Sasha Ingber
@SashaIngber
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Founder + National Security/Intel Correspondent at HUMINT. @NPR @NatGeo @Smithsonian @ScrippsNews . Debunked disinfo @StateDept . Insta: behindthesceneswithSasha
Joined December 2012
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Pinned Tweet
NEW: Russian diplomats expelled by Poland were targeting Ukrainian refugees, "even in contact with them and blackmailing them with the fate of their families in Ukraine," says a Polish official. Experts inc
@Mpolymer
@PeterZwack
say expulsions curb but don't stop intel operations
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Some good news: an Afghan interpreter I have been messaging with has made it past the Taliban and crowds, through the airport’s entry control point. He has his family with him, they are now with the Marines. (Photo from Instagram.)
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A source tells me, “Situation [in Afghanistan] is rapidly deteriorating… We’ve had Americans get beaten throughout the night.” One of them, an American woman, was beaten “twice” even though she was carrying a U.S. passport.
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Outside of the White House tonight, a handful of people with signs are thanking Biden for his decision to withdraw from the election
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Senior US defense official tells reporters that Russia's 40-mile convoy, advancing on Kyiv, remains where it did yesterday because of:
-Ukrainian resistance
-Fuel sustainment problems
-Running out of food
-And the Russians may be regrouping, rethinking, and reevaluating
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Today is a glorious day for the NSA. As a source tells me, when troops turn on each other, as we're seeing in Russia, secure communications and chain of command/control shatter. There is going to be a TON of people screaming into cell phones.
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Yesterday
@PentagonPresSec
said Americans are not being impeded as they travel to the Kabul airport, no Americans harmed. The Taliban agreed to let them evacuate. What I am hearing suggests otherwise. Americans have been injured and stopped from boarding planes.
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I’m also told Taliban is targeting Afghans US worked with, “going door to door and executing anyone that has worked with the US.” That “Taliban are searching the cars at checkpoints to find out something related to the foreign countries specially United States.” Separate sources.
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I'm told the Senate Intel Committee expects a report on UFOs *by June 29.* It will be unclassified, but possibly w/ a classified annex. My report w/ former service member
@mintyhyperspace
+ researchers
@blackvaultcom
@rpowell2u
who say US needs more info:
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Wray says the IC agrees Russia is trying to influence the election through malign foreign influence--social media, use of proxies, state media, online journals, to sow divisiveness and denigrate as Biden. The targeting of election infrastructure, "we have not seen" yet.
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SCOOP: Two sources familiar with U.S. intelligence say that senior officers in Russia’s intel community are getting fed up with Putin. There are indications critics there want to replace him with a current intel official, and a person may have been chosen, one source tells me.
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New info on the ground in Kabul: Taliban militants are now starting to charge people for "escorts," for safe passage to the airport. The price is said to range from $1,000 to $3,000, per person.
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-Senior U.S. defense official also says Russia has now committed more than 80% of their pre-staged combat power
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SCOOP: FBI personnel have been reporting symptoms of the mysterious syndrome that first afflicted overseas diplomats and spies... inside the US. Members of the FBI say they've been injured in DC and Florida, especially in the bureau's Miami field office,
@MarkSZaidEsq
says.
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CIA announces that it has added two new stars to its Memorial Wall, honoring officers who gave their lives for the U.S. At the memorial ceremony, Director Burns called it “a sacred constellation.” There are now 139 stars.
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Chaos “at all gates” in Kabul right now. Taliban gunfire, beating people. I’m messaging with an interpreter who is there, trying to get into one of the gates. All gates are closed because the airfield is currently at max capacity, I am told.
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Also:
-Russia has launched 400+ missiles now
-The full scope of Russia's electronic capabilities have not been used
With
@HaleyBullNews
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"The FBI can’t be the truth police," Wray says. He later adds that he's concerned Americans are getting info about elections from social media, when they should be getting info from local election officials' websites.
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.
@ZelenskyyUa
on today's Zaporizhzhia strikes: "After the first missile strike today, when people came to clear the debris, Russia launched a second missile strike... Absolute meanness. Absolute evil."
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I am hearing that there is another attack at HKIA's North Gate
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“Most disturbing to me are people I encounter every day who have food in their bellies, a job to go to & holidays to eagerly await yet they judge refugees who have endured horrible privations as corrupt swindlers. They in their selfish, racist myopia become a tide of malevolence”
I am almost a hundred years old; so the refugee crisis will be my last stand.
