Category Archives: DOJ, DC and inside the Beltway

Items SecState Pompeo Manages in Dealing with N Korea

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All is not so copacetic with North Korea. The United States has many channels of intelligence regarding North Korea and dealing with Kim Jung Un with many of the moving parts requires diplomatic artistry.
Below are but two examples and the prediction of a second summit between the United States and North Korea being noted, the logistics is a chess game.
Pompeo Meets North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un | One-News
FireEye has released a report stating the tools and techniques used by the group, “We believe APT38’s financial motivation, unique toolset, and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) observed during their carefully executed operations are distinct enough to be tracked separately from other North Korean cyber activity. There are many overlapping characteristics with other operations, known as “Lazarus” and the actor we call TEMP.Hermit; however, we believe separating this group will provide defenders with a more focused understanding of the adversary and allow them to prioritize resources and enable defense.”
In their official blog, the company further explained the distinction of the group from any other hackers out there. Foremost, the malware tools used overlap or are similar indicating the similar developer behind the scenes.
The general pattern used by APT38 was observed to be this way –
  • First, the information is gathered by targeting third-party vendors to understand the mechanics of their transactions.
  • Then, initial compromise takes place followed by internal reconnaissance, pivot to victim servers used for swift transactions.
  • After this, finally, the funds are transferred or stolen.
  • This group does not stop just there but it removes all the evidence that might help the authorities trace them back or know the exact way or methodology of the fraud.
FireEye addressed the threat the group poses to its targeted sector by stating, “APT38 is unique in that it is not afraid to aggressively destroy evidence or victim networks as part of its operations. This attitude toward destruction is probably a result of the group trying to not only cover its tracks but also to provide cover for money laundering operations.” The full 32 page report is here.
Meanwhile:

The U.S. Treasury Department last week sanctioned a Turkish company, two Turkish individuals, and a North Korean individual for violating UN sanctions on Pyongyang. These sanctions came just before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s fourth trip to North Korea in preparation for an anticipated second Trump-Kim summit.

Treasury targeted the Turkey-based company SIA Falcon International Group; the company’s chief executive officer, Huseyin Sahin; the company’s general manager, Erhan Culha; and North Korea’s economic and commercial counselor in Mongolia, Ri Song Un. The sanctions were issued pursuant to Executive Order 13551, which restricts trade in arms and luxury goods with North Korea. UN Security Council Resolution 1718 from 2006 also prohibits member states from conducting such trade.

In a press release, Treasury noted that SIA Falcon operates in Latvia. In February 2018, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) named ABLV Bank of Latvia an institution of primary money laundering concern. FinCEN noted that ABLV “institutionalized money laundering as a pillar of the bank’s business practices” and conducted illicit financial transactions for North Korean procurement or export of ballistic missiles. Treasury did not confirm, however, that SIA Falcon’s Latvian branch office used ABLV’s bank services.

Treasury’s latest sanctions came the same day as The Rodong Sinmun, a North Korean state-run newspaper, published an article lambasting U.S. sanctions policy. Just days earlier, North Korea’s foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, implored the UN Security Council to lift sanctions in response to Pyongyang’s moves to freeze missile and nuclear testing and to destroy the Punggye-ri test facility. However, until North Korea agrees to denuclearization and a full declaration of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, facilities, and capabilities, Washington has confirmed it will not ease sanctions pressure

After Secretary Pompeo’s latest trip to North Korea, Pyongyang’s media outlets suggested U.S.-North Korea relations are improving. Of course, these latest designations, as well as ongoing U.S. diplomatic efforts to ensure international compliance with UN sanctions, could stir further tensions. Despite these risks, the sanctions send a useful message to Pyongyang that the Trump administration will not back down until the Kim regime meets its core demands. Hat tip FDD.

Google Doc Notes Tech Media Censorship

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The Good Censor – GOOGLE LEAK by on Scribd

   The other cyber war…censorship.

Primer:

Google should refuse to develop a censored search engine for China, Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday while criticizing the Communist regime.

“Google should immediately end development of the ‘Dragonfly’ app that will strengthen Communist Party censorship and compromise the privacy of Chinese customers,” Pence said at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C.

Pence’s recommendation came amid a broad criticism of China’s domestic repression and international aggression. But his turn towards Google attests to how U.S. leaders also see Beijing’s relationship with American institutions as a source of unwarranted strength for Chinese leaders, even as President Trump takes a more confrontational posture towards the rising Asian power. More here.

