Woman may have tried to sell Pelosi computer device to Russians, FBI says

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-protests-cyber/woman-may-have-tried-to-sell-pelosi-computer-device-to-russians-fbi-says-idUSKBN29N1KU

by pseudolus • 6 years ago

137 132 6 years ago

reuters.com

SpaceRaccoon3• 6 years ago

to Russians

I don't understand why they say "to Russians" or "to the Russians" instead of "to Russian intelligence". It's like being Russian is the crime itself. They wouldn't write "tried to sell the computer to Jews".

PragmaticPulp2• 6 years ago

In this case, the accusation is that she literally wanted to sell the laptop to some Russian acquaintances, with the assumption that they would handle the secondary sale to the Russian government.

godelski4• 6 years ago

They wouldn't write "tried to sell the computer to Jews".

No, because they'd say "tried to sell the computer to Israelis." Jews are a race and Russians/Israelis are citizens of a country.

type04• 6 years ago

There is a distinction https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossiyane

stonogo• 6 years ago

Their national affiliation is the salient point, and there's no way in hell she'd successfully make contact directly with a Russian intelligence agent. They work through civilian operatives, so your replacement would be incorrectly specific.

Your example doesn't apply, because "Jews" is an ethnicity and "Russians" is a nationality.

type04• 6 years ago

They're both, heck you can even be a russian jew and a citizen of some other country that is not Russia. The English doesn't make a difference. Here's one kind of Russian peoples that are not ethnically russians but the majority are citizens of Russia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatars

ABeeSea3• 6 years ago

Probably because your suggested update is incorrect.

mrbungie• 6 years ago

Selling a stolen computer device tied to a high-ranking government official to any foreign country is a crime, it's what a spy would do.

naturalpb• 6 years ago

The wonderful comedic film "Burn After Reading" immediately comes to mind.

coughupalung• 6 years ago

Yes! I thought the same thing. Such a great film.

Andrew_nenakhov• 6 years ago

We Russians are go-to Hollywood villains because no Russian is ever offended by this portrayal of Russians in media.

Also, we are simply always up to no good. I've been influencing the US presidential elections for a few years, with mixed results.

ABeeSea3• 6 years ago

It might be because the country is run by a dictator who is intent on crippling the US’s diplomatic and economic power.

IgorPartola5• 6 years ago

Because it's a Reuters headline and they don't use "the" if they don't need to.

type04• 6 years ago

They wouldn't write "tried to sell the computer to Jews".

From the article - “intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service" Maybe that friend weren't ethnically russian, no one cares, the point is that it sounds more villainous.

StanislavPetrov2• 6 years ago

the FBI received a tip from someone who stated they were a former romantic partner of Williams.

That says it all.

edoceo• 6 years ago

Yep! Likely broke off the relationship because she is some combination of dangerous/crazy - partners know a lot of the crazy stuff you've done and not been caught for.

StanislavPetrov2• 6 years ago

If people are to be judged by the assertions of their jilted former lovers then we are all in for a very bad time.

Any time there is a headline with a very serious and inflammatory claim, like the one above, you would do well to scroll down past the hyperbole and look for the evidence offered (if any) for such a serious charge. The only evidence cited by this article in this accusation of a series of treasonous felonies is purportedly an accusation by an ex-lover. Unfortunately the level of mania is so frenzied in the country right now that rational thought is out the window. Especially concerning to see on Hacker News, where presumably necessary skepticism and critical thinking would be in higher supply.

nuxi7• 6 years ago

There's a good chance she may have committed some light treason.

t0mas88• 6 years ago

Legally speaking: Breaking and entering a federal government building, stealing information, conspiring with a foreign national to sell the information to a foreign state intelligence service.

I think life sentences have been handed out for smaller forms of treason...

TheCoelacanth• 6 years ago

I think it would technically be espionage rather than treason, but still a very serious crime.

taylorwc• 6 years ago

OP was making a reference to a recurring line in Arrested Development.

ajcp2• 6 years ago

Just a taste

bhouston• 6 years ago

Video of her leaving the Capital building while everyone was still going in: https://twitter.com/dudgedudy/status/1351178713111662593

Johnie• 6 years ago

It’d be very easy for a foreign agent to sneak in with the crowd. In one of the latter videos on that thread, it looked like she was directing/encouraging people to push forward.

garyrichardson• 6 years ago

Twitter tells me: "This is not available to you."

