Former Airforce counterintelligence officer charged with spying for Iran

[NinerDoug]

Bitch looks Republican.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47231777




Ex-US Air Force officer Monica Witt charged with spying for Iran

Monica Witt, who allegedly defected to Iran in 2013, had previously worked as a US counterintelligence officer.

Four Iranian citizens have also been charged with attempting to install spy software on computers belonging to Ms Witt's colleagues.

According to the FBI, Ms Witt was last seen in southwest Asia in July 2013.
A previously issued FBI missing persons poster said she was working as an English teacher in either Afghanistan or Tajikistan, and had lived overseas for more than a year before vanishing.

Prosecutors say Ms Witt had been granted the highest level of US security clearance and worked in the US Air Force from 1997 to 2008.

Assistant Attorney General John Demers, the head of the US Justice Department's national security division, told AP News: "It is a sad day for America when one of its citizens betrays our country."

The US Department of Treasury has also sanctioned two Iranian companies - New Horizon Organization and Net Peygard Samavat Company - for their role in the plot.

Investigators allege Ms Witt was recruited after attending two conferences hosted by New Horizon Organization, which was working on behalf of the Iranian National Guard's Quds Force to collect intelligence on attendees.

Several conferences sponsored by the New Horizon Organization have taken place in Iran and Iraq in recent years, US officials say, adding the conferences often include an "anti-Western" sentiment and "propagate anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories including Holocaust denial".

The Department of Treasury accuses Net Peygard Samavat Company of being "involved in a malicious cyber campaign to gain access to and implant malware on the computer systems of current and former counterintelligence agents".

Who is Monica Witt?

Monica Elfriede Witt, a former Texas resident, left the US military in 2008 after more than a decade of service.

In a charging document, investigators say the 39-year-old was deployed by the US to locations in the Middle East to conduct classified counterintelligence operations.

She is accused of sharing US government secrets, including the name of agents and specifics of operations, with Iran beginning as early as January 2012.

Prosecutors allege that shortly after defecting to Iran, she handed over information on her colleagues in order to cause "serious damage" to the United States.

According to officials, she sent a message to her Iranian contact in 2012 saying: "I loved the work, and I am endeavouring to put the training I received to good use instead of evil. Thanks for giving me the opportunity."
While in Iran, she also allegedly converted to Islam during a television segment after identifying herself as a US veteran, and delivered several broadcasts in which she criticised the US.

In the weeks after defecting, she also conducted several Facebook searches of her former colleagues, and is alleged to have exposed one agent's true identity, "thereby risking the life of this individual".

A warrant has been issued for Ms Witt, who remains at large.

Why Iran is the elephant in the room at Warsaw summit

Last November, US President Donald Trump re-imposed all sanctions on Iran that had been suspended due to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear agreement.

Mr Trump has withdrawn the US from the agreement, leading to a foreign policy rift between the US and the European nations who are party to the deal.

The US and Iran do not maintain diplomatic relations, and communications between the two nations are exchanged through Swiss diplomats.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by vailpass

That will do.

Maybe squeeze in some pig feces

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by NinerDoug

I doubt it. I don't believe she gave anything to Iran while she was still a government employee.

She quit the Airforce, allowed herself to be sucked into Islam, and thereafter engaged in the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.

I don't believe it would qualify as espionage.

You certainly don't need to be a government employee to commit espionage.

[NinerDoug]

Originally Posted by vailpass

You certainly don't need to be a government employee to commit espionage.

The point is, when she accessed classified information, she did not access it with the intent to give it to Iran. She accessed it for legal purposes, and then later disclosed it.

[El Lobo Gordo]

Originally Posted by NinerDoug

The point is, when she accessed classified information, she did not access it with the intent to give it to Iran. She accessed it for legal purposes, and then later disclosed it.

All the pictures I have seen of her lead me to think she is not a happy person. She strikes me as bitter and angry. I feel like she got mad at the US government and decided the best way to hurt it would be to give it secrets to Iran. Her conversion to Islam maybe just a farce to ease her residence in a country where other beliefs are not tolerated.

There is always a whole lot more to these stories and my imagination might be trying to fill in the blanks. I am not trying to convince anyone to believe some wild speculation but just expressing the impression I get from the story and her pictures.

[NinerDoug]

Originally Posted by El Lobo Gordo

All the pictures I have seen of her lead me to think she is not a happy person. She strikes me as bitter and angry. I feel like she got mad at the US government and decided the best way to hurt it would be to give it secrets to Iran. Her conversion to Islam maybe just a farce to ease her residence in a country where other beliefs are not tolerated.

There is always a whole lot more to these stories and my imagination might be trying to fill in the blanks. I am not trying to convince anyone to believe some wild speculation but just expressing the impression I get from the story and her pictures.

Certainly a reasonable possibility.

[DJJasonp]

Originally Posted by NinerDoug

Bitch looks Republican.

.

It must be a cursed existence to where every waking hour of every day, you are seeing every single thing through partisan glasses.

Do you have a scoreboard in your basement that keeps track of all the great "disses" and "losses"??

[patteeu]

Guys, NinerDoug is just trying to get a rise out of you. You can tell because it's such a ridiculous thing to say and he's smart enough to know that. He's not serious about it.

[scho63]

She's a half witt and a nit witt

[NinerDoug]

Originally Posted by DJJasonp

It must be a cursed existence to where every waking hour of every day, you are seeing every single thing through partisan glasses.

Do you have a scoreboard in your basement that keeps track of all the great "disses" and "losses"??

Triggered.

BTW, I don't have a basement. Like you, I live in SoCal.

[NinerDoug]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Guys, NinerDoug is just trying to get a rise out of you. You can tell because it's such a ridiculous thing to say and he's smart enough to know that. He's not serious about it.