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FBI agent pleads guilty to wiping hard-drive containing exculpatory evidence
- codefreeordie 4y agoFrom the FBI agent: "I erased the contents of the computer hard knowing that the court has ordered that the computer be submitted for a forensic examination. I did so with the intention of making the contents of the computer’s hard unavailable for forensic examination. At the time, I knew that the contents of the hard drive were relevant to an official proceeding, that is, Cause No. 5:17-CR-50010, United States v. Woods et al. I corruptly performed and had performed, the erasures with intent to impair the integrity and availability of the computer hard drive and its contents for use in that official proceeding." In the case in question, the defendant (a state Senator) requested the laptop that contained the hard drive for examination, because it would contain evidence that they believed would demonstrate their innocence. The FBI agent was ordered to produce the laptop and did so -- but only after first purchasing and using a forensic disk-wiping service.
- mikeyouse 4y agoSmall correction - a state Senator from Missouri, not a US Senator.
- jkaplowitz 4y ago> In the case in question, the defendant (a US Senator) According to the article, the defendant is a former state senator, not a current or former US Senator. Otherwise good quote and summary!
- codefreeordie 4y agoWhoops! Fixed.
- t6jvcereio 4y agoI believe this is the case https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-woods-260 https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-woods-260 Does anyone understand why one FBI is helping a senator?
- jtbayly 4y agoIf the evidence he deleted was exculpatory, the correct question is why one FBI is attacking a senator, right?
- russh 4y agoI suspect he was not attacking the senator but covering his ass because he only turned over the recordings that would be bad for the senators case.
- jtbayly 4y agoI don't follow. How is hiding recordings that would exonerate the senator different from attacking the senator?
- ncmncm 4y agoThe withheld recordings might just have led the jury to distrust witnesses. Or, might have implicated other people besides. Doesn't mean the pol wasn't a crook. Or that the agent wasn't. There is often more than enough blame to go around, but prosecutors like things to look simple.
- kastagg 4y agoAn investigation is not an attack. Are Senators above the law?
- jtbayly 4y agoWe aren’t talking about an investigation. We’re talking about an FBI agent intentionally hiding and destroying evidence. Exculpatory evidence.
- bombcar 4y agoPURCHASING a disk-wiping service when DBAN is free-to-download? Freaking government over budget spending.
- BrandoElFollito 4y agoIf the laptop was somehow recent, it would have SSD(s) and DBAN is useless for these drives. Sending a TRIM request would do the job (or, generally speaking, just deleting the files). There is no reachable slack on SSD drives.
- progman32 4y agoCan you expand on this? I've recovered deleted files from SSDs. Deleting files does not automatically issue a TRIM.
- bombcar 4y agoEven a TRIM won't necessarily remove blocks entirely, just move data around such that there are open free spaces. The most secure way to erase an SSD is write just insane amounts to it, and then put it through a ballistics test with a 1911 and then throw the remaining parts into Mt Doom.
- kevin_thibedeau 4y agoYou fill the drive with random data. No optimization can refuse to store data that can't be deduped. There's still the likely possibility that extra capacity on the SSD is untouched but you can at least get the bulk of it.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y agoHave you looked at DBAN's code? Would you be willing to bet your entire life that it works correctly?
- dariusj18 4y agoI wonder if the drive was erased to harm the defendant, or to protect someone else who was recorded doing crime.
- ncmncm 4y agoGood point. This guy might be a patsy, coerced to plead guilty to provide cover for somebody else.
- tunap 4y agoHeh, he had it wiped professionally and then wiped it two more times, himself. Interesting background, as the recordings came from an informer, who's recordings in question were made of his own volition... in hopes to provide more evidence to reduce his sentence in the affair(s). Wild story, with plenty of twists. The agent is def going to jail, but the missing evidence is not necessarily exculpatory. Both senators & the lobbyist were convicted on most(all?) counts. Grab some popcorn, or tune it out. YMMV.
- mikeyouse 4y agoBit more background: https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2018/apr/30/the-trapdoor-under-the-woods-case-20180/ https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2018/apr/30/the-trapdoor-unde... > The laptop became an issue when it was used to copy audio recordings the government says it never sought. > Neal, a former state representative of Springdale, carried an audio recorder disguised as a pen during most of 2016. He was cooperating with the government and told investigators he was willing to wear a hidden recording device. Investigators declined, but Neal went ahead and recorded any conversation he thought might interest investigators. He said he hoped he could be of more value to the government and reduce his sentence. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 4, 2017. > Cessario used his FBI laptop to make copies of the audio files after they were placed in a Dropbox file-sharing folder. He testified in a February court hearing he copied every file that was there and copied them to computer disc in November 2016. Copies of those recordings were turned over to the defense in April 2017. > According to court testimony, not all the files were in the Dropbox folder the day Cessario downloaded the files and then made his copies. For whatever reason, only 39 of at least 119 audio files made it to the defense. Recorded conversations specifically mentioned in texts from Neal's attorney to Cessario in 2016 were not there. > Cessario was ordered Dec. 4 in an email from Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Jennen to turn over the laptop for examination to try and find out what happened. That same day Cessario had the hard drive professionally erased at a computer shop in Bentonville, then erased it again himself before turning it in on Dec. 7, he testified in a pretrial hearing Jan. 25.
- codefreeordie 4y agoThanks, I was looking for a specific claim of what exculpatory evidence was supposedly on the laptop, but all of the articles I encountered just said that it contained "evidence"
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- cogman10 4y agoHere's what the court ultimately ruled on appeal https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca8/18-3058/18-3058-2020-10-16.html https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca8/18... In otherwords, the evidence wasn't strong enough to overturn the conviction and was available through other means.