#WorldRefugeeDay
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NEW:
@StateDept
is expanding number of people helping to coordinate SIV applications for Afghan interpreters, a gov source tells me. Internal, DOS-wide message yesterday asked for worldwide volunteers to work 12-hr shifts for 24/7 logistical support, eg building flight manifests
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Russia’s Pacific Fleet announces today that the Russian, Iranian and Chinese navies will hold joint naval exercises
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Look at their faces. If you follow the war closely, you can see such pain and suffering in both Ukraine AND Russia. US officials keep saying that Russian forces have low morale... imagine how much lower it got today.
First clips coming out of Russia this morning of draftees saying bye to their families. This from a small town in Yakutsk. Credits
@taygainfo
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US official shares declassified intel with
@Newsy
:
-Putin felt misled by Russia's military
-Didn’t know it was using and losing conscripts in Ukraine
-IC belives Putin being misinformed on how badly his military is performing, senior advisors "too afraid to tell him the truth”
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NEW: On the 3 objects the US shot down,
@ChrisKMellon
says he advocated for years to open radar filters to catch this stuff, but the military mindset was to focus on "the most severe threat," ICBMs + cruise missiles. He says we’ll continue seeing objects but China did us a favor.
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NEW: A source tells me we’ll soon see more on Russia’s plans to execute certain Ukrainians and put others in detention, and that Russia is trying to spread propaganda through religious and youth groups in Ukraine.
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New from me: A government report on UFOs expected in June, and former military personnel
@mintyhyperspace
and researchers like
@blackvaultcom
who aren't holding their breath. They accuse the Pentagon of withholding critical information. Full
@Newsy
story:
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NEW: An elite group of "Kadyrovites" (fighters who follow Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov) who planned to kill
@ZelenskyyUa
was destroyed, according to Ukrainian lawmaker
@HalynaYanchenko
who is citing Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.
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SCOOP: The US intel community sees China as its top threat, yet Americans have left the CIA, FBI, NSA, other agencies and taken jobs at TikTok, which still is owned by a Chinese company. Many, including
@LindsayPGorman
@LarryPfeifferDC
, see ethical + national security problems.
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FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub urges Washington to allocate money to help states implement a vote by mail system
As Congress & the White House move to protect America’s people and economy from
#coronavirus
, they should protect our elections as well.
Significant money to help states
#VoteByMail
this fall should be included in the package. States will have time to implement if we start now.
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Tulsi Gabbard is out and says, "Today, I’m suspending my presidential campaign, and offering my full support to Vice President Joe Biden in his quest to bring our country together."
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Bill Burns confirms
@NatashaBertrand
and
@nakashimae
reporting that an assessment on Russia, from the SolarWinds attack to poisoning/sentencing of Putin critic
@navalny
, is coming soon. He adds there is "no substitute for firmness and consistency" in dealing with Putin's Russia.
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SCOOP: I obtained a Jan 5 DHS intel report saying "nothing significant to report," which a senior official testified couldn't be found. More intel documents show analysts shifted attention overseas, missing open source intel -- even on Jan 6. Full story:
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U.S. officials tell Bloomberg that China’s public reporting on cases and deaths is purposefully incomplete. "Two of the officials said the report concludes that China’s numbers are fake."
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WH Reviewing Report On Trump's Russian Ties That FBI Ignored; he incorporated 250 registered businesses in Russia
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UK intelligence: Russia's renewed effort to secure and capture the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol (where Ukrainian fighters and civilians remain) is "likely linked to the upcoming 9 May Victory Day commemorations and Putin’s desire to have a symbolic success in Ukraine."
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NEW: Former CIA officer and FBI special agent
@Tracy_Walder
worked with ex-FBI official Charles McGonigal, charged this week for secret dealings with sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska + Albanians. Walder described what he was like and major cases potentially in jeopardy:
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@Mpolymer
@PeterZwack
And a thanks to
@neringark
and
@MeilutyteRuta
for letting us use their performance "Swimming Through," showing the lake dyed red near the Russian embassy in Vilnius.
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A US official also tells
@Newsy
:
-Putin has been misinformed about how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions
-"There is now persistent tension between Putin and the [Russian Ministry of Defense], stemming from Putin’s mistrust in MOD leadership."
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Florida’s official Republican Party Facebook page reportedly had a page manager located in Turkmenistan. Welcome to 2020.
