DIA: Ron Rockwell Hansen, Pleads Guilty

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We can’t know the extent of insider threats. The matter of China infecting our intelligence agencies and paying for spying continues.

Frankly, as compared to Jonathan Pollard, 180 months in prison for Hansen is hardly enough. Pollard was released after 30 years but remains on house detention. Pollard aided an steadfast ally, Israel….China is hardly a friendly country to the United States.

Man Who Tried To Spy For China To Face Charges In Utah | KUER 90.1

Anyway….

SALT LAKE CITY – A former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer, taken into federal custody by the FBI in June 2018 as he was preparing to board a flight to China, pleaded guilty Friday afternoon to attempting to communicate, deliver, or transmit information involving the national defense of the United States to the People’s Republic of China.

Ron Rockwell Hansen, 59, a resident of Syracuse, Utah, entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge Dee Benson in Salt Lake City.  The plea agreement includes a stipulated sentence of 180 months, subject to the approval of the Court. Sentencing in the case is set for Sept. 24, 2019, at 2 p.m.

Hansen pleaded guilty to the lead count of a 15-count indictment returned in June 2018, charging him with attempt to gather or deliver defense information, acting as an agent of a foreign government, bulk cash smuggling, structuring monetary transactions, and smuggling goods from the United States.  Federal prosecutors will ask the Court to dismiss the remaining counts of the indictment at sentencing, however, the plea agreement includes an agreement that relevant conduct can be considered by the Court in determining the reasonableness of the sentence.

Hansen retired from the U.S. Army as a Warrant Officer with a background in signals intelligence and human intelligence.  He speaks fluent Mandarin-Chinese and Russian, according to court documents. Upon retiring from active duty, DIA hired Hansen as a civilian intelligence case officer in 2006. Hansen held a Top Secret clearance for many years, and signed several non-disclosure agreements during his tenure at DIA and as a government contractor.
As Hansen admitted in the plea agreement, in early 2014, agents of a Chinese intelligence service targeted him for recruitment, and he began meeting with them regularly in China.  During these meetings, the agents described to Hansen the type of information that would interest Chinese intelligence.  Hansen stipulated that during the course of his relationship with Chinese intelligence, he received thousands of dollars in compensation for information he provided them.

Between May 24, 2016, and June 2, 2018, Hansen admitted he solicited national security information from an intelligence case officer working for the DIA.  Hansen admitted knowing that the Chinese intelligence services would find the information valuable, and he agreed to act as a conduit to sell that information to the Chinese.  He advised the DIA case officer how to record and transmit classified information without detection, and how to hide and launder any funds received as payment for classified information.  He admitted he now understands that the DIA case officer reported his conduct to the DIA and subsequently acted as a confidential human source for the FBI.

Hansen admitted meeting with the DIA case officer on June 2, 2018, and receiving individual documents containing national defense information that he had previously solicited.  The documents he received were classified. The documents included national security information related to U.S. military readiness in a particular region — information closely held by the federal government. Hansen did not possess a security clearance nor did he possess a need to know the information contained in the materials.

As a part of his plea agreement, Hansen admitted he reviewed the documents, queried the case officer about their contents, and took written notes which contained information determined to be classified.  He advised the DIA case officer that he would remember most of the details about the documents he received that day and would conceal notes about the material in the text of an electronic document he would prepare at the airport before leaving for China.  He admitted he intended to provide the information he received to the agents of the Chinese Intelligence Service with whom he had been meeting.  He also admitted knowing that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of a foreign nation.

Hansen was arrested June 2, 2018, on his way to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle, Wash., to board a connecting flight to China.

As a part of the plea agreement, Hansen has agreed to forfeit property acquired from or traceable to his offense, including property used to facilitate the crime.

The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert A. Lund, Karin Fojtik, Mark K. Vincent and Alicia Cook of the District of Utah, and Trial Attorneys Patrick T. Murphy, Matthew J. McKenzie and Adam L. Small of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.  Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington assisted with this case.

The prosecution is the result of an investigation by special agents of the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Army Counterintelligence, and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

US Media Compares to Joseph Goebbels’ Operations

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Ah yes….Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda for Nazi, Germany from 1933 to 1945. His job was to only present favorable stories for a positive image of the regime and to spread hate of the Jews. He used radio, literature, music, textbooks, printed posters/newspapers and theater to display the propaganda. He too was responsible for burning books….beginning to sound familiar?

Media and Marxist activist groups in the United States are all pounding the same drumbeat, pro-socialism, parts of stories and holding others that don’t fit the agenda.

Can you count the ways, the methods and the media outlets like the Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC and those pesky websites like Media Matters…..

Well, when Reuters reports on Reuters…..take notice. Senator Cruz took notice.

