aubiefifty

Exclusive: Russia-linked smear campaign against Hunter Biden began earlier than previously thought Mattathias Schwartz Thu, February 22, 2024 at 6:57 PM CST·6 min read A former KGB agent handed a thumb drive with Hunter Biden disinformation to an aide for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a gala event in May 2019. The former KGB agent also presented the same disinformation to Justice Department officials in January 2019. The presentation marks the earliest known instance of a Russia-linked source pushing allegations about Hunter Biden and Burisma. A thumb drive handed by a foreign national to an aide traveling with then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2019 suggests that efforts by Russia-linked actors to influence the 2020 US presidential election with Hunter Biden disinformation began earlier and were broader in scope than has previously been reported. According to two sources with direct knowledge of the incident, a thumb drive containing poorly sourced allegations about Hunter Biden and his work for Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, was thrust into the hands of one of Pompeo's aides at the conservative Claremont Institute's 40th anniversary gala in Beverly Hills on May 11, 2019. The man pushing the thumb drive was a citizen of an Eastern European country and a guest of Claremont. He was also, for a time, an FBI confidential informant, with the code name "Rollie." His true name is known to Business Insider, which is only identifying him as Rollie in order to protect sources who provided information for this story. Rollie, on the other hand, seemed unconcerned about potential exposure. At first, he denied knowing anything about Pompeo when contacted by Business Insider. But when BI sent him a photo of him at the gala with Pompeo, he admitted that he had been there. "You can publish," he wrote. "It's advertising for me." Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with "Rollie," a former KGB agent, at a Claremont Institute gala on May 11, 2019. That evening, Rollie passed a thumb drive containing disinformation about Hunter Biden and Burisma to a Pompeo aide.Photo obtained by BI Rollie told associates and confirmed to Business Insider that he had once served in the KGB, the Soviet intelligence agency, before swearing loyalty to the country where he now resides. The thumb drive that Rollie gave Pompeo's aide contained some of the same material that Rollie had presented weeks earlier, in January 2019, in a briefing to Justice Department officials in Los Angeles. "I'm not interested in the past," Rollie said when asked over WhatsApp about the briefing. He denied that he gave anyone a thumb drive at the Claremont Institute event. Business Insider has obtained a copy of slides that accompanied Rollie's January 2019 presentation. They accuse Hunter Biden and his business associates of engaging in money laundering, tax evasion, and fraud. Rollie's slides offer a labyrinthine wire chart, clippings from old news articles, and a potpourri of links including various Ukrainian and Russian websites. President Biden's first name is repeatedly misspelled as "Josef." They contain no evidence of criminal activity. Nevertheless, according to a disclosure prepared by FBI whistleblower Johnathan Buma, Rollie's handler, the material was taken seriously enough to be passed on to FBI agents in Delaware who were investigating Hunter Biden. Also included were some Ukrainian-language backup materials which Business Insider has not reviewed. Rollie confirmed to Business Insider that he had prior contact with the FBI. The Rollie presentation sheds new light on the timeline of efforts by Russia and by operatives for Donald Trump to seed allegations about Joe Biden's relationship to Burisma with the media and government authorities. While questions about the propriety of Hunter's lucrative Burisma work in Ukraine were raised by the New York Times as early as 2015, and explored in a 2018 book by conservative author Peter Schweizer, they didn't explode into the forefront of the political conversation until March 2019. It was during that month that Rudy Giuliani gave Pompeo a folder of Hunter Biden material that he obtained from Ukraine, and right-wing investigative reporter John Solomon began publishing a series of columns about Hunter Biden and Burisma in The Hill. One month later, in April 2019, Hunter abandoned his laptop at a Delaware repair shop, eventually leading to a wave of revelations in October 2020 that included information about his business dealings in Ukraine. The Hunter-Burisma material that was presented in January 2019, and again on the thumb drive given to Pompeo's aide in May 2019, appears to be the earliest known case of Burisma-related disinformation of foreign origin being ingested and apparently taken seriously by members of the US intelligence community. It also suggests a third channel of 2020 disinformation moving from East to West, one that is separate from the previously known efforts that went through Giuliani and Alexander Smirnov, another FBI informant with ties to Russia and Eastern Europe. Smirnov was indicted last week for lying to the FBI about Hunter Biden. Prosecutors have claimed in court filings that Smirnov has extensive ties to Russian intelligence. It's easy to see why Hunter Biden's critics have focused on Burisma. The energy company paid Biden around $600,000 a year during a period that overlapped with his father's vice presidency. It's unclear what the company got for their money beyond the ability to brag about an indirect line into the White House. But almost five years after his departure from the board, Hunter Biden was never charged with any wrongdoing for his Burisma service. Instead, Special Counsel David Weiss has indicted Hunter for tax evasion and lying on a form to purchase a firearm. The revelation about Rollie's thumb drive comes shortly after the indictment of Smirnov, for allegedly making false statements about Hunter Biden in June 2020. Like Smirnov, Rollie's materials accuse Hunter Biden of involving his father in Burisma's business and committing a vast off-the-books fraud. Smirnov's alleged lies included the allegation that Burisma officials paid a $5 million bribe to Joe Biden, and were memorialized in an FBI form 1023, which records raw reporting from confidential sources, that was circulated by GOP Sen. Charles Grassley. The thumb drive incident raises further questions about the ease with which foreign actors can obtain access to the highest levels of the US government and then pass off rubbish as legitimate intelligence. A spokesperson for Pompeo did not respond to repeated requests for comment. There is no evidence to suggest that Pompeo or his aide did anything with the material on the thumb drive after receiving it. A former State Department official who served under Pompeo told BI that it was not unusual for officials to receive random material from people they meet at social events, and that there was a process in place for handing such materials off to in-house experts for evaluation. Business Insider reached out to the Claremont Institute, which was responsible for vetting the gala guest list, on Thursday and did not immediately receive a reply. After 2016, the Claremont Institute drifted from traditional conservative politics into more extreme territory. It granted a fellowship to MAGA troublemaker Jack Posobiec, who has used his online platform to spread conspiracy theories, and served as an organizing hub for the backlash to DEI initiatives in higher education. A spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment. The Justice Department and a lawyer representing Buma did not immediately return requests for comment sent after hours. With reporting by Anastasiia Carrier. Read the original article on Business Insider

you can drink too much right? same with most anything. i just wanted to watch your back so to speak in case you ever did.

