Former KGB Officer Hired for US Embassy Moscow Security

Posted on November 15, 2017November 15, 2017 by Denise Simon

Synopsis:

Added: Oct 27, 2017 1:51 pm

Local Guard Services for US Mission Russia. Contract was awarded in accordance with FAR 6.302-2, Unusual and compelling urgency.

Contract is in accordance with 52.216-25 CONTRACT DEFINITIZATION.

The 4 page contract is here, it appears it was an emergency choice and hire.

US_Mission_Russia_17R0554_-_J&A_FBO

Are there any people left in the contract office that have any brains? Is there anyone at the State Department providing guidance or final approvals with brains?

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US embassy hires security firm of former Russian spy who worked with Putin

The US embassy in Moscow is to be guarded by a company owned by a former head of KGB counter-intelligence who worked with British double agent Kim Philby and young Vladimir Putin, after cuts to US staff demanded by Russia.

Elite Security Holdings was awarded a $2.83 million contract to provide “local guard services for US mission Russia,” which includes the Moscow embassy and consulates in St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok, according to a post on a US state procurement website.

The contract and background of the firm came to light in a Kommersant newspaper report on Friday.

Elite Security, a private company and the oldest part of the eponymous holding, was founded in 1997 by Viktor Budanov and his son Dmitry, according to a Russian business registry.

A 2002 article posted on the site of Russia’s foreign intelligence service identified Mr Budanov as a major general in the agency who became a Soviet spy in 1966 and retired a year after the collapse of the USSR.

His long work in Soviet and Russian intelligence could raise questions about whether the guard services contract poses a security or intelligence risk to the US mission.

The US embassy referred The Telegraph to the state department, which did not respond to requests for comment.

Moscow forced Washington to cut its diplomatic staff in Russia from more than 1,200 to 455 in response to sanctions adopted against Russia in August.

Before his work in foreign intelligence Mr Budanov was the director of the KGB’s counter-intelligence division, he has told Russian media.

He also was head of the KGB branch in East Germany in the late 1980s, where a young Mr Putin served under him. In a 2007 interview, Mr Budanov lamented the collapse of the USSR, praised Mr Putin’s leadership and warned that Russia “can’t constantly act as (the Americans) want” or it would be destroyed.

He has also said he worked with Britain’s most infamous Soviet double agent after Philby defected to the USSR in 1963 and was once a guest at a private lunch given in Philby’s honour by Yury Andropov, the KGB head who became leader of the Soviet Union.

In the 1990s, Mr Budanov became acquainted with high-level US intelligence officials while providing business intelligence and security to foreign companies.

He formed a joint venture with the former assistant director of the National Security Agency and said in 2007 he personally knew the head of security at the US embassy in Moscow.

International Risk and Information Services, a company Mr Budanov founded in 1992 that later became part of Elite Security Holdings, says on its website it employs staff with experience in “state security organs”.

In testimony before a UK court in 1993, Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB bureau chief in London who became a British agent, said Mr Budanov had drugged and interrogated him after he was recalled to Moscow under suspicion.

Mr Budanov also handled sensitive operations like teaching Bulgarian agents how to use a poisonous umbrella to kill dissidents, Mr Gordievsky said.

Mandatory Anti-Harrassment Training for House Members

Posted on November 15, 2017November 15, 2017 by Denise Simon

So, members misbehave in this manner, there is no consequence except sign this non-disclosure and the taxpayer pays off the victim to be quiet….nice system….NOT

There is virtually nothing in the Code of Ethics for the House and even if there is a violation, whatever that may be, there is no listed punishment…cool huh? No wonder there are no investigations….

RollCall: Rep. Jackie Speier said Tuesday that the House of Representatives has paid out more than $15 million over the last decade to settle harassment cases, though that number also includes discrimination claims.

Speier made the assertion on “Meet the Press Daily” after testifying in Congress about sexual harassment on Capitol Hill.

“Now, we do know that there is about $15 million that has been paid out by the House on behalf of harassers in the last 10 to 15 years,” the California Democrat told Chuck Todd.

However, when asked how many members were involved in cases, Speier said she did not know the specific answer.

Speier’s office clarified Wednesday that the Office of Compliance, which handles workplace and accessibility issues on Capitol Hill, does not provide a breakdown for the type of discrimination payments made.

The OOC’s $15 million figure covered more than 200 payouts made from fiscal years 1997 to 2016 for all claims the office covered, such as racial and religious discrimination cases, discrimination against people with disabilities and sexual harassment, a Speier staffer said.

During her testimony earlier Tuesday, Speier said that two current members of Congress had sexually harassed women.

“Well, it is my responsibility to address the seriousness of this issue,” she said. “These survivors are subject to a non-disclosure agreement. I’m not going to violate their non-disclosure agreement.”

Paul Ryan orders mandatory anti-harassment training for House

Nov. 14 (UPI) — House Speaker Paul Ryan announced all House members and staff will be subject to mandatory anti-harassment and discrimination training.

