• hector@lemmy.today
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    47
    ·
    3 days ago

    The establishment is trying to turn this into a russian thing, as that’s their go to move. But this was a mossad honeypot, clearly done in conjunction with the CIA, which is a great betrayal of their mission, an executable offense, of treason, or it’s facsimile, and carries a death sentence to hear the president talk about it.

    The CIA isn’t allowed to conduct operations in the country, allowing a foreign intelligence agency to accrue blackmail on politicians, and rich people, and the like, is a great betrayal, I don’t know why no one has even dug into this, who was in charge when all of this happened, who authorized this at the CIA? Why are they given a pass?

    • phutatorius@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      7 hours ago

      The establishment is trying to turn this into a russian thing

      There’s a lot of evidence that Epstein was in frequent contact with Russians, though there’s also evidence that his attempts to establish higher-level contacts weren’t successful. His interactions with the Isrraelis seem to have been at a higher level, but Israel’s a much smaller state than Russia, so the levels of bureaucracy are probably fewer. There’s nothing so far in the files that connects him to US intelligence TLAs, though it’s entirely plausible that any such evidence would be removed. Regardless, drawing hard conclusions at this stage about the details of his affiliations to various spooks is circumstantial, at best. Based on what I’ve been able to learn so far, your conclusion about it being a Mossad honeypot is believable. But we’ll see.

      which is a great betrayal of their mission, an executable offense

      Intelligence agencies often share or trade intel. That’s especially true for allies, which Israel nominally is (though I’d say they don’t act like one), but it can even happen with agencies of hostile states if they have a common objective. It’s not treason unless it’s unauthorized disclosure of damaging information to a hostile power. Even then, it’s more common to charge such people with espionage.

      and carries a death sentence to hear the president talk about it

      He’s a liar and an idiot.

      Another possibility to consider is that Epstein’s operation wasn’t run by the CIA, but that it was monitored closely by one or another of the many US intelligence agencies, most of which are not forbidden to operate Stateside.

      Regardless, I’m inclined to accept the interpretation that the sweetheart deal happened because Epstein had some kind of high-level US government protection. Informant, asset, useful but unknowing source? That part we might never know.

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      2 days ago

      Who was in charge? This starts back with the OSS and Donald Barr, spanning like more than a half dozen administrations.

    • redsand@infosec.pub
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      2 days ago

      This has been going on since the 80s. The Franklin scandal was also CIA and it also went no where.

    • DaMummy@hilariouschaos.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      2 days ago

      Didn’t Obama overturn a law that made it legal for propaganda to be done to Americans on American soil? Smith-Mundt act.

      • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        2 days ago

        Not really. They lifted the ban on the domestic dissemination of materials originating from the State Department.

        Other departments and external agencies were, and still are, able to target propaganda at US citizens.

      • hector@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        2 days ago

        I don’t doubt it, I seem to recall vaguely something along those lines. They never followed those laws preventing domestic operations anyway.

        Also, they use the 5 eyes network as an end run around those, they spy on americans, or do operations, and put their allies letterhead on the operation, that then shares the information back with them. Even as it’s the us doing the entire thing itself. It’s a country run by lawyers, for billionaires.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          1 day ago

          And now it’s all funneled through Palantir and the various other tentacles of the private sector.

          The CIA/NSA are just retail customers of privatized surveillance.

          • hector@lemmy.today
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 day ago

            And the courts have given them license to further ignore laws and protections from the government to have contractors do it for them, or use information the private sector was allowed to gather from us, and buy and use it, without warrants or judges or oversight of any kind.

            But it also gives these private companies way too much power, merging the private power and money with contacts to government, that make Thiel and his ilk way too powerful, now with all the data broker information plus every bit of data from every federal agency that doge exported to his banks secretly, don’t for a second think that’s not what this was all about.

            They caught them doing it in a couple of instances too, like at the labour department, no one is even trying to defend the country or it’s laws this time around everyone gave up in government and business. It’s only some of us citizens that are still trying to contest the republic being surrendered to the worst pieces of shit in the country.