Spy Allegations – Johnson's Russia List

RUSSIALINK: “Kremlin Officials Continue to Use iPhones Despite U.S. Espionage Fears” – Moscow Times

June 1, 2023 JRL Russia List Cybersecurity, Headlines, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

File Photo of Hand Holding IPhone, adapted from image at defense.gov and af.mil, displaying webpages relating to U.S. Air Force

(Moscow Times – June 1, 2023) As many as 30% of employees in the Russian presidential administration continue to use iPhones for personal communication, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday. Peskov’s comments came after Russia’s Federal Security Services (FSB) announced that it had detected “anomalies” in some iPhones in Russia caused by “malicious software” that it linked to “surveillance operations […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Durham Exposes Robert Mueller’s Failure; The new report exposes how the original Russia probe covered up the FBI’s offenses” – WSJ

May 22, 2023 JRL Russia List Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

“Special counsel John Durham’s report on the Russia collusion fiasco deserves more attention … [C]ritics are dismissing it for one big reason: The 306 pages describe the great failure of original special counsel Robert Mueller. … [who] hunted for evidence that [] Trump was a Russian mole but couldn’t find it. Now the Durham report makes clear … the Mueller […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Latest Twitter Files show media, Dems relied on single source alleging ‘Russian bot’ activity: ‘It was a scam'” – Fox

January 30, 2023 JRL Russia List Headlines, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

“Elon Musk says ‘shame on MSNBC’ for pushing misleading Russian bots narratives.” “… [T]he dubious source that … media and Democrats heavily relied on to peddle the false narrative of Russian bot activity on the [Twitter] platform. … [was] Hamilton 68, … spearheaded by former FBI special agent and MSNBC contributor Clint Watts[] [and] operated by the Alliance for Securing […]

Richard Sakwa: NEW BOOK: Just Released: “Deception: Russiagate and the New Cold War”

January 3, 2022 JRL Russia List Books, New Books, Book Releases, Cybersecurity, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

Book Cover for "Deception" by Richard Sakwa

Subject: New Book Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2022 From: Richard Sakwa <R.Sakwa@kent.ac.uk> Just released: Deception: Russiagate and the New Cold War (Lanham, MD, Lexington Books, 2022). The ‘Russiagate’ affair is one of the most far-reaching political events of recent years. But what exactly was the nature and extent of Russian interference in the campaign that led to the presidency of […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Analyst who aided Trump-Russia dossier charged with lying” – AP

November 5, 2021 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

“… Russian analyst [Igor Danchenko,] who contributed to … Democratic-funded research into ties between Russia and Donald Trump[,] was arrested … on charges of lying to the FBI about his sources … among them a longtime supporter of Hillary Clinton. … [P]art of … [an] ongoing [special counsel] investigation[,] …. the indictment … endorse[s] a longstanding concern … that opposition […]

Russia Says Ukraine Organized Gas Pipeline Attack In Crimea

September 8, 2021 JRL Russia List Military, Oil, Gas, Energy, Spies, Spy Allegations, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Oilprice.com – Charles Kennedy – Sept. 7, 2021) Russia accused on Tuesday Ukraine’s military intelligence of having organized an attack on a natural gas pipeline in Crimea at the end of last month, in another escalation of tensions between Moscow and Kyiv. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine back in 2014, straining the bilateral relations between one of Europe’s key natural […]

RUSSIALINK: “Kremlin denies that man identified by U.S. media as spy and defector ever worked at Presidential Affairs Directorate” – Interfax

September 10, 2019 JRL Russia List Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcase

MOSCOW. Sept 10 (Interfax) – Oleg Smolenkov, who some media have described as a former high-ranking Russian official who spied and ultimately defected for the United States, has never served at the Russian Presidential Affairs Directorate, Yelena Krylova, the directorate’s spokesperson, told Interfax. “Such a person hasn’t worked for us,” Krylova said when asked by Interfax to comment on the […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Democrats’ Denial Over The Lack Of Russian Collusion Could Re-Elect Trump” – The Federalist/ Jonathan S. Tobin

April 11, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

“Doubling down on accusations and demanding the un-redacted Mueller report is no substitute for collusion myths, but Democrats’ inability to let it go helps the president.” “… The Democratic Party absorbed a hard blow when … the Mueller investigation determin[ed] there was no collusion with Russia involving the president or his campaign. … Expecting members of Congress like … Adam […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “What Mueller Won’t Say: Did he investigate the Steele dossier? If not, he didn’t really investigate.” – Wall Street Journal/ Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.

March 28, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

Robert Mueller file photo, adapted from image at fbi.gov

“… the exact words of Attorney General William Barr: ‘The Special Counsel and his staff thoroughly investigated allegations that members of the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump … conspired with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.’ How is it possible to investigate these ‘allegations’ without holding the Steele dossier, the only […]

Steve Shabad: “Response to Matt Bivens [Re: Russiagate]”

March 28, 2019 JRL Russia List Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

Subject: Response to Matt Bivens Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2019 From: Steve Shabad <steve.shabad@gmail.com> To: davidjohnson@starpower.net Response to Matt Bivens (JRL #50 “Russiagate: The Great Tragic Comedy of Modern Journalism”) From Steve Shabad [Bivens: blog.usejournal.com/russiagate-the-great-tragic-comedy-of-modern-journalism-fd2a451aaa25][russialist.org/jrl-newswatch-russiagate-the-great-tragic-comedy-of-modern-journalism-matt-bivens/] Matt Bivens’ essay on what he calls the “tragic comedy of modern journalism” made for provocative reading, and I agreed with some of his points. […]

Butina incarcerated in U.S. losing weight due to prison food, long period of stress – newspaper

March 27, 2019 JRL Russia List Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

Department of Justice Headquarters Building file photo, adapted from image at justice.gov

MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax) – Russian citizen Maria Butina, who is incarcerated in the United States, has been losing weight because of the long period of stress and unhealthy food, yet her father Valery Butin hopes that Maria will be sentenced before April 15 and deported to Russia, the newspaper Izvestia said on Wednesday. “On the whole, Masha is alright, […]