A former intelligence officer with the U.S. Army was sentenced on Wednesday to seven years in prison for selling critical military documents to an individual believed to be tied to the Chinese government.
Korbein Schultz, 25, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/army-intelligence-officer-pleads-guilty-to-selling-defense-information-to-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pled guilty</a> last year to conspiring to collect and transmit national defense information, unlawfully exporting controlled information to China, and accepting bribes in exchange for sensitive government information. The sale of the documents, which included information on American military technology, took place over a three-year period from May 2022 to March 2024, according to the Justice Department. 
“This defendant swore an oath to defend the United States — instead, he betrayed it for a payout and put America’s military and service members at risk,” <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-us-army-intelligence-analyst-sentenced-selling-sensitive-military-information">said</a> Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “The Justice Department remains vigilant against China’s efforts to target our military and will ensure that those who leak military secrets spend years behind bars.”
He could have faced 65 years in prison if given the maximum on all counts.
Schultz was paid $42,000 for sending the information to an unidentified foreign national living in Hong Kong believed to be connected to the Chinese government.
The information that he provided included his unit&#8217;s operational order before it was deployed to Eastern Europe, information applying lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war to Taiwan, technical manuals for the Army&#8217;s HH-60 helicopter and F-22A fighter aircraft, manuals on Intercontinental Ballistic Missile systems, American intelligence on the Chinese military and the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, details on American military exercises in South Korea and the Philippines, and documents on American military satellites and missile defense systems.
Schultz was first contacted to sell the secrets over a freelance web-based work platform by an individual pretending to work for a geopolitical consulting firm, according to the Justice Department. The department added that Schultz attempted to recruit a friend who worked for the Department of Defense’s Indo-Pacific Command to take part in the scheme as well.
The FBI&#8217;s Nashville office led the investigation, with assistance from the Department of Defense and the Army Counterintelligence Command.
“This sentencing is a stark warning to those who betray our country: you will pay a steep price for it,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The People’s Republic of China is relentless in its efforts to steal our national defense information, and service members are a prime target. The FBI and our partners will continue to root out espionage and hold those accountable who abandon their obligation to safeguard defense information from hostile foreign governments.”

