Sharyl Attkisson: I Was Told Government Planted Spyware and Classified Documents on My Computer
A former CBS News reporter who quit the network over claims it kills stories that put President Obama in a bad light says she was spied on by a “government-related entity” that planted classified documents on her computer.
In her new memoir, Sharyl Attkisson says a source who arranged to have her laptop checked for spyware in 2013 was “shocked” and “flabbergasted” at what the analysis revealed.
“This is outrageous. Worse than anything Nixon ever did. I wouldn’t have believed something like this could happen in the United States of America,” Attkisson quotes the source saying.
She speculates that the motive was to lay the groundwork for possible charges against her or her sources.
This is an extraordinarily serious charge, and naturally one would like to see more evidence of it than the word of an anonymous source. But then, that’s how these things work, isn’t it? They do things so outrageous that if you find about it and report it, you sound like a nut. And they terrify anyone who comes forward, and leave a person with no place they can go.
I guess she could take her computer to the FBI — oh, right. Well then, she could go to the Department of Justice — right, same problem.
Who do you go to when you can’t trust the people who are supposed to be protecting you? Where do you go when those people are the ones you need protection from?
Ding.
Patterico (9c670f) — 10/27/2014 @ 7:44 amI am thinking/hoping that whoever discovered this on her computer went to some great lengths to document and get reliable witnesses.
But then, as you suggest, when you think the government will frame you for getting involved, that’s a steep hill to climb.
I know I mentioned before how state official in Michigan once tried to bully a veterinarian and a bunch of farmers, but they at least were on the state level and sent stuff to Wisconsin for outside testing.
I suppose if one went outside of US jurisdiction to get collaboration, say Israel or maybe the Czech Republic, then one might get in worse trouble.
Prayers for Attkisson. This should not be allowed to drop.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/27/2014 @ 8:17 amReichwing conspiracy theory
JD (a101d6) — 10/27/2014 @ 8:18 amI would like to see the computer hacking expert that was involved doing this (the original hacking on her computer) find his/her way to some house subcommittee.
I know an assistant DA in LA that the person could trust…
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/27/2014 @ 8:23 amShe could go public, tell the media… Oh, wait….
Edoc118 (8b952d) — 10/27/2014 @ 8:41 amSame weekend that reports are published about the IRS siezing bank accounts of citizens without the formality of filing cherges for any wrongdoing.
in_awe (7c859a) — 10/27/2014 @ 8:51 amWell, there’s always the UN General Assembly and the International Court of Justice. Oh, right. . . Never mind.
PPs43 (6fdef4) — 10/27/2014 @ 8:59 am“Who do you go to when you can’t trust the people who are supposed to be protecting you? Where do you go when those people are the ones you need protection from?”
The A-Team?
Amazed_476 (78a5e8) — 10/27/2014 @ 9:00 amIt probably wasn’t the government – maning people who are ultimately taking orders from Barack Obama – that planted classfied documents on her computer.
It probably was foreign intelligence moles in the U.S. government.
She was working on the Benghazi story.
The big problem for the moles would have been contriving a pretext to get her computer searched.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 10/27/2014 @ 9:08 amI am not a supporter of Snowden, but something like this adds credibility to his argument.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/27/2014 @ 9:08 amI guess she could take her computer to the FBI — oh, right. Well then, she could go to the Department of Justice — right, same problem.
Twenty years ago, the New York Couty (Manhattan) District Attorney would have been the place to go.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 10/27/2014 @ 9:09 amHow long till the brakes fail in her car fail via remote control of car computers and she dies in a fiery crash?
Oyboy (af7a65) — 10/27/2014 @ 9:17 amTerrifying stuff going up against the government.
http://m.smh.com.au/it-pro/security-it/hackers-attack-cars-with-success-20130729-hv16x.html
First heard on No Agenda Show.
Not halal !
http://connecticut.cbslocal.com/2014/10/27/naked-man-accused-of-raping-pit-bull-in-neighbors-yard-says-isis-sent-him
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 10/27/2014 @ 9:18 amIn six years we have devolved to a place where we can no longer trust agencies of our government who are here to protect us. The DOJ/FBI are no longer trustworthy. What can possibly be the result? The American people are slow to react to injustices, but when we do, the results are final.