Anyone know why? Was it deleted? Suspended? Region locked (I'm in Canada).

shostack• 6 years ago

I read a comment/tweet somewhere akin to, "if you run a foreign intelligence agency and did not have agents inside during this, you should be fired."

hairofadog• 6 years ago

Wow. Sometimes you'll see a think piece about how a director will call attention to certain parts of the frame (dressing the main character in vibrant clothing and extras in drab clothing for a New York sidewalk scene, for example). This is like that. No question about who the main character is in that shot.

walrus013• 6 years ago

amateur cinematography thoughts here, you've got a few things that make her stand out... First, the other guys are just standing around static. Second, there's three other people all going the opposite direction. Third, she's the only movement or person going away from the capitol in the shot. Additionally, in a crowd mostly composed of men who generally resemble the guys standing around, she's the only person in a skirt. The zebra print bag is also unusual for the environment.

flixic• 6 years ago

With everyone filming everything all the time, I've always wondered just how fully we can capture all that is happening in a given place. Capitol events shows that in a situation like that, you can almost pick any person, and with enough effort, perhaps find everything that happened to them at any given time.

ascotan• 6 years ago

Why bother with CCTV when everyone is filming themselves.

brink• 6 years ago

This sounds like something you'd read out of The Onion.

billfruit• 6 years ago

Or may be even similar to what happened in "Burn After Reading".

mortenjorck• 6 years ago

Indeed, the first thing I thought of when I saw this headline was the pair of clueless hustlers in the movie awkwardly trying to pitch what they believe to be a CD-R of classified information in the visitors area of the Russian embassy.

walrus013• 6 years ago

One of the reasons why a blanket full disk encryption policy and encrypted data-at-rest policy is needed in large organizations. Laptops go missing and get stolen all the time.

newacct5832• 6 years ago

Or even small organizations, or individuals. Our phones storage is uniformly encrypted by default now and have been for several years. There's absolutely no reason that Windows installs and Linux distros should offer unencrypted storage as anything but a hidden option for experts.

That said: there's no particular reason to think this laptop wasn't encrypted.

tenebrisalietum• 6 years ago

There's absolutely no reason that Windows installs and Linux distros should offer unencrypted storage as anything but a hidden option for experts.

People unfortunately have been coddled by consumerism, or are coddled by job titles like "director" and "officer", and expect to be able to get passwords reset and access recovered by someone if they forget.

The correct way to do disk encryption is to not store the password anywhere, and define total loss of data as acceptable if the password is unknown. This puts vendors and subordinate-to-revenue-generation IT departments in a bad situation if a customer forgets their password and suddenly loses years' worth of family photos, small-business tax documents, etc.

Our phones storage is uniformly encrypted by default now and have been for several years.

Only because phone storage is basically unimportant - most people sync everything (either of their own volition or via OS provider or via apps) from their phone to multiple cloud services and then the benefits of encryption-at-rest are honestly only their to protect and enforce the local app store and payment apps.

adrr• 6 years ago

Because it doesn’t matter to most people outside of a business setting. Forgetting your password and losing your backup key is a bigger risk especially some backup drive of pictures/videos.

autocorr• 6 years ago

Just an anecdote, but I installed Debian on my laptop two years and I was impressed with how easy full-disk encryption with LUKS was to setup. All it took was checking the box and creating a password. No issues so far! It definitely does seem like something that could be opt-out rather than opt-in.

ABeeSea3• 6 years ago

The fed were tipped off by an ex. The most telling part of the terrorist attack on the capital is how many family members, coworkers, and acquaintances couldn’t wait to turn them in. There was a story this morning about a wife turning in her husband for threatening to shoot their children if the children “snitched.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/capitol-rioter-guy-reffitt-thr...

kevin_thibedeau• 6 years ago

Somebody has to fill out the left half of the bell curve.

dehrmann• 6 years ago

Makes you wonder what smarter people were able to accomplish that we haven't or will never hear about.

Florin_Andrei• 6 years ago

Additionally, if you already believe the Qanon stuff, that's a pretty good guess you're on the wrong side of that curve.

dang2• 6 years ago

Please don't post unsubstantive and/or flamebait to HN. It leads to significantly lower-quality discussion.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

rodgerd2• 6 years ago

The Venn diagram of terrorists and domestic abusers is a circle, or near enough as makes no difference.

naniwaduni• 6 years ago

That ... doesn't seem quite right, no.

IgorPartola5• 6 years ago

Why does it feel like whenever these nimrods do something really really stupid or really really atrocious, there is always people coming out of the woodwork and trying to show that if you squint really hard while looking at the situation through a TV playing Fox or OAN you will find some part of it that's maybe possibly could be explained as something being off (but still requires a massive conspiracy)?

Like, what's more likely that this woman became radicalized by watching propaganda all day every day and in a misguided attempt to be a patriot committed a crime? Or that there is some massive web that at every turn explains why it's never the alt right's fault? Remember the 75 year old that was pushed down by the police in Buffalo, NY and cracked his skull on the pavement? Well if you believe some, he was wearing a blood sac in his mouth and there was a little tube you can kinda see in the video that allowed him to squirt the blood out and make it look like he was hurt. Someone legitimately tried to argue this with me, in an in-person discussion. And let's break it down:

1. Police officers that pushed him were either in on it, I guess with some ulterior motive to make themselves look bad, or were comically bad at showing any evidence or giving testimony that there was a blood sac.

