Posted on 08/17/2016 2:39:29 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Politico reports that nervous Democrats are warning the next batch of leaked documents could contain information planted by Russia:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is among those sounding that alarm, echoing security experts who say Russian security services have been known to doctor documents and images or bury fictitious, damaging details amid genuine information. For hackers to resort to such tactics would be highly unusual, but security specialists say it’s a realistic extension of Moscow’s robust information warfare efforts.
This story is entirely self-serving for Democrats. It lays the groundwork for them to suggest anything embarrassing that turns up in the next batch of emails could be a forgery planted by a foreign government. It’s also a way to once again move the discussion from the leaks themselves to the meta-story about the origin of the leaks. Again, it’s entirely self-serving for Democrats to make this claim.
It’s also possible they could be right.
The hack of the DNC, the DCCC and the Clinton Foundation was almost certainly carried out by Russia. We know this because our intelligence agencies were aware of the hack a year ago, months before the FBI even alerted the DNC to what was happening. So if Russia hacked the Democrats, as our intelligence agencies believe, is it possible they might attempt to manipulate the material they took before handing it over to WikiLeaks? From Politico:
In the weeks since the DNC email leaks, cyber specialists on Twitter have been circulating a passage from the memoirs of a former East German spymaster who wrote about the “creative” use of forgeries in conjunction with genuine leaks.
“Embarrassed by the publication of genuine but suppressed information, the targets were badly placed to defend themselves against the other, more damaging accusations that had been invented,” wrote Markus Wolf, who had headed East Germany’s foreign intelligence division for more than three decades. (On the other hand, he added that, “my principle was to stick as close to the truth as possible, especially when there was so much of it that could easily further the department’s aims.”)…
“Standard Russian modus operandi,” said James Lewis, an international cyber policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, via email. “They’ve done it before in the Baltics and other parts of Europe: Leak a lot of real data and slip in some fakes (or more often, things that have been subtly modified rather than a complete fake).”
The counter-argument is that a release of fake or manipulated material would be a serious blow to a group like WikiLeaks that prides itself on releasing factual material. Would Julian Assange risk his entire operation for a chance to damage Hillary Clinton? It’s hard to say, though he’s clearly not very fond of her.
Democrats are planting this idea about fake leaks because doing so could help insulate them from completely accurate leaks. Still, given the source of this information, what they are suggesting is at least possible.
This clip by the Washington Free Beacon is a good reminder of the time, not so long ago, when Democrats mocked Mitt Romney for suggesting Russia was our number one geopolitical foe. As they await the next leaks, they seem to feel a bit differently about the idea now.
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
They’re attacking the messenger before the message is released? This is going to be a doozy!
They seem to know what is going to be released. Sorta like Nancy Pelosi’s statement last Thursday about the hackers are the equivalent of the electronic Watergate. I guess they get 24 to 48 hours advance notice of the next shoe to drop.
They, the Russians, don’t have to!..........
The ‘Rats should release the “pure” stuff preemptively. Otherwise, they are in the wrong, true or not...
I suppose issues about (possible) hypocrisy over abortion or race or immigration will be something the Rats would be frightened of. Could also be things about Hillary health or $$$, or private issues people have with her or Obama. It really is an exciting election!
I trust Putin a lot more than Hillary.
Trying to cover butt before the information comes out...ROFL...isn’t going to work, oh and by the way, it isn’t the Russians...like the RATS would like you to believe...
Their only problem is that EVERYTHING they have done, talked about, rigged is going to come out and hang every darn one of them!!!
WOOHOO!!! DOWN WITH THE RATS....BRING ON AMERICAISM!!!
Yeah, well, nice try...
For a Party that welcomed a Trump Nomination and stated rather emphatically that Hillary couldn’t wait to wipe the Floor with Trump, they sure do have their panties bunched up awful tight.
Love that they keep blaming the Russians. I would be even better to prove this wrong with a leak that it was not the Russians.
Ever had a little kid come into the room and say, unprompted, “I didn’t do it.” You may be sure of two things: something bad is coming, and he did it.
They catch on fast, don’t they? Not!
Pre-emptive attempt to discredit the data.
LOL!!! Yes! Okay okay....you caught us 7 ways to sin up to now but among all illegally obtained (hacked) information we lose control of PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE NEXT ONES BECAUSE TINY LITTLE BITS OF INFO MAY BE WRONG! THe rest, oh yeah, you can trust them.
Maybe it is time we started letting juries decide what the truth is here, eh?
How appropriate that a story concerning Bill Cosby’s legal troubles appears near to this, lol.
It is not the Russians and this is coming from a place with great credibility. Love watching them squirm like doomed prisoners about to be fed to to the lions in the Coliseum.
“Politico reports that nervous Democrats are warning the next batch of leaked documents could contain information planted by Russia:”
Or not.
“Pay no attention to the man behind the iron curtain?”
No more calls, folks. We have a winner.
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