Tag: espionage

Chinese Spy Ring busted At Ft. Lewis, Washington

It looks like this is the tip of the Iceberg – and this is what happens when DEI takes over counterintelligence.

Counterintelligence is a vital but weird career field. I always say that “Jesus James Angleton was wrong. There wasn’t a spy inside the CIA. There were actually four”. Those four were Aldrich Ames, Larry Wu-tai Chin, Robert Hanssen, and Ana Montes. The last two were FBI and DIA, but were inside the intelligence community and part of the problem.

Ever since Jesus James Angleton, the MAGA Spy Catcher inside CIA, retired, counterintelligence has become a cesspool of dysfunction with extreme over reliance on the cult of the polygraph.

The poster children in the failure of the polygraph and the victory of DEI is NSA’s Reality Winner and CIA’s Asif Rahman. They passed their full scope polygraphs, yet had deep seated anti-Americanism in their blood. But they passed and immediately started spilling Top Secret information.

Now at Ft. Lewis Washington we have a serious problem.

“Sgt. Jian Zhao and Lt. Li Tian are soldiers based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and Ruoyu Duan is a former U.S. soldier who was active between 2013 and 2017, according to federal court documents. All three were arrested this week on charges of handing over classified information to Chinese agents for as much as $50,000.”

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FBI Arrests Three U.S. Service Members for Treason, Allegedly Selling Military Secrets to China

The FBI made a major announcement on Friday, revealing that three U.S. service members have been arrested and charged with treason for allegedly attempting to sell classified military intelligence to agents of the Chinese government. 

Two active-duty U.S. Army soldiers and a former soldier were arrested after they were accused of conspiring to transmit sensitive national defense information to Chinese agents, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). 

The DOJ identified the suspects as Jian Zhao and Li Tian, both active-duty soldiers stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Ruoyu Duan, a former U.S. Army soldier. The three were accused of conspiring to transmit sensitive national defense information to Chinese agents, endangering U.S. national security.

The indictment alleges that Zhao began planning to sell classified intelligence in July 2024. He is accused of transmitting “SECRET” and “TOP SECRET” materials to individuals connected to China, including sensitive data related to U.S. military capabilities. 

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Hochul’s Former Aide Faces New Charges In Chinese Spy Case

Linda Sun, former deputy chief of staff to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Sun’s husband, Chris Hu, are facing additional charges in a case that alleges they acted as agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Sun and Hu were arrested and charged in September 2024 in a case that is part of the Department of Justice’s broader effort to root out communist China’s secret agents, who U.S. officials say are covertly advancing the CCP’s interests and targeting Chinese dissidents on U.S. soil in an effort known as transnational repression.

On Feb. 11, Sun and Hu pleaded not guilty at a hearing in Brooklyn federal court, prosecutors said, adding that the money laundering charge against the two had been amended to include additional legal statutes.

Hu also pleaded not guilty to three additional money laundering counts, according to prosecutors.

A superseding indictment filed on Feb. 4 didn’t provide more details other than saying that Hu’s charges were connected to three separate financial transactions totaling $1.5 million in 2020.

A spokesperson for federal prosecutors declined to comment beyond what was stated in the superseding indictment.

Jarrod Schaeffer, one of Sun’s attorneys, said the revised indictment also does not “remedy critical errors identified in the prior indictment.”

Sun and Hu remain free on bond and are scheduled to return to court on April 23.

Last year, Sun was charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy. Hu was charged with money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and misuse of means of identification.

Sun, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, worked for the New York state government under Hochul and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for about 15 years. During her political career, she held various posts, including deputy superintendent for intergovernmental affairs, chief diversity officer at the state’s Department of Financial Services, deputy chief diversity officer and director of Asian American Affairs for the state’s Executive Chamber, and director of external affairs for Global NY at Empire State Development.

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Former Federal Reserve Adviser Arrested For Passing Trade Secrets To China

John Harold Rogers, 63, of Vienna, Virginia, a former Senior Adviser for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (FRB), was arrested today on charges that he conspired to steal Federal Reserve trade secrets for the benefit of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

            In furtherance of the conspiracy, Rogers allegedly made false statements to the Federal Reserve Board Office of Inspector General, and those false statements had a material impact on its investigation.

            The indictment, unsealed today, was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr.,  FBI Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the Washington Field Office, and John T. Perez, Special Agent in Charge, Headquarters Operations, Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (FRB-CFPB OIG).

            “President Trump tasks us with protecting our fellow Americans from all enemies, foreign and domestic. As alleged in the indictment, this defendant leveraged his position within the Federal Reserve to pass sensitive financial information to the Chinese government, a designated foreign adversary,” said U.S. Attorney Martin. “Let this indictment serve as a warning to all who seek to betray or exploit the United States: law enforcement will find you and hold you accountable.”

