May 2021 Intelligence News

US spy agency colluded with Denmark to snoop on Merkel, other top EU leaders: Reports Press TV 31 May 2021 -- The infamous US spy network, National Security Agency (NSA), has reportedly colluded with Denmark's military intelligence unit, FE, to snoop on senior European politicians, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Norway, Sweden Demand Answers on Espionage After Report of Denmark Helping NSA Spy on EU Politicians Sputnik 31 May 2021 -- While Danish Defence Minister Trine Bramsen reiterated that wiretapping allies is "unacceptable", researchers and analysts have warned of an "intelligence scandal" in Denmark and compared Copenhagen's "very precarious" position to that of a "louse pressed between two nails".
British, Other Western Intel Agencies Assist US in Wuhan Probe VOA 31 May 2021 -- Britain's intelligence agencies — along with other Western European security services — are assisting a new American investigation to try to establish the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, according to officials on both sides of the Atlantic.
First group of Russian diplomats leaves 'unfriendly' Czech Republic Press TV 30 May 2021 -- A Russian government plane with more than 50 embassy staff onboard has left the Prague airport, becoming the first flight taking the expelled diplomats out of the Czech Republic.
To Russia, Without Love: Expulsion Of Diplomats Hampers Kremlin Spy Work In Prague RFE/RL 30 May 2021 -- Russia is facing a cut in staffing at its diplomatic missions in the Czech Republic so severe that it will likely deal an irreversible -- although not fatal -- blow to Kremlin espionage efforts in the country.
Dozens Of Russian Diplomats Leave Czech Republic Amid Strained Relations RFE/RL 29 May 2021 -- Dozens of Russian diplomats and their families have left the Czech Republic after Prague ordered their expulsion in April.
Russian Diplomat Says Hundreds Of Soldiers Heading To C.A.R. Are Instructors RFE/RL 29 May 2021 -- The Russian deputy ambassador to the United Nations has described hundreds of Russian soldiers due to be sent to the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) this month as "unarmed instructors."
DNI Releases FY 2022 Budget Request Figure for the National Intelligence Program Director of National Intelligence 28 May 2021 -- The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is disclosing the aggregate amount of $62.3 billion in requested appropriations for the Fiscal Year 2022 National Intelligence Program (NIP).
ODNI Statement on COVID-19 Origins Director of National Intelligence 27 May 2021 -- Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Strategic Communications Amanda Schoch today issued the following statement on COVID-19 Origins:
US to Make Intelligence on COVID-19 Origins Public VOA 27 May 2021 -- The United States will share the results of a new deep-dive by its top intelligence agencies into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed millions of people across the globe.
Biden gives intel agencies 90 days to pinpoint COVID origins as lab leak theory debated Press TV 27 May 2021 -- President Joe Biden has tasked the US intelligence community with reporting on the origin of COVID-19 within 90 days, saying rival theories including the possibility of a laboratory accident in China are being pursued.
FBI Employee Indicted for Illegally Removing National Security Documents, Taking Material to Her Home US Dept. of Justice 21 May 2021 -- An employee of the FBI's Kansas City Division has been indicted by a federal grand jury for illegally removing numerous national security documents that were found in her home.
US Vows to Transfer Troops Withdrawn From Afghanistan to Neighboring Countries, Intel Chief Says Sputnik 19 May 2021 -- The United States is trying to deploy its troops withdrawn from Afghanistan in neighboring countries, but Russia hopes that its CSTO allies will not meet the Americans halfway, Sergei Naryshkin, the director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), said.
SVR Chief Denies Russia Was Behind Solarwinds Cyberattack RFE/RL 18 May 2021 -- The head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has denied that his agency was behind the SolarWinds cyberattack, which was blamed on Moscow by both U.S. and British intelligence officials and resulted in U.S. sanctions against Russia.
Ex-Green Beret Who Spied For Russia Sentenced To More Than 15 Years RFE/RL 15 May 2021 -- A former U.S. Army Green Beret who pleaded guilty last year to providing classified information to Russian military intelligence agents over a long period of time has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison.
