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Paul Whelan, American Accused of Spying, is Said to Be Charged in Russia (nytimes.com)
Russian investigative agencies on Thursday indicted Whelan, a 48-year-old former U.S. Marine, on charges of spying, Interfax cited an informed source as saying. From a report: Mr. Whelan's lawyer, Vladimir A. Zherebenkov, who said he spent much of Wednesday with Mr. Whelan, said he had found his client in an upbeat mood despite the long legal road that he faces. "I was surprised to see him being so confident," said Mr. Zherebenkov, a high-profile criminal defense lawyer. Mr. Whelan, 48, the head of global security for the Michigan auto parts maker BorgWarner and a Marine Corps veteran, was arrested last Friday and is being held in solitary confinement in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo Prison. Russia's domestic security agency, the F.S.B., issued a brief statement on Monday saying that Mr. Whelan had been caught in "an act of espionage" but provided no other details.
Mr. Zherebenkov said that he had not seen all the evidence, but that he suspected that the American had been under surveillance for some time. "I presume that he is innocent, because for now I haven't seen any evidence against him that would prove otherwise," said Mr. Zherebenkov, who said that Mr. Whelan would petition the court for bail. Rosbalt, a Russian news agency close to the security services, quoted an unidentified intelligence source on Wednesday as saying that Mr. Whelan had been apprehended during a meeting with a Russian citizen in his room at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow. He is accused of trying to recruit this person to obtain classified information about staff members at various Russian agencies, the account said. Mr. Whelan was arrested five minutes after receiving a USB stick containing a list of all the employees at a classified security agency, the report said.
Mr. Zherebenkov said that he had not seen all the evidence, but that he suspected that the American had been under surveillance for some time. "I presume that he is innocent, because for now I haven't seen any evidence against him that would prove otherwise," said Mr. Zherebenkov, who said that Mr. Whelan would petition the court for bail. Rosbalt, a Russian news agency close to the security services, quoted an unidentified intelligence source on Wednesday as saying that Mr. Whelan had been apprehended during a meeting with a Russian citizen in his room at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow. He is accused of trying to recruit this person to obtain classified information about staff members at various Russian agencies, the account said. Mr. Whelan was arrested five minutes after receiving a USB stick containing a list of all the employees at a classified security agency, the report said.
I guess this story was posted because the man was in possession of a USB drive?
Next thing you know, they'll be accusing us of interfering with their elections!
How do we know he's not a real spy? The Russians would have poisoned him.
Don't you know that Russian boogeymen follow you from the airport to your bugged hotel room after you land in Russia?
You left out Climate Change.
Wish I had mod points.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
in soviet russia we spy on you!
at the highest levels of both governments so that Trump can get his new orders.
... ripped off, so now it's landlines, fax machines and human spies.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
So a private citizen with a poor-conduct discharge conducting what amounts to industrial espionage on his own dime amounts to US warmongering? So what the fuck is it when Russian state-sponsored actors directly attack US infrastructure and political processes? Spin, indeed....
But ... actually ... now that I think about it ... where actually IS the outrage from the Oval Office Orange? Shouldn't he be fuming and twittering?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
About one fifth of the population walks into a voting booth, put in a vote, and Putin declares 75% turnout with 51% of the total population voting for Putin!
How exactly could the US interfere in such a fake election?
e.g. Putin's candidate Ramzan Kadyrov gets 98% of the vote..... it's not an election, its comically fake.
Wish I had mod points.
GP:
Trump.....Something Something.....outrage.
You think that's worthy of mod'ing up? Even though it's completely off-topic? Interesting.
I assume the US has a number of people tasked with spying in Russia - there’s no reason the Russians couldn’t have made a strong effort to locate an actual US spy, regardless of their motivation (to trade for Maria Butina or whatever).
Right now we don’t have enough information to determine if this guy is likely innocent or guilty.
#DeleteChrome
Interesting theory.
Basically you are saying that US sanctions to Russia are unjustified and are only needed as a bargaining chip for when a US spy screws up? That makes a hell of a lot of sense.