            “The Chinese Communist Party has expanded its economic espionage campaign to target U.S. government financial policies and trade secrets in an effort to undermine the U.S. and become the sole superpower,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg. “Today’s indictment represents the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protect U.S. national security interests and U.S. jobs and to bring to justice those who are willing to betray their country for personal gain.”

            “This indictment sends a clear message that those who deliberately misuse sensitive Federal Reserve information for their own personal gain and lie about it to investigators will be held accountable for their actions,” said John T. Perez, Special Agent in Charge of Headquarters Operations FRB-CFPB OIG.

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A Republic of Spies

In 2021, to his credit, President Joe Biden warned the American public against the dangers of zero-click spyware manufactured by an Israeli corporation. Zero-click is unwanted software that can expose the entire contents of one’s mobile or desktop device to prying eyes without tricking one into clicking on to a link. Biden banned its importation and use in the United States.

Last week, as an inducement to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the Israel/Hamas ceasefire agreement, President Donald Trump secretly agreed to lift the embargo on zero-click.

Here is the backstory.

Though America has employed spies since the Revolutionary War, until the modern era, spying was largely limited to wartime. That changed when America became a surveillance state in 1947 with the public establishment of the Central Intelligence Agency and the secret creation of its counterparts.

The CIA’s stated public task at its inception was to spy on the Soviet Union and its satellite countries so that American officials could prepare for any adverse actions by them. This was the time of the Red Scare, in which both Republicans and Democrats fostered the Orwellian belief that America needed a foreign adversary.

We had just helped the Russians defeat Germany in World War II, and our Russian ally – which was bankrupt and had just lost 27 million troops and civilians – suddenly became so strong it needed to be kept in check. The opening salvo in this absurd argument was fired by President Harry Truman in August 1945 when he used nuclear bombs intentionally to target civilians of an already defeated Japan. One of his targets was a Roman Catholic cathedral.

But his real target – so to speak – was his new friend, Joe Stalin.

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Suspected Chinese Spy Is Fiancé of California Councilwoman

A California councilwoman is the fiancée of a man accused of peddling political influence on behalf of the Chinese regime, court records show.

The man, Mike Sun, has allegedly worked with a recently sentenced Chinese agent to advance the Chinese regime’s political interests in Los Angeles. Court documents suggest the two have worked closely for years to align U.S. policy interests with Beijing on sensitive issues, with the Chinese agent Chen Jun telling Chinese officials that Sun—and the councilwoman—were part of a “basic team dedicated for us.”

Sun is also known as Sun Yaoning. Court records show that he is a former Chinese army member. He was the campaign manager for Eileen Wang in 2022, the year she won the city council seat for Arcadia in Los Angeles County with nearly two-thirds of the vote, prosecutors said.

Helping Wang win the midterm election, Sun said in a draft report to Chinese officials, was his proudest achievement as someone who “persist[s] in resisting any hostile forces that undermine the friendship of US-China relations, and Chinese secessionist forces,” according to federal prosecutors.

A review of the court records, public information, and business filings reveals the personal connections between Wang and Sun, who have engaged in several ventures together, including a U.S.-based media group, business entities, and multiple pro-Beijing organizations.

One of them is the American Southwest Chamber of Commerce, a Los Angeles nonprofit Wang founded in 2018 that purports to “promote communication of American southwest people of China,” according to business filings.

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It Turns Out Fang Fang Wasn’t the Only Chi Com Spy in California Politics

California is fertile ground for what the Chinese Communist Party spies call “elite capture” of American politicians. It didn’t begin or end with California Congressman Eric Swalwell’s Fang Fang, either, not by a long shot. 

There’s Joe and Hunter Biden’s cozy relationship and payoffs from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-connected corporations; California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s 20-year-long relationship with her aide and chauffeur, the Chinese spy; California Congressman Eric Swalwell’s paramour and political advisor Fang Fang; a former anti-Second Amendment California state senator who brokered guns to the underworld; and now this. 

Now, a campaign manager for a 2022 California city council candidate is in the FBI crosshairs. 

The FBI reported that an unnamed city council member in an undesignated city won office in 2022 with the help of a Chinese spy. Reading the entrails left behind in the somewhat cryptic 24-page indictment, the effort shows the spying happened in San Bernardino’s Chino Hills —since the spy claimed to have lived with the council member. 

The unidentified Chino Hills 2022 City Council candidate, who was an apparent pawn of the Chi-Coms whether he knew it or not, was not indicted. The FBI says the investigation continues.

The council member’s campaign manager, who claimed to live at the candidate’s home, is Mr. Yaoning “Mike” Sun. Sun worked with his PRC handler in L.A., John Chen, and a “Big Boss” in the PRC and acted as unregistered foreign agents in the U.S. 