BREAKING: The official Florida GOP Facebook page was managed by someone in Turkmenistan. As soon as
@forensicnewsnet
reached out for comment, all mentions of Turkmenistan disappeared. Experts are baffled. The story from
@ericlevai
and myself:
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NEW:
@EliotHiggins
of
@Bellingcat
is analyzing Russia's cluster bombs in Ukraine and believes he'll be able to attribute attacks to specific military units. How? It starts with pieces of cluster munitions that fall in a straight line.
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More U.S. government personnel, this time in Geneva and Paris, have reported mysterious brain injuries. And at least one was evacuated back to the U.S. for medical treatment, per WSJ.
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You can watch the count in Arizona's Maricopa County
Good morning! As planned our team started at 7:30 a.m. to continue counting
#GeneralElection
ballots. You can watch our 24 hour livestream at . (Be sure to enable flash on your computer.) We will release today's results at 7 p.m. at .
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Former intelligence chiefs write in an opinion piece: “We cannot let the covid-19 pandemic be a cover for the deeply destructive path being pursued by the Trump administration” — the removal of experts and politicizing of intelligence groups.
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It's been 2 years since the Yezidis were attacked. And 3,200 girls+women are still enslaved by ISIS
@KurdistanRegion
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Will a soon-to-be re-introduced bill on ammo background checks become law?
@fred_guttenberg
, whose 14-year-old daughter was fatally shot in 2018, tells me he will keep on fighting for it...Jaime's law. "My daughter will forever go down in history as someone who is saving lives."
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Questions: Why isn't the U.S. expanding the security perimeter around the airport compound? Why not use Bagram Air Base, which the U.S. abruptly left in July? Why isn't the U.S. conducting rescue operations as UK and French troops have?
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Now I can report: The families of the all-girl robotics team, and an interpreter I follow (w/ his sis+dad), made it to the Kabul airport together. He was called a "hero" on their long, harrowing journey - bravely talking to Taliban the day they vowed not to let Afghans into HKIA.
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Russia has started pulling back troops along the Ukrainian border, but former US Army Europe Commander
@general_ben
tells me the announcement has not assauged his concerns in the slightest. Russia is "not going to stop until the West stops them." Story:
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The American Conservative Union says someone at CPAC tested positive for coronavirus but "had no interaction with the President or the Vice President." Still, thousands of people gathered in small rooms that were sometimes completely filled.
Important Health Notification for CPAC 2020 participants and attendees.
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.
@navalny
now "a personal prisoner of Putin," the Kremlin killing him slowly, writes
@vkaramurza
: Navalny's lawyers say he's experiencing sleep deprivation, constant pain, denial of medical care--which hundreds of Russian doctors called deliberate torture.
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Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines testifies that Putin faces a mismatch between his ambitions and military capabilities. The next few months could likely see a "potentially escalatory trajectory," with more "ad hoc decision-making in Russia."
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Today,
@RepDWStweets
and
@SenBlumenthal
re-introduced the Ammunition Background Check Act of 2021, known as Jaime’s Law. Check out for my report from last week, with
@fred_guttenberg
, about the measure named after his daughter:
Will a soon-to-be re-introduced bill on ammo background checks become law?
@fred_guttenberg
, whose 14-year-old daughter was fatally shot in 2018, tells me he will keep on fighting for it...Jaime's law. "My daughter will forever go down in history as someone who is saving lives."
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DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is requesting additional national security measures for the city. She’s also asking the FBI for daily threat briefings and for permits for protests, issued by the Dept of Interior, be denied between Jan 11-24.
I strongly urge the United States Department of Homeland Security to adjust its approach to the Inauguration in several specific ways, and have outlined them in the following letter to Acting Secretary Wolf.
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Sec. Blinken and Lavrov met today,
@StateDeptSpox
says Blinken told him if Moscow chooses the path of military escalation in Ukraine, the United States and allies are prepared to "impose significant costs."
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.
@DepSecDef
says Russia used hypersonic weapons almost to no effect in Ukraine. She says there is a tendency to go to an arms race mentality when the US sees the use of hypersonics. "That is not how we look at this challenge set." She's confident US investing in the right areas.
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First on
@Newsy
: Here in the distance are family members of girls on the Afghan robotics team, sitting in safety. They made it into Kabul's airport, are waiting for a flight out. Long, risky trip. But I'm told they aren't scared, they're sharing experiences from the last few days
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Wow.
