{"id":1376000,"date":"2022-03-14T13:55:58","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T17:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1376000"},"modified":"2022-03-14T14:09:15","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T18:09:15","slug":"durham-probe-related-emails-prompt-pentagon-agency-to-deny-any-role-in-attributing-2016-dnc-hack-to-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/durham-probe-related-emails-prompt-pentagon-agency-to-deny-any-role-in-attributing-2016-dnc-hack-to-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Durham Probe Related Emails Prompt Pentagon Agency to Deny Any Role in Attributing 2016 DNC Hack to Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdurham-probe-related-emails-prompt-pentagon-agency-to-deny-any-role-in-attributing-2016-dnc-hack-to-russia%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1376000&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<div class=\"RichTextArticleBody\">\n<div class=\"RichTextArticleBody-body\">\n<p><span class=\"ArticlePage-articleBody-firstLetter\">A<\/span> Pentagon agency has denied any role in attributing the <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/psaki-says-russia-hacked-2016-election-during-briefing-on-combating-disinformation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2016 hack<\/a> of the Democratic National Committee to Russia after an email indicated special counsel John Durham&#8217;s team asked a computer expert who had researched Trump-Russia collusion claims about it. <\/p>\n<p>Democratic cybersecurity lawyer Michael Sussmann was indicted last year for allegedly <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/durham-grand-jury-indicts-lawyer-allegedly-lying-fbi-concealing-ties-clinton-campaign\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">concealing<\/a><\/u> his clients, including Hillary Clinton&#8217;s 2016 presidential campaign, from the FBI when he pushed since-debunked claims of a secret back channel between the Trump Organization and Russia\u2019s Alfa Bank. <\/p>\n<div class=\"Enhancement\">\n<div class=\"Enhancement-item\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Durham revealed in February he has evidence Sussmann\u2019s other client, <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/identity-of-tech-executive-in-durham-indictment-revealed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">known to be<\/a><\/u> former Neustar executive Rodney Joffe, \u201cexploited\u201d domain name system internet traffic at Trump Tower, former President Donald Trump\u2019s Central Park West apartment building, and \u201cthe Executive Office of the President of the United States.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Dr. Manos Antonakakis, dubbed \u201cResearcher-1\u201d in Durham\u2019s filings, is a professor at Georgia Tech, wrote in a July 2021 email that Durham <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/judge-denies-clinton-campaign-lawyers-bid-to-strike-durham-snooping-revelations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">prosecutor<\/a> Andrew DeFilippis asked him about work he had done associated with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, apparently also asking him about an online persona named \u201cGuccifer 2.0,\u201d whom U.S. intelligence officials and special counsel Robert Mueller concluded was created by Russian intelligence to assist in a hack-and-leak operation against the DNC in 2016. <\/p>\n<p><b><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/psaki-says-russia-hacked-2016-election-during-briefing-on-combating-disinformation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PSAKI CLAIMS RUSSIA &#8216;HACKED&#8217; 2016 ELECTION<\/a><\/b> <\/p>\n<p>The attribution of the hack to Russia has been the subject of curiosity for years, and emails <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/10\/exclusive-special-counsels-office-is-investigating-the-2016-dnc-server-hack\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first<\/a> <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/563858154\/Russian-Hack#from_embed\">published<\/a> by the<i> Federalist<\/i> prompted DARPA to deny to the <i>Washington Examiner<\/i> that it had any involvement in determining it was Russian intelligence behind the hack, despite the email from Antonakakis. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring one of my interviews with the Special Counsel prosecutor, I was asked point blank by Mr. DeFilippis, \u2018Do you believe that DARPA should be instructing you to investigate the origins of a hacker (Guccifer 2.0) that hacked a political entity (DNC)?\u2019 Let that sync for a moment, folks,\u201d Antonakakis wrote last summer. \u201cSomeone hacked a political party (DNC, in this case), in the middle of an election year (2016), and the lead investigator of DOJ\u2019s special council [sic] would question whether U.S. researchers working for DARPA should conduct investigations in this matter is \u2018acceptable\u2019!\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Antonakakis added: \u201cWhile I was tempted to say back to him, \u2018What if this hacker hacked GOP? Would you want me to investigate him then?\u2019, I kept my cool and told him this is a question for DARPA\u2019s director, and not for me to answer.