immunity/safe passage' was limited to covering the talks."
On April 25, 2017, Julian Assange published an op-ed in The Washington Post in response to then CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who slammed WikiLeaks, dubbing it a "hostile intelligence service."
The WikiLeaks founder referred to Pompeo and Donald Trump's double standard approach, recalling that earlier the two hailed the DNC email server leak, which apparently played into the hands of the Republican Party.
"Vault 7 has begun publishing evidence of remarkable CIA incompetence and other shortcomings," Assange wrote. "This includes the agency's creation, at a cost of billions of taxpayer dollars, of an entire arsenal of cyber viruses and hacking programs — over which it promptly lost control and then tried to cover up the loss."
Terry Williams @DeplorableWill1
Why did @Comey kill an immunity deal between @USAgov and @wikileaks? Assange is the only person who can say with proof, it wasn't Russia who hacked the DNC. #sethrich @seanhannity @SaraCarterDC @POTUS @DonaldJTrumpJr
11:26 AM - Jun 26, 2018
The damage was done and the rest is history; however, the question as to why James Comey intervened and what his genuine motivation was still remains unanswered.
27.06.2018 - Plot Thickens: Analyst Explains Why Comey Meddled in Assange-DOJ Talks
Plot Thickens: Analyst Explains Why Comey Meddled in Assange-DOJ Talks
Ex-FBI Director James Comey and some former Obama administration officials would have had much to lose if Julian Assange had shared his vision on what happened during the 2016 US presidential race, Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel opined speaking to Sputnik, explaining why the ex-FBI chief was so "incurious" about the DNC server hacking.
The story of a might-have been deal between the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange told by John Solomon left one question unanswered: Why did former FBI Director James Comey step in and upset the agreement?
Sputnik got in touch with Wall Street analyst and investigative journalist Charles Ortel, asking him to share his opinion on the matter.
"Comey was/is intimately familiar with the Steele dossier, and likely knows much concerning which foreign intelligence services may have proven useful in developing allegations against Americans and others connected to the Trump presidential campaign and to the incoming Trump administration," the investigative journalist noted, referring to the dodgy "Trump dossier" prepared by former British intelligence officer with the secret intelligence service MI6, Christopher David Steele.
Ortel explained that "prior to the presidential election on November 8, 2016, Comey and others may have felt their various activities would stand them in good stead with Hillary Clinton, who most assumed would easily defeat Donald Trump."
However, when their hopes did not come true, it is likely that many Obama administration officials, including the former president, were seriously concerned that they could soon "find themselves in legal jeopardy," the investigative journalist pointed out.
"Perhaps in league with other Obama era holdovers, Comey and Senator [Mark] Warner (let's not forget that he and the recently indicted leaking Senate staffer [James Wolfe, 58] have much to lose from determined investigations into history) likely decided to flush the Assange negotiations, perhaps encouraged by contacts in the UK intelligence community, who may also stand exposed for their cooperation in Trump-related investigations," the Wall Street analyst suggested.
Why Comey Remains so Incurious About the DNC Hack
In some twist of fate, Comey's intervention in the Assange-DOJ investigation also killed a chance to find out what forces had been involved in the Democratic National Committee's server hacking during the 2016 presidential race. WikiLeaks' founder was ready to provide ample evidence that Russia had not been behind the data breach.
On the other hand, it still raises questions as to why the Comey-led FBI had not examined the DNS server following the alleged cyber intrusion.
"Among many inexplicable decisions, the failure of the FBI to demand and obtain the DNC servers, and then the failures of Obama administration Justice Department officials to determine quickly and before the 2016 election happened whether Russia or other foreign powers may have been interfering is tough to fathom," Ortel highlighted.
He recalled that under the Obama administration numerous accusations were made about supposed cyber espionage by states including China, North Korea, Iran and others.