 

Summary background on the 85 page document authored by Google and published by Breitbart:

Leaked Google documents suggest the tech giant wants increased censorship of the internet and believes other internet firms should police debate online.

The 85-page paper, leaked by a Google employee, claims that cyber harassment, racism and people venting their frustrations are ‘eroding’ free speech online.

It says that the ability to post anonymously has ’empowered’ online commenters to express their views ‘recklessly’ and ‘with abandon’.

Censoring the internet could make comment sections safer and more civil for everyone, the report concludes.

The report reads: ‘When they’re angry, people vent their frustrations.

‘But whereas people used to tell friends and family about bad experiences, the internet now provides a limitless audience for our gripes.’

Anonymity of users is also earmarked as a potential danger online, claiming that people were more likely to share abhorrent or radical views due to the lack of accountability.

Racism, hate speech, trolling and harassment are also mentioned in the extensive report, which was leaked to Breitbart.

It adds: ‘Although people have long been racist, sexist and hateful in many other ways, they weren’t empowered by the internet to recklessly express their views with abandon.’

Groups which were once minority have been emboldened to discuss their radical views online as the internet provides them with a safe space to communicate, the report suggests.

In response to the leak, Google insisted the document was not company policy, though it admitted the research was something being considered by top bosses.

Internet rights advocates said that censoring online debate risks hampering free speech and creating an environment in which the views of some groups are not tolerated by big technology firms.

Of harassment, Google says: ‘From petty name-calling to more threatening behaviour, harassment is an unwelcome component of life online for all too many users.’

It goes on to suggest that Google should monitor the tone of what is said as opposed to the content, and that the firm should not adopt a political standpoint in arguments.

‘Shifting with the times’, depending on the mood around censorship, is also not ruled out.

***

Google intends to launch a controversial censored version of its Search app for China by July 2019.

‘Dragonfly’ is a rumoured effort inside Google to develop a search engine for China that would censor certain terms and news outlets, among other things.

Outside of high-profile leaks, few details have emerged on what the search engine entails as Google has kept tight-lipped on the project.

A former Google employee warned in August of the web giant’s ‘disturbing’ plans in a letter to the US’s senate’s commerce committee.

Jack Poulson said the proposed Dragonfly website was ‘tailored to the censorship and surveillance demands of the Chinese government’.

In his letter he also claimed that discussion of the plans among Google employees had been ‘increasingly stifled’.

Mr Poulson was a senior research scientist at Google until he resigned last month in protest at the Dragonfly proposals. Read more here from DailyMail.

United States Withdraws from the Treaty of Amity/Iran

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In part:

The International Court of Justice at the United Nations has issued an “order” Tuesday demanding that the United States lift sanctions against Iran re-imposed after the Trump administration decided to pull out of a nuclear proliferation treaty inked with Iran during the Obama years.

Iran apparently requested that the ICJ force the United States to rescind measures banning the sale and transport of certain “humanitarian goods” to the region, including medical supplies, emergency food, and mechanical and airplane parts.

The Hauge, agreeing with the Iranians, issued the “blow” to the Trump White House Tuesday.

“The court finds unanimously that … the United States of America … shall remove by means of its choosing any impediments arising from the measures announced on 8 May to the free exportation to Iran of medicines and medical devices, food and agricultural commodities” chief judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said, according to the Times of India.

Yusuf added that if the United States does not lift the ban on airplane parts, there is a “potential to endanger civil aviation safety in Iran and the lives of its users.”

Why else would Iran need mechanical items?

The ICJ based its ruling on a 1955 agreement between Iran and the United States to provide certain necessary items as part of an international aid deal. Neither country recognizes the Eisenhower-era treaty; the two countries dropped diplomatic ties in the Carter administration, when Iran took a number of American diplomats hostage.

None AP

*** The United States response to this order?

WASHINGTON (AP) — In response to a U.N. court order that the U.S. lift sanctions on Iran, the Trump administration said Wednesday it was terminating a decades-old treaty affirming friendly relations between the two countries. The largely symbolic gesture highlights deteriorating relations between Washington and Tehran.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said withdrawing from the 1955 Treaty of Amity was long overdue and followed Iran “groundlessly” bringing a complaint with the International Court of Justice challenging U.S. sanctions on the basis that they were a violation of the pact.

Meanwhile, national security adviser John Bolton said the administration also was pulling out of an amendment to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations that Iran or others, notably the Palestinians, could use to sue the U.S. at The Hague-based tribunal. Bolton told reporters at the White House that the provision violates U.S. sovereignty.