Ryan issued a statement Tuesday after the Committee on House Administration held a hearing as part of its review of the House’s sexual harassment policies, which he said was an “important step” to combatting sexual assault.

“Going forward, the House will adopt a policy of mandatory anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training for all members and staff,” he said. “Our goal is not only to raise awareness, but also make abundantly clear that harassment in any form has no place in this institution.”

During the review, two members of Congress, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., and Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., shared reports that colleagues sexually harassed staffers and others within the House.

“These harasser propositions such as, ‘are you going to be a good girl?’ to perpetrators exposing their genitals, to victims having their private parts grabbed on the House floor. All they ask as staff members is to be able to work in a hostile-free work environment. They want the system fixed, and the perpetrators held accountable,” Speier said.

She added she had been told two sitting members of Congress had allegedly engaged in sexual harassment.

“I have had numerous meetings with phone calls with staffers, both present and former, women and men who have been subjected to this inexcusable and often illegal behavior,” she said. “In fact, there are two members of Congress, Republican and Democrat, right now, who … have engaged in sexual harassment.”

Comstock said she recently had been informed of a current member of Congress who exposed himself to a female staffer who was delivering materials to his home.

“There is a new recognition of this problem and the need for change of culture that looks the other way because of who the offenders are,” she said. “Whether it’s Bill Cosby, Bill O’Reilly, Mark Halperin, Roger Ailes, Kevin Spacey or one of our own, it’s time to say no more.”

Ryan said the House will work to install proper policies to combat sexual harassment as its review of the matter continues.

“As we work with the administration, ethics, and rules committees to implement mandatory training, we will continue our review to make sure the right policies and resources are in place to prevent and report harassment,” he said.

Drug Cartels Upped the Game with Weaponized Drones

Posted on November 15, 2017November 15, 2017 by Denise Simon

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Police in Mexico pulled over four men in a pickup truck near the city of Salamanca in Guanajuato state on October 20 and got a nasty surprise. Along with an AK-47 assault rifle, the men had in their possession an unmanned aerial vehicle fitted with a “large explosive device” and a remote detonator.

That’s right: a weaponized drone.

Police didn’t say whether they suspected the men of ties to drug cartels. But Guanajuato is currently contested by several drug gangs, including the Sinaloa cartel, Los Zetas, and Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación, or CJNG, according to Dr. Robert Bunker, a fellow with Small Wars Journal, a military trade publication.

ISIS set up factories in Iraq and Syria to modify mortar bombs—basically, small artillery shells—to fit on small drones. During intensive fighting in the Iraqi city of Mosul in February, ISIS’s drones were “the main problem” for coalition troops, Captain Ali, an Iraqi officer, told War Is Boring.

The cartels, for their part, have been using so-called “potato bombs”—hand-grenade-size improvised explosive devices—in attacks on each other and authorities. Bunker said the explosive the police found alongside the drone in Guanajuato is “consistent” with a potato bomb.

The cartels could also draw inspiration from online-retailer Amazon and its delivery drones. “As both Islamic State and Amazon have shown, small drones are an efficient way of carrying a payload to a target,” said Nick Waters, a former British Army officer and independent drone expert. “Whether that payload is your new book or several hundred grams of explosive is up to the sender.”

But don’t panic, Waters and other experts said. Drug cartels were plenty dangerous before they weaponized flying robots. Potato bomb-hauling drones might just give narcos more options for perpetrating crimes they are perfectly capable of pulling off some other way. “Considering their already impressive traditional capability, I think this will probably be another tool rather than a game-changing capability,” Waters said.

You should be “no more worried than you should be by cartels also using machine guns, car bombs, machetes, etc,” Singer said. More here.

New report shows how Mexican cartels are infiltrating Texas

Mexican cartels smuggle more drugs into the U.S. than any other criminal group, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration said in a new report.

The 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment released in October lists six cartels as having major influences across the country and Texas.

Cartels’ influence in Texas is far-reaching, affecting cities hundreds of miles from the state’s border with Mexico.

San Antonio is the only city in the state with a drug trade controlled by the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, which deals mostly with methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana, according to the DEA.

The Gulf Cartel has a hold on cities in Texas’ tip and coastal bend. McAllen, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Galveston, Houston and Beaumont are impacted most by the Gulf Cartel which mostly brings marijuana and cocaine into the area, according to the DEA. Drugs smuggled through the Gulf Cartel are mostly brought in through the area between the Rio Grande Valley and South Padre Island.

Every week in Houston, a relative of a Gulf Cartel leader receives 100 kilograms of cocaine, according to the DEA.

Moving West, Los Zetas control two cities and the Juarez Cartel has a hold on Alpine, Midland, El Paso and Lubbock.

While the arrests of two Los Zetas leaders has weakened the cartel’s influence on Eagle Pass and Laredo, its presence is still felt because of members who have assumed control, bringing cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into Texas.

The Sinaloa Cartel, formerly run by prison escape artist Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman,” is most found in Dallas, Lubbock and Fort Worth, according to the DEA.

