Posted by Scott Lucas | Dec 22, 2020 |
The headquarters of Russia’s intelligence service SVR
UPDATE, DEC 22: Russian hackers who attacked US agencies broke into the e-mail system used by the Treasury Department’s senior leadership, according to Sen. Ron Wyden.
Wyden, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, spoke after a briefing on Monday by Treaasury officials: “The agency suffered a serious breach, beginning in July, the full depth of which isn’t known.”
Wyden said the attacked hacked the e-mail system by manipulating internal software keys and compromised “dozens of e-mail accounts”. The Treasury learned of the attack from Microsoft, which runs much of the deaprtment’s communications software.
How China Has Been Using Huawei-Made Cameras to Spy on the African Union Headquarters
Beijing has gone out of its way to gain information on African leaders in order to compel and coerce them into supporting China’s international goals.
Last week, a report emerged that hackers, probably from China, had been filching security camera footage from inside the African Union headquarters building in Ethiopia. Several years ago, AU technicians discovered that the building’s Huawei-provided servers were daily exporting their data to Shanghai, and that the walls of the Chinese-built headquarters were peppered with listening devices.
It is a strange way for Beijing to treat a continent whose rulers have emerged as key backers of its international agenda. Yet the Chinese government’s spying, which almost certainly extends far beyond the African Union headquarters, may in fact be one of the reasons why African rulers are willing to defend Beijing’s increasingly indefensible actions.
Sidney Powell hasn’t been able to see President Trump since last Friday and she says it’s because White House officials are blocking her from seeing Trump:
DC EXAMINER – Sidney Powell says she is being strong-armed away from President Trump by top White House officials.
The attorney, who has filed several unsuccessful “Kraken” lawsuits challenging the election results in battleground states, said she has been barred from seeing the president following an Oval Office meeting on Friday during which the president floated appointing Powell as special counsel to investigate allegations of voting fraud.
That meeting also involved Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn, Powell’s client who was recently pardoned by Trump. At times it got heated, with occasional bouts of shouting, and Meadows and Cipollone strongly opposed some of the ideas
Durham Investigation Is Making ‘Good Progress’: Barr
Attorney General William Barr said special counsel John Durham is “making good progress” in the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.
Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, is working in Washington, on a regular basis, said Barr. Durham was appointed by Barr as special counsel in October; he was appointed to investigate the origin of the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) probe into Trump’s 2016 campaign last year.
“Before the election, as you know, I designated John Durham as special counsel because I wanted to provide him and his team with assurance that they’d be able to finish their work,” Barr told reporters on Monday. “They’re making good progress now and I expect they will be able to finish their work.”