A Russian hacker accused of stealing from Russian banks reportedly confessed in court that he hacked the U.S. Democratic National Committee (DNC) and stole Hillary Clinton's emails under the direction of agents from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).
According to Russian news site The Bell, Konstantin Kozlovsky, a Russian citizen working for a hacker group called Lurk, confessed to hacking Clinton's emails during a hearing about his arrest in August. An audio recording and minutes from the hearing were posted on Kozlovsky's Facebook page, and their authenticity was reportedly confirmed by The Bell.
In a handwritten letter that also appears in a photo on his Facebook page, Kozlovsky admits to hacking the DNC on the orders of an FSB agent he called "Ilya."
Putin Ordered Theft Of Clinton's Emails From DNC, Russian Hacker Confesses
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @02:13PM (3 children)
Is this the hacker FBI paid/coerced to confess?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @10:05PM
No he was only water-boarded.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @03:46AM
NOTICE SOMETHING: That the confession was signed 18 months ago, the images were publically posted 5 months ago, yet NO NEWS SOURCE has mentioned a word of it.
In other words: MORE TOTAL BULLSHIT FAKE NEWS.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @08:40AM
Not necessary. Anyone who has kids or remembers being one knows that if you get caught, the first thing you do is blame someone else.
"It was my sisters idea". "Daddy said I could"...
(Score: 5, Informative) by idiot_king on Thursday December 14 2017, @02:27PM (48 children)
FINALLY! As if there weren't enough smoking guns on the GOP side, FINALLY the Russians admit to rigging the damn election! I guess it's just a matter of time before the hammer of the SCOTUS sends the Orange Terror to Elba! YES!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Thursday December 14 2017, @02:43PM (13 children)
The linked article casts a lot of doubt on the confession.
But for the sake of argument, let's say the confession is 100% correct and factual. If so, I say we give the guy and the Russians a big fat medal of freedom for letting the American people know how corrupt the highest levels of its government are. We've all suspected for decades that the two parties are crooked, and now we have proof. So the whole, "Vote for our party because we're the goodies and they're the baddies," meme has been debunked.
We further know, thanks to Donna Brazile's tell-all, that what those hacked emails revealed was only the tip of the iceberg of corruption at the DNC.
And here we are, with the Establishment predicting a wave election in favor of said DNC.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 5, Informative) by fishybell on Thursday December 14 2017, @03:51PM (12 children)
While the DNC's pushing aside of Bernie Sanders in favor of not-yet-the-nominee Hillary Clinton was a huge scandal, and absolutely not okay, I'm not sure I've heard anything from these hacks that showed anything else.
What corruption do you speak of?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Thursday December 14 2017, @04:57PM (11 children)
The media and DNC and Establishment have been crying up and down and five ways to Sunday about a theory where Russians may have influenced the Presidential election by buying ads on Facebook and astro-turfing social media, and they have been ginning it up into a veritable casus belli, but actual proof that the Clintons and DNC rigged the process for the Democratic nomination for Hillary in that same Presidential election does not rise to the same level for you as to merit the appellation, "corruption?"
Please think about what you wrote.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Arik on Thursday December 14 2017, @05:24PM (3 children)
That's right. Because primaries and the general election are TOTALLY DIFFERENT THINGS. There is no comparison. Stop with your whaddabouthillaryisms already!
(Also don't you dare start talking about other countries spending many many times more than that on directly bribing^wlobbying congress. NOTTHESAMETHING)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by number6x on Thursday December 14 2017, @06:59PM (2 children)
Very good point!
The political parties in the US are not part of our government. They are private organizations. Their primaries are run in order for these private organizations to pick the candidates that they wish to have run in the real election, the general election.
Somehow these private organizations have scammed all of us tax payers to foot the bill for their primaries.
We don't pay the bill when the Elk's Club elects its leaders. How about the suburban subdivivion's homeowner's board, a nearby Plumber's union Business Agent election, Or maybe an office holder at a local country club? They all take care of their own elections.
The republican party and the democratic party are private organizations of individuals, just like the teamsters union, the Kiwanis club, or a local Alchoholics Anonymous chapter is.
