Trump famously distrusted intelligence officials, but he was fine with two former intelligence directors who were involved in foreign influence schemes.
What’s so striking to me about this is how country A hired a national from country B to influence country C. You probably can’t speak to how common that might be, but are you able to speak to whether that would generally be something country B’s intelligence services would have been interested in? I have to imagine that if an American living in Italy was acting as a Malaysian agent to influence Belgium, somebody in the US IC would have found that notable. Or would they have said “it’s none of our business?”
It’s just striking to me how no one has even bothered to ask Israeli intelligence officials if they had any clue, even though the response would likely be “no comment.” I sort of think it would have been bad if they knew and didn’t say anything, but also would have been bad if they didn’t know.
It’s an interesting question, and I don’t have an answer. Maybe Israel knew and didn’t care? Or was holding the knowledge for leverage? This whole case is much bigger than just Luft. Ho was involved in Africa, the indictment mentions Russia, so probably these guys crossed the radar of Israeli intel, but why Israel chose to do with the info is a big 🤷♀️
These influence operations are not benign, they cost lives. As long as Putin believes he can influence US presidential elections the war will drag on. China believes the same. $$$$ & patience.
What’s so striking to me about this is how country A hired a national from country B to influence country C. You probably can’t speak to how common that might be, but are you able to speak to whether that would generally be something country B’s intelligence services would have been interested in? I have to imagine that if an American living in Italy was acting as a Malaysian agent to influence Belgium, somebody in the US IC would have found that notable. Or would they have said “it’s none of our business?”
It’s just striking to me how no one has even bothered to ask Israeli intelligence officials if they had any clue, even though the response would likely be “no comment.” I sort of think it would have been bad if they knew and didn’t say anything, but also would have been bad if they didn’t know.
It’s an interesting question, and I don’t have an answer. Maybe Israel knew and didn’t care? Or was holding the knowledge for leverage? This whole case is much bigger than just Luft. Ho was involved in Africa, the indictment mentions Russia, so probably these guys crossed the radar of Israeli intel, but why Israel chose to do with the info is a big 🤷♀️
These influence operations are not benign, they cost lives. As long as Putin believes he can influence US presidential elections the war will drag on. China believes the same. $$$$ & patience.