ASIAD-2025-CHN-OPENING

Former Army Intel Officer Sentenced After Selling U.S. Military Secrets To China

China

Communist China

Crime

Department of Justice

Hong Kong

kash patel

Pam Bondi

Politics

Spying

U.S. Army

Chinese Communist secret police have infiltrated the United States. Working through so-called “nonprofits” with pedestrian-sounding names, these operators have set up spy nests and secret police stations, subverting our Republic while exporting Chinese Communist Party (CCP) totalitarianism to American shores.
<a href="https://dailycaller.com/2024/07/17/exclusive-red-state-ag-subpoenas-local-chinese-service-center-linked-to-communist-party-intel-arm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Investigative reporting</a> has exposed several of these operations, known as “Overseas Chinese Service Centers (OCSCs), in seven American cities: Charlotte, Omaha, Houston, San Francisco, St. Paul, and St. Louis. Working through these organizations, the CCP can extend its intelligence gathering, <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Research/China%27s%20Overseas%20United%20Front%20Work%20-%20Background%20and%20Implications%20for%20US_final_0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">influence operations</a> and transnational repression activity into virtually any community. 
In St. Louis, Missouri State Attorney General Andrew Bailey has reacted decisively. He launched a legal investigation into the OCSC after finding that it violated Missouri law by <a href="https://ago.mo.gov/attorney-general-bailey-expands-investigation-into-missouri-non-profit-over-alleged-ties-to-peoples-republic-of-china/#:~:text=With%20the%20CID%20issued%20today,organized%20under%20Missouri%20state%20law." target="_blank" rel="noopener">engaging in</a> “deception, fraud, false promises, misrepresentation, unfair practices, and/or the concealment, suppression, or omission of material facts in connection with the solicitation of charitable funds.”
Bailey’s leadership comes at a critical juncture. National security experts have been ringing alarm bells over the CCP&#8217;s vast network of subversive operations against the United States in the American heartland. The OCSCs are a key part of that network.
OCSCs assume the mantle of nonprofit organizations that, on the surface, promote Chinese culture and assist Chinese citizens living abroad. But their strings are pulled by the <a href="https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/media/press-releases/select-committee-unveils-ccp-influence-memo-united-front-101" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United Front Work Department</a> (UFWD), an <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/annual_reports/2016%20Annual%20Report%20to%20Congress.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">intelligence service</a> which answers directly to the CCP’s Central Committee in Beijing. In addition to helping steal American intellectual property, United Front operations are heavily engaged in transnational repression.
In April 2023, two men were <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-arrested-operating-illegal-overseas-police-station-chinese-government" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> by the Department of Justice for running a secret police station in New York City under the direction of China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS). The case shines a light on how Communist Party agents operate on U.S. soil.
All around <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/10/08/chinese-police-station-spies-on-dissenters-linked-to-shady-us-charity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the world,</a> China’s overseas police stations monitor, harass and intimidate dissidents. In some cases, they’ve facilitated the <a href="https://jamestown.org/program/the-long-arm-of-the-lawless-the-prcs-overseas-police-stations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extra-judicial kidnapping</a> of China’s enemies to face the Peoples Republic of China’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/china/2019/10/31/justice-in-china-is-notoriously-harsh-but-reforms-are-afoot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notorious legal system</a>.
One of the New York defendants, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-arrested-operating-illegal-overseas-police-station-chinese-government" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lu Jianwang,</a> organized counter-protests against the Falun Gong on behalf of the MPS during President Xi Jinping’s 2015 visit to Washington, D.C. In 2018, Lu helped pressure a fugitive to return to China by threatening the victim and their family. In 2022, an MPS official tapped Lu to help track down a pro-democracy dissident thought to be living in California.
CCP infiltration extends far beyond secret police stations and the OCSCs. Attorney General Bailey must launch a similar investigation into another CCP operation in Missouri masquerading as a nonprofit: the <a href="https://usheartlandchina.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Heartland China Association</a> (USHCA). When the State Department launched its <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/nsd/information-about-department-justice-s-china-initiative-and-compilation-china-related" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China Initiative</a> to counter Chinese economic espionage and protect critical U.S. infrastructure, the CCP became alarmed at its effectiveness. In response, the USHCA co-hosted an <a href="https://ucausa.org/ucatalks-nov-3-2021-event-return-of-mccarthyism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">event</a> in 2021, calling the initiative as the “return of McCarthyism.” USHCA’s manipulation scheme worked. Just months later, the Biden administration <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/02/23/1082593735/justice-department-china-initiative" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discontinued</a> the China Initiative amid alleged concern that it was fueling “intolerance and bias against Asian Americans.”
Organizations like the USHCA work hand-in-glove with the Beijing-based Chinese Peoples’ Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), which according to the <a href="https://2017-2021.state.gov/designation-of-the-national-association-for-chinas-peaceful-unification-nacpu-as-a-foreign-mission-of-the-prc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Department of State</a>, actively seeks to “malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda,” and is the party organ “tasked with co-opting and neutralizing threats to the party’s rule and spreading its influence and propaganda overseas.”
<h4><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a></h4>
While Attorney General Bailey is doing what he can within his legal authority to target illegal CCP operations in Missouri, state legislatures around the country must give their attorneys general more tools to deal with this threat. They should start by passing state-level Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) laws that close federal FARA loopholes and help expose the operations of foreign adversaries within the United States. State legislatures should also enact legislation that would enable law enforcement to crack down on transnational repression operations. And, of course, attorneys general must use these tools to take action against <a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-95025c52081b9722e5afca23fe0a43b9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">malign influence</a> operations in their respective states.
The myth that China is interested in becoming more friendly and more democratic is falling apart, and we can take some comfort in that. But the CCP is relentless, and the federal government cannot face it down alone. Protecting our homeland from the CCP will demand focus, commitment, and action by our state and local government officials.
 * * *
Michael Lucci is the founder, CEO, and Chairman of State Armor, which he created to develop and enact state solutions to global security threats. Follow him at: @Michael7ucci
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.

House Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing On Manhattan District Attorney’s Office

Missouri AG Sends Strong Message To CCP: Spy Another Day

Attorney General

Chinese Communist Party

Missouri

Readers Pass

St. Louis

On Thursday, it was reported that Russia has released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan in a prisoner swap, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/evan-gershkovich-free-cde745b3">according to The Wall Street Journal</a>.
According to the WSJ, the deal is &#8220;part of the largest and most complex East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War.&#8221; The agreement involved two dozen prisoners and at least six countries.
Three Americans and one American green card holder were released in the swap, as Russia also freed journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Vladimir Kara-Murza, the report said.
Russian hit man Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany, was reportedly at the center of the agreement.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March 2023 in Yekaterinburg, accused of being a CIA spy and convicted in June. Russia also accused Whelan, the former director of global security for auto-parts supplier BorgWarner, of being a spy when he was arrested in 2018 at a wedding in Moscow. They accused him of keeping a flash drive that allegedly contained Russian state secrets. In 2020, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Russian prosecutors had alleged that “under instructions from the CIA” and “using painstaking conspiratorial methods,” Gershkovich “was collecting secret information” regarding a Russian defense contractor. The U.S. State Department called for his immediate release; no public evidence has been presented by Russia that supported its case. He was held in Moscow’s infamous Stalin-era Lefortovo Prison in a small cell and only <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/19/media/evan-gershkovich-espionage-trial-verdict-intl/index.html#:~:text=Evan%20Gershkovich%2C%20the%20first%20American,have%20denounced%20as%20a%20sham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allowed</a> one hour of walking every day.
“This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist,” Journal publisher Almar Latour and Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker stated,  “We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family. Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he’s released. This must end now.”
Russia had rebuffed a request from Gershkovich’s legal team that he be moved from the prison to house arrest or be granted bail. Russian President Vladimir Putin has hinted that he would swap Gershkovich for Russians held in other countries, referencing Vadim Krasikov, an FSB operative.
After Whelan was sentenced, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a <a href="https://www.state.gov/the-conviction-of-u-s-citizen-paul-whelan-in-russia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> demanding his “immediate release.”
“The United States is outraged by the decision of a Russian court today to convict U.S. citizen Paul Whelan after a secret trial, with secret evidence, and without appropriate allowances for defense witnesses,” Pompeo stated. “We have serious concerns that Mr. Whelan was deprived of the fair trial guarantees that Russia is required to provide him in accordance with its international human rights obligations.”
“The treatment of Paul Whelan at the hands of Russian authorities has been appalling. Russia failed to provide Mr. Whelan with a fair hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal; and during his detention has put his life at risk by ignoring his long-standing medical condition, and unconscionably kept him isolated from family and friends,” Pompeo added.

