Tuesday, June 06, 2017

Leaked top secret NSA report suggests that the Russian hacking reached deeper into our election than previously believed.

Courtesy of The Intercept:  

Russian Military Intelligence executed a cyberattack on at least one U.S. voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials just days before last November’s presidential election, according to a highly classified intelligence report obtained by The Intercept. 

The top-secret National Security Agency document, which was provided anonymously to The Intercept and independently authenticated, analyzes intelligence very recently acquired by the agency about a months-long Russian intelligence cyber effort against elements of the U.S. election and voting infrastructure. 

The report, dated May 5, 2017, is the most detailed U.S. government account of Russian interference in the election that has yet come to light.The report indicates that Russian hacking may have penetrated further into U.S. voting systems than was previously understood. It states unequivocally in its summary statement that it was Russian military intelligence, specifically the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, that conducted the cyber attacks described in the document: 

Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate actors … executed cyber espionage operations against a named U.S. company in August 2016, evidently to obtain information on elections-related software and hardware solutions. … The actors likely used data obtained from that operation to … launch a voter registration-themed spear-phishing campaign targeting U.S. local government organizations.

The NSA analysis does not draw conclusions about whether the interference had any effect on the election’s outcome and concedes that much remains unknown about the extent of the hackers’ accomplishments. However, the report raises the possibility that Russian hacking may have breached at least some elements of the voting system, with disconcertingly uncertain results.

This essentially supports other reports that the Russians tried to hack several voting sites.

We are continually told that the Russian hacking did not actually change any votes, but with this kind of evidence surfacing I am becoming less convinced of that.

According to Business Insider this has stunned some security experts:  

"This is indeed a big deal," said Bob Deitz, a veteran of the NSA and CIA who worked under presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. "We are lucky that US presidential elections are so localized that it is difficult to do an effective hack." 

Claire Finkelstein, a professor and national security expert at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, said of the document, "Wow, this is huge." 

The leaked report is "evidence for the public now to see yet another example of quite a coherent operation" by the Russians, said Glenn Carle, a CIA veteran and former spy. "And that is significant."

 Just the other day Vladimir Putin once again denied that Russia had anything to do with the hacks, and now we have proof he is lying.

Unfortunately the young woman who provided it was immediately arrested.
Courtesy of Raw Story: 

The Department of Justice on Monday filed a criminal complaint against Reality Leigh Winner, a federal contractor from Georgia, on charges of removing classified information and disseminating it to the Intercept, NBC News reports.

According to the complaint, Winner, a contractor with Pluribus International Corporation, held Top Secret security clearance at a U.S. government facility. She allegedly printed classified information and sent it to an online news organization. Per the DOJ, she admitted to the offense while the FBI executed a search warrant at her home. 

Personally I am not at all sure if the public would ever have known this information without this young woman's help and that concerns me.

Without those willing to risk incarceration to leak some of this information we may all have gone our merry ways, without ever really understanding how our election was hijacked by the Russians.

42 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:43 AM

    BREAKING: Trump’s Saudi Arms Deal Is Actually Fake

    Remember President Trump’s big, triumphant arms deal in Saudi Arabia? It turns out it didn’t really happen. It was Trump’s own fake news, a feat of supply chain vertical integration and more importantly for the MAGA agenda repatriating jobs from Russia. In all seriousness, at the end of the day it didn’t happen. There are no contracts or sales. At all.

    So how could this be?

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/breaking-trumps-saudi-arms-deal-actually-fake

    ...Instead, there are a bunch of letters of interest or intent, but not contracts. Many are offers that the defense industry thinks the Saudis will be interested in someday. So far nothing has been notified to the Senate for review. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the arms sales wing of the Pentagon, calls them “intended sales.” None of the deals identified so far are new, all began in the Obama administration.

    https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2017/06/05/the-110-billion-arms-deal-to-saudi-arabia-is-fake-news/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:13 AM

      But who will tell the Trumpeters? and would they listen? We are in a surreal world now, most frustrating.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:47 PM

      I thought the deal was stalled because of human rights regarding the Saudis and Yemen. Maybe Trump thought he could resurrect it with his magic signature.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  2. Anonymous8:43 AM

    Rep. Maxine Waters ROCKS IT >ALL ABOARD!

    http://www.pbs.org/video/3001559426/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:08 AM

      Stateswoman! A MUST WATCH THIS^>TRUTH TELL.
      "He expects that we can 'put it out for him'"
      ;-)
      :-o
      she's got him where it counts....