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The July 2021 email was sent to Georgia Tech <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/generalcounsel.gatech.edu\/meet-general-counsel-and-vp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general counsel<\/a> Ling-Ling Nie and <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/provost.gatech.edu\/about-provost-mclaughlin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">two<\/a> <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/chaouki-t-abdallah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">other<\/a> institute officials. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDARPA was not involved in efforts to attribute the DNC hack. Dr. Antonakakis worked on DARPA\u2019s Enhanced Attribution program, which did not involve analysis of the DNC hack,\u201d Jared Adams, DARPA\u2019s chief of communications, told the <i>Washington Examiner<\/i>. \u201cFurther, DARPA was not involved in efforts to attribute the Guccifer 2.0 persona, nor any involvement in efforts to attribute the origin of leaked emails provided to Wikileaks.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Adams also spoke about a meeting between DARPA and Durham. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe meeting between DARPA and special counsel Durham was to provide a high-level overview of the Enhanced Attribution program,\u201d the DARPA spokesman said. \u201cDuring the course of that meeting, DARPA did not discuss matters related to the DNC hack, Guccifer 2.0, or leaked DNC emails provided to Wikileaks.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The DARPA spokesman said that \u201cto the best our knowledge, no DARPA-funded researchers investigated\u201d the DNC hack, and he added that the agency did not assist the FBI&#8217;s nor Mueller\u2019s investigation in the matter. <\/p>\n<p>Antonakakis is <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/manos-antonakakis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">listed<\/a> as an associate professor and a faculty member at Georgia Tech, and the school says he runs the Astrolavos Lab, which researches \u201cattack attribution\u201d and \u201cdata mining.\u201d He has not been accused of breaking any laws. His lawyer did not provide a comment. <\/p>\n<p>Durham&#8217;s filings reference Georgia Tech&#8217;s &#8220;Agency-1 [DARPA] Contract.&#8221; Durham\u2019s <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/sco\/press-release\/file\/1433511\/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">indictment<\/a> of Sussmann stated that if the FBI had been told the true origins of the Alfa Bank claims, it might have learned that Joffe \u201chad enlisted, and was continuing to enlist, the assistance of researchers at a U.S.-based university who were receiving and analyzing Internet data in connection with a pending federal government cybersecurity research contract&#8221; through DARPA. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnhanced Attribution, a four-year research effort, did not start until November of 2016,&#8221; DARPA&#8217;s spokesman said. &#8220;The research associated with the Sussmann allegation, as detailed in the Durham indictment, occurred before then and was not at all affiliated with DARPA nor the EA program.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The Sussmann <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/sco\/press-release\/file\/1433511\/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">indictment<\/a> said Joffe \u201ctasked\u201d Antonakakis to \u201csearch broadly through Internet data for any information about Trump&#8217;s potential ties to Russia.\u201d Durham said an email from Antonakakis in August 2016 was about \u201cexpressing continued doubt\u201d about the Alfa Bank claims and \u201craising concerns about the researchers\u2019 bias against Trump.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Durham said Joffe \u201cexploited his access to non-public and\/or proprietary Internet data&#8221; and tasked researchers to mine internet data to establish \u201can inference\u201d and \u201cnarrative\u201d tying then-candidate Trump to Russia. He said Joffe indicated he was doing this to please certain \u201cVIPs\u201d on Clinton&#8217;s campaign. <\/p>\n<p>CrowdStrike, a U.S. cybersecurity firm, examined the DNC\u2019s systems in 2016 and <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200221083956\/https:\/\/www.crowdstrike.com\/blog\/bears-midst-intrusion-democratic-national-committee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">concluded<\/a><\/u> Russian state actors were responsible for cyber intrusions. The DNC did not provide the FBI with access to its servers, but CrowdStrike did provide the bureau with forensic copies. <\/p>\n<p>Sussmann <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dni.gov\/files\/HPSCI_Transcripts\/2020-05-04-Michael_Sussman-MTR_Redacted.