So, the Reuters backstory goes like this…even their summary is lacking but try it anyway…

(When Reuters held the story, obviously people still have not read it when they did publish it as Beto was able to raise $6.1 million in the first 24 hours of campaign announcement. He beat Bernie and all the other 2020 contenders…..sigh)

Maybe it is just cool to campaign on a restaurant counter.

Jay Ambrose: How Beto O'Rourke could become president ...

Or the he skateboards onto a stage.

Presidential?

(Reuters) – Reuters reporter Joseph Menn exclusively revealed on Friday that Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke belonged to one of the best-known groups of computer hackers as a teenager.

Within minutes, his special report was the most popular story on Reuters.com here and was picked up by other news outlets. But the origin of the story goes back more than two years.

Members of the group, which calls itself Cult of the Dead Cow, protected O’Rourke’s secret for decades, reluctant to compromise the former Texas Congressman’s political career.

After more than a year of reporting, Menn persuaded O’Rourke to talk on the record. In an interview in late 2017, O’Rourke acknowledged that he was a member of the group, on the understanding that the information would not be made public until after his Senate race against Ted Cruz in November 2018.

Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, 46, speaks with supporters during a three day road trip across Iowa, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S., March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Ben Brewer

In an interview with Reuters senior producer Jane Lee, Menn explains how he broke the story and got O’Rourke to open up about his hacking days.

“I decided to write a book about the Cult of the Dead Cow because they were the most interesting and influential hacking group in history. They illustrated a lot of the things that I think are fascinating about hacking and security work.

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“While I was looking into the Cult of the Dead Cow, I found out that they had a member who was sitting in Congress. I didn’t know which one. But I knew that they had a member of Congress.

“And then I figured out which one it was. And the members of the group wouldn’t talk to me about who it was. They wouldn’t confirm that it was this person unless I promised that I wouldn’t write about it until after the November election. That’s because the member of Congress had decided to run for Senate. Beto O’Rourke is who it was.

“I met Beto O’Rourke. I said ‘I’m writing a book about Cult of the Dead Cow, I think it’s really interesting. I know you were in this group. This book is going to publish after November and your Senate race is over. And he said, ‘OK.’

“And he told me about his time in the Cult of the Dead Cow.”

Menn explains more about the story on Twitter @josephmenn twitter.com/josephmenn

Where did Some of Venezuela’s Gold Show up?

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Uganda?

Remember that Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro is a virtual puppet of Cuba. Going back years, during the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution, Chavez hosted President Yoweri Museveni, then president of Uganda. Cuba was known over the years to give scholarships to Ugandans. The relationship is long and deep.

Then as recently as February of 2019, the Kampala is allegedly investigating that top Venezuelan politicians are using Ugandan passports to smuggle key people out of Venezuela into China and possibly other countries that stand with the Maduro regime.

Further, Venezuela attempted to removed some of their gold reserves parked in Britain, worth an estimated $1.2 billion, were denied at the behest of the United States. The 8 tons gold residing in Venezuela was in fact removed this past February to an unknown location. However, in 2018, at least 23 tonnes of mined gold was transported from Venezuela to Turkey by plane.

Maduro is attempting to sell gold on the international market to pay for basic needs for his country’s elite. Last February, an Abu Dhabi company known as Noor Capital bought 3 tons of Venezuelan gold. Since oil production in Venezuela has dropped significantly and sales on the global market have dropped, gold is the next avenue to generate immediate funds.

Venezuela Gold Reserves

Venezuela Gold Reserves

China and Russia are looking for exclusive oil deals from Venezuela due to the US sanctions. In fact, PDVSA, the Venezuelan oil operation is opening an office in Russia.

Ugandan authorities are investigating unexplained imports of 7.4 tonnes of gold worth US$300 million that is suspected of originating with President Maduro’s regime in Venezuela.

goldAnalysts claim Uganda is a gold smuggling hub (Photo: Agnico-Eagle, CC-Zero)The investigation is centred on African Gold Refinery (AGR), the country’s largest refinery, Reuters reported on Wednesday. AGR confirmed that the gold arrived from South America but rejected claims of smuggling.

“All our transactions are legal and well documented,” the company said in a statement to OCCRP, dismissing the allegations as “fake news.”

Fred Enanga, a spokesman for Uganda’s police, told Reuters that AGR received two shipments of 3.8 and 3.6 tonnes at the beginning of March however neither passed through official customs entry points.

Police raided AGR premises on March 7 but found the lighter batch had disappeared.

Flights this month from Caracas to Entebbe have raised suspicions that Nicolas Maduro’s government is smuggling gold out of the country and selling it to traders in Africa and the Middle East in an attempt to prop up its sanctions-hit economy.

An airline source told The Times that a European charter company was contracted to fly four tonnes of gold from Caracas to Entebbe early this year.

