US intelligence

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US Warning of Crocus Attack Named the Very Hall: Officials

Russia's response suggests it didn't take the caution seriously

(Newser) - More questions are being raised about Russia's response to its worst terrorist attack in decades as US officials now say they not only warned Russia of a possible attack in advance, but named the very concert venue. Hours after Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (FSB),...

The US Essentially Gave Up Spying on Hamas Long Ago

Sources say American intelligence shifted sources to perceived global threats, like ISIS

(Newser) - As a retired CIA operations officer puts it, at least some of the blame for missing the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel should fall to the US, which more than two decades ago decided to essentially stop spying on the group. Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that in...

US Intelligence Saw Signs of Prigozhin's Plans

Wagner operation didn't launch until Ukrainian counteroffensive had begun

(Newser) - Yevgeniy Prigozhin has long complained about Moscow military leaders' decision-making on the war, but it wasn't until Ukraine began its counteroffensive that the Wagner Group chief launched his armed rebellion—at a time when dealing with two challenges at once could strain Russian resources. That wasn't a coincidence,...

'Here, Have Some Leaked Documents'
'Here, Have Some
Leaked Documents'
the rundown

'Here, Have Some Leaked Documents'

Latest intelligence leak first surfaced on a gaming forum

(Newser) - Two things to know about the latest leak of US intelligence reports in the news over the last few days: It appears to be both serious and bizarre. The Justice Department is still trying to figure out what happened and assess the damage, reports the Washington Post . Many of the...

US Intelligence Blames Ukraine for Assassination in Russia

Agencies worry that covert operations could broaden the war

(Newser) - Ukrainian officials approved the car bombing that killed the daughter of a Russian nationalist, US intelligence officials said, raising fears about the effect covert operations could have on the war. Daria Dugina was killed in the explosion near Moscow in August. The officials said Americans didn't know of the...

Report Blames Afghan Collapse on Trump, Biden Decisions

US plans to withdraw damaged local forces' morale, report contends

(Newser) - A government watchdog says decisions by Presidents Trump and Biden to pull all US troops out of Afghanistan were the key factors in the collapse of that nation's military. The new report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction mirrors assertions made by senior Pentagon and military leaders...

US Intelligence Suggests Putin Isn't Getting the Full Story

Aides are misinforming Russian president about invasion, officials say

(Newser) - Russian President Vladimir Putin isn't aware of the true state of his invasion of Ukraine because aides aren't telling him, US intelligence officials have concluded. The disconnect is straining relations between Putin and his advisers, the New York Times reports. Asked Wednesday about the situation, Secretary of State...

Intelligence: China Told Russia to Wait Until After Olympics

Putin sent troops into eastern Ukraine the day after the Games ended

(Newser) - The closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics was Feb. 20. On Feb. 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed troops into eastern Ukraine after giving a speech attempting to justify the move. Three days later, the Russian invasion began in full. There's a possible explanation for why Russia, which had...

US Tries to Disrupt Russia With Intelligence Dumps

Releases about Putin's plans could buy time before any invasion

(Newser) - In a strategy the US hasn't used on this scale since the Cuban missile crisis, the Biden administration is trying to disrupt President Vladimir Putin's planning in the Ukraine impasse by regularly releasing classified information showing what Russia's doing. The releases have covered troop movements, a purported...

Exiled Security Official Calls Saudi Prince a 'Psychopath'

Saad Aljabri said he fears for his life in 60 Minutes interview

(Newser) - An exiled former security official for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia called the crown prince and de facto ruler of the kingdom a "psychopath" and a "killer," in an interview on CBS ’s 60 Minutes. Saad Aljabri lives in Canada now, but back in 2014 he...

Russia Pulls US Ambassador
Russia Pulls US Ambassador

Russia Pulls US Ambassador

Russia's Foreign Ministry says relations are at 'a blind alley'

(Newser) - Russia has recalled its ambassador to the US following the release of US intelligence showing President Vladimir Putin intervened in the 2020 US presidential election to hurt Joe Biden's chances . The declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, released Tuesday, is the first official government...

Ominous Warning from Counterintel Chief on Election

NCSC's William Evanina says Russia, China, Iran are trying to sway voters; Dems want more

(Newser) - The country's top counterintelligence official issued a warning Friday regarding the US election in November, though he's getting some pushback from Democratic leaders. "Foreign nations continue to use influence measures in social and traditional media in an effort to sway US voters' preferences and perspectives, to shift...

Intelligence Agencies Issue Rare Statement on Coronavirus

They are investigating origins, but don't think it was manmade

(Newser) - It's not often that US spy agencies issue a statement telling everyone what they're working on. But given the competing theories about where in Wuhan the coronavirus originated, and a New York Times report about the Trump administration pressuring the agencies to investigate one of them, the agencies...

Trump Taps New Director of National Intelligence

Texas Republican John Ratcliffe has been up for this post before, amid bipartisan criticism

(Newser) - President Trump on Friday picked Rep. John Ratcliffe to be the nation's top intelligence official, just months after abruptly ending an earlier effort to install him amid bipartisan criticism that the Texas GOPer was unqualified for the post. Trump initially named Ratcliffe for the job last summer, but then...

Trump Sees 'Hoax No. 7' Underway in DC

He slams report of Russian meddling in the 2020 election

(Newser) - Reports that intelligence officials informed Congress that Russia is meddling on President Trump's behalf in the 2020 election have caught Trump's attention, and he's not happy with the news—specifically that the lawmakers were informed about it. Sources told the New York Times and Washington Post that...

Russia Is Working to Reelect Trump, Lawmakers Are Told

President is displeased by briefing, worried that Democrats will use the information in the campaign

(Newser) - American intelligence officials told House lawmakers last week that Russia already is interfering in the presidential campaign in an effort to see President Trump reelected. Republican and Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee attended the meeting on what a Democratic official called a briefing on "the integrity of...

One-Eyed Leader Was Hiding Under Our Noses: Report

Mullah Mohammad Omar may have been smoking his local tobacco near a US base

(Newser) - The Taliban's founder may have been hiding in plain sight—or at least near a US base—when America thought he was really in Pakistan, the Wall Street Journal reports. A new research-based report says Mullah Mohammad Omar spent his final years in Afghanistan, partly with his driver, and...

Trump Warns North Korea of 'Fire and Fury'

He speaks after report of big advance by North on nuclear capability

(Newser) - The Washington Post is out with a chilling report about North Korea's nuclear capabilities: It says Pyongyang has figured out how to make a nuclear warhead small enough to be carried by a missile. The news comes from a newly completed assessment by US intelligence officials, and it suggests...

Trump Appears to Trust Assange Over US Intel

He's accused of 'mocking' intelligence officials who risk their lives

(Newser) - The American intelligence community had concluded Russia is to blame for cyberattacks during the US election, including those targeting Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange disagrees. And in a move one Republican political consultant sees as "mocking American men and women who … put their...

Report: 1K US Spies Helping Brazil Monitor Olympics

All 17 US intelligence agencies are reportedly involved

(Newser) - There may be more US spies than Zika-carrying mosquitoes in Rio over the next couple of weeks, per a "highly classified" intelligence report seen by NBC News . With the blessing of Brazil's government, some 1,000 espionage experts—about 350 of them onsite in Rio—are positioned and...

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