      Delete
  3. Anonymous8:44 AM

    Four top law firms turned down requests to represent Trump

    ...The lawyers and their firms cited a variety of factors in choosing not to take on the president as a client. Some, like Brendan Sullivan, said they had upcoming trials or existing commitments that would make it impossible for them to devote the necessary time and resources to Trump’s defense.

    Others mentioned potential conflicts with clients of their firms, such as financial institutions that have already received subpoenas relating to potential money-laundering issues that are part of the investigation.

    But a consistent theme, the sources said, was the concern about whether the president would accept the advice of his lawyers and refrain from public statements and tweets that have consistently undercut his position.

    “The concerns were, ‘The guy won’t pay and he won’t listen,’” said one lawyer close to the White House who is familiar with some of the discussions between the firms and the administration, as well as deliberations within the firms themselves.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/four-top-law-firms-turned-requests-represent-trump-122423972.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:25 AM

      He has announced he's going to live tweet during the Comey hearing. Good LORD, please make this stop.

      Delete
    2. Won't pay, won't listen and is guilty as sin.

      The trifecta!

      What's the difference between a lawyer and a rat?

      There are some things rats won't do.

      Well, I guess there are some things lawyers won't do either.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous8:51 AM

    Report: Top Law Firms Don’t Want To Defend Trump On Russia Probe

    ...“He deserves representation. Everybody does. But if I got the telephone call, the answer would be no,” said Lanny Davis, the White House special counsel in charge of political and legal controversies during Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial. “There are people who say, ‘Davis, you’d represent anyone.” But the answer is no, I would not.”

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/trump-cant-find-lawyers-russia-investigation

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous8:55 AM

    NYT: Trump Still Rages At Sessions’ Recusal From Russia Probe

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/nyt-sources-trump-rage-sessions-recusal

    Trump Grows Discontented With Attorney General Jeff Sessions

    ...In private, the president’s exasperation has been even sharper. He has intermittently fumed for months over Mr. Sessions’s decision to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s election, according to people close to Mr. Trump who insisted on anonymity to describe internal conversations. In Mr. Trump’s view, they said, it was that recusal that eventually led to the appointment of a special counsel who took over the investigation.

    https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/05/us/politics/trump-discontent-attorney-general-jeff-sessions.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am *SURE* that if it hadn't been for this leaker we would NEVER know about this.

    What Manning did was wrong but she her heart was in the right place. Edward Snowden is a traitor.

    But *this* girl is a patriot. What she did took guts and if it wasn't for her the public would never know any of this.

    Trump needs to be impeached. Now. I don't give a fuck about Pence. I don't care if it's not politically wise or the timing sucks. The Democrats and the Republicans need to stop thinking about what is more advantageous to them in 2018 and 2020 and get the job done NOW. They need to DO their jobs. They haven't been doing them in quite some time. That is how this schmuck and his cronies gained power and if something isn't done fast they are going to entrench and destroy us.

    Not only is Trump the worst president ever, he embodies the worst in the next nine. He is repeating or displaying the worst in all ten of the worst presidents ever. Now he's going to repeat Reagan's air traffic controllers fiasco. I guess stopping at Watergate wasn't bad enough.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ten-worst-presidents-all-time-guess-who-is-1_us_59353567e4b0649fff211afe?section=us_politics

    "In four months in office, Donald Trump manages to echo the worst of all previous presidents except maybe Buchanan (let’s hope another civil war is not in the future) – and it is only four months so far. His economic policy: cut taxes, regulation, and social services, boost tariffs and military spending, à la Herbert Hoover’s response to the Great Depression and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. On the military front he belligerently threatens new wars or to escalate old ones to distract from domestic disasters, now echoing Reagan (Grenada) and George W. Bush. His advisors, like Warren G. Harding’s, are busy using Trump’s presidency to pad their own pockets. Like Jimmy Carter and Calvin Coolidge, he presents no meaningful solutions to the nation’s problems. Like Andrew Jackson and Richard Nixon he viciously lashes out at every perceived enemy and they would be proud of his contempt for law and the Constitution. Trump’s disdain for allies and disregard for the threat of climate change to human civilization are unprecedented. His America First pronouncements are a recipe for global disaster. A one-word summary of the Trump presidency so far: Unhinged."