Jerry (2b9f96) — 10/27/2014 @ 9:21 amThat headline on this post should clarified. It sounds like someone told Sharyl Attkisson there was spyware on her (Sharyl’s) computer: “I Was Told {by a fix-it guy}[the] Government Planted Spyware and Classified Documents on My [Sharyl’s implied] Computer.”
The post makes it clear this is not the case — a source was the victim — but the headline is misleading.
Owen Johnson (3da442) — 10/27/2014 @ 9:26 amJerry,
I have NEVER trusted the agencies of the government “that are here to protect us”, at least not as an adult. I think the vast majority of “conspiracy theories” are bilge. FDR let Pearl Harbor get caught defenseless because he was an appalling racist who didn’t think the Japanese could attack Hawaii (he had lots of company). JFK was shot by a lone nut, and the eyewitness evidence is all over the pace because eyewitness evidence is like that. And Bush didn’t oder a “controlled detonation” of the towers because somebody would have f*cking noticed the demolition charges. That said, the record of governments respecting the civil rights of their citizens is spotty at best, even if you confine your inquiries to the last 200 years. Obama and his henchmen seem to be unusually bad, even for a clique of self-important elitist swine, but anybody now living who ever trusted the FBI, CIA, NSA, etc. to not cut corners and try to get away with crap is too naive to be allowed to vote.
C. S. P. Schofield (848299) — 10/27/2014 @ 9:36 amBrilliant Sammy Finkelman [(d22d64) — 10/27/2014 @ 9:08 am]. So you figure there are a bunch of muslim agents, perhaps moles in the government, who are doing Obola’s dirty work? Is there some Junior Senator, perhaps from Wisconsin, who has a list of 30 or 40 them? Are these geek muslims GS14 computer experts?
Makes you wonder about the strange case of Ryan Loskarn .. chief of staff for Lamar Alexander, Senator (Rino) from Tennessee. If this was a frame, there are several Federal agents who would bear looking at, particularly the one who found a hard drive outside a window. The government said that they had extensive internet records showing Loskarn had shared kiddy porn. This suggests NSA involvement. Loskarn was found hanged in his parent’s basement after the Federal prosecutor expressed concern over releasing him on bond due to statements he made while being interrogated. This prosecutor might also bear study.
But by whom?
Perhaps our beloved Rino’s have a reason for being so squishy. Alexander, for example, is well known for his interest in our kids’ schools. A perfect target for this kind of computer wizardry.
When you can’t trust your government, the words “unlikely” and “coincidental” takes on a very dark meaning. A bit like “work place violence” .
bobathome (5ccbd8) — 10/27/2014 @ 10:06 amShe’s just a drone. She should have just shut up and done what she was told or taken a hike according to nk.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/27/2014 @ 11:04 amI’m grateful for your presence here, too, daleyrocks. Having every word I say picked on and nagged on and on and on and on and on makes feel like I’m married again.
nk (dbc370) — 10/27/2014 @ 11:15 amunexpectedly!
i wonder what’s planted on my computer?
redc1c4 (269d8e) — 10/27/2014 @ 11:39 ambobathome (5ccbd8) — 10/27/2014 @ 10:06 am
Obama??!
First of all, not Obama – Clinton!
There is the curious matter of the dog that didn’t bark in the night – that is, the complete tolerance of the marriage of Huma Abedina and Anthony Weiner, and much, much more, like the way David Petraeus was investigated. Did I mention who shot Vincent Foster?
But they are not Clinton’s agents anyway.
What is clear is that:
#1) The people leading the Moslem Brotherhood, or behind the Moslem Brotherhood, or similar Islamists, don’t believe in the tenets of their religion.
#2) They tried to get close to the Clintons.
#3) And the Clintons knew it, but rather than getting rid of the potential spy, they contrived to settle her loyalties by marrying her to Anthony Weiner!
So she becomes a triple agent.
Nobody at all. The Republicans swear the problem is only with Obama.
To a limited degree. They’re in the CIA. The spying on the Director was easy, since everything goinbg out from CIA HQ was monitored, but they needed to contrive some excuse to get the FBI involved, so his affair could be exposed. So fake messages from Paula Broderick, and lying to the FBI.
And, talking about hacking, there is after all Anthony Weiner, but I am inclined to believed the Chinese did that.
