#russian hacking

SO OBVIOUS.

From Time Magazine, 2014: The National Security Agency exempted four countries from its list of places where it could rightfully intercept information, leaving the world’s 193 other countries open to surveillance, according to a new set of top secret documents leaked by Edward Snowden.

Four countries that had signed a no-spying agreement with the U.S. — Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — were declared off-limits by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the Washington Post reports, but the court approved a list of 193 countries where the NSA could legally conduct surveillance.

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Remember how, a few weeks ago, the corporate media were so amazed at the lack of "Russian interference" in this year's presidential election (as opposed to the imagined interference in 2016)? But then a few days ago, once the Democratic faction of the ruling  class seemed to finally be in the driver's seat, there was suddenly a big "Russian hacking" scandal.

This sudden shift in the narrative reflects the priorities of different ruling class interests within U.S. imperialism. The faction behind Trump has been focused on war with Iran and China. The faction behind Biden, which also wants to undermine and destroy Iran and China, prioritizes encircling and breaking up the Russian Federation. (Trump is certainly no friend of Russia -- having, for example, withdrawn from arms agreements and attacked many of Moscow's allies.)

Spying is a reality among capitalist powers. No doubt Russia does so, as many other countries do, as a matter of self-defense against the biggest military power on earth -- U.S. imperialism. But what is talked about in the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, et. al., is grossly exaggerated when it is not outright fantasy.

What's not a fantasy is the biggest spying operation, which monitors other countries and its own residents on a scale unmatched in history -- the one based out of Washington, D.C.

It’s owned by a Russia-based company! The article explains the issues better. There’s no need to panic – there’s no evidence anyone’s camera rolls have been compromised, for example – but if you’ve uploaded a photo, the company might keep it (they say “most images are deleted from our servers within 48 hours,” emphasis mine) or give it to one of “the group of companies of which FaceApp is a part”, which for all we know could include some scary Russian intelligence facial recognition operation.

House Republicans, on June 15, 2016:

McCarthy: The Russians hacked the DNC and got the opp research they had on Trump.

McCarthy: laughs

[Crosstalk]

Ryan: The Russians hacked the DNC...

McHenry: ...to get oppo...

Ryan: ...on Trump and like delivered it to... to who?

[Unintelligible]

McCarthy: There’s two people, I think, Putin pays: Rorhabacher and Trump... [laughter]... swear to God.

Ryan: This is an off the record... [laughter]... NO LEAKS... [laughter]... alright?!

[Laughter]

Ryan: This is how we know we’re a real family here.

Scalise: That’s how you know that we’re tight.

[Laughter]

Ryan: What’s said in the family stays in the family.

House Republicans, when asked to comment:

“That never happened.”

House Republicans, upon learning the conversation was recorded:

Michael Cohen gave public testimony under oath that contradicted past statements by President Trump on WikiLeaks, Stormy Daniels, a proposed Trump Tower in Moscow and other things.