| Subject: Re: docs I have |
| From: Michael Hastings <mhastings@gmail.com> |
| Date: 4/24/12, 17:50 |
| To: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> |
I could post it on Pastebin if you'd be inclined to link to it.
On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 4:34 PM, Michael Hastings <mhastings@gmail.com> wrote:
> Have you posted this statement anywhere we can link to it?
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 5:24 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Over a year ago, it was revealed that the federal contractors HBGary
>> Federal, Palantir, Berico, and Endgame Systems had combined forces to create
>> a sort of cyber-offense unit called Team Themis. With the assistance of the
>> law firm Hunton & Williams, they went about collecting potential clients,
>> including two institutions which desired to go on the offensive against
>> certain activist groups. One of these institutions, the Chamber of Commerce,
>> provided them with the names of various individuals believed to be involved
>> with groups that opposed their policies, and asked them to come up with a
>> plan by which to discredit them. This was one of the options that Team
>> Themis came up:
>>
>> Create a false document, perhaps highlighting periodical financial
>> information, and monitor to see if U.S. Chamber Watch acquires it.
>> Afterward, present explicit evidence that such transactions never occurred.
>> Also, create a fake insider persona and generate communications with CtW.
>> Afterward, release the actual documents at a specified time and explain the
>> activity as a CtW contrived operation. Both instances will prove that
>> Chamber Watch cannot be trusted with information and/or tell the truth.
>>
>> In the eyes of the Justice Department, this sort of thing does not
>> constitute even probable cause of criminal activity on the part of any of
>> the individuals involved, or their companies, or the various other employees
>> who viewed these kinds proposals. I say this because no one involved has had
>> their apartment door knocked down and their equipment and notes seized by
>> the FBI, as I have. The fact that Team Themis also discussed the option of
>> hacking the servers of Wikileaks, and engaging in a campaign of intimidation
>> against the journalist Glenn Greenwald due to his support of the
>> organization, does not seem to generate much activity over at the DoJ or
>> FBI, either. Perhaps this is because these latter measures were proposed for
>> another of Team Themis' prospective clients, Bank of America, and that Bank
>> of America first got in touch with Team Themis and Hunton & Williams after
>> they were recommended to them by the Justice Department itself.
>>
>> The call for a Congressional inquiry into this matter was shot down by
>> Rep. Lamar Smith. His reasoning was that the Justice Department is best
>> equipped to decide if any investigation is warranted in this instance. I
>> would tend to disagree with that insomuch as that they helped to put these
>> activities in motion.
>>
>> At any rate, the FBI is now searching through my belongings for
>> information on HBGary, Endgame Systems, and the website that my group
>> Project PM maintains for the purpose of disseminating info on such firms as
>> these, Echelon2.org. They will find quite a bit of information on all of
>> these things. They will also find further evidence of wrongdoing on the part
>> of other "security contractors" who posted pictures of what they believed
>> to be my apartment so that, as one of them put it, the Zeta drug cartel
>> would know which house I lived in (http://twicsy.com/i/6dHfX). They will
>> find the name of the contractor in question; they will find screen shots
>> showing that he has ties to the former CEO of HBGary Federal.
>>
>> But they will not choose to investigate those sorts of things. The state
>> has friends, and the state has enemies.
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 3:18 PM, Michael Hastings <mhastings@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Great, thanks very much.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 4:11 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Yep, you can do so. Let me provide a statement to go along with them,
>>>> I'll send in a second.
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 3:09 PM, Michael Hastings <mhastings@gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Hey man--can we say we are publishing these as an exclusive.
>>>>>
>>>>> Holy shit. The feds aren't fucking around, hunh?
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 4:02 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Here are the search warrants that I was provided by the FBI when they
>>>>>> raided my apartment and then my mother's residence. If you do run them,
>>>>>> please block out the addresses.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>>>>> From: Tom Mills <tmills@millsandwilliams.com>
>>>>>> Date: Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 2:57 PM
>>>>>> Subject: docs I have
>>>>>> To: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
>>>>>> Cc: Tom Mills <tmills@millsandwilliams.com>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Barrett Brown
>>>>>> 940-735-9748
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Michael Hastings
>>>>> BuzzFeed Correspondent 2012
>>>>> Rolling Stone Contributing Editor
>>>>> mhastings@gmail.com
>>>>> Office: 646-388-1062
>>>>> International Mobile: +1-212-945-8073
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Regards,
>>>>
>>>> Barrett Brown
>>>> 940-735-9748
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Michael Hastings
>>> BuzzFeed Correspondent 2012
>>> Rolling Stone Contributing Editor
>>> mhastings@gmail.com
>>> Office: 646-388-1062
>>> International Mobile: +1-212-945-8073
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>>
>> Barrett Brown
>> 940-735-9748
>
>
>
>
> --
> Michael Hastings
> BuzzFeed Correspondent 2012
> Rolling Stone Contributing Editor
> mhastings@gmail.com
> Office: 646-388-1062
> International Mobile: +1-212-945-8073
>
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
940-735-9748