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous9:41 AM

    I support this girl and am happy she leaked the information! I also want comedians to say what they want! You can either watch them, read them or turn them off!

    Trump is a total ass - so is Putin - and both have opened our countries to what we are seeing today. Trump is the very worst w/his hate speech, lies, racism etc.

    Thank you Bill Maher for being the great comedian you are and have been for years. I never miss your show on cable on Friday nights!

    As to Kathy Griffin - there are many that would like seeing that done to Trump! He is literally hated throughout the country and world! (Example - they don't even want his ass in England now and I don't blame them one bit!) The majority want him gone no matter how!!! Impeachment is the sane way, of course!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I refresh the news headlines every few minutes. I realize now I am hoping to see the headlines read "Trump dead. President dies in office."

      And I don't feel guilty at all feeling this way.

      Impeachment isn't going to happen and even if it did, it wouldn't happen fast enough.

      I want him to clutch his chest and keel over.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:17 AM

      Impeachers have to be sure they have the votes to do it in the Senate -- you only get one shot at a king...

      Delete
    3. linda1:33 PM

      mlaiuppa, I wake up every morning and look to see if Trump has died while I've slept. I've been doing it since the election. To my way of thinking, that would be one of the least surreal things that has happened in the past few months. I don't feel guilty either - I'm just hoping for natural forces to work their magic!

      Delete
    4. Anonymous3:44 PM

      I worry that, if Trump were to die in office, he would become a "martyr" to the far right. I'd much rather see him in federal prison for a long time; he could room with Bernie Madoff. Two con artists.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:20 AM

      11:16. I as well.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous10:11 AM

    Michael Moore supports the Leakers - as we all should !

    Why I’m Launching TrumpiLeaks... A Letter From Michael Moore
    The power and the importance of whistleblowing is part of the American tradition and as old as the republic itself.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-im-launching-trumpileaks-a-letter-from-michael-moore_us_5936949ae4b013c4816adee7?y1d&ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous11:00 AM

    "Reality Winner?" When I read the headline I thought she had been on Survivor or Idol...and no, she should not have been arrested, although I do get why stealing documents and sending them to be published is concerning, no matter that they expose Putin for the liar he is.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous11:32 AM

    If proof is found that the Russians really did get Trump elected, what happens next? Is the election null and void? Do we have another election? Would the Republicans remain in control even if the election was tainted?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:03 PM

      Oh god, it is the wishy thinky null and void moron again....

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:53 PM

      @ 12:03....Since this is the first time I've posted here in several months, I think you have me confused with another poster. Perhaps YOU are the moron. Anonymous posting make it impossible to know who is posting. You got it wrong this time. Have a nice day.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous1:21 PM

      Then you must be a cousin, or somehow attached in the moroniverse 12:53.

      You questions show how very confused you are.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous2:20 PM

      Spell check is your friend anonymous 1:21. Read your post before you hit send.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous2:45 PM

      Lol. Ok. Don't forget to hold your breath waiting for that redo election after the last one is called 'null and void'.

      Who is the person with the gavel that calls 'null and void, lets have another election' anyways?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous4:41 PM

      There are actually a couple of constitutional lawyers who have brought up that possibility. They think that if it is PROBEN that the Russians were interfering with our election, then there is a real possibility that there COULD be a new election!

      Delete
    7. Anonymous7:18 PM

      Oh god, it is the wishy thinky null and void moron again....
      =================
      you are the moron, the questions asked were legitimate. why don't you go back to some alt right site where questions aren't allowed.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous8:17 PM

      lol. What constitutional lawyers?! lolololol! Please do name them and the blogs they run, is it Bill Palmer and whatsherface Mensche?

      Please point to the locations in the constitution that allows for this?

