AMERICA vs CHINA - Chinese Consulate Ordered to Close

"Why the U.S. ordered a Chinese consulate closed — and what it means for foreign policy" PBS NewsHour 7/22/2020

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SUMMARY:  The Trump administration has ordered China to close its Houston consulate -- the latest action in an escalating fight between the two countries.  The State Department cited concerns about espionage and intellectual property theft as justification for the move.  Nick Schifrin reports and talks to Yale Law School’s Susan Thornton, former acting Assistant Secretary of State, and author Gordon Chang.

INSIDE JOB - NSA Espionage Suspect Flight Risk

"NSA contractor suspected of espionage is deemed a flight risk" PBS NewsHour 10/21/2016

REF:  The Shadow Brokers (with ransom note)

AGAIN - Snowden is a TRAITOR and he knows it, which is why he fled.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The National Security Agency contractor accused of mishandling massive amounts of classified data has been deemed a flight risk.  In August, Harold Martin was arrested at his home in Maryland, where the equivalent of half a billion pages of documents and electronic data was found, some allegedly taken from NSA headquarters.  William Brangham speaks with Matt Apuzzo of The New York Times for more.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  A judge ruled today that a Maryland man accused of stealing massive amounts of information from the National Security Agency was a flight risk and will remain in federal custody.

William Brangham has the story.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM (NewsHour):  This past August, Harold Martin III was arrested at his home in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.  In his house, investigators discovered the equivalent of half-a-billion pages of documents and electronic data, some allegedly taken from the NSA's headquarters at nearby Fort Meade.

Among the documents were ones marked top-secret and also tools used by the NSA to hack into the computer networks of foreign governments.

Joining me now for more on this case is Matt Apuzzo, who's been covering this story for The New York Times.

Matt Apuzzo, welcome.

I wonder if you would just start off by laying out the case against this gentleman, and what is his defense?

MATT APUZZO, The New York Times:  Well, I mean, what is fascinating is there is the case that's been brought.

And the case that's been brought, as you said, is; hey, this guy had terabytes, billions of pages of documents in his house, in his shed, in the back seat of his car, in the trunk of his car, and, obviously, you're not supposed to do that.  So, there is that case.

But then there is this other case that's kind of looming over all this, and the question is, is he the guy who, not too long ago, facilitated the release of NSA documents, basically for ransom, put them up for sale online?  These were hacking tools, the way the government, the United States government, hacks into other countries and businesses and whatnot?

And so that's really what's going on here, is, there's, OK, he mishandled classified information.  He has basically admitted that.  But is he the guy, is he part of some network that's putting information up for sale?

THE SPY GAME - Germany vs United States

"Is Germany overreacting to allegations of U.S. espionage?" PBS NewsHour 7/10/2014

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GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  Germany announced today that it is kicking America’s top spy out of the country after new allegations of U.S. espionage.  Local media there have reported that a German Defense Ministry worker who dealt with international security issues was also being investigated because of his close contacts to U.S. spies.

And last week, a 31-year-old intelligence employee was arrested on suspicion of spying for foreign powers, reportedly the CIA, since 2012.  The allegations come on the heels of last fall’s revelation that the U.S. was intercepting the Internet traffic of millions of German citizens, and tapping German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone.

Before the expulsion request was made public today, the chancellor told reporters that Germany and the U.S. have — quote — “very different approaches to intelligence.”

CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL, Germany (through interpreter):  Spying on allies is a waste of energy in the end.  We have so many problems, and I think we should focus on the important things.  Just look at the challenges posed in Syria regarding ISIS.  If you look at the fight against terrorism, there are huge problems.  That is of the highest priority, from my point of view, and not spying among allies.