The Venezuelan opposition previously claimed a jet owned by Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza transported gold to Greece. Alexis Tsipras, Greece’s prime minister, is one of the few European leaders still supporting Maduro.

Venezuela’s ambassador to Greece, Freddy Fernández, denied the reports.

“It is foolish to believe that the Venezuelan foreign minister himself was taking the gold out of the country. The story is part of a concerted attack against our country,” he told the Greek news outlet Efimerida ton Syntakton.

Investigators are looking to establish where the gold came from, who owns it and how it was shipped into the country, he said.

Uganda has become a regional smuggling hub for gold with corruption and widespread mismanagement proving profitable for officials and international investors, a report from Global Witness claims.

AGR was accused of facilitating gold smuggling from conflict regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo in an investigation by The Sentry, an African financial investigations organization co-founded by actor George Clooney.

AGR Chief Executive Officer, Alain Goetz denied the accusations, calling it “yet another pathetic attempt to destroy the much-needed reforms and changes needed in the African gold industry.”

Meet Maduro’s Gang: the Colectivos

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Not only does Maduro while struggling to hold on to power in Venezuela make full use of 25,000 Cuban military forces along with a security team provided by Putin known as the Wagner Group, but Maduro terrorizes his own citizens by deploying his ‘colectivos’.

¿Los llamamos colectivos armados? por @atilanolinares – El ...

Really?

Yes, they are rather like his own armada on motorcycles. And they too patrol the border between Venezuela and Columbia. The colectivos have been around for quite a while, in fact they were salaried going back to the Chavez regime. They have cell or branch operations in and around Caracas. They tell the media and citizens their job is to clean up corruption, enforce laws and to assist the police. Yeah….SURE.

It is likely that the colectivos also coordinate with the FAES, that is supposed to be the Venezuelan police but actually most of them come from the Bolivian government under orders. Nonetheless, all of these groups continue to believe in and carry on the Chavez revolution.

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Negotiating with Maduro to get him to leave power and move to a sunny island as John Bolton suggested hardly means there will be peace after his departure given the marxist/communist operations that will remain. The interim president, Guido with the help of almost 80 countries will hardly have an easy transition to any new government.

The colectivos are not a gang but rather a Maduro/Chavez sanctioned paramilitary unit. They operate in every part of Venezuelan society, including schools, courts, retail stores and in hospitals. They control sports, provide food and humanitarian needs, television and radio and control community centers. Sounds rather like al Qaeda or Islamic State, doesn’t it? Many of the colectivos received training from FARC. That was/is the terror group that Obama and John Kerry negotiated with that was/is based in Columbia. (they still operate today, by the way)

The Venezuelan colectivo known as "La Piedrita" does not hide its admiration for the FARC or Raúl Reyes.

The colectivos have direct access to the government resources including intelligence, money and weapons and tear gas. Many of them work during various shifts for the Maduro and the Bolivian government. Under approval of Maduro, the colectivos deal in the sale and distribution of drugs, gambling and extort anyone they can.

 

 

 

Introducing the Cheollima Civil Defense

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Do you wonder if anyone in North Korea wants to overthrow the Premier Leader, Kim Jong Un? The answer is yes.

What does Madrid, Spain have to do with North Korea? The constant communications channels betwee the United States and North Korea are centered in Madrid, where Kim Hyok Chol, a former ambassador is based. What is not reported is the North Korean embassy in Madrid was raided last month. Eight people inside were beaten and interrogated by a group of alleged thugs just before the Trump Un summit. Embassy employees were gagged and computers along with cell phones were stolen and the attackers apparently sped away from the embassy in diplomatic vehicles. Police did investigate after calls were made to law enforcement.

photo

Oh yeah, there are many that are aware of this event that are blaming the CIA.

But hold on, let’s go deeper.

The Cheollima Civil Defense operation was launched in 2017. This group is committed to overthrowing lil Kim. They on occasion go by another name, that being Free Joseon. In March of 2017, there was a video uploaded. Allegedly, Kim Han-sol was behind the video due in part to his father being killed in Malaysia in 2017 when 2 women attacked him at the airport, rubbing his face with the VX nerve agent.

Cheollima Civil Defense assists people attempting to defect from North Korea. By the way, the word/term Joseon is the very old historical name for Korea. There has been chatter for more than a year that the South Korea spy agency is behind Cheollima. Furthermore, the group has from time to time coordinated with the Netherlands, China and the United States for helping with security and protection.

It is thought that the leader of Cheollima, Kim Han-sol fled to the Netherlands and continues to operate from there under the local government’s protection. Other family members likely fled North Korea via Taiwan and may also be under Dutch protection.

The intrigue of diplomacy, dissidents and spying.