MixCollage-01-Aug-2024-08-54-AM-4238

Russia Releases WSJ Reporter, Former Marine In Prisoner Swap: Report

Evan Gershkovich

Global Politics

Paul Whelan

Russia

World

Top Republican members of Congress revealed this week that President Joe Biden&#8217;s special envoy to Iran, who is under federal criminal investigation, allegedly transferred classified material to his personal email and cellphone, at which point they were stolen by a hostile foreign actor.
The revelation about Robert Malley, Biden’s now-suspended special envoy to Iran, comes after a <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/iran-spy-ring-robert-malley-lee-smith">report</a> published in Tablet Magazine last October said that he was linked to an “Iranian spy ring” that was operating to shift U.S. policy to favor the Islamic nation.
The FBI <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-biden-official-under-fbi-investigation-over-handling-of-classified-material-report">criminal investigation</a> into Malley&#8217;s handling of classified material surfaced last summer after he was placed on leave without pay by the State Department.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member James Risch (R-ID) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) wrote a letter this week to Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressing their frustration with the Department&#8217;s &#8220;lack of responsiveness to our requests for information needed to conduct appropriate oversight.&#8221;
Included in the <a href="https://twitter.com/GLNoronha/status/1787953401944240241">letter</a> was the following revelation:
<blockquote>Specifically, we understand that Mr. Malley&#8217;s security clearance was suspended because he allegedly transferred classified documents to his personal email account and downloaded these documents to his personal cell phone. It is unclear to whom he intended to provide these documents, but it is believed that a hostile cyber actor was able to gain access to his email and/or phone and obtain the downloaded information.</blockquote>
Malley was accused in the Tablet report of advancing several operatives in the suspected Iranian spy ring, including helping an alleged Iranian asset named Ariane Tabatabai infiltrate her way into “some of the most sensitive positions in the U.S. government,” including at the State Department and Pentagon.
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The operation began in 2014 when Iran created the Iran Experts Initiative (IEI), a propaganda and influence operation that recruited top talent from Iranians living abroad to help Iran obtain a favorable nuclear deal. The group reported to an official from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which is a terrorist organization, and Iran’s then-Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was also reportedly involved.
The <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/iran-spy-ring-robert-malley-lee-smith" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>, headlined “High-Level Iranian Spy Ring Busted In Washington,” stated:
<blockquote>The contents of the emails are damning, showing a group of Iranian American academics being recruited by the Iranian regime, meeting together in foreign countries to receive instructions from top regime officials, and pledging their personal loyalty to the regime. They also show how these operatives used their Iranian heritage and Western academic positions to influence U.S. policy toward Iran, first as outside “experts” and then from high-level U.S. government posts. Both inside and outside of government, the efforts of members of this circle were repeatedly supported and advanced by Malley, who served as the U.S. government’s chief interlocutor with Iran under both the Obama and the Biden administrations. Malley is also the former head of the International Crisis Group (ICG), which directly paid and credentialed several key members of the regime’s influence operation.</blockquote>
Retired CIA analyst Peter Theroux, who was with the agency for 25 years, told the outlet, “I know what a spy network looks like.”
“This is how recruited assets speak to their handling officers,” he said. “There’s lots of the mood music around that correspondence saying, let me know what you need me to collect. It seems clear who’s the subordinate here — what you’d call responsive to tasking.”
Theroux noted that for someone like Tabatabai to receive even the most basic security clearance from the U.S. government, she would be so thoroughly examined that it would be impossible that the Biden administration did not know about her connections to Iran.
“The hoops you have to jump through to get a bare-bones top secret clearance even without compartments or special access programs are enormous,” he said. “They grill you on your foreign contacts. Contacts with any foreign government raise more red flags than Bernie Sanders’ honeymoon. Contacts with senior officials from enemy governments, classified as non-frat governments like Russia, China, Cuba, as well as Iran, are in a different category altogether — what would normally be totally disqualifying.”
McCaul <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-house-republican-suggests-biden-official-could-have-committed-treason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested</a> last summer Malley may have committed treason.
In January 2022, three U.S. officials working on the team negotiating with Iran <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-iran-envoy-terrorist-groups-hamas-hezbollah-are-misunderstood-have-their-own-rationality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">left the group</a> because Malley would not take a harder negotiating position regarding sanctions.
Noronha said Malley and his negotiating team “purposefully funneled billions of dollars to [Iran] through lack of sanctions enforcement and provision of sanctions relief that has given them somewhere between $50 [billion] and $80 billion over the last two and a half years.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-official-allegedly-part-of-covert-campaign-to-undermine-iranian-opposition-report">Biden Admin Official Allegedly Part Of ‘Covert Campaign’ To Undermine Iranian Opposition: Report</a>