2. The first responders that came didn't notice the lack of wound or the fake blood, or were also all in on it.

3. The bystanders did the same as above.

4. The probably at least a dozen hospital staff that interacted with the man in the multiple days that followed when he stayed in the hospital all ignored the fact that we wasn't actually hurt.

5. The hospital had him stay there for multiple days for no reason because, you know, our hospitals here are really awesome about letting people just stay if they aren't sick/hurt.

6. The multiple reporting crews that came to see him all failed to notice that he wasn't hurt.

7. The entire video is a deep fake or filmed in a controlled environment and none of it was real.

How hard do you have to squint to believe that any of the above is possible? And that's one story of thousands, each of which has an explanation as simple as "crisis actors" or "antifa staged it" or "false flag".

And back to the original assertion, what about the woman whose daughter tipped off the FBI? What about the siblings? Does everyone have a conflict of interest and we should dismiss all these cases because of them despite the photo and video evidence we have?

Sort yourself out.

Edit: video of the 75 year old man in Buffalo. Warning, this is graphic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFeewU0HhNE

VLM• 6 years ago

FBI is highly politicized.

underseacables• 6 years ago

I can’t help but feel great curiosity as to what’s on that laptop. If it was anything important I think the government would be reacting far more aggressively. In my opinion it matters less the documents on the system, than what might be contained in emails or chat transcripts.

eT8AZithxooKei6• 6 years ago

Truly the work of a patriot who loves America.

supergirl2• 6 years ago

well do you consider Snowden a patriot? he also committed some light treason

dang2• 6 years ago

Please don't post unsubstantive and/or flamebait to HN, regardless of how strongly you disagree with or feel about something. It leads to significantly lower-quality discussion. Perhaps you don't owe them better, but you owe this community better if you're posting here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

CalChris• 6 years ago

I'm going to hazard a guess and posit that Speaker Pelosi uses something like a Yubikey. The Obama campaigns used them [1]. They weren't invented yesterday. Speaker Pelosi takes security very seriously.

[1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-campaign-used-security-ke...

3327• 6 years ago

Top candidate to how stupid can you be.

How to turn a theft crime into treason.

Someone give her a darwin award of true.

marcomourao• 6 years ago

Tries to commit treason at the first opportunity but I bet she calls herself a true patriot.

saladgnu054• 6 years ago

Can we say "the Russian government" or "the Russian secret services" or something similar? Why always this tone with the Russians, the Russians are wonderful people, like everyone else trying to live their lives with the hand they were dealt. Am I the only one that sees how offensive this trope is to about 150 million people?

pokepim• 6 years ago

The same appiles to "the Chinese". Heck, just look what happened to Asian Americans here at the beginning of the pandemic, when all we knew was that the virus started in China. "Kung Flu" and stuff, some people are just plain retarded.

ranieuwe• 6 years ago

Using a pejorative (retarded) to describe another is not very helpful.

naikrovek2• 6 years ago

I'm pretty sure we all know that the ultimate consumer of something like this is not a Russian neighborhood bread store owner, but the Russian government. I don't think it needs to be said to be understood.

netsharc3• 6 years ago

Well, this language isn't useful, a Russian friend of mine, who is quite modern, not a fan of Putin or anything, said she'd prefer Trump to win, because Biden said "Russians are our enemy" (not sure if Biden actually said that, and even if he said "Russian government", the media could've edited "government" out of that quote).

PragmaticPulp2• 6 years ago

While I agree with your general sentiment, in this specific case the person appeared motivated to literally just sell the laptop to some Russian people, with the expectation that they had the ability to resell the laptop to the Russian government.

The people who broke into the Capitol and stole things are not the smartest or most well-connected people.

More details are available in some of the court docs that are floating around the internet. The entire situation is stunningly disconnected from reality.

netsharc3• 6 years ago

disconnected from reality.

The frightening bit is that in their "reality", the deep state with the help of Communist Party of China (or are they lizard people?) stole the election, the judges are part of the theft, MSM is just lying to the brainwashed masses, etc, etc. And that they're the patriots trying to save the country.

The funny bit is how they're crying that it's China (oops, I mean, Chinese government) who's controlling Biden. Why couldn't it be Putin? Is it because the Russians (oops, I mean, Putin) are their friends now? Or that they subconsciously know that Trump was Putin's poorly-trained lapdog?

swirepe2• 6 years ago

The people who broke into the Capitol and stole things are not the smartest or most well-connected people.

Imagine you stole Putin's personal laptop, the secret special one with no password that he hides under his pillow. If you email info@state.gov and offer to sell it to them, it auto-replies with a warrant. They'll definitely take it, but they will not pay for it.