They are not limited by the constitution and they are not regulated by the laws that cover government entities. When the DNC or the RNC break their own rules and procedures, they are not breaking federal laws.
There are laws that do regulate the activities of the parties. In the same way there are laws that require the local country club to maintain cleanliness standards in their kitchens, and to not violate laws like discrimination laws, accounting laws, or tax laws.
I laugh every time a politician complains about how labor unions are just artificial and are preventing workers from taking control of their own careers (an argument often made in favor of 'right to work' laws used to bust up unions). The political parties are just as 'artificial' as are labor unions.
However, the parties are real and we must deal with them. If the two major parties in the US were to collapse, new parties would rise to replace them. There is a benefit to pooling your resources in order to support common causes. Our two current parties are so powerful and entrenched they have basically become a 'shadow' government. The only realistic way for candidates to gain office is to sign on to one of the two existing platforms. If the new candidate is not already rich and powerful, they will have to toe the party line and be a good lap dog to the party leadership if they want to keep getting the financial backing of the party.
Party leadership is not elected by the general public but by party members, they are not beholden to the citizens, they are not limited by the Constitution, as the federal government is, but yet they hold enormous power over the people who rule this country.
Fortunately, we have a solution. Get off your butt, and vote the bums out of office. Keep doing that until you find one who actually works for you.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @07:43PM (1 child)
Of course, the reason why public money goes into running party elections is because 19th century society thought that otherwise parties would just degenerate to nominating candidates via backroom deals among the powerful. :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @11:00PM
Sure, as opposed to them nominating candidates via backroom deals with a public funded charade.. that's better how?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday December 14 2017, @07:53PM (6 children)
Personally, I find the attempted coronation of Clinton to be a betrayal of the people. I find that whole process corrupt.
BUT having said that, at the end of the day the DNC primary is nowhere near the same thing as the general presidential election. The DNC was within it's rights legally to do what it did (and I within mine to not vote for Clinton) even though it was unethical. The DNC did not bring in a foreign power to influence the process of democracy in the United States at arm's length or otherwise. There is at least an order of magnitude difference.
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @10:30PM (2 children)
Consider the Russian lawyer who met with Trump Jr.
She was on a list of people blocked from entering the USA. She was given a waiver. She met with democrats, went off to be purposely caught talking with Trump Jr., and then met with democrats again. Her whole reason for being here was to justify a warrant to wiretap Trump Tower.
There you go, the only evidence of bringing in a foreign power to influence the process of democracy in the United States. It's democrats.
(Score: 3, Touché) by sjames on Friday December 15 2017, @12:01AM (1 child)
Time to put the crack pipe down. I know you're desperate, but the crack won't help.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @12:24AM
No, no. Also those 16 women and the pussy grabbing tape, that was all allowed to happen to frame the President.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Pav on Friday December 15 2017, @07:43AM (2 children)
The "hacker" in question ALSO said in his testimony that he was also asked to create a "big red button" to destroy all western I.T infrustructure, but he didn't because of "ethical" reasons. Yeah, cred personified.
Bill Binney (high level NSA cryptomathematician and whistleblower), Edward Snowden and others have given technical reasons why the dump definitely wasn't a hack : timestamps, NSA not releasing any logs, three letter agencies equivocating (eg. "moderately confident", "highly confident" etc...) so they can backtrack if need be. The Russia narrative was even dropped after a year by the mainstream media, and there was a pivot towards "collusion"... because the word "conspiracy" has a bad smell about it these days.
I'm definitely no Trump fan, but his only issue is he is incompetent when pushing stock standard US policy. eg. he was criticised by the left (namely Democrat leader Chuck Shumer) for not moving the embassy to Jerusalem quick enough. Both Hillary and Obama have said Jerusalem is and always will be Israels capital.
(Score: 3, Informative) by sjames on Saturday December 16 2017, @03:26AM (1 child)
The NSA not releasing something constitutes evidence? The organization that didn't even admit it existed for years?
TLAs not willing to give a firm answer? You don't say!