"The logical move for the FBI after DNC hacking claims were made would have been to use the sophisticated tools that our Federal government does have to learn the truth," the Wall Street journalist emphasized. "Yet, Comey displayed and still displays a remarkable lack of interest in figuring out what happened with DNC server breaches, and with claims that Pakistani government-linked spies may have obtained Congressional and state secrets through use by so many Democrats of the Awan family."
It was previously reported that Imran Awan, an IT employee of ex-DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and his family had access to the e-mails and electronic files of members of the House's Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Committees for years.
A bad reason Comey and others remain so incurious may well be that they know exactly who started the Russian collusion narrative, that this narrative started much earlier than we presently know, and that US political interests and nations that had most to lose from a Trump presidency laid illegal traps various ways," the investigative journalist presumed.
Comey's Intrusion Appears to be a Plot
The question then arises as to whether it was Comey's own initiative to meddle in the DOJ's negotiations with Julian Assange or a "collective" decision.
"I see this much more as a plot," Ortel responded. "At first, to curry favor with Hillary Clinton, that quickly morphed into madcap efforts to protect Barack Obama, John Kerry, Loretta Lynch, James Comey and others in the pro-globalist, anti-Trump cabal."
The Wall Street analyst also presumed that in general, a Trump presidency was likely seen during 2016 as a threat to the "special relationship" between left-leaning British elites and their counterparts in the United States. Similarly, pro-globalist elites viewed the potential US-Russia rapprochement under Trump as a threat, he added.
"Knowing how much so many in the Obama administration may have colluded to promote Hillary Clinton's candidacy and then to obstruct president-elect, numerous persons likely pulled strings over James Comey until President Trump correctly, yet belatedly, fired him," Ortel suggested.
According to Ortel, "the forthcoming Inspector General Horowitz report concerning how Obama era officials and others may have ordered and attempted to cover up illegal spying on Americans by US and allied government security services should further shake the Washington, D.C. establishment to its core."
On June 25, award-winning investigative journalist John Solomon came up with a story about how Julian Assange tried to make a deal with the Trump administration in January 2017, ahead of WikiLeaks' massive exposure of CIA global hacking techniques in March-April 2017. According to Solomon, Comey's unexpected instructions to stop negotiations undermined the deal placing the CIA under fire and preventing Assange from disclosing the secret of the DNC server.
It wasn't a mere chance that Assange's lawyers approached DOJ officials to strike a deal. As Ortel remarked, the WikiLeaks founder and his team "hoped that the incoming Trump administration might be more receptive than previous administrations to negotiating a change in Assange's legal predicament, in exchange for useful information."
The views and opinions expressed by Charles Ortel and Ekaterina Blinova are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
https://t.co/zWACFjmPJu
26.06.2018 - Vault 7, DNC Hacking: How Comey's Intervention Upset DOJ Deal With Assange
Vault 7, DNC Hacking: How Comey's Intervention Upset DOJ Deal With Assange
In a single shot, former FBI Director James Comey had put the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under fire and killed an opportunity to find out who had hacked the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) email server during the 2016 presidential race, writes award-winning investigative journalist John Solomon.
In his op-ed for The Hill, Solomon described how US Justice Department (DOJ) officials negotiated an "immunity deal" with WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange ahead of the famous "Vault 7" release. The leak exposed the CIA's global hacking techniques, which "damaged [the agency's] cyber warfare capabilities for a long time to come," as the investigative journalist remarked, citing US officials.
On February 4, 2017, WikiLeaks started leaking cryptic questions about it's forthcoming dump code-named Vault-7, attracting a lot of attention from social media users across the world.
However, the story actually began in January 2017 when Assange's lawyers approached American attorney Adam Waldman, a former Clinton Justice Department official, offering a deal.
The parties negotiated "limited immunity" for Julian Assange who has been virtually locked in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 2012. The deal was "subject to adequate and binding protections, including but not limited to an acceptable immunity and safe passage agreement," as Waldman wrote in his email to David Laufman, then head of the DOJ's counterintelligence and export controls section on March 28, 2017, following WikiLeaks' March 7 publication of the first part of the CIA-related classified documents.