US-IRAN-POLITICS-MALLEY

Top Republicans Reveal New Info In Criminal Probe Into Biden’s Iran Envoy

Biden Administration

Iran

Republicans

The FBI is on the hunt for an Iranian intelligence operative who has been allegedly plotting to assassinate current and former U.S. government officials, including Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state under former President Donald Trump.
Last week, the Bureau’s Miami field office <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorinfo/majid-dastjani-farahani" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> a public alert as it sought information on Majid Dastjani Farahani, who is suspected of being a member of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, Semafor <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/03/04/2024/fbi-hunts-for-suspected-iranian-assassin-targeting-trump-era-officials" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The FBI warned of Farahani, 42, in a Most Wanted notice on Friday, saying that he speaks Farsi, French, Spanish, and English and will often move between Iran and Venezuela.
According to the FBI, Farahani was recruiting “individuals for various operations in the United States, to include lethal targeting of current and former United States Government officials” as part of a revenge operation for the U.S. taking out Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani in 2020 under Trump and Pompeo.
<div id="attachment_705411" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-705411" class=" wp-image-705411" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-04-at-4.04.14-PM-300x216.png" alt="" width="600" height="432" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-04-at-4.04.14-PM-300x216.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-04-at-4.04.14-PM-798x576.png 798w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-04-at-4.04.14-PM-768x554.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-04-at-4.04.14-PM-1536x1108.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/Screen-Shot-2024-03-04-at-4.04.14-PM.png 1616w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />MAJID DASTJANI FARAHANI/FBI Wanted Poster</div>
Semafor reported that U.S. officials said Pompeo and former special envoy for Iran Brian Hook were given 24-hour security after the FBI warned of Farahani. In 2022, the Department of Justice indicted members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for an alleged plot to assassinate former National Security Advisor John Bolton, who also served under Trump.
Farahani is also accused of recruiting people to run “surveillance activities focused on religious sites, businesses, and other facilities in the United States.”
Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike ordered by Trump in January 2020. The brutal Iranian general had been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American troops in Iraq, and the U.S. State Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/state-dept-iranian-general-killed-in-u-s-strike-responsible-for-17-of-american-deaths-in-iraq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> Soleimani was directly behind 17% of all U.S. personnel deaths during the Iraq War.
Shortly after Soleimani’s death, the top Iranian general and other officials <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-iranian-general-revenge-for-soleimani-death-to-happen-within-u-s-no-one-will-forget-what-we-do" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vowed</a> that Iran would get <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iran-vows-revenge-for-general-killed-by-u-s-says-it-will-hit-those-responsible" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revenge</a> on the U.S. Iran’s volatility raised concerns again when Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists launched an attack on Israel on October 7, killing over 1,200 and taking hundreds hostage into the Gaza Strip. The IRGC <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/irans-guard-corps-hamas-oct-7-attack-was-revenge-for-killing-of-soleimani-in-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> two months after the terrorist attack on Israel that it was “one of the revenges” for the killing of Soleimani.
While Hamas denied it had the same reason as the IRGC for its 10/7 atrocities, Iran’s threats, and thirst for bloodshed following the death of its beloved general were heard clearly. U.S. forces were even <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/multiple-u-s-soldiers-killed-dozens-injured-by-iranian-backed-terrorists-in-middle-east" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attacked</a> by Iranian-backed terrorists in January, and three American soldiers were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-on-u-s-soldiers-killed-tragic-consequence-of-joe-bidens-weakness-and-surrender" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed</a>.
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The Iranian-backed Houthis have also been causing chaos in the Red Sea and the Middle East, launching attacks on shipping vessels and Israeli forces. The U.S. has responded to the ongoing terrorist actions with limited strikes inside Yemen and a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-drone-strike-smokes-multiple-iranian-backed-terrorist-leaders-reports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drone strike</a> that killed multiple terrorist leaders in Baghdad, Iraq, last month.