      There can be impeachments, removals, replacements..... but what you are suggesting is pure fantasy! Is this your next four years, pure fantasy?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous11:16 AM

      Anything could happen. Re election...who knows. This is beyond Watergate. The GOP has dirty hands. I think quite a few will be going down with Orange. To the people who state otherwise,you know Nothing.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous11:34 AM

    The Buck Stops Everywhere Else

    Trump undermines his own travel ban and Justice Department.

    Some people with a propensity for self-destructive behavior can’t seem to help themselves, President Trump apparently among them. Over the weekend and into Monday he indulged in another cycle of Twitter outbursts and pointless personal feuding that may damage his agenda and the powers of the Presidency.

    Mr. Trump first expressed solidarity with the British people after the London terror attack, before managing to convert the mass murder into a referendum on his favorite subject, Donald J. Trump. He assailed London Mayor Sadiq Khan for supposedly minimizing the threat, though what Mr. Khan said was that there was no reason to be alarmed by an enlarged police presence after the rampage. “Pathetic excuse,” Mr. Trump called it.

    World leaders who stoop to attack municipal politicians in foreign cities look small, not that we can recall a precedent. If Theresa May has an opinion about Bill de Blasio she’s kept it to herself, though the Prime Minister was compelled to say Mr. Khan is “doing a good job. It’s wrong to say anything else.”

    In a humiliating coup de grace, the mayor’s office put out a statement saying he “has more important things to do than respond” to Mr. Trump’s social-media insults. The U.S. Commander in Chief also has better uses of his time than making himself look foolish.

    Mr. Trump’s more consequential eruption was against Mr. Trump’s Justice Department. He was evidently responding to a segment on MSNBC’s “ Morning Joe ” about his executive order temporarily suspending immigration entry from six countries with a history of terrorism.

    “People, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want,” Mr. Trump wrote. “I am calling it what we need and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN!” Mr. Trump added that “The Justice Dept. should have stayed with the original Travel Ban, not the watered down, politically correct version they submitted to S.C.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:43 PM

      And that last item is actually a LIE: https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/06/05/donald-trump-has-said-100s-of-false-things-heres-all-of-them.html

      Delete
  12. Anonymous11:34 AM

    These comments are reckless on multiple levels. The original blunderbuss order was rolled out on the Friday night of Mr. Trump’s first week as President with zero public explanation and little internal vetting. White House staffers from the Steve Bannon wing preferred the stun-grenade approach, but Mr. Trump’s legal team convinced him to sign a legally bulletproof revision in March because they preferred to win in court.

    The new order wasn’t “watered down” on substance but did make pragmatic exceptions for, say, permanent residents with green cards and military translators. Had the White House done such legal due diligence in the first place, the travel ban might not have become a political bonfire—not least because the President enjoys wide constitutional and statutory discretion over immigration and national security.

    If Mr. Trump’s action is legal on the merits, he seems to be angry that his lawyers are trying to vindicate the rule of law. Attorney General Jeff Sessions would be justified if he resigned, and this is merely the latest incident in which Mr. Trump popping off undermined his own lawyers. The White House spent days explaining that the President fired James Comey on the counsel of Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, only for Mr. Trump to tell an interviewer that he planned to dismiss the FBI director in any case. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has also suggested that the temporary visa shutdown is not an “immigration ban.”

    If this pattern continues, Mr. Trump may find himself running an Administration with no one but his family and the Breitbart staff. People of talent and integrity won’t work for a boss who undermines them in public without thinking about the consequences. And whatever happened to the buck stops here?

    Mr. Trump is also sabotaging the legitimate legal basis for the travel ban, and the stakes are bigger than the ban itself, which we think is counterproductive and unnecessary. He is exercising core presidential powers over foreign affairs that the courts may restrict if Mr. Trump keeps daring them to do so.

    Two appellate courts have ignored the order’s text and cited legally irrelevant campaign statements to rule that the ban is really intended to discriminate against Muslims. And now President Trump has given liberal judges Twitter evidence to conclude that his motives may be suspect. At the very least he is making it harder to corral a Supreme Court majority.