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The FY 2017 OCDETF Program Budget Request comprises 2,975 positions, 2,902 FTE,

and $522.135 million in funding for the Interagency Crime and Drug Enforcement (ICDE)

Appropriation, to be used for investigative and prosecutorial costs associated with OCDETF cases targeting high-level criminal drug and money laundering networks as well as priority transnational poly-crime organizations whose primary criminal activity may not necessarily be drug-related. Go here to read the full report.

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Simpson/Dossier Testimony and Why these Wire Transfers?

Posted on November 15, 2017November 15, 2017 by Denise Simon

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Primer: FNC: The co-founder of the firm behind the anti-Trump ‘dossier’ told House investigators Tuesday that he personally discussed with members of the media allegations of Trump-Russia collusion, though he did not speak to the sources behind the claims, a source told Fox News.

According to a source familiar with the matter, Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson refused to answer key questions during his seven-hour, closed-door appearance before the House Intelligence Committee. The source said he would not answer questions on his relationship with specific journalists or ties to the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign, which financed the anti-Trump research via the law firm Perkins Coie.

But the source said Simpson acknowledged he did not personally look into certain aspects of the dossier — which was authored by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and contained salacious allegations about the Trump team’s ties to Russia.

Simpson told investigators he never spoke to the underlying sources of the document, never traveled to Russia and did not verify the dossier beyond comparing the claims to “open source” media reporting.

The source said Simpson also told investigators he was “upset” when then FBI Director James Comey re-opened the Hillary Clinton email investigation in late October 2016, and Simpson wanted to push back.

Simpson’s appearance was arranged last week in coordination with his attorneys.

The committee initially sought to subpoena Simpson, but withdrew it in exchange for his voluntary testimony.

“Throughout this entire year, the White House and its allies on the Hill and elsewhere have attempted at every turn to smear Fusion GPS because of its connection to the Steele Dossier,” Simpson’s attorney Joshua Levy said Tuesday.

He said Steele and Simpson briefed reporters on the dossier, but neither Simpson nor Fusion GPS paid members of the media to publish stories of any kind. The House Intelligence Committee is back in court Wednesday as Fusion tries to prevent the release of its bank records.

Levy, however, said the dossier is solid.

“What they did do is they contracted with Christopher Steele. … This experienced British intelligence official came back with a report. That now in hindsight looks quite accurate,” Levy said.

Fox News reported earlier this month that Simpson met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya before and after the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and others.

Fox News reported that, during that period, bank records show Fusion GPS was paid by a law firm for work on behalf of a Kremlin-linked oligarch while also paying Steele to dig up dirt on Trump.

But Levy said his client was “shocked and surprised” when he learned in media accounts about the Trump Tower meeting and her presence.

The FBI is examining why Russia transferred nearly $400,000 to its embassies ‘to finance’ the ‘election campaign of 2016’

The FBI is reviewing a series of wire transfers totaling more than $380,000 sent in August and September of last year by the Russian government to its embassies around the world — most with the memo “to finance election campaign of 2016” — BuzzFeed News reported on Tuesday.

It is unclear which “election campaign” the money was for — the US campaign was in full swing, but Russia’s lower house of Parliament was also set to hold an election on September 18.

The funds were transferred to about 60 embassies worldwide from August 3 to September 20, 2016, according to BuzzFeed News. At least one transaction originated from VTB Bank, the report said.

VTB, which is majority-owned by the Kremlin and was sanctioned by the US in 2014, transferred $30,000 to the Citibank account of Russia’s Washington, DC, embassy on August 3, prompting the bank to examine VTB’s other transactions over the same period.

Citibank would then have been required to inform the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, if it noticed any suspicious activity.

The Senate Intelligence Committee, which BuzzFeed News says has been made aware of the wire transfers, asked the Treasury for its FinCEN records in April, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time. It received over 2,000 documents from the financial-crimes unit, which monitors over 200 million Bank Secrecy Act records involving more than 80,000 financial institutions.

A dossier compiled by the former British spy Christopher Steele alleging ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Moscow claimed that Russian “diplomatic staff” paid “relevant assets” to provide “a two-way flow of intelligence and other useful information.”

“Source E claimed that Russian diplomatic staff in key cities such as New York, Washington DC and Miami were using the emigre ‘pension’ distribution system as cover,” the dossier reads. “The operation therefore depended on key people in the US Russian emigre community for its success. Tens of thousands of dollars were involved.”

The congressional intelligence committees have been examining the dossier’s claims as part of their investigations into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to influence the outcome of the election.

The special counsel Robert Mueller is leading a parallel investigation into Russia’s election interference. Mueller began hiring lawyers in June with extensive experience in dealing with fraud, racketeering, and other financial crimes. Late last month, the Trump campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his longtime business associate Rick Gates were indicted by a grand jury as a result of charges stemming from the investigation.

Mueller’s team is reportedly scrutinizing a meeting in December between Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, and Sergey Gorkov, the CEO of another sanctioned Russian bank, Vnesheconombank.