FBI Looking For Iranian Spy Who Is Allegedly Plotting Assassinations Of Trump Admin Officials

assassination

Donald Trump

Mike Pompeo

Qassem Soleimani

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-navy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Navy</a> service member was sentenced to just over two years in prison after he pled guilty to being bribed to send sensitive military information to a Chinese intelligence officer. 
Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, a 26-year-old from Monterey Park, California, was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-navy-sailor-sentenced-27-months-prison-transmitting-sensitive-us-military-information" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced</a> to just 27 months in prison and ordered to pay a $5,500 fine after his guilty plea for one count of conspiring with an intelligence officer and one count of receiving a bribe. Zhao <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-navy-service-member-pleads-guilty-transmitting-sensitive-us-military-information-chinese" target="_blank" rel="noopener">could</a> have faced up to 20 years in prison, 15 years for the conspiracy charge and 5 years for the bribery charge.
“Mr. Zhao betrayed his solemn oath to defend his country and endangered those who serve in the U.S. military,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Today, he is being held to account for those crimes. The Justice Department is committed to combating the Chinese government’s efforts to undermine our nation’s security and holding accountable those who violate our laws as part of those efforts.” 
He was paid at least $14,866 by a Chinese intelligence officer for sending information on the U.S. Navy operational security, military trainings and exercises, and critical infrastructure, according to the DOJ. 
Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at Hudson Institute and the director of its Keystone Defense Initiative, slammed the “slap on the wrist” that Zhao received.
“He stole secrets about things that could get Americans killed, things related to operational security, military training, and key facilities” Heinrichs told The Daily Wire. “He did it over and over and sold it to our chief enemy. His slap on the wrist sentence is shocking and sends the wrong message at a tense time when China is relentlessly trying to recruit agents.”
The Navy service member, who had a security clearance, worked at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, California. The DOJ said that the bribery took place from August 2021 to May 2023 during which Zhao went into restricted locations to obtain information. 
The DOJ said that the information given to the Chinese intelligence officer included the plans of a large-scale training exercise in the Pacific and operational orders and documents on Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar system in Okinawa, Japan.
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“Zhao betrayed his country and disgraced himself when he accepted bribes from an intelligence officer with the People’s Republic of China,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California. “As a result, he has now been removed from the military and will serve time in federal prison. Today’s sentence shows that my office will swiftly act to root out and punish those who seek to undermine our nation’s security.”
The investigation was led by the FBI Los Angeles Field Office’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the IRS-Criminal Investigation unit.

US Navy carriers Ford, Eisenhower in eastern Mediterranean

Navy Service Member Who Sold Secrets To China Sentenced To Just 27 Months In Prison

Bribery

California

U.S. Navy

According to federal officials, a potential spying threat has been posed by Chinese nationals posing as tourists who tested the security of military bases as well as other sensitive sites — and roughly 100 reported incidents have occurred.
The officials explained that quite often the incidents occur in rural areas where tourists are not typically found, and the nationals address the security guards with what appears to be scripted language, not normal discourse. When they are stopped, they insist they have simply gotten lost.
According to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/chinese-gate-crashers-at-u-s-bases-spark-espionage-concerns-cdef8187?mod=e2tw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal,</a> the Defense Department and FBI joined other agencies to study the issue, finding that the Chinese nationals were required to transmit the information they found back to the Communist Chinese government.
“The advantage the Chinese have is they are willing to throw people at collection in large numbers,” Emily Harding, a former deputy staff director at the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told the Journal. “If a few of them get caught, it will be very difficult for the U.S. government to prove anything beyond trespassing, and those who don’t get caught are likely to collect something useful.”
Some of the Chinese nationals gained unauthorized access to military bases “by speeding through security checkpoints,” Sue Gough, a Pentagon spokeswoman, admitted, adding, “These individuals are often cited criminally, barred from future installation access and escorted off-base.”
When the Journal contacted the Biden White House and the Department of Homeland Security, they declined to comment.
“The relevant claims are purely ill-intentioned fabrications,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, declared, snapping, “We urge the relevant U.S. officials to abandon the Cold War mentality, stop groundless accusations, and do more things that are conducive to enhancing mutual trust between the two countries and friendship between the two peoples.”
One case involved Chinese nationals who said they were tourists attempting to force their way past guards at the military base in Fort Wainwright, Alaska, the home to the Army’s 11th Airborne Division. Chinese nationals have reportedly repeatedly photographed the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/449089main_White_Sands_Missile_Range_Fact_Sheet.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">largest</a> overland military test range in the U.S.
Chinese nationals were reportedly found swimming near a Key West, Florida, military facility. They claimed they were tourists. Other Chinese nationals seemed to be scuba diving near Cape Canaveral, where spy satellites are sent into space, according to the Journal.
Last February, the U.S. military used an F-22 Raptor using a single air-to-air A9X sidewinder missile to bring down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina.
In early June, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unbelievable-aggression-by-china-house-intel-chairman-responds-to-chinese-military-provocations-against-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> ABC News&#8217; “This Week,” &#8220;What we&#8217;re seeing is an unbelievable aggression by China. If you look at the balloon that flew over the United States, the Chinese police stations, the aggressiveness against our both planes and ships in international water, it goes right to the heart of what President Xi said when he stood next to Putin in Russia, where he said, they&#8217;re trying to make change that had not happened in 100 years.&#8221;
“When you have, for example, a balloon that transits all across the United States, and the administration doesn&#8217;t respond until the game&#8217;s over, until it&#8217;s over the Atlantic, you start &#8212; and when you have police stations that have been operating within the United States, that took forever in order for them to take action, you get this sort of sense of permissiveness, that I think the administration needs to step up and make clear that China has identified itself as an adversary, and we&#8217;re going to treat it as such,” he added.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unbelievable-aggression-by-china-house-intel-chairman-responds-to-chinese-military-provocations-against-u-s">&#8216;Unbelievable Aggression By China&#8217;: House Intel Chairman Responds To Chinese Military Provocations Against U.S.</a>