Really there is no good explanation as to how his picture on yfrog became public.
And it certainly true that someone was very interested in preventing Patterico from finding out who the sockpupputs were.
I figure “Dan Wolfe” aka patriot76 had some knowledge of Weiner’s proclivities – that could have come from people in politics in New York – and he also probably thought there was a real mistress, not just virtual ones – and he was trying to make it public without getting any fingerprints on it.
My feeling is that he was working for a private detective agency that was working for the Chinese whoi wanted to make John Liu, not Anthony Weiner, mayor of New York.
But somebody trying to bust up the Huma Abedin-Anthony Weiner marriage might also be a possibility.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 10/27/2014 @ 11:57 amSOOPER SEKRIT INTELLIGENCE MOLES OF BANDAR
JD (102e76) — 10/27/2014 @ 12:06 pmBut why would he be a target?
The public objection by the prosecutor was based on the idea he might commit suicide.
It seems to be really true that he possessed child pornography. It’s not a frame. But is there a tip that shouldn’t have happened?
It was a genuine suicide, according to his mother. (The claim that it isn’t is based on the idea that the suicide note wasnt a suicide note, but something prepared in the event of guilty plea.)
Loskarn had also worked for Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, and Representative Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 10/27/2014 @ 12:08 pmSammy, this clarifies everything.
bobathome (5ccbd8) — 10/27/2014 @ 12:10 pmsee the movie kill the messenger it will explain it.
ides of march (9b24a9) — 10/27/2014 @ 12:14 pmI think there was ample evidence that factions of the CIA and State department and who knows who else were not happy in the service of George W. and were happy to undermine him.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/27/2014 @ 12:59 pmHeck, there are still competing narratives as to who ordered the Watergate break-in and why, and at least one narrative claims that the cover-up was leaked because of a personal vendetta and animosity over being passed by for promotion, and nothing at all with wanting truth and justice.
Reading the article makes it sound much worse. Not only did someone hack her computer and leave classified documents on it, but they did it with an extreme level of sophistication using software that would be available only to government investigation types. The classified documents were apparently so deeply buried that Attkinsson would never had known they were there until some FBI search warrant “discovered” them.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/27/2014 @ 1:12 pmAny “whistleblower” is subject to this. We all recognize it’s an atrocity, it’s illegal, it’s anti-constitutional…now what? What are we gonna do? well, we quit leading entertainment-based lives, get involved in our town meetings, our school board meetings, and on up from there, but you have to begin at a local level, and you have to elect, and hold ACCOUNTABLE representatives to government. They claim to want to restore the constitutional rights to Americans?? Hold their feet to the fire instead of trusting them to do it. EVERYONE gets “comfortable” in Washington without accountability from their constituents. STOP it with the meaningless entertainment and time wasting aspects of life and make sure YOU are a man/woman of your word…ALL of us. We all do that, it gets contagious and becomes the NORM again. AND hold the MEDIA accountable for NOT reporting TRUTH. Start cancelling cable…hit them in the money belt.
You have a republic, if you can keep it (558b42) — 10/27/2014 @ 1:15 pmI mentioned the Max Holland bio on Felt, and the recent tapes that Roger Stone unearthed re Dean,
narciso (ee1f88) — 10/27/2014 @ 2:02 pmI wouldn’t put something this outrageous passed this Administration. Sad to say. The media will say that ‘there is nothing to see here’ and claim it is inspired by racism.
Joe (33fd9a) — 10/27/2014 @ 2:41 pmYour link re Dean reminded me, narciso.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/27/2014 @ 3:27 pmI think the saying used to be “I’ll find out when the book comes out…”.
