Putin’s Wagner mercenary group involved in ‘training Hamas terrorists’ | World | News | https://t.co/lX7KTvPiBy https://t.co/5XJ1stULeA
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) March 9, 2024
Day: March 9, 2024
Counterintelligence agents in Germany have sprung into action after one of Vladimir Putin’s top allies in the press published an audio recording on Friday that she claimed was a conversation between German generals plotting to blow up the Crimean Bridge.
The 38-minute audio clip, first shared by RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, circulated simultaneously in Russia’s state-controlled media and among pro-Kremlin social media channels before prompting furious finger-pointing from Russia’s Foreign Ministry, which said the supposed leak was proof that British and American troops are on the ground in Ukraine.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, publicly demanded an “explanation” from Germany, noting that the lack of one would be seen as an “admission of guilt.”
The authenticity of the recording could not immediately be confirmed. But the Kremlin’s propaganda machine has been known to use audio of supposedly leaked top-secret conversations in the past to further Moscow’s agenda, famously releasing a shoddily produced, obviously scripted recording in 2015 they claimed was proof of the CIA plotting to shoot down flight MH17.
Moscow claims the conversation between Germany’s “high-ranking officers” occurred on Feb. 19, with the discussion centered on blowing up the Crimean Bridge with long-range Taurus missiles. Incidentally, the supposed “leak” of such a conversation comes as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces increasing pressure to supply Taurus missiles to Ukraine, a move he has so far come out firmly against, warning that “if used incorrectly, [Taurus missiles] could reach a target in Moscow.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking at a conference in Turkey, claimed the German generals in the recording had specifically discussed how to deliver the Taurus missiles to Ukraine without anybody noticing, so as not to upset Scholz. “I don’t know how they will explain themselves to their population,” Lavrov said.
Kremlin-controlled media started churning out furious reporting on the scandal late Friday that included the names and photos of every single German officer Moscow said was involved in the discussion.
The German Defense Ministry, meanwhile, was quoted telling Deutsche Welle that the Federal Military Counterintelligence Service had “initiated all necessary measures” to investigate whether communications between military representatives had been intercepted.
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Counterintelligence agents in Germany have sprung into action after one of Vladimir Putin’s top allies in the press published an audio recording on Friday that she claimed was a conversation between German generals plotting to blow up the Crimean Bridge.
The 38-minute audio clip, first shared by RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, circulated simultaneously in Russia’s state-controlled media and among pro-Kremlin social media channels before prompting furious finger-pointing from Russia’s Foreign Ministry, which said the supposed leak was proof that British and American troops are on the ground in Ukraine.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, publicly demanded an “explanation” from Germany, noting that the lack of one would be seen as an “admission of guilt.”
The authenticity of the recording could not immediately be confirmed. But the Kremlin’s propaganda machine has been known to use audio of supposedly leaked top-secret conversations in the past to further Moscow’s agenda, famously releasing a shoddily produced, obviously scripted recording in 2015 they claimed was proof of the CIA plotting to shoot down flight MH17.
Moscow claims the conversation between Germany’s “high-ranking officers” occurred on Feb. 19, with the discussion centered on blowing up the Crimean Bridge with long-range Taurus missiles. Incidentally, the supposed “leak” of such a conversation comes as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces increasing pressure to supply Taurus missiles to Ukraine, a move he has so far come out firmly against, warning that “if used incorrectly, [Taurus missiles] could reach a target in Moscow.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking at a conference in Turkey, claimed the German generals in the recording had specifically discussed how to deliver the Taurus missiles to Ukraine without anybody noticing, so as not to upset Scholz. “I don’t know how they will explain themselves to their population,” Lavrov said.
Kremlin-controlled media started churning out furious reporting on the scandal late Friday that included the names and photos of every single German officer Moscow said was involved in the discussion.
The German Defense Ministry, meanwhile, was quoted telling Deutsche Welle that the Federal Military Counterintelligence Service had “initiated all necessary measures” to investigate whether communications between military representatives had been intercepted.
Get the Daily Beast’s biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.
Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast’s unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Former FBI official: Similarities between Biden and Hillary Clinton reports ‘nauseating’ | The Hill https://t.co/ABWVEau77U
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) March 9, 2024
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Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe argued Friday that the special counsel’s report on President Biden’s retention of classified documents while vice president has “nauseating similarities” with findings from the agency’s 2016 investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails.
While special counsel Robert Hur’s 388-page report, released Thursday, found Biden “willfully” kept the documents after leaving the White House, no charges were brought against the president. Hur, in his release, remarked that Biden is “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” which has drawn scrutiny from Democrats and the White House.
In an interview with CNN, McCabe said Hur — who was appointed by former President Trump — was trying to please Biden’s critics.
McCabe said that Hur was likely trying to please both Biden’s allies, by not pressing charges, and critics, by finding he mishandled the documents.
“It really felt like it was another instance of a very high-profile investigator who was coming out with a conclusion that he likely knew would not be accepted or embraced by many people and kind of attempting to even out the scales,” the former FBI official said.
“In other words, to play to the sort of … the segment of the audience that was going to be frustrated by the fact that he concluded not to pursue charges,” he added. “That’s what it felt like to me.”
The same thing happened in July 2016, McCabe suggested, when then-FBI Director James Comey found evidence that Clinton was “extremely careless” with classified emails on a private server but said her actions were not enough to merit an indictment — ultimately opening the door for her to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.
“I think where we step far over the line and made a mistake was in Jim’s rhetoric clearly criticizing Hillary Clinton but of course not recommending that she be charged,” McCabe said Friday. “The use of those terms was very likely a violation of [Department of Justice] policy, which says you don’t say bad things about someone you say you’re not going to charge.”
Comparisons have also been made between Clinton and Trump, who is facing 40 charges centered on the mishandling of classified records and attempts to obstruct the government from retrieving them after he left the White House, but both have denounced the parallel.
On Friday, speaking to members of the National Rifle Association in Pennsylvania, the former president argued that if Biden — and Clinton by proxy — weren’t charged, he shouldn’t be either.
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CIA’s Jonna Mendez, Mistress of Disguise, by @SpyTalker https://t.co/7xuLAacSg6
— Jeff Stein (@SpyTalker) March 8, 2024
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