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">testified<\/a> in 2017 that it was his recommendation that the DNC retain CrowdStrike in April 2016, and he said he was dealing with the FBI on behalf of the DNC in 2016. <\/p>\n<p>Mueller\u2019s report concluded that GRU, Russia\u2019s Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff, <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200304082859\/https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/mueller-says-russias-gru-stole-clinton-dnc-emails-and-gave-them-to-wikileaks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interfered in the 2016 presidential election<\/a><\/u>, in part by spear-phishing Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta\u2019s email account and hacking the DNC\u2019s email systems, then providing those emails to WikiLeaks. Russia denied involvement, and Wikileaks denied receiving emails from Russia. <\/p>\n<p>CrowdStrike released its report in June 2016, <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200304082859\/https:\/\/www.crowdstrike.com\/blog\/bears-midst-intrusion-democratic-national-committee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">saying<\/a><\/u> it \u201cimmediately identified&#8221; two hacker groups associated with Russian intelligence. <\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s Justice Department <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200304082859\/https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/doj-defends-assessment-by-crowdstrike-and-fbi-that-russia-interfered-in-2016-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">defended the role played by CrowdStrike<\/a><\/u> and said the FBI was able to carry out its own investigation into Russian interference. The DOJ <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200304082859\/https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/roger-stone-wins-access-to-redacted-parts-of-mueller-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">argued<\/a> in 2019 that Mueller\u2019s investigation \u201cgathered evidence showing that GRU officers hacked the DNC systems.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Trump <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200304082859\/https:\/\/www.apnews.com\/c810d7de280a47e88848b0ac74690c83\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">repeatedly<\/a><\/u> <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200304082859\/https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-44852812\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cast doubt<\/a><\/u> on the <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200304082859\/https:\/\/www.dni.gov\/files\/documents\/ICA_2017_01.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. government&#8217;s assessment<\/a><\/u> that it was the Russians, including at his <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200304082859\/https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefings-statements\/remarks-president-trump-president-putin-russian-federation-joint-press-conference\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">press conference<\/a><\/u> with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in 2018. <\/p>\n<p>Mueller\u2019s 2018 <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200304082859\/https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/file\/1080281\/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">indictment<\/a><\/u> of 12 Russian military intelligence officers detailed the various cyber tactics, and his 2019 <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200304082859\/https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/storage\/report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a><\/u> provided information about the GRU units allegedly responsible. <\/p>\n<p>His <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/mueller-says-russias-gru-stole-clinton-dnc-emails-and-gave-them-to-wikileaks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a><\/u> <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/mueller-says-russias-gru-stole-clinton-dnc-emails-and-gave-them-to-wikileaks\">said<\/a><\/u> the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 election in a \u201csweeping and systematic fashion\u201d but &#8220;did not establish&#8221; any criminal collusion between any Russians and anyone in Trump&#8217;s orbit. <\/p>\n<p><b><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/b> <\/p>\n<p>The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released an intelligence <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dni.gov\/files\/documents\/ICA_2017_01.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">assessment<\/a><\/u> in January 2017, saying it had \u201chigh confidence that Russian military intelligence &#8230; used the Guccifer 2.0 persona and DCLeaks.com to release U.S. victim data.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Then-Attorney General William Barr <u><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/maria-bartiromo-reports-durham-investigation-expanding-but-likely-wont-release-conclusions-before-2020-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">confirmed<\/a><\/u> in 2020 that Durham\u2019s inquiry into the federal Russia investigation included a deep dive into the 2017 intelligence community assessment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Pentagon agency has denied any role in attributing the 2016 hack of the Democratic National Committee to Russia after an email indicated special counsel John Durham&#8217;s team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1376000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1376000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1376000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1376000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1376000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1376000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1376000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}