Unfortunately, I keep having to wait for the definitive book.
there are still competing narratives as to who ordered the Watergate break-in and why
Jeb Stuart Magruder ordered the Watergate break-in. Magruder testified that his liaisons at the White House wanted it done, but he could not securely recall just who it was that communicated this to him – John Dean or Gordon Strachan. Dean claimed in 1976 and at other points that he absented himself from discussions of Operation Gemstone in early 1972 and was on vacation during the break in and knew nothing of it beforehand. Magruder made plain in an interview decades later that he could not remember but would certainly have checked with Dean beforehand had Strachan been the one he spoke to. Gordon Liddy has insisted since 1995 that Dean was the prime mover and that Dean had put them all to work pursuing some private ends of his own. (Gordon Strachan was one of H.R. Haldeman’s aides de camp, so, yes, the President’s Chief of Staff had at least a schematic understanding of what was up; the White House Plumbers were assembled and directed initially by John Ehrlichman’s protege Egil Krogh. Richard Nixon may have been confused about who did what when and who knew what when, but he had to know his subordinates once removed were up to a mess of skullduggery. The unreliable Mr. Dean has also testified that the aborted plan to firebomb the Brookings Institutions originated with John Ehrlichman).
Art Deco (ee8de5) — 10/27/2014 @ 3:42 pmIf this was a frame
Nothing all that strange about Loskarn. He was a career Capitol Hill apparatchik like thousands of others and a known homosexual (like hundreds of others on Capitol Hill). His family found his corpse and the suicide note which offered a precis of his porn fixation.
Art Deco (ee8de5) — 10/27/2014 @ 3:48 pmArt Deco, even if your claim is correct, the chain of command, per your own admission, does not stop with Magruder.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/27/2014 @ 3:51 pmWho was the “first causer” and what was the “why” of the first cause.
Your statement, as I read it, leaves open the possibility that dean was the originator of the order and for his own reasons.
And in true non-conservative fashion, the best defense is a good offense, before he could get (rightfully) blamed, he blamed others.
But I do not know if that is what really happened, and I doubt if I will ever know.
I am sure the Lord knows, but asking Him about it is not on my top 1,000,000 things to ask.
All paths lead to Dean.
askeptic (efcf22) — 10/27/2014 @ 4:02 pmYour statement, as I read it, leaves open the possibility that dean was the originator of the order and for his own reasons.
By Dean’s account, Gordon Liddy offered a precis of Operation Gemstone in early 1972 to a meeting which included John Mitchell, Jeb Magruder, and Dean himself. Mitchell declined to approve Liddy’s rather elaborate intelligence gathering plan (commissioned by Mitchell in Dean’s account. Mitchell had vetoed an earlier plan cooked up by John Caulfield). In Dean’s account, Liddy was implementing a stripped down version of Gemstone when he ran the burglary at the Watergate.
There is less mystery than meets the eye. Strachan worked for Haldeman and Krogh worked for Ehrlichman. The serial bag jobs were derived from the projects of the men at the top, including the President. Dean’s speculation was that the burglars were after documentation wanted by Robert Bennett of the Mullen Company. Again, Liddy has said the objects were information Dean wanted of a private nature.
Art Deco (ee8de5) — 10/27/2014 @ 4:53 pmyes, but why bug Spence Oliver’s office, James Hougan had some questions about that.
narciso (ee1f88) — 10/27/2014 @ 4:58 pmhe’s now the Secretary General of the OSCE
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/06/15/watergate-40-years-later-questions-endure-about-cia-role-in-break-in/
narciso (ee1f88) — 10/27/2014 @ 5:02 pmOwen,
Read the linked piece again. I think my headline is fine, and you are reading it wrong somehow.
Patterico (9c670f) — 10/27/2014 @ 5:29 pmsome things are contained, some leak like sieves:
http://rt.com/usa/199895-second-snowden-intercept-watchlist/
narciso (ee1f88) — 10/27/2014 @ 5:37 pmThe easy thing to do is to assume that any and every keyboard you touch is tapped. This includes virtual and projected keyboards.
If you can’t or won’t do that, do your own compiles of compiles … of compilers you’ve written yourself and either OpenBSD or Dragonfly (a FreeBSD fork.) Trust -no- software you have not read the source code as you’ve compiled it. Do not trust reading code displayed on your screen; your IDE or editor may lie to you.
htom (9b625a) — 10/27/2014 @ 8:32 pmShe is shielding her computer expert by calling him a “source”.
nk (dbc370) — 10/27/2014 @ 8:38 pmIf this is the case, which it almost certainly is. And combined with further extra-constitutional actions such as a mass executive amnesty. At what point is the government no longer legitimate and resistance (passive, non-violent) the necessary next step? I’m worried that I can even think those types of things.
Jack (6c4da3) — 10/28/2014 @ 8:10 am