(Score: 2) by Pav on Saturday December 16 2017, @06:54AM
When pressed even members of the senate security committee were forced to admit there was no evidence.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Immerman on Thursday December 14 2017, @03:07PM (1 child)
We can certainly hope.
But if we don't trust the Russians in general, why would we suddenly trust them when they say they hacked the election? We already know their propaganda efforts, like China's, are focused more on undermining the very idea of objective truth, rather than advancing a particular narrative. And they're clearly interested in undermining the credibility of the US government - a goal advanced by both putting a compulsive liar like Trump in office, and admitting to it even if they hadn't done so.
Don't get me wrong, it seems likely they did so - but we should be as suspicious of information that seems to confirm our beliefs as we are of that which runs counter to them.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Phoenix666 on Thursday December 14 2017, @05:06PM
If their goal was to put a compulsive liar into office, then they had already won by the time Hillary rigged the contest to shut Bernie Sanders out, wouldn't you say? The woman couldn't even tell the truth about having a cold during the campaign. That's a compulsive liar.
Why should you be disposed to believe anything the media says about anything? Because they keep repeating it?
The second part of your sentence is excellent advice, and I heartily recommend it to you. There has been so much fabrication and deception from formerly reputable sources that we must exercise critical thinking. If we as citizens can't, then things must come to blows.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @03:11PM (1 child)
While I do not condone the hacking and subsequent leaking of emails, that's hardly the same as rigging an election. I was going to trail on about other implications but it really just stops here at the fact it has nothing to do with rigging an election.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @08:47AM
It is to people who are against democracy, and wants the election to be a lottery.
Leaking e-mails that tell the truth about the parties ruins the lottery and allows people to know who they are voting for.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by kurenai.tsubasa on Thursday December 14 2017, @03:15PM (8 children)
What about the DNC rigging the primary?
When I voted for Clinton♀, it was the first time in my life I've voted for a D/R teamer. I found that lizard people really aren't so bad once you get to know them, especially compared to the orangutan people! Then she lost. Get over it. I'll be going back to voting Libertarian as usual, unless the DNC feels like getting its head out of its collective ass any time soon.
It wasn't the electoral college. It wasn't the Russians. It wasn't “fake news.” It wasn't sexism. It was all and only the DNC massively fucking up and demonstrating how fundamentally out of touch they are.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday December 14 2017, @03:48PM (7 children)
Trump won.
Deal with it.
(Score: 4, Informative) by idiot_king on Thursday December 14 2017, @04:01PM
He WILL be impeached.
Here's some bold text to emphasize my egoism.
(Score: 1) by kurenai.tsubasa on Thursday December 14 2017, @08:29PM
lol
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday December 14 2017, @08:39PM (3 children)
We are dealing with it. It's called protesting and calling for impeachment.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 4, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday December 14 2017, @09:04PM (2 children)
I'm just gonna put this out there as an FYI: it helps if you have credible suspicion of a crime having been committed by the President if you want to impeach him. The "muh Russians" narrative ain't managing it.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @12:29AM (1 child)
How does "plea deal with the FBI" work for you?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday December 15 2017, @03:03AM
You're thinking judicial system. They still like to keep up appearances that they're after justice. Congress is shackled by no such scruples.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday December 14 2017, @10:09PM
That is precisely what we intend to do, Eth. Just sit tight--no, don't move, we JUST vacuumed all the Cheetos crumbs outta the rug, dammit!--and let the adults handle this.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 5, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday December 14 2017, @03:57PM (14 children)
Revealing the truth is "rigging the election" now, is it? Interesting.
What's also interesting is a guy who's in trouble for breaking the law just to stir up shit for a political party is now unquestioningly believed when stirring up shit against another political party.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @04:44PM (13 children)
trust you to try to reframe the discussion, your desparation is palpable. notice that trump slash republican emails were /not/ released? also, a reminder for those with a short attention span, manafort, kushner, and junior all agreed [nytimes.com] to work with the russian government's attempt to influence an election.