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PRC Espionage: Are Chinese Americans Their Top Recruitment Targets?

On November 1, 2018 then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the launch of the “China Initiative” – a whole-of-government effort ostensibly designed to thwart espionage and technology theft by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Chinese American groups and activists immediately denounced the program as racially biased and its investigations improperly predicated, and in 2021 two studies provided them with ample proof that their allegations were correct.

The first was a study showing how rare it was for Chinese Americans to actually engage in espionage on behalf of the PRC. The second study chronicled the extremely high number of “China Initiative” cases that resulted in acquittals or dismissed cases. In late February 2022, the Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen announced the Department was ending the program, with Olsen telling a George Mason University crowd that he had “concluded that this initiative was not the right approach” to combatting PRC espionage and technology theft.

Three months later, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) issued a report that dealt in part with the question of whether or not PRC intelligence organizations prioritized the recruitment of Chinese Americans for spying or tech theft. That report, which was mandated by Congress, made a categorical statement about PRC intelligence asset targeting and recruitment strategy:

“It is the IC’s assessment that while the PRC promotes the false narrative that individuals of Chinese descent owe some allegiance to the PRC, neither race nor ethnicity is the primary criterion utilized by the PRC’s intelligence services in their recruitment of intelligence assets.”

But is this true? A recent trove of documents released to the Cato Institute via a Freedom of Information Act request leaves the question of whether the PRC targets Chinese Americans as potential agents.

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Mossad behind Italian ‘blackmail’ spying scandal

An Italian private intelligence firm that allegedly hacked government databases to collect information on thousands of prominent people, including politicians, entrepreneurs, and celebrities, is accused of working for Israeli intelligence and the Vatican, media reported on 30 October.

Police wiretaps leaked to Italian media show that Equalize, which employs former members of Italian intelligence, is accused of breaching the servers of government ministries and the police between 2019 and 2024 to collect information.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Equalize allegedly collected numerous classified files that contain sensitive information about prominent Italians to sell to clients – including major companies and law firms seeking information to gain an advantage over competitors, win court cases, or for blackmail and extortion.

Prime Minister Meloni described the alleged scheme as “unacceptable” and “a threat to democracy.”

At least four people are currently under arrest, while dozens more are under investigation. Fearing that Equalize may have obtained state secrets, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto ordered an urgent parliamentary investigation. 

Corsetto added that the stolen personal information was just the “tip of the iceberg.”

Politico reported that according to the leaked wiretaps, members of the hacking network met with two Israeli agents at the firm’s office in Milan in February 2023 to discuss a deal worth 1 million euros.

“The job was a cyber operation against Russian targets, including President Vladimir Putin’s unidentified ‘right-hand man,’ and unearthing the financial trail leading from the bank accounts of wealthy figures to the Russian mercenary group Wagner. The information was then supposed to be passed on to the Vatican,” Politico wrote.

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Suspected Iranian Spy Ariane Tabatabai Receives a Pentagon Promotion

Ariane Tabatabai, a Pentagon official whose troubling links to the Iranian regime were revealed more than a year ago and who is reportedly suspected of being behind the leak of top secret US intelligence documents related to Israel, is no longer chief of staff for Assistant Secretary of Defense Christopher Maier.

Politico reports that Tabatabai has been promoted to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Education and Training, a position she’s (also) completely unqualified for:

ARIANE TABATABAI is now the deputy assistant secretary of defense for force education and training within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, a position she was offered last month. She was previously chief of staff for assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict.

Note that Politico pointedly asserts that Tabatabai was offered the position last month, likely in an attempt to make people believe that this move wasn’t in response to the document leak.

In her position as chief of staff to Maier, Tabatabai had access to extremely sensitive intelligence assessments because of what Maier’s role entails:

ASD(SO/LIC) oversees and advocates for Special Operations and Irregular Warfare throughout the Department of Defense to ensure these capabilities are resourced, ready, and properly employed in accordance with the National Defense Strategy. In this role, the ASD:

  • Exercises authority, direction, and control of all special operations peculiar issues relating to the organization, training, and equipping of special operations forces
  • Is the Principal Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict Official within the senior management of DoD
  • Sits in the chain-of-command above USSOCOM for special operations-peculiar administrative matters; provides civilian oversight of the SOF enterprise.
  • Advises, Assists, and Supports the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy on Special Operations and Irregular Warfare policy matters.

A defense official with knowledge of the investigation told RedState on Saturday evening that investigators believe that the top secret documents related to Israel’s activity/preparations to strike Iran that were leaked to an Iranian-linked Telegram channel were leaked by Tabatabai, and Sky News Arabic reported the same on Monday. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters Wednesday, though, that, “There’s no OSD official being named as a part of this investigation.”

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