“Gov. Romney, I’m glad you recognize al-Qaeda is a threat, because a few months ago when you were asked what is the biggest geopolitical group facing America, you said Russia — not al-Qaeda. And the 1980’s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back — because the Cold War has been over for 20 years."
Oops.
If the Russians arrest you for espionage, there are 3 possibilities:
1. You are a spy and they have evidence. You're screwed.
2. You are innocent, but the Russians are putting a number on you for some political reason. You're screwed.
3. You are innocent. The Russians made a mistake. What are the chances the Russians will admit to that and lose face? You're screwed.
This is going to be great for American investment in Russia. What CFO or other company rep wouldn't want to be a pawn caught between Vlad the Impailer and The Orange Baboon? Oh and I'm sure China would l ike you to visit, specially if your company has invested heavily in Canadian companies. Yeah... book your dream vacation now.
Whooosh!
What he's saying is that Trump will get help concealing his financial misdealings with Russian gangsters (Putin, et al.) in exchange for Putin getting Syria, Ukraine, and sanctions relief.
Wow! That was some righteous gibberish! Don't stop now!
CNN interviewed the brother. The "journalist" was most interested in a tweet Mr. Whelan made calling CNN fake news. God, what a circus journalism has become.
Trump..... as in President Donald Trump, in this particular instance does not evoke any .....outrage.
Take off every 'sig' !!
They trumped up the charges on him so he they could use him as a bargaining chip. The can now offer to release him in a big publicity show in exchange for Butina, another one of their people being held in the US, easing of sanctions, or something else to Russian interests elsewhere. It would look like the Trump administration liberated a marine veteran and Putin can get whatever he wants.
He should be outraged in one direction or another. It's an excuse to Tweet, after all. The deafening silence from the WH suggests to me they haven't heard about this yet.
That's all I have to contribute
...so Obama attacks his rival in a debate, and THAT is proof Obama is/was a pal of Russia? Hey cunny, what is your point?
FU traitor
What evidence asshole? Post reputible sources or fuck off.
Even the mainstream media has made this point. It's pretty obvious what's going on.
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Was he trying to dig up evidence on troll farms?
Or is this all just completely manufactured by russia?
Did that happen at the underground pizza child porn ring? With the lizard people? Before or after she was turned into a robot?
Those are all claims you can find on the same pages that purport to have the evidence of which you speak, in case you're not following.
They will scream and howl and 10 years later it will emerge he was guilty and up to something shady,
It is not corruption in their eyes if the ends justify the means.
They haven't mentioned about it on Fox & Friends yet?
LOL .. Lone nut/usefull idiot/patsy in the making. Please start addressing him by his full gravestone name already.. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Flammang Schrank .. You know the drill.
LOL. So again. 0 evidence. Just a bunch of weak connections.
Kill the Satanic Monster who sucks the blood of Russian babies!
Paul Whelan is a Trump supporter. Let that sink in.
according to the bbc (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46756996) this man has us, uk and probably irish citizenship. he even might have canadian.
i am actually surprised - i have heard of 2 citizenships, but more than that ? wow.
doesnt mean anything about this case, i am just really surprised one can have that many.
When we catch their spies, both nation will grab a high profile yank and then accuse them of being a spy and offer up a trade. Gets old, but it is the game. One big difference with this, is both used to be kept quiet like happens with China today. Now, Russia is using the media and plays it up. China still keeps it quiet so as to not spoke executives from western companies. And I suspect that America keeps it quiet because probably about 1/10 to 1/3 of the time, they are holding a spy.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
spoke
He was eaten by a GRUe.
Remember when Trump dismissed retired Navy Adm. William McRaven, and his critical comments of Trump, as a "Clinton Supporter?"
https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/417330-trump-dismisses-criticism-from-vice-admiral-who-led-osama-bin-laden-mission
I suggest we do the same with Paul Whelan. He's a "Trump Supporter" and therefore not worthy of rescue or support by the nation.
No, not really. But this is what stupid in the Commander In Chief leads to. And if it's good for the goose, it's good for the gander, right? Right?!