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herding cats

(19,566 posts)
Thu Aug 2, 2018, 04:18 PM Aug 2018

Exclusive: suspected Russian spy found working at US embassy in Moscow

Source: The Guardian

US counter-intelligence investigators discovered a suspected Russian spy had been working undetected in the heart of the American embassy in Moscow for more than a decade, the Guardian has learned.

The Russian national had been hired by the US Secret Service and is understood to have had access to the agency’s intranet and email systems, which gave her a window into highly potentially confidential material including the schedules of the president and vice-president.

The woman had been working for the Secret Service for years before she came under suspicion in 2016 during a routine security sweep conducted by two investigators from the US Department of State’s Regional Security Office (RSO).

The Guardian has been told the RSO sounded the alarm in January 2017, but the Secret Service did not launch a full-scale inquiry of its own. Instead it decided to let her go quietly months later, possibly to contain the potential embarrassment it could cause.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/02/suspected-russian-spy-us-embassy-moscow-secret-service

29 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Exclusive: suspected Russian spy found working at US embassy in Moscow (Original Post) herding cats Aug 2018 OP
OMFG she probably had a lot to do with installing Trump. lagomorph777 Aug 2018 #1
Yes, it's likely she did provide information that helped them. herding cats Aug 2018 #2
Wonder if she could give the rest of us the WH visitor logs? Maybe post them on wikileeks? erronis Aug 2018 #3
Gannon? Jane Austin Aug 2018 #6
Worse news, the moles are saidsimplesimon Aug 2018 #4
Whoever made the decision to 'let her go quietly' needs to be investigated as to their role in her Wwcd Aug 2018 #5
Quelle Surprise! A spy! keithbvadu2 Aug 2018 #7
shocking, isn't it... but computer voting systems are totally safe... not. nt TheFrenchRazor Aug 2018 #10
Awful News...k and r... Hired by the "Secret Service"...Why? and How? no text. Stuart G Aug 2018 #8
Post removed Post removed Aug 2018 #9
sure...it's Obamas fault. AZ8theist Aug 2018 #12
From the article herding cats Aug 2018 #13
HOW THE FUCK AZ8theist Aug 2018 #11
I would imagine that moles have been a chronic concern for the US embassy MBS Aug 2018 #15
We build our embassies with American companies and labor bucolic_frolic Aug 2018 #18
NOT TRUE. AZ8theist Aug 2018 #21
Did you happen to see the post count on the troll before the post was removed? rzemanfl Aug 2018 #14
200+ herding cats Aug 2018 #17
In other shocking news..... whistler162 Aug 2018 #16
Chop his balls off Le Gaucher Aug 2018 #19
The mole? SHE was let go months ago with no investigation AllyCat Aug 2018 #20
Ok..Chop her tits off Le Gaucher Aug 2018 #22
It wasn't about being embarrassed atreides1 Aug 2018 #23
What a surprise! Firestorm49 Aug 2018 #24
So this one got away? ancianita Aug 2018 #25
Headline: Russian Spy found in Whitehouse....More at 11:00 NOMOGOP Aug 2018 #26
"let her go quietly months later" They were watching her to learn as much as they could Nitram Aug 2018 #27
I've read all embassies hire many locals. Sunlei Aug 2018 #28
Exclusive: suspected Russian spy robbob Aug 2018 #29

herding cats

(19,566 posts)
2. Yes, it's likely she did provide information that helped them.
Thu Aug 2, 2018, 04:23 PM
Aug 2018
“She had access to the most damaging database, which is the US Secret Service official mail system,” the source said. “Part of her access was schedules of the president – current and past – vice-president, and their spouses, including Hillary Clinton.”

She had plenty of time to gather intelligence without supervision, the source said. “Several employees interacted with her on a personal level by emailing her personally on a non-work account. This isn’t allowed.”


erronis

(15,326 posts)
3. Wonder if she could give the rest of us the WH visitor logs? Maybe post them on wikileeks?
Thu Aug 2, 2018, 04:27 PM
Aug 2018

We'd really like to see what other unannounced visitors came to service dump (and be serviced by).

If she's really good, she could also give us some scoops on the male escort (can't remember his name - like Bannon) that made frequent forays into the WH during the Cheney/W reign.

saidsimplesimon

(7,888 posts)
4. Worse news, the moles are
Thu Aug 2, 2018, 04:29 PM
Aug 2018

occupying our White House, imo. Putin is playing it close to the vest, the tiny hand, short version of Republican suck butts.