White Sands National Park – White Sands Missile Range, NM

Roughly 100 Incidents Where Chinese Nationals Tried To Access U.S. Military, Sensitive Sites: Report

Military Bases

Tourism

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI</a> inappropriately searched for information on a U.S. senator using an intelligence provision intended for monitoring foreign nationals, a court opinion released Friday shows. 
The opinion from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said that the FBI improperly searched a database for information on an unidentified U.S. senator, state senator, and judge. The FBI conducted the searches under powers derived from Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but the conditions for the searches were not met, the judge said, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4110850-fbi-improperly-used-702-surveillance-powers-on-us-senator/">according</a> to The Hill.
“In June 2022, an analyst conducted four queries of Section 702 information using the last names of a U.S. senator and a state senator, without further limitation,” a court opinion from Judge Rudolph Contreras said.
Section 702 allows allows intelligence agencies to obtain the online communications of foreign nationals without a warrant.
Although the court said that a “a specific foreign intelligence service” was looking into two of the individuals, the FBI was not able to provide proper criteria for the searches as determined by the National Security Division at the Department of Justice.
Information on the judge was searched after he had accused a police chief of civil rights violations. 
A “Staff Operations Specialist ran a query using the Social Security number of a state judge who ‘had complained to [the] FBI about alleged civil right violations perpetrated by a municipal chief of police,’” the opinion said. 
Contreras said that the FBI had been doing “a better job in applying the querying standard” since the mistakes have been revealed. Previous documentation <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-misused-surveillance-tool-over-278000-times-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">from the case indicates</a> that Section 702 was misused over 278,000 times to collect information on American citizens. 
The opinion was released after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued to make it public. The opinion was from April 2023. 
“The FBI continues to break the rules put in place to protect Americans, running illegal searches on public officials including a U.S. senator, and it’s long past time for Congress to step in. As Congress debates reauthorizing Section 702, these opinions make clear why fundamental reforms are urgently needed,” Patrick Toomey, of the ACLU National Security Project, told The Hill in a statement. 
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FBI Director Christopher Wray said that the FBI had implemented “substantial reforms” over its use of Section 702.
&#8220;Compliance is an ongoing endeavor, and we recently announced new additional accountability measures,&#8221; Wray <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fbi-improperly-searched-intel-database-info-us-senator/story?id=101554896" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;We will continue to focus on using our Section 702 authorities to protect American lives and keeping our Homeland safe, while safeguarding civil rights and liberties.&#8221;
Section 702, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nsa-asks-for-reauthorization-of-surveillance-powers-as-republicans-prepare-to-investigate-security-agencies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first implemented</a> in 2008, was renewed by then-President Donald Trump in 2018 even after he <a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-america-donald-trump-politics-077b8a0f34354149ac2b55ce533f203a">said</a> the power was linked to the widely discredited Steele Dossier that purported to have evidence of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. After initial skepticism, Trump renewed the powers following a discussion with then-House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI). 
Intelligence officials have urged lawmakers to renew the powers at the end of the year, but some lawmakers have remained skeptical, especially with concerns over a politicized FBI.