@ElissaSlotkin
draws Wray to say white supremacists are a bigger threat than Antifa. FBI has ~1K domestic terrorism investigations a year. "What I can tell you is that within domestic terrorism bucket, racially motivated violent extremism is the biggest bucket," Wray says.
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U.S. officials say Russia is also trying to help Sanders. “I don’t care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president. My message to Putin is clear: stay out of American elections, and as president I will make sure that you do," the senator told The Post.
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An interpreter in Kabul shows me streets crowded with people and cars, everyone trying to get passports and leave the country now. I am not showing the video at this time because the Taliban have called him with death threats repeatedly. It is a truly desperate situation.
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My latest report looks at Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
@ChristoGrozev
says Kadyrov *might* have been in Ukraine (fleetingly), that his fighters are installed for psychological terror, though they've also killed civilians.
@ChambersHarold8
says Kadyrov's fate is tied to Putin's.
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British intelligence: Russia's Wagner Group has deployed to eastern Ukraine. "They are expected to deploy more than 1,000 mercenaries, including senior leaders of the organisation, to undertake combat operations."
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An intelligence source tells me that reports that Surovikin was arrested are accurate
Two sources tell the Moscow Times that Army General Surovikin was placed under arrest.
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This child being passed forward
People are so desperate to escape the
#Taliban
that they’re passing babies and kids forward to the gate at
#Kabul
airport.
#kabulairport
#AfghanEvac
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NEW REPORT: The 12th Main Directorate is the shadowy Russian force standing between Putin + a nuclear strike. In Soviet times, they couldn't be photographed or mentioned. Later, US officials helped them secure nuclear warhead storage. They describe the unit and their fears today.
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.
@TheStudyofWar
: Russia likely staged the drone attack to bring the war home domestically, and to set conditions for a wider mobilization.
-The drones would have evaded Pantsir, a new air defense systems near Moscow.
-Russian officials seemed too coordinated in their response.
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NEW: Michael McCarthy, a veteran from the war in Afghanistan, took his life in August - as the Taliban seized Afghanistan. He had been trying to save two interpreters. His story, and his Marine brothers' efforts to finish his mission. Full
@Newsy
report:
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On the 3 previous balloons over the US: "I will tell you we did not detect those threats and that's a domain awareness gap we have to figure out," Gen. Glen VanHerck says.
The IC became aware of the after the fact, through additional means of intel collection, he says.
The Biden administration is preparing to brief key Trump officials on forensics they did to learn about "at least 3" occasions where Chinese surveillance balloons traversed US air space, NSC spokesperson John Kirby says.
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One of the most damaging spies in US history, Ana Montes was released from prison on Friday. For 17 years, she quietly shared intel w Cuba, who very likely shared it w Russia. Insights from retired FBI agent
@petelapp
, who led operations to break into her home to gather evidence.
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"The West has built a sanctuary for Mr. Putin," NATO's former Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, Gen.
@PMBreedlove
, tells me. He says the West fell for Russian disinformation, targeting what the US flagged it feared at the start of the war. Full report:
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Today is Putin's 70th birthday, and he is seeing losses on the battlefield in Ukraine, criticism and unrest in Russia, and activists from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus win the Nobel Peace Prize. Happy birthday!
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.
@general_ben
tells me he thinks Putin will invade Ukraine after the winter olympics:
-Putin doesn't want to upstage Xi/the event
-Follows 2014 precedent, after Sochi olympics
-Will have 100+ warships close by
-"Exercises" in Belarus will be complete
-Small, limited operations
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NEW: I’ve obtained the last cable from
@USEmbassyKabul
, which was sent yesterday. This sensitive but unclassified section of the 5-page report shows the US was aware yesterday that Ghani might resign and that a transitional government would be announced.
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NEW: A possible gamechanger for Afghan interpreters trying to get visas. A source tells me the White House is set to discuss reducing the 2-year requirement of work with U.S. forces (to be eligibile for the SIV) to 1 year. The interagency discussion is set for July 20.
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Sen. Angus King says the firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper, particularly during the presidential transition, is a dangerous move — “a personal vendetta... ahead of the interest of the nation.”