 

Wwcd

(6,288 posts)
5. Whoever made the decision to 'let her go quietly' needs to be investigated as to their role in her
Thu Aug 2, 2018, 04:31 PM
Aug 2018

Hiring in the first place. Some one knew, in the chain of command that she was hired without proper security clearance.
Who let her in the door in the 1st place?

keithbvadu2

(36,876 posts)
7. Quelle Surprise! A spy!
Thu Aug 2, 2018, 04:37 PM
Aug 2018

Quelle Surprise! A spy!

"access to the agency’s intranet and email systems"

Even the lowest level employee should consider that to be stupid.

Response to herding cats (Original post)

herding cats

(19,566 posts)
13. From the article
Thu Aug 2, 2018, 05:33 PM
Aug 2018
The Guardian has been told the RSO sounded the alarm in January 2017, but the Secret Service did not launch a full-scale inquiry of its own. Instead it decided to let her go quietly months later, possibly to contain the potential embarrassment it could cause.


And...

The Guardian has been told the state department’s resident agents in charge alerted the Secret Service in January 2017 and at least nine high-ranking Secret Service officials became aware of the findings.


Where did you read it was brought to anyone's attention prior to that?

AZ8theist

(5,487 posts)
11. HOW THE FUCK
Thu Aug 2, 2018, 05:28 PM
Aug 2018

Does the US Embassy employ ANY FUCKING RUSSIANS AT ALL??!!???

Do NONE of the embassy staff know anything about the history of the KGB???

Fucking incredible...

MBS

(9,688 posts)
15. I would imagine that moles have been a chronic concern for the US embassy
Thu Aug 2, 2018, 06:03 PM
Aug 2018

since we restored diplomatic relations with the USSR in the 30's (1933, I think, after FDR was inaugurated).
(And, yeah, sure, I also have no doubt that we've surely attempted to plant moles in their embassies, etc., too, over the years)

Even though (obviously) unwanted, spying and related skullduggery, and/or attempts at skullduggery, by Russia or other adversaries, is not news.

What's NEW is that we now have a White House and congressional Republicans that have elected to do NOTHING about ANY of it, even though Russia's recent actions threaten not only the most sensitive realms of national security, but also the very pillar of our democracy: the integrity of our voting system. And worse: Trump and allies actually encouraged the meddling. And even worse: Trump and congressional Republicans have actively worked to stop any investigation into the problem, or any initiatives to prevent election meddling in 2018. In addition to the Trump's adamant refusal to do anything about Russian meddling (or even to acknowledge that it happened), remember how the State Department has so far spent ZERO dollars of the 120 million dollars allotted to them to beef up cybersecurity?
I continue to be shocked by the treasonous behavior of my own government.

bucolic_frolic

(43,257 posts)
18. We build our embassies with American companies and labor
Thu Aug 2, 2018, 07:12 PM
Aug 2018

because we don't trust the foreign firms.

But we hire foreign nationals to run embassy computer systems?????

AZ8theist

(5,487 posts)
21. NOT TRUE.
Thu Aug 2, 2018, 07:27 PM
Aug 2018

The American Embassy in Moscow had to be rebuilt SEVERAL times in the 80's due to the excessive amounts of KGB bugs planted in it's walls, etc. , by the Russians used during construction. Russian labor was used, not American. The location was atrocious. The site had to be eventually abandoned.

https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/15/world/the-bugged-embassy-case-what-went-wrong.html

We have fallen for this spy trap on numerous occasions. Apparently, we've not learned yet. They have had the upper hand on America in the espionage game for decades.

So we can see, we are still being completely naive regarding Russian intentions.

We are AT WAR. NOTHING LESS.

WAKE THE FUCK UP AMERICA.

rzemanfl

(29,567 posts)
14. Did you happen to see the post count on the troll before the post was removed?
Thu Aug 2, 2018, 05:48 PM
Aug 2018

I didn't get here fast enough.

 

whistler162

(11,155 posts)
16. In other shocking news.....
Thu Aug 2, 2018, 06:19 PM
Aug 2018

the sun rises in the East and water is wet. News would have been a spy wasn't in the US's Moscow Embassy.

Nitram

(22,853 posts)
27. "let her go quietly months later" They were watching her to learn as much as they could
Fri Aug 3, 2018, 10:00 AM
Aug 2018

about her handlers and what kind of material she was passing on. They seldom bust a mole right away. It is an opportunity to learn about the opposition. They probably tried to turn her, too, before letting her go.

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