FBI Director Wray Testifies Before House Judiciary Committee

FBI Inappropriately Used Spy Powers On U.S. Senator, Court Says

Christopher Wray

FISA

National Intelligence

Surveillance

The Russian Navy is “likely” training combat dolphins to intercept enemy divers in the Black Sea, according to the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence">U.K. Ministry of Defence</a>.
The information came in an “<a href="https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1672118745991397376/photo/3">Intelligence Update</a>” from the ministry on Friday, which revealed imagery around the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s main naval base at Sevastopol, Crimea.
“Russia has trained animals for a range of missions, but the ones housed in Sevastopol harbour are highly likely intended to counter enemy divers,” the statement said.
The intelligence gathered by the U.K. showed nets, booms, and marine mammal pens used to defend the base and train dolphins for military purposes. The ministry’s post stated,“This includes at least four layers of nets and booms across the harbour entrance. In recent weeks, these defences have highly likely also been augmented by an increased number of trained marine mammals.”
The U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) reviewed the imagery and <a href="https://news.usni.org/2022/04/27/trained-russian-navy-dolphins-are-protecting-black-sea-naval-base-satellite-photos-show">confirmed</a> the intelligence, concluding that Russia moved the two dolphin pens to Sevastopol in February. According to the USNI, the dolphins could “be tasked with counter-diver operations” and “prevent Ukrainian special operations forces from infiltrating the harbor underwater to sabotage warships.”
The Sevastopol base is the Russian Navy’s most important naval base in Crimea and stores many high value Russian ships. The base is seen as especially vulnerable to Ukrainian sabotage since it is out of range of Ukrainian missiles.
“Imagery shows a near doubling of floating mammal pens in the harbour which highly likely contain bottle-nosed dolphins,” the statement continued. The suspected dolphin training comes alongside heightened security in Sevastopol following Ukrainian drone strikes in April, according to <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/world/2023/06/26/russia-dolphins-ukraine-war-uk/70356695007/">The Tennessean</a>. 
Bottle-nosed dolphins can detect underwater mines and enemy swimmers using echolocation — sounds the dolphin emits and then bounce back to the dolphin. According to the <a href="https://www.niwcpacific.navy.mil/marine-mammal-program/">Naval Information Warfare Center</a>, dolphins have the most sophisticated sonar known to science. 
Russia has previously used Beluga whales and seals in the Arctic Ocean for naval surveillance missions. A Beluga whale made <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56956365">headlines</a> in 2021 when it appeared on the coast of Norway when it appeared to be used for Russian intelligence. Locals nicknamed the whale “Hvaldimir” and freed the whale from its camera-bearing harness.
This isn’t the first time dolphins have been used in a military context. The U.S. studied and trained dolphins and beluga whales to improve their own sonar technology and improve their vessels’ speed, according to “<a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales/etc/navycron.html">A Whale of Business</a>,” a PBS’ episode of “Frontline.”
The Marine Mammal Program (MMP), starting in 1960, “also trained dolphins, beluga whales, sea lions and other marine mammals to perform various underwater tasks, including delivering equipment to divers underwater, locating and retrieving lost objects, guarding boats and submarines, and doing underwater surveillance using a camera held in their mouths.”
According to PBS, the MMP had over 100 dolphins and operated with an $8 million budget in the 1980s, playing a key surveillance role in the Cold War. 
The U.S. Navy used bottlenose dolphins in the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars to patrol waters, alert guards, and tag enemy swimmers with a tracking device so American troops could capture or neutralize the swimmer. Though the Navy denies it, the episode claims that dolphins were also trained to shoot enemy swimmers.

Dolphins in Caribbean Sea water

Russian Navy ‘Likely’ Training Combat Dolphins, UK Defense Ministry Says

Russian Navy 'Likely' Training Combat Dolphins, UK Defense Ministry Says

Dolphin

U.K.

Ukraine

Ukraine-Russia War

Whale

wildlife

Communist <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unbelievable-aggression-by-china-house-intel-chairman-responds-to-chinese-military-provocations-against-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China</a> has reached a deal with Cuba to build an electronic eavesdropping base in the island country — around 100 miles off the American coast, U.S. officials <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/cuba-to-host-secret-chinese-spy-base-focusing-on-u-s-b2fed0e0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Wall Street Journal. 
The deal, which is reportedly worth billions and has been agreed upon in principle, will allow China to construct a facility that can intercept communications in the southeastern U.S., home to dozens of military bases. The Chinese spy base could also monitor U.S. ship traffic, WSJ reported. 
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he could not speak specifically to the alarming report, but the planned spy base in Cuba has caused alarm within the Biden administration, according to the outlet. Officials said that the Chinese facility would allow Beijing to monitor emails, phone calls, and satellite transmissions through espionage monitoring known as <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/Signals-Intelligence/Overview/#:~:text=SIGINT%20is%20intelligence%20derived%20from,capabilities%2C%20actions%2C%20and%20intentions." target="_blank" rel="noopener">SIGINT</a>. 
“While I cannot speak to this specific report, we are well aware of — and have spoken many times to — the People’s Republic of China’s efforts to invest in infrastructure around the world that may have military purposes, including in this hemisphere,” Kirby said. “We monitor it closely, take steps to counter it, and remain confident that we are able to meet all our security commitments at home, in the region, and around the world.”
The report of a potential Chinese spy operation targeting the U.S. from just outside its borders comes as relations between the two world powers continue to deteriorate. China has raised tensions as it reportedly mulls a plan to take over Taiwan, but the U.S. has stood strong by Taiwan, selling arms and deploying a small number of troops to the island that China claims sovereignty over. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to travel to China to meet with communist dictator Xi Jinping later this month. 
Earlier this week, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unbelievable-aggression-by-china-house-intel-chairman-responds-to-chinese-military-provocations-against-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> recent events have pointed to “unbelievable aggression” from communist China directed at Western nations.
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“Well, what we’re seeing is an unbelievable aggression by China,” Turner told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday. “If you look at the balloon that flew over the United States, the Chinese police stations, the aggressiveness against our both planes and ships in international water, it goes right to the heart of what President Xi said when he stood next to Putin in Russia, where he said, they’re trying to make change that had not happened in 100 years.”
According to some experts, China believes a base in Cuba would level the playing field since the U.S. has a presence in Taiwan off of China’s coast. 
“Establishing this facility signals a new, escalatory phase in China’s broader defense strategy. It’s a bit of a game changer,” Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Journal. “The selection of Cuba is also intentionally provocative.”