In exchange, Assange agreed to consider certain redactions in the classified documents he was about to release. However, he declined to compromise his sources, or stop publishing information, according to Solomon.
Furthermore, the WikiLeaks founder dropped a hint that he could provide technical evidence shedding light on "who did not engage" in the DNC data breach in 2016. "The US government believes those emails were hacked by Russia; Assange insists they did not come from Moscow," the investigative journalist highlighted.
Nate @BeansTown106
"We Have a Crisis of Democracy" and it isn't Trump
NSA cyber chief was ordered to stand down against "Russian hacking".
DOJ was in talks with Assange for an immunity deal for DNC/Podesta hacking info and Comey shut it down.
Why did the Obama administration fear the Truth?
3:22 AM - Jun 26, 2018
However, James Comey's sudden intervention spelled the end of the potential deal: The FBI chief had signaled to Waldman that he had to "stand down" and "end the discussions with Assange" without further explanation. According to Solomon, although Comey's controversial instructions had not immediately killed the deal, they sowed deep distrust in Assange's legal team.
The second release of CIA documents unmasking the agency's specific cyber tools by WikiLeaks on April 7, 2017, triggered a storm of criticism from the US government that backed out of the negotiations, the investigative journalist stressed.
On June 25, 2018, WikiLeaks tweeted that the organization "can confirm the accuracy of the Hill report on Comey, however, it should be noted that 'immunity/safe passage' was limited to covering the talks."
On April 25, 2017, Julian Assange published an op-ed in The Washington Post in response to then CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who slammed WikiLeaks, dubbing it a "hostile intelligence service."
The WikiLeaks founder referred to Pompeo and Donald Trump's double standard approach, recalling that earlier the two hailed the DNC email server leak, which apparently played into the hands of the Republican Party.
"Vault 7 has begun publishing evidence of remarkable CIA incompetence and other shortcomings," Assange wrote. "This includes the agency's creation, at a cost of billions of taxpayer dollars, of an entire arsenal of cyber viruses and hacking programs — over which it promptly lost control and then tried to cover up the loss."
Terry Williams @DeplorableWill1
Why did @Comey kill an immunity deal between @USAgov and @wikileaks? Assange is the only person who can say with proof, it wasn't Russia who hacked the DNC. #sethrich @seanhannity @SaraCarterDC @POTUS @DonaldJTrumpJr
11:26 AM - Jun 26, 2018
The damage was done and the rest is history; however, the question as to why James Comey intervened and what his genuine motivation was still remains unanswered.
27.06.2018 - Plot Thickens: Analyst Explains Why Comey Meddled in Assange-DOJ Talks
Plot Thickens: Analyst Explains Why Comey Meddled in Assange-DOJ Talks
Ex-FBI Director James Comey and some former Obama administration officials would have had much to lose if Julian Assange had shared his vision on what happened during the 2016 US presidential race, Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel opined speaking to Sputnik, explaining why the ex-FBI chief was so "incurious" about the DNC server hacking.
The story of a might-have been deal between the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange told by John Solomon left one question unanswered: Why did former FBI Director James Comey step in and upset the agreement?
Sputnik got in touch with Wall Street analyst and investigative journalist Charles Ortel, asking him to share his opinion on the matter.
"Comey was/is intimately familiar with the Steele dossier, and likely knows much concerning which foreign intelligence services may have proven useful in developing allegations against Americans and others connected to the Trump presidential campaign and to the incoming Trump administration," the investigative journalist noted, referring to the dodgy "Trump dossier" prepared by former British intelligence officer with the secret intelligence service MI6, Christopher David Steele.
Ortel explained that "prior to the presidential election on November 8, 2016, Comey and others may have felt their various activities would stand them in good stead with Hillary Clinton, who most assumed would easily defeat Donald Trump."
However, when their hopes did not come true, it is likely that many Obama administration officials, including the former president, were seriously concerned that they could soon "find themselves in legal jeopardy," the investigative journalist pointed out.