i wouldn't judge the usa legal system harshly for throwing all three of those wookie buggerers in jail for the rest of their lives. they weren't putting their thumb on the scale, they were leaning into it.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday December 14 2017, @04:50PM (8 children)
Parent did. Learn to read.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday December 14 2017, @08:00PM (7 children)
You seem to have replied to the wrong message there.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday December 14 2017, @09:05PM (6 children)
Ah well, shit happens.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday December 14 2017, @10:16PM (5 children)
And a disproportionately large amount of it spews from your keyboard, Uzzard. Might wanna get that checked. I'm starting to wonder if you're actually one of those two-layer sea creatures with a single orifice for eating and excreting, rather than an actual bird of carrion.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday December 15 2017, @03:08AM (4 children)
Yeah, I know I manage to butthurt a lot of True Believers, snowflakes, and third-wave feminists. The truth is to them as soap is to hippies.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday December 15 2017, @03:16AM (3 children)
Er...you mean it comes in these big plastic bottles with obscure, schizophrenic-sounding quasi-religious writing on it...? Help me out here.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday December 15 2017, @04:42AM (2 children)
That wasn't for you to understand. I know you're severely handi-capable when it comes to comprehension. You were just a handy foil. Don't worry though, everyone else got it.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @05:27AM
Dre. Bronner's soap for the win! Dilute, dilute...
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday December 15 2017, @05:45AM
See the guy below you gets it. You apparently have never heard of Dr. Bronner's. You should use it; it's an excellent value, fair-trade, works really well, and if you translate the label from gibberish to English it's some surprisingly enlightened if rather basic treatises on reciprocal morality.
Not, of course, that you could comprehend such a thing. Every time you post you go lower and lower, and everyone can see it. You're reading Moore-esque levels of self-inflicted grotesquery, Uzzard. And I can't even bring myself to feel pity for you any longer.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @09:36PM (2 children)
You first have to get the emails to release them. Was there any evidence that republicans were hacked? Remember, the democrats were 'hacked' because they directly told a 3rd party their password when answering a phishing email. That was the extent of the hacking. Is it conceivable that the republicans also received phishing emails but instead didn't respond to them? It saddens me that 'top people' are so easily scammed. The person who received the email said 'hey, this email seems strange' but her higher-ups said 'nope, go ahead and answer it'. The democrats are completely at fault themselves for being hacked. How many scams have you received and ignored? When random people constantly get spam, scams, and phishing attacks you should expect a large, very rich, and powerful organization to be better at handling basic email spam. They knew they were targets and completely failed at basic security.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @02:03AM
Site connected to Russian hackers posts Republican emails [thehill.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @02:08AM
Russia Hacked 'Older' Republican Emails, FBI Director Says [wired.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @08:54AM
So, now the argument has become "Waah, the Republicans have better security, and those who want to leak Republican info are less competent".
Or is the problem in reality that everyone knows how bad the Republicans are, so there isn't anything to leak? It seems to me that the main difference is the Democrats keep telling how they are the good guys, then get p*ssed whenever the truth is leaked, where as the Republicans know their voters don't care, so they put all their terrible ideas on Twitter...
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @04:24PM (1 child)
Everybody "investigating" is tainted. There are emails now released under FOIA that show they all were planning to fight Trump from before the investigation started. Failure to disclose that is a huge problem for them.
Right now, it's making Whitewater look minor. A sitting president orders a wiretap of a political foe based on a "dossier" purchased by the political foe's opponent. This becomes the basis for... everything. WTF.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @12:31AM
Put the crack pipe -----------------------------------------------------------------> over here.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday December 14 2017, @04:26PM (1 child)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States [wikipedia.org]
Majority in the House of Representatives needed to initiate impeachment.
67 votes required in the Senate to remove Trump from office.
The Democrats have three times as many Senate seats up for grabs in 2018 [wikipedia.org].
Democrats have to gain 25 seats to take control of the House in 2018 [wikipedia.org].