Flag-Raising Ceremony At Tiananmen Square On New Year’s Day

China To Build Spy Base In Cuba Focused On Intercepting Communications Within U.S.: Report

Cuba

Military

U.S.

Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent who turned into a spy for Russia and did significant damage to U.S. national security, was found dead in his prison cell on Monday. He was 79 years old.
&#8220;On Monday, June 5, 2023, at approximately 6:55 am, inmate Robert Hansen was found unresponsive at the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) specifically, the ADX in Florence, Colorado,&#8221; the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement. &#8220;Responding staff immediately initiated life-saving measures. Staff requested emergency medical services and life-saving efforts continued. The inmate was subsequently pronounced dead by outside emergency medical personnel.&#8221;
Hanssen was arrested in 2001 and charged with spying for Russia and the former Soviet Union using the alias “Ramon Garcia.” He earned nearly $1.5 million in cash, diamonds, and bank funds for his treasonous actions.
He started spying for Russia in 1985 and the information that he transferred to them using dead drops “compromised numerous human sources, counterintelligence techniques, investigations, dozens of classified U.S. government documents, and technical operations of extraordinary importance and value,” according to the FBI.
The U.S. government eventually caught Hanssen when they secured a Russian document that appeared to identify him as their source. An extensive subsequent investigation caught him red-handed giving classified material to the Russians.
He pled guilty to 15 counts of espionage and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He served his time at the supermax prison in Colorado, which is considered to be the most secure prison in the world.
&#8220;A betrayal of trust by an FBI Agent, who is not only sworn to enforce the law but specifically to help protect our nation&#8217;s security, is particularly abhorrent,&#8221; then-FBI Director Louis J. Freeh said at the time. &#8220;This kind of criminal conduct represents the most traitorous action imaginable against a country governed by the Rule of Law.&#8221;
This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.

FBI Agent Arrested for Spying

Robert Hanssen, Ex-FBI Agent Turned Russian Spy, Found Dead In His Jail Cell

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CIA</a> Director William Burns made a covert trip to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China</a> in May in an effort to open up communications with Chinese intelligence leaders in the aftermath of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chinese-spy-balloon-collected-intelligence-from-sensitive-military-sites-sent-back-to-beijing-in-real-time-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appearance of a spy balloon</a> over the U.S., according to multiple reports.
A <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/5fdfed4f-7270-455f-ac33-fedbef887423" target="_blank" rel="noopener">source told</a> the Financial Times that Burns&#8217; trip was for the purpose of meeting with intelligence officials and that he did not have any “diplomatic engagements” while in the communist country. 
“Last month, director Burns traveled to Beijing where he met with Chinese counterparts and emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of communications in intelligence channels,” a U.S. official said. 
President Joe Biden has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/cia-director-bill-burns-took-secret-trip-china-may-rcna87433" target="_blank" rel="noopener">been seeking</a> a “thaw” in the relationship between the U.S. and China since a Chinese spy balloon was shot down in February off the coast of South Carolina after traveling over the continental U.S. 
Last month, China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, met with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Vienna for several hours. But <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/beijing-snubs-u-s-rejects-meeting-between-top-military-officials" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tensions remain</a> as China snubbed the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> last weekend, rejecting a request from the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-defense">Pentagon</a> for a meeting between the top military officials of Washington and Beijing last weekend.
Prior to Burns’ trip, the top senior official to visit China from the Biden administration occurred in July 2021 when Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman visited. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was supposed to visit China in February, but his visit was canceled in the wake of the spy balloon controversy. 
The Biden administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-tried-to-conceal-chinese-spy-balloon-to-not-disrupt-blinken-trip-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly knew</a> about the Chinese spy balloon sailing over the U.S. earlier than when it became widely known but kept quiet so as to not disrupt Blinken’s trip.
Bloomberg News <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-04/from-china-to-big-sky-the-balloon-that-unnerved-the-white-house?leadSource=uverify%20wall#xj4y7vzkg">reported</a> that U.S. officials were “well aware” that the balloon had crossed into American airspace on January 28 and that it was over Idaho on Tuesday, but decided to not inform the public to not upend Blinken’s diplomatic trip to China. 
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Burns also has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/epstein-scheduled-meetings-with-now-cia-director-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">come under fire</a> after newly disclosed records show that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jeffrey-epstein">Jeffrey Epstein</a> scheduled meetings with him in the years after the wealthy and well-connected financier registered as a child sex offender.
Burns, who became President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden">Joe Biden&#8217;</a>s CIA director in March 2021, had three meetings scheduled with Epstein in 2014 when Burns was deputy secretary of state, the documents show. The report mentioned a planned lunch in August at a law firm in Washington and two evening appointments in September at Epstein’s townhouse in Manhattan.

Senate Intelligence Committee Hears Testimony On Worldwide Threats To The U.S.

CIA Director Took Secret Visit To China To Meet With Intelligence Officials: Reports

Antony Blinken

National Security

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