Russian news agencies are reporting that former members of the domestic security agency and a cybersecurity expert have been formally charged with treason.
Reports emerged last week that three officials of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and an executive for cybersecurity company Kaspersky Labs had been arrested for treason. Government officials haven’t commented on the case.
We reported on this last Friday and reached the conclusion that these charges of treason were directly linked to the investigation launched by our intelligence agencies into the Russian hacking of the DNC and other agencies and individuals.
A conclusion, by the way, essentially confirmed by Russian lawyer Ivan Pavlov:
Pavlov has told The Associated Press that he represents the fourth, unnamed arrestee.
“Everyone involved in the case is charged with treason, and in fact, this is the only article, no other charges,” Pavlov is quoted as saying to Tass. Like Interfax, Tass is controlled by the Russian government.
According to Pavlov, the criminal case is being investigated by the FSB’s own Department of Investigation.
Investigators accuse the defendants of transferring Russian state secrets to U.S. intelligence services, according to Tass. Unlike previous reports in Russian media, the accounts citing Pavlov that were published Wednesday do not specify which U.S. agencies the suspects are accused of colluding with.
“The name of CIA does not appear in the case, only the country (is mentioned),” Tass quotes Pavlov as saying. “Yes, we are in fact talking about America, but not about the CIA.”
Of course they aren't, but then who exactly would these security experts be talking to in America?
And as I mentioned in my previous post it certainly does not appear that these individuals are being punished for the hack itself, but rather for helping America investigate that hack.
While we are on the topic let's not forget that these folks were "arrested" but at least one individual who spoke out of turn is no longer with us.
Courtesy of the Telegraph:
An ex-KGB chief suspected of helping the former MI6 spy Christopher Steele to compile his dossier on Donald Trump may have been murdered by the Kremlin and his death covered up. it has been claimed.
Oleg Erovinkin, a former general in the KGB and its successor the FSB, was found dead in the back of his car in Moscow on Boxing Day in mysterious circumstances.
Erovinkin was a key aide to Igor Sechin, a former deputy prime minister and now head of Rosneft, the state-owned oil company, who is repeatedly named in the dossier.
Remember both the Trump administration and the Kremlin have reason to undermine any investigation into the hacking, and to obfuscate any evidence that might emerge from the investigation.
We can see how the Kremlin is working to sabotage the investigation, by killing or kidnapping those that might be questioned, now watch for Trump to make an attempt to put a stop to it or, failing that, distract from its findings.
Source http://ift.tt/2jyabyt