"Perhaps in league with other Obama era holdovers, Comey and Senator [Mark] Warner (let's not forget that he and the recently indicted leaking Senate staffer [James Wolfe, 58] have much to lose from determined investigations into history) likely decided to flush the Assange negotiations, perhaps encouraged by contacts in the UK intelligence community, who may also stand exposed for their cooperation in Trump-related investigations," the Wall Street analyst suggested.
Why Comey Remains so Incurious About the DNC Hack
In some twist of fate, Comey's intervention in the Assange-DOJ investigation also killed a chance to find out what forces had been involved in the Democratic National Committee's server hacking during the 2016 presidential race. WikiLeaks' founder was ready to provide ample evidence that Russia had not been behind the data breach.
On the other hand, it still raises questions as to why the Comey-led FBI had not examined the DNS server following the alleged cyber intrusion.
"Among many inexplicable decisions, the failure of the FBI to demand and obtain the DNC servers, and then the failures of Obama administration Justice Department officials to determine quickly and before the 2016 election happened whether Russia or other foreign powers may have been interfering is tough to fathom," Ortel highlighted.
He recalled that under the Obama administration numerous accusations were made about supposed cyber espionage by states including China, North Korea, Iran and others.
"The logical move for the FBI after DNC hacking claims were made would have been to use the sophisticated tools that our Federal government does have to learn the truth," the Wall Street journalist emphasized. "Yet, Comey displayed and still displays a remarkable lack of interest in figuring out what happened with DNC server breaches, and with claims that Pakistani government-linked spies may have obtained Congressional and state secrets through use by so many Democrats of the Awan family."
It was previously reported that Imran Awan, an IT employee of ex-DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and his family had access to the e-mails and electronic files of members of the House's Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Committees for years.
A bad reason Comey and others remain so incurious may well be that they know exactly who started the Russian collusion narrative, that this narrative started much earlier than we presently know, and that US political interests and nations that had most to lose from a Trump presidency laid illegal traps various ways," the investigative journalist presumed.
Comey's Intrusion Appears to be a Plot
The question then arises as to whether it was Comey's own initiative to meddle in the DOJ's negotiations with Julian Assange or a "collective" decision.
"I see this much more as a plot," Ortel responded. "At first, to curry favor with Hillary Clinton, that quickly morphed into madcap efforts to protect Barack Obama, John Kerry, Loretta Lynch, James Comey and others in the pro-globalist, anti-Trump cabal."
The Wall Street analyst also presumed that in general, a Trump presidency was likely seen during 2016 as a threat to the "special relationship" between left-leaning British elites and their counterparts in the United States. Similarly, pro-globalist elites viewed the potential US-Russia rapprochement under Trump as a threat, he added.
"Knowing how much so many in the Obama administration may have colluded to promote Hillary Clinton's candidacy and then to obstruct president-elect, numerous persons likely pulled strings over James Comey until President Trump correctly, yet belatedly, fired him," Ortel suggested.
According to Ortel, "the forthcoming Inspector General Horowitz report concerning how Obama era officials and others may have ordered and attempted to cover up illegal spying on Americans by US and allied government security services should further shake the Washington, D.C. establishment to its core."
On June 25, award-winning investigative journalist John Solomon came up with a story about how Julian Assange tried to make a deal with the Trump administration in January 2017, ahead of WikiLeaks' massive exposure of CIA global hacking techniques in March-April 2017. According to Solomon, Comey's unexpected instructions to stop negotiations undermined the deal placing the CIA under fire and preventing Assange from disclosing the secret of the DNC server.
It wasn't a mere chance that Assange's lawyers approached DOJ officials to strike a deal. As Ortel remarked, the WikiLeaks founder and his team "hoped that the incoming Trump administration might be more receptive than previous administrations to negotiating a change in Assange's legal predicament, in exchange for useful information."
The views and opinions expressed by Charles Ortel and Ekaterina Blinova are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
https://t.co/zWACFjmPJu