    In other words, in 140-character increments, Mr. Trump diminished his own standing by causing a minor international incident, demonstrated that the loyalty he demands of the people who work for him isn’t reciprocal, set back his policy goals and wasted time that he could have devoted to health care, tax reform or “infrastructure week.” Mark it all down as further evidence that the most effective opponent of the Trump Presidency is Donald J. Trump.

    Appeared in the June 6, 2017, print edition.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-buck-stops-everywhere-else-1496705412

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous11:35 AM

    Donald Trump Escalates Qatar Crisis

    His statements come amid sensitive negotiations, and after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tried to calm tensions.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-escalates-qatar-crisis_us_5936b178e4b013c4816b0065?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous11:36 AM

    Even The Conservative WSJ Editorial Board Thinks Trump’s Tweets Are A Huge Problem

    “Further evidence that the most effective opponent of the Trump Presidency is Donald J. Trump.”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-twitter-wall-street-journal_us_5936b8d6e4b0099e7faf418e?utm_hp_ref=wall-street-journal

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous11:44 AM

    Why I’m Launching TrumpiLeaks... A Letter From Michael Moore

    The power and the importance of whistle-blowing is part of the American tradition and as old as the republic itself.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-im-launching-trumpileaks-a-letter-from-michael-moore_us_5936949ae4b013c4816adee7

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous11:45 AM

    Terror Attacks Won’t Stop This London Muslim Charity From Feeding The Hungry

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ramadan-open-iftar-charity_us_5936b0a4e4b0099e7faf277d?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous12:02 PM

    James Comey Is Going To Do Something More Devastating Than Accusing Trump Of A Crime

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/06/06/james-comey-accusing-trump-crime.html

    Trump May Live Tweet His Nervous Breakdown In Real Time During Comey Testimony

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/06/06/donald-trump-live-tweet-comey-investigation-feels-respond.html

    GOP Senator Gets Desperate And Claims Trump Is Too Incompetent to Collude with Russia

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/06/06/gop-senator-floats-desperate-excuse-trump-incompetent-collude-russia.html

    Like a Child, House Republican Blames London Mayor For “Starting” Feud with Trump

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/06/06/child-gop-representative-blames-london-mayor-sadiq-khan-starting-feud-trump.html

    Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) twisted himself into knots while trying to both defend Trump's tweets and explain why they aren't official policy during a CNN interview.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/06/06/republican-congressman-falls-defend-trumps-tweets.html

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous2:28 PM

    This is Real NOW:
    http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/russian-hackers-planted-fake-news-qatar-crisis/index.html

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/06/us-investigators-believes-russian-hackers-created-fake-story-from-qatar-to-provoke-middle-east-crisis-cnn/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:34 PM

      djt"escalated a spiraling Middle East crisis on Tuesday morning in tweets attacking Qatar, which hosts 10,000 American troops at the largest U.S. military base in the region.

      Beginning a little after 8 a.m., the president put out three statements criticizing Qatar and praising neighboring countries ― including Saudi Arabia ― for their moves"n Twitter that the country had made progress on blocking terror finance, and military officials said the American base, the hub of operations against the Islamic State group, was functioning normally."They note that Saudi Arabia and the Emirates have both hosted radical preachers and terror funders."Kuwait, an influential neighbor of the countries involved and a fellow U.S. partner, is now attempting to mediate"

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-escalates-qatar-crisis_us_5936b178e4b013c4816b0065?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

      Delete
  19. Anonymous3:40 PM

    Well, I'm glad she did. She did nothing compromise national security or to aid and abet any enemies. What she did was to help uncover some of the corruption of the Trump/GOP campaign. It took courage on her part.
    Beaglemom

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:53 AM

      They need to start a go fundme page to cover her attorneys.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous7:14 PM

    I’m not so sure they didn’t actually hack the voting booths. If she hadn’t leaked this document we wouldn’t know this much, what else are the hiding to “protect” the country?

    After all little donnie told us the election was rigged, he is still bragging about the Electoral College and has the habit of projecting his crimes on others.

    He has been in contact with putin/russians on numerous occasions and putin has been trying to hard to convince us they are innocent.

    I feel terrible for this woman. They are going to throw the book at her because little donnie feeds on revenge.

    ReplyDelete

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