“The United States will not sit idly by as baseless politicized claims are brought against us,” Bolton said. He cited a case brought to the court by the “so-called state of Palestine” challenging the move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as the main reason for withdrawing.

Bolton, who last month unleashed a torrent of criticism against the International Criminal Court, noted that previous Republican administrations had pulled out of various international agreements and bodies over “politicized cases.” He said the administration would review all accords that might subject the U.S. to prosecution by international courts or panels.

Earlier, Pompeo denounced the Iranian case before the U.N. court as “meritless” and said the Treaty of Amity was meaningless and absurd.

“The Iranians have been ignoring it for an awfully long time, we ought to have pulled out of it decades ago,” he told reporters at the State Department.

The little-known treaty with Iran was among numerous such ones signed in the wake of World War II as the Truman and Eisenhower administrations tried to assemble a coalition of nations to counter the Soviet Union. Like many of the treaties, this one was aimed at encouraging closer economic relations and regulating diplomatic and consular ties.

Its first article reads: “There shall be firm and enduring peace and sincere friendship between the United States of America and Iran.”

The treaty survived the 1979 overthrow of the Shah in Iran’s Islamic revolution and the subsequent hostage crisis that crippled American-Iranian relations for decades.

But amid a broader push to assert U.S. sovereignty in the international arena and after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal this year, the administration determined that the court case made the treaty irrelevant.

Pompeo said the ruling was a “useful point for us to demonstrate the absolute absurdity” of the treaty.

The court case is legally binding, but Pompeo said the administration would proceed with sanctions enforcement with existing exceptions for humanitarian and flight safety transactions.

“The United States has been actively engaged on these issues without regard to any proceeding before the ICJ,” he said.

At the same time, he criticized the ruling.

“We’re disappointed that the court failed to recognize that it has no jurisdiction to issue any order relating to these sanctions measures with the United States.”

The ruling said Washington must “remove, by means of its choosing, any impediments arising from” the re-imposition of sanctions to the export to Iran of medicine and medical devices, food and agricultural commodities and spare parts and equipment necessary to ensure the safety of civil aviation.

It said the exceptions mentioned by Pompeo “are not adequate to address fully the humanitarian and safety concerns” raised by Iran.

The first set of sanctions that had been eased under the terms of the nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration was reimposed in August. A second, more sweeping set of sanctions, is set to be reimposed in early November.

Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, praised the court ruling, saying on Twitter that it was “another failure for sanctions-addicted” U.S. and a “victory for rule of law.” He said it was imperative for other countries ’to collectively counter malign US unilateralism” and he accused the U.S. of being an “outlaw regime.”

The court said the case will continue and the U.S. can still challenge its jurisdiction but no date has been set for further hearings.

Syrian FM Calls for Volunteer Return of Refugees

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Syria’s Foreign Minister, Walid al-Moualem, told the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday that the country was ready for the voluntary return of refugees who fled during the conflict.

“We welcome any assistance with reconstruction from those countries that were not part of the aggression on Syria,” said al-Moualem, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister.

“The countries that offer only conditional assistance or continue to support terrorism, they are neither invited nor welcome to help.”

He said the conditions were fine for them to return, and he blamed “some western countries” for “spreading irrational fears” that prompted refugees to stay away.

“We have called upon the international community and humanitarian organizations to facilitate these returns,” he said. “They are politicizing what should be a purely humanitarian issue.”

The United States and the European Union have warned that there will be no reconstruction aid for Syria until there is a political agreement between Assad and the opposition to end the war.

UN diplomats say a recent agreement between Russia and Turkey to set up a buffer zone in the last major rebel stronghold of Idlib has created an opportunity to press ahead with political talks.

The Russian-Turkish deal averted a large-scale assault by Russian-backed Syrian forces on the province, where three million people live.

Moualem however stressed that the agreement had “clear deadlines” and expressed hope that military action will target jihadists including fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, who “will be eradicated.”

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura is hoping to soon convene the first meetings of a new committee comprised of government and opposition members to draft a post-war constitution for Syria and pave the way to elections.

Moualem laid out conditions for the Syrian government’s participation in the committee, saying the panel’s work should be restricted “to reviewing the articles of the current constitution,” and warned against interference.

Syria calls on US, French, Turkish forces to withdraw immediately

Syria’s foreign minister also denounced US, French and Turkish forces operating in his country as “occupying forces” and demanded that they leave immediately.