Better to sell it to some random American who thinks they won the lottery.

Edited to add: I guess a Russian warrant wouldn't mean much in the article's case. She basically paid a premium to not deal with a government.

Edited to add: best to not steal it in the first place, obviously. Obviously don't steal state secrets, don't loot your capitol, and just be cool.

I'm trying to get into her headspace so I can understand her. I think what she did was bad.

slezyr• 6 years ago

Well, can you prove that it was a Russian goverment/secret service and not some random guy from Russia?

SllX• 6 years ago

Russian intelligence, first paragraph of the article.

But I agree with you. I make an effort to criticize the “PRC” and the “CCP” and not “China” for the same reason.

ralmidani2• 6 years ago

I’m Syrian-American and I hate it when people say “the Syrians” when they really mean the barbaric Assad regime. I do, however, think it’s more out of stupidity than malice; it stems from a statist worldview rather than an intentional desire to demonize the people subject to a given state’s rule.

swirepe2• 6 years ago

I agree that saying "the Syrians" feels incorrect, but how do you feel about saying just the name of the country as shorthand for the country's government? For example

America donated fidget spinners to Syra

The American government donated fidget spinners to the Syrian government

(but not 'The Americans donated fidget spinners to the Syrians')

bobthechef• 6 years ago

Why do you have to be so obtuse? Everyone with some common sense knows that in a political context, “the Russians” means the Russian state. Any support from the general Russian populace is secondary (though not entirely unrelated since the state is generally a product of its society). I refuse to believe that you don’t understand this to be the case.

cpursley4• 6 years ago

Unfortunately everyone doesn't know. I live in Russia and am constantly having to explain to people in the US that yes, you can own property, start a business, not everyone is an alcoholic who fights bears etc there. Americans understanding of modern Russia is often very much out of date.

nerfhammer• 6 years ago

FTA: "intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service"

hsbauauvhabzb2• 6 years ago

As an Aussie, it feels like a tone set in American film and tv which consistently paints Russia as a frenemy which probably influences the writers.

I’m sure the Russians are fed the very same sorts of propaganda tho.

joshka• 6 years ago

(Another Aussie here). How do you feel about Canberra is ... instead of the Australian Government is ...

cpursley4• 6 years ago

As an American living in Russia, not really. Russian people overall have a very positive attitude towards the US and Americans and are able to differentiate people from their government. Even the official Russian propaganda (Channel 1, etc) has a less harsh depiction of America compared to how US media portrays Russia. All the Russia hate in the US right now doesn't even make an effort separate the politics from the people, which is really disappointing.

MisterTea• 6 years ago

"Can we say "the American government" or "Central Intelligence Agency" or something similar? Why always this tone with the Americans, the Americans are wonderful people, like everyone else trying to live their lives with the hand they were dealt. Am I the only one that sees how offensive this trope is to about 330 million people?"

thrwway342• 6 years ago

Russians support Putin's regime en masse, so article had correct definition.

supergirl2• 6 years ago

i have the impression that most people that rioted just got carried away. it’s easy to do crazy things if you join a mob. however the 3 letter agencies will make sure they all get heavy jail time. it’s one thing to hate on the president but now it’s serious.

idownvoted• 6 years ago

As a foreigner with limited knowledge about the powers of a US House Speaker:

What value would a laptop of Nancy Pelosi provide to a foreign government, if it doesn’t include incriminating content?

I‘m not suggesting that this story is bogus, but rather that Riley June Williams hopes were and she vastly overestimated the laptop’s value to anyone.

rongdongdong• 6 years ago

SAM files and other such sensitive data come to mind

chowyuncat• 6 years ago

Imagine the use of the word deplorable to describe certain people. This would be then used in an election campaign to favor an opposition candidate who would vote against Russian sanctions.

sgent• 6 years ago

House speaker is 2nd in line for the president, and she has the highest security clearance in the government and is briefed on all major intelligence / national security operations -- although I doubt any of that was on this computer.

The house decides the budget for the entire federal government (so black budgets, NSA, etc.) and most of their work is public, but at least some of it is classified and other parts are politically sensitive.

jorblumesea• 6 years ago

But why? Do you really think Russia needs Pelosi's unclassified but sensitive powerpoints? If you think the Russians don't have much of that already..

whycombagator• 6 years ago

According to the affidavit filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the FBI received a tip from someone who stated they were a former romantic partner of Williams.
The tipster said Williams “intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service,” the affidavit stated.
According to the tipster, “the transfer of the computer device to Russia fell through for unknown reasons and Williams still has the computer device or destroyed it,” the affidavit stated. The investigation remains open.

That sounds like very concrete evidence...

ryan-allen• 6 years ago

Burn After Reading is becoming a documentary?

Woman may have tried to sell Pelosi computer device to Russians, FBI says

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