President Trump's decision to fire Secretary Esper in the midst of a presidential transition only serves to destabilize the Department of Defense during a precarious moment. My full statement:
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My latest: US, UK intel say 1,000 Wagner Group forces (Putin's shadow army) head to Ukraine
-Recruiting in Syria, Libya as Russian troops refuse orders, sabotage equipment
-Wagner has ties to Putin/GRU
-Fighters misled, says
@michaeldweiss
-Ukraine will manage, says
@JohnEdHerbst
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The Biden administration is preparing to brief key Trump officials on forensics they did to learn about "at least 3" occasions where Chinese surveillance balloons traversed US air space, NSC spokesperson John Kirby says.
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NEW: QAnon 'reqovery' struggle. "I never know what to say," says
@JitarthJadeja
, moderator of support groups. The American Psychiatric Assoc. tells me it has no deradicalization program.
@GIRD_S
says US is 30-40yrs behind in building programs. My report:
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US official shares declassified intel:
-Putin felt misled by Russian military
-Didn’t know his military was using, losing conscripts in Ukraine
-IC belives Putin is being misinformed on how badly the military is performing, senior advisors are "too afraid to tell him the truth.”
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FBI, Philadelphia Police Dept are investigating an alleged plot to attack the convention center where votes are counted. Last night around 10:30pm -- "neither male had a valid PA permit to carry... and an additional firearm was recovered from the inside the Hummer," PPD tells me.
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China may now favor President Trump over Joe Biden, despite his policies and anti-China rhetoric. "Underneath the surface, they see the Trump era as being an opportunity for them,”
@selectedwisdom
Clint Watts tells me. Full
@Newsy
story at:
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Senate and House pass $2.1bil measure for US Capitol complex security -- and aid to Afghans who worked with US military and government personnel. It allocates about $1.1bil to the latter, plus authorizes 8,000 more visas for Afghans, and lowers work requirement from 2 years to 1.
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Brave Russians come out to denounce the war Russia is waging today in Ukraine
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Russia has likely used as much as 55-60% of its high-precision weaponry reserve, says
@TheStudyofWar
citing Ukrainian intelligence. The group also reports that Russian forces may be storing equipment in Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant complex to shield it from UKR's airstrikes.
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Wray says the FBI views QAnon as less of an organization and more of a "complex set of conspiracy theories," but that the FBI does not investigate an ideology or conspiracy theory itself.
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Deputy press sec
@KJP46
: Biden is meeting Putin "because of our country's differences, not in spite of them. There's a lot we have to work through... hearing directly from President Putin is the most effective way to understand what Russia plans and intends."
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NEWS: My time with
@scrippsnews
is ending after 4.5 exciting years as their national security correspondent (and I'm so grateful for the opportunity they gave me). Below are some of my many scoops/exclusives. Now who wants some top notch intelligence + national security stories?
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FEC commissioner
@EllenLWeintraub
tells me she's worried that campaign finance matters from the 2016 election are butting up against the agency's 5-year statute of limitations. "I'm concerned we're just gonna lose them." That and more with
@Newsy
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Today the CIA held its annual ceremony to honor officers who died on the job. "No new stars were added to the wall this year," the agency says in a statement. There are currently 140 hand-carved stars engraved on the agency's Memorial Wall.
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Many Republican lawmakers are pushing back on Chris Wray's description of Antifa as a "movement," insisting they are a group. Antifa expert
@Mark__Bray
told me weeks ago, they are a loose movement. Wray again repeats, we investigate the violence not the ideology.
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Today
@PentagonPresSec
said Taliban isn't obstructing Americans from getting to Kabul airport. A source working the evacuation tells me fighters ARE impeding Americans' travel at checkpoints. And they're being turned away from airport gates, by foreign forces. It's unclear why.
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Wray says the FBI is not only tipping off social media companies to fake accounts/groups, those companies are also sending the FBI accounts they have identified which then allows the FBI to pursue more leads. There is "nearly" every day engagement.
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NEW: After my report found former CIA/FBI/NSA officials working at TikTok, CIA former acting general counsel Bob Eatinger says, "The United States needs to do more in trying to prevent" it. Senate Intel Cmte Chairman
@MarkWarner
tells me it may be appropriate to impose controls.
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NEW: Ukraine has formally started a new civilian reserve to support its army, the Territorial Defense Force. Within 24-hours, they could be called upon to defend their regions if Russia invades. I spoke to a married couple who will help protect critical infrastructure in Kyiv.
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BREAKING: The International Court of Justice orders Russia to suspend military operations in Ukraine
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