if you ever do a gummy take a small bite and wait awhile. they are way stronger than smoking. i have been smokiing for over fifty something years and one third will get me buzzed. i would hate for you to take too much and get a hell ride instead of a high........grins.

i was told five but he runs late so i can only get close. they are doing blood work and an ekg i guess to see if my heart will take it.

i got to meet him in oxford al. it was an honor to shake his hand............

word around the water cooler is you drink decaf.......color me shocked and disappointed.

thanx so much! i am gonna ask doc if he can pretty me up some while i am under...........grins

i will find out tomorrow but it was hinted at five tuesday morning but dr phyllis runs on dr phyllis time and folks joke about it. i am not really sure. shrugs.........but thanx i will take all the prayers and good vibes i can get.

i think he is talking abo0ut going on the road. Not a very informative title

i have big love for you brother. i still kick my own azz for taking a shot at you but i did apologize. you are one of the good guys!

he just said it was coming up and that was it.

not yest but i will be. pot lessens the crazy believe it or not..........

what about the billions sonny boy took in? He (with no investment experience) grifted a 2 billion dollar investment fund infusion from the Saudis. At only a 1% annual fee, Jared is raking in 30 million dollars a year for "managing" the money. where is your outrage hypo's?

you know i am playing iggy?

when the cardinal speaks yall best pay attention........

i rename you iggy........you ignore the truth to be a seeker of it so many times. are you young or old may i ask?

al.com Spring football in Auburn: Notes and quotes on the edge rusher room ahead of spring camp Published: Feb. 22, 2024, 6:30 a.m. 4–5 minutes AUBURN, AL - SEPTEMBER 30 - Auburn Jack Linebacker Jalen McLeod (35) during the game between the Auburn Tigers and the #1 Georgia Bulldogs at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, AL on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. Photo by Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers03385434/Auburn Tigers The second spring camp of the Hugh Freeze era at Auburn is just around the corner as it’s set to get underway Feb. 27. The Tigers will then proceed to hold 13 spring practices in preparation of Auburn’s spring game — also known as A-Day — which is set to be played on April 6 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Before spring practices get underway, AL.com will take a position-by-position look at the Tigers’ roster, this time diving into Auburn’s room of edge rushers — sometimes referred to as the Tigers’ jack linebackers. MORE: Spring football in Auburn: Notes and quotes on the Tigers’ linebacker room MORE: Spring football in Auburn: Notes and quotes on the Tigers’ cornerback room Who did the Tigers lose in their edge rusher room? Departing Auburn’s room of edge rushers after the 2023 season are Elijah McAllister, who ran out of eligibility, and Stephen Sings V, who entered the transfer portal in early December. Together, McAllister and Sings combined for 33 tackles in 2023 with McAllister tallying 28 on his own as he appeared in all 13 of Auburn’s games. Meanwhile, Sings logged appearances in just six games during his junior campaign last fall. Who are the Tigers returning to their edge rusher room? While Auburn might be losing a pair of edge rushers in McAllister and Sings, the Tigers are also returning a pair as Jalen McLeod and Brenton Williams are both set for their second year on The Plains. McLeod’s second year at Auburn comes after he transferred from Appalachian State ahead of last season, while Williams will be a redshirt freshman in 2024. At the conclusion of the 2023 season, McLeod finished as Auburn’s third-leading tackler with 48 total tackles, of which 10.5 came from behind the line of scrimmage. McLeod also tallied 5.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery during his first season of SEC ball. “He plays hard. He’s having to play too many snaps. We still don’t have the depth at pass rushing that we need,” Freeze said of McLeod midway through last season. “Jalen is definitely the biggest threat we have, and that’s good for us.” Meanwhile, Williams is set to see his role increase in 2024 after appearing in just two games last fall. “Brenton’s definitely stepping up, because he knows that it’s just me and him right now, and it’s going to be Jamonta when he comes,” McLeod said of Williams in December. “So, he knows that he’s got to compete, he’s got to keep competing, come to practice ready to work and that’s what he’s been doing. So he’s stepping up, too.” Who did the Tigers add to their edge rusher room? Auburn’s 4-star signee in Jamonta Waller stands as the only current addition to Auburn’s room of edge rushers. Waller was a big flip for Freeze and Co. as the 4-star Mississippi native flipped his commitment from Florida to Auburn in the middle of November and never looked back. During his senior season of high school, Waller logged 69 total tackles, 22 tackles for a loss, nine sacks, 21 quarterback hurries and two caused fumbles. Measuring 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, Waller ranked as the 10th-best edge rusher out of the 2024 recruiting class and the second-ranked recruit — regardless of position — to come out of the state of Mississippi. “You have Jamonta — he’s coming in, the five-star. I talked to him. He’s hungry, too. You’ve seen his tape,” McLeod said of Waller. “So, we’ve got a lot of people coming in that’s hungry and ready to go, and they know what they bring to the table. They’ve just got to believe in themself, that’s where they at.” If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.