Impeachment won't go well unless Republicans are alienated enough to install Mike Pence as President. We'll see.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday December 14 2017, @09:37PM
They don't have the votes. And they won't have the votes. Because of the ECONOMY. Incredible growth in the stock market since my election. We're going to see #Dow30k [twitter.com] by November. At least 30k. I have no doubt about it and you don't have any doubt about it either. And it's going to be another DISASTROUS election for the Dems. And for disloyal Republicans, who are very weak and ineffective. pic.twitter.com/jqKevWMofs [t.co] #TRUMP2020 [twitter.com] 🇺🇸
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @05:31PM
I don't think you understand what the word "rigging" means. I think you mean influencing the election by publishing DNC members' own words. Unfortunately for them, those words were damaging to their own credibility and electability. I'd say it was more like a public service.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @10:56PM
All I've seen on the GOP side so far is smoking gums.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @02:37PM (1 child)
Just because there's an old adage that states 'a lie repeated often enough becomes the truth' doesn't mean we'll start believing you after you've lied about everything else except from which direction the sun will rise.
Like it or not, not all the constituency is as dumb as Hank Johnson [youtube.com].
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @04:17PM
This is exactly the strategy. It's also why sexual accusers show up 5 to 10 at a time. A lie repeated often enough becomes the truth, at least in public opinion.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by linkdude64 on Thursday December 14 2017, @03:41PM
I confess.
God ordered me to take all of your money.
Now that my confession is out of the way, we can begin the process of using it as a substitute for objective evidence of my claim.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by requerdanos on Thursday December 14 2017, @03:53PM (3 children)
Well, that's all well and good, but it raises some questions.
Were Clinton's emails stolen from the DNC (such that the DNC did not have them anymore, and someone else did?)
Or were they merely copied in an unauthorized manner?
I mean, if the only copy of them existed on a (thumb drive|set of backup tapes|other physical medium) and that medium itself was physically stolen, then the emails were stolen.
If the only copy of them existed on a server, and they were retrieved and then deleted by an intruder, you might plausibly say that they were stolen.
Otherwise, never stolen.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by turgid on Thursday December 14 2017, @04:23PM
Is that what you said to the MPAA lawyers in court?
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday December 14 2017, @04:39PM
+1 Pedantic
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @09:39PM
They asked for the password to the email server and the DNC gave it to them. Due to that you could argue it was authorized access.
(Score: 1, Troll) by jmorris on Thursday December 14 2017, @04:54PM (2 children)
The Russians did not hack the DNC. It was an inside job by a disgruntled Bernie Bro. Hillary Clinton's people killed him but too late to achieve anything but revenge. Nobody has yet disputed the accuracy of the accuracy of the material in the WikiLeaks dumps. This whole "scandal" is outrage over somebody committing the sin of journalism. Everything else is the desperate coverup of those facts.
HIS NAME WAS SETH RICH.
(Score: 0, Troll) by crafoo on Thursday December 14 2017, @06:01PM (1 child)
Can we please start asking questions about the strange and unfortunate deaths from within the DNC and the investigator looking into the DNC?
(Score: 0, Troll) by John Miller on Thursday December 14 2017, @08:07PM
The President had no knowledge of the story, and it’s completely untrue that he or the White House had involvement in the story.
(Score: 3, Offtopic) by crafoo on Thursday December 14 2017, @06:03PM
Can we please talk about what was in those e-mails? Can we discuss the meetings held in private with GS and other global investment banks? Can we discuss the inner workings of the DNC, and how it selected their nominee? Who and how the information was leaked is a distraction. We have real, documented insight into how we are governed and by who. Let's talk about that. When we are finished, let's pin medals on those who braved quite possibly being murdered to bring us this information.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @07:18PM
i'm sure an american haxxor arrested in russia would say whatever they told him to say too. do people really believe the shit that spews from the governments of the world?
(Score: 1, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday December 14 2017, @07:31PM
CONSIDER THE SOURCE.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @08:07PM
Go sportspolitics team go. No I will not listen to reason I will just wave my flag no matter how much bullshit they feed me. I m now totally under the control of the gestalt. Go team you justify my hate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @03:44AM
This story is not on Fox, Breitbart, Hot Air, Instapundit. It's ALSO not on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, PBS, or ANYWHERE ELSE. That's usually a sign you're accepting conspiracy theories from a wackjob with an ax to grind.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @04:25AM
"Ilya" ..? Seriously? The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
That Ilya? Can't wait for the sequel. Anyone recall the TV series?