Former Army Green Beret Sentenced for Russian Espionage Conspiracy US Dept. of Justice 14 May 2021 -- A Virginia man and former Army Green Beret was sentenced today to 188 months in prison for conspiring with Russian intelligence operatives to provide them with U.S. national defense information.
University Researcher Sentenced to Prison for Lying on Grant Applications to Develop Scientific Expertise for China US Dept. of Justice 14 May 2021 -- An Ohio man and rheumatology professor and researcher with strong ties to China was sentenced to 37 months in prison for making false statements to federal authorities as part of an immunology research fraud scheme. As part of his sentence, Zheng was also ordered to pay more than $3.4 million in restitution to the National Institute of Health (NIH) and approximately $413,000 to The Ohio State University.
Camera In The Banya: Russia's FSB Spied On Jehovah's Witnesses In Bathhouse RFE/RL 14 May 2021 -- Russian intelligence services have spied on and filmed Jehovah's Witnesses in a bathhouse, in the latest example of persecution against the outlawed Christian group.
China's Information Warfare and Media Influence Sow Division in Thailand Radio Free Asia 13 May 2021 -- By the time video scenes of a brutal prison riot in Ecuador earlier this year reached Asia, the video's caption had been changed and read, "American Blacks and Whites in California Killing Chinese," and the clip went viral.
Beijing Ramps up Fake Social Media Operation Peddling Pro-China Propaganda Overseas Radio Free Asia 13 May 2021 -- China has been using social media networks like Twitter to spread positive propaganda about the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since the start of the pandemic, according to a report published by an international press group.
How China Used Foreign Media to Reset Image During Pandemic VOA 13 May 2021 -- In the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, China sought to block news of the rapidly spreading virus, detaining those who tried to speak out. But in the months that followed, as the pandemic ravaged families and economies worldwide, Beijing sought to reset its public image through foreign media, research published Wednesday by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) shows.
Hungarian Plans for First Chinese University in Europe Prompt Security, Propaganda Fears VOA 13 May 2021 -- Hungary has announced plans to open a branch of a Chinese University in Budapest. Critics fear the development — the first of its kind in Europe — will be used by Beijing to spread Chinese Communist Party propaganda and could pose a threat to national security.
China TV Network Accounts for Bulk of Beijing's Influence Spending in US VOA 12 May 2021 -- China's big-budget foreign influence operation in the United States is heavily tilted toward television broadcasting and other media activities, according to newly disclosed Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings.
Ex-Army officer loses appeal in spy case, to serve 2-year prison term CNA 10 May 2021 -- The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a two-year prison sentence imposed on a retired military officer, who was convicted of charges related to spying for China.
Czech PM Asks European Council To Condemn Russian Involvement In Arms-Depot Blast RFE/RL 08 May 2021 -- Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has said that he has asked the European Council to condemn Russia for its involvement in the deadly explosion of an arms depot on Czech soil in 2014.
U.S. Seeks 17-Year Sentence For Former Green Beret Who Pleaded Guilty To Spying For Russia RFE/RL 08 May 2021 -- U.S. prosecutors said they were seeking a 17-year prison sentence for a former U.S. Army Green Beret who pleaded guilty last year to years of providing classified information to a Russian military intelligence agent.
U.S. Government Seized Phone Data Of Journalists Who Wrote About Trump Campaign's Russia Ties RFE/RL 08 May 2021 -- The Justice Department secretly obtained the phone records of three Washington Post reporters who wrote about the federal investigation into ties between Russia and former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, the newspaper said on May 7.
Former National Security Bureau officer faces espionage charge CNA 06 May 2021 -- An arrest warrant for a former National Security Bureau (NSB) officer was issued on April 23 on charges of defection and espionage, more than two decades after the man fled overseas in the wake of media reports accusing him of embezzling government funds, the NSB said Thursday.
US Intelligence Assessment Backs Fears for Afghan Women VOA 04 May 2021 -- A newly declassified U.S. intelligence assessment warns that women in Afghanistan are likely to see their rights disappear should the Taliban come to power following the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
Britain Says G7 To Consider Mechanism To Counter Russian Disinformation RFE/RL 03 May 2021 -- Britain is proposing an international effort to counter Russian propaganda and disinformation, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on May 2.

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