Moualem said the foreign forces were on Syrian soil illegally, under the pretext of fighting terrorism, and “will be dealt with accordingly.”

“They must withdraw immediately and without any conditions,” he told the assembly.

Meanwhile, as we don’t know the real number of Syrian refugees in the United States, it is estimated to be in the 20-30,000 range. But then there is the matter of Iran…. the fear of return remains. What is there to go to after 7 years of civil war?

Resettled refugee: 'I want to go back to Syria' - CNN Video

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired six ballistic missiles into eastern Syria on Monday. The strike — whose efficacy is debatable — was in response to a Sept. 22 terrorist attack on a military parade in the city of Ahvaz in southwestern Iran. Both the Islamic State, or ISIS, and a local Arab resistance group took responsibility for the attack.

Why it matters: The missile strike — allegedly coupled with bombardments from unmanned aerial vehicles — targeted the town of Hajin, near the Iraqi border. Likely because of the proximity of the strike to U.S. and coalition forces in the region fighting ISIS, a U.S. military official reportedly called the strikes, “reckless, unsafe and escalatory.” According to the spokesperson for the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, Iran also did not issue advance warning.

The background: This is the second time Iran has fired ballistic missiles at ISIS positions in Syria. In June 2017, Iran fired six short-range ballistic missiles — the same types, in fact — in response to terror attacks in Tehran. In the past year and a half, Iran has used ballistic missiles on at least three occasions to project force abroad, with Iranian Kurdish dissidents in Iraq serving as the target last month. Prior to this recent uptick, the last time Iran fired ballistic missiles outside of its territory was in 2001.

Counting all reported flight tests and military operations, Iran has launched as many as 39 ballistic missiles since agreeing to the nuclear deal in July 2015.

What’s next: A high-ranking Iranian military official claimed the missile strikes were only the “first phase” of Tehran’s broader response to the attacks. Despite pointing a finger at the U.S. and its regional partners, Iran has thus far chosen to target only ISIS.

The bottom line: In addition to displaying Iran’s missile capabilities and confidence in its missile force, these strikes indicate that Iran’s threshold for the use of ballistic missiles in military operations against foreign targets is decreasing. This means ballistic missiles will likely play a greater role in Iran’s engagements in the Middle East, making it harder to contain and deter Tehran in the region. Hat tip.

Dr. Ford did NOT have a Fear of Flying

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Perjury prosecution in the future?

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford: I Am 100% Certain Brett ...

Well it seems, the former boyfriend of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has written an official statement about the fear of flying…rather NO fear of flying.

Meanwhile, as Dr. Ford’s two lawyer are trying to tell the FBI how to conduct this supplement investigation, it appears the FBI’s work is adhering to the scope as defined by the White House. If there are other indicators that more interviews need to be completed, they authority comes from the White House. We are now hearing that the FBI report will have ONE copy only and it will be kept in a safe for Senate access. This is as the democrats don’t want the report released at all to the public as it seems Dr. Ford’s whole story and testimony is collapsing.

So, here comes Senator Booker. He among the others know the whole Dr. Ford plot to derail the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh, is calling for another nominee, whether Judge Kavanaugh is innocent or guilty. You see, the sexual allegations are proving false so the new mission to declare that Kavanaugh does not have the emotional control or intellectual acuity to be on the Supreme Court.

It should be noted that one of the pro-bono lawyers for Dr. Ford is Michael Bromwich. He also represents Andrew McCabe. Another interesting item is that letter the American Bar Association wrote endorsing Brett Kavanuagh. Well hold on. It seems there was an additional letter authored by the President of the ABA, Bob Carlson, calling for a more thorough investigation of Kavanaugh. As a result of that second letter, Ted Olson resigned his membership in the American Bar Association. He was once asked to join the Trump White House and declined. Olson is a Republican and is a founding partner of the law firm Gibson Dunn. As an aside, Ted is a registered foreign agent of Saudi Arabia.

It is quite the circle of lawyers in DC and furthermore, the wake of consequence of the Kavanaugh confirmation is spreading.

Now, once this FBI report is delivered to the Senate and kept in the ‘safe’, wonder how many Democrat senators will read the final report. Wonder how many on the left will offer a public apology to the entire Kavanaugh family and perhaps even to Dr. Ford for using her as a willing accomplice?

One big question, will this FBI report include the leak or scheme on the actions of Senator Feinstein with this whole scandal or is that a separate investigation>