- kumarvvr 4y agoSo, every major unethical, immoral or even outright treasonous act in the past decade dwindles down to a few scapegoats. The engineer from the car company fudging its pollution data, Jefferey Epstein, Child trafficking rings of the high and mighty, stock market frauds, and the list goes on. This is true across the world to a degree. All this technology, laws, systems, institutions, people, moral education, increased awareness and everything modern has not moved the society a lot in any positive direction. Just wobbling around a point, swinging temporarily around the corrupt core.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- eganist 4y ago> All this technology, laws, systems, institutions, people, moral education, increased awareness and everything modern has not moved the society a lot in any positive direction. Just wobbling around a point, swinging temporarily around the corrupt core. In fairness, there also hasn't been much development of proactively moral technology, moreso reactively moral i.e. detective and responsive. To wit: > According to court testimony, not all the files were in the Dropbox folder the day Cessario downloaded the files and then made his copies. For whatever reason, only 39 of at least 119 audio files made it to the defense. Recorded conversations specifically mentioned in texts from Neal's attorney to Cessario in 2016 were not there. > Cessario was ordered Dec. 4 in an email from Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Jennen to turn over the laptop for examination to try and find out what happened. That same day Cessario had the hard drive professionally erased at a computer shop in Bentonville, then erased it again himself before turning it in on Dec. 7, he testified in a pretrial hearing Jan. 25. Audit trails and forensic tech all over the place surfaced it, which theory holds should be a dissuasive factor on future corruption. Time will tell though; moral and immoral tech and moral/immoral implementations of tech are in a runaway arms race.
- themitigating 4y agoWhat core is that? People?
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- bpodgursky 4y agoYeah... without delving into specifics here, it's possible to both deeply distrust the FBI and the people they are investigating. An often-abusive organization can be tasked with investigating deeply corrupt people, and we don't need to pick a side and declare them the good guys out of tribal loyalty.
- throwaway0a5e 4y ago>we don't need to pick a side and declare them the good guys out of tribal loyalty. We do if we want to have some veneer of ideological consistency to our calls to send the feds after groups X, Y and Z (values of X, Y and Z vary over time) that aren't very bad in the grand scheme of things but whom we want to be marginalized anyway. Reconciling the evil that goes on under the guise of federal law enforcement with throwing ever increasing resources at them to chase this year's boogeyman is beyond the reach of all but the most skilled mental gymnasts so people just call them the good guys because that's easier and doesn't run the risk of you having to defend a nuanced position. Edit: I do not think the FBI (or most of federal law enforcement for that matter) should exist in their current capacity, but the above is how it appears many people's opinion of the FBI has been formed and that should make a lot of people here uncomfortable.
- PaulDavisThe1st 4y agoI don't like the way the FBI was used to "infiltrate" the counter-culture of the 1960s and early 1970s. But that doesn't make me write off the FBI as the bad guys. I do like the way the FBI is used to infiltrate extreme right wing groups of the present day. But that doesn't make me think that the FBI are the good guys.
- innocentoldguy 4y agoAre you saying that you’re OK with corruption and an abuse of power as long as the target is someone you don’t like?
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- cs702 4y ago
- toiletfuneral 4y ago
- thomascgalvin 4y agoSomething like this should result in the defendant being automatically found not guilty, and the agent sent to jail for the maximum sentence the defendant was facing. This is a complete and unacceptable breach of the public trust, and of civil liberties.
- sneak 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO You're treating the symptoms, the leaf nodes. The FBI is a criminal organization with a long history, that should be abolished outright.
- tasubotadas 4y agoSounds like something that a russian/chinesse bot-troll would say.
- jvanderbot 4y agoI'll sure illegal activities would stop completely, and I'm sure the legitimate caseload the FBI handles would be resolved miraculously. /s
- mythrwy 4y ago
- tomohawk 4y agoSome pigs are more important than other pigs. https://www.businessinsider.com/how-hillary-clinton-aide-destroyed-phones-2016-9?op=1 https://www.businessinsider.com/how-hillary-clinton-aide-des... EDIT: Apparently a lot of people think the FBI is completely above board when dealing with more important pigs. https://thefederalist.com/2022/08/19/think-the-fbi-deserves-the-benefit-of-the-doubt-this-laundry-list-of-corruption-should-make-you-think-again/ https://thefederalist.com/2022/08/19/think-the-fbi-deserves-...
- shadowgovt 4y agoNone of Clinton's phones were under subpoena as evidence in a case. In fact, destroying a device that may have held state secrets is good opsec. Edit: zdragnar is correct that the phones should probably have fallen under Federal Records Act handling.
- gfodor 4y agoPut the shoe on the other foot and imagine a political leader who you detest having this done, if you want to try to find the line between "plausible opsec" and "plausible criminality."
- balentio 4y agoNot being under subpoena is not to suggest that destroying these devices was motivated by a pure heart towards opsec security for the US.
- zdragnar 4y agoThe Federal Records Act disagrees. Everything should have been turned over to the responsible departments for record keeping, and letting them decide what should be destroyed and what should be preserved.
- Karampi1996 4y ago
- alanwreath 4y agoSeems like the tech to prevent this scenario exists, it’s just not being utilized. Is that because the-powers-that-be favor this scenario in the case they or their buddies need it?
- alanwreath 4y agoI think I just understood the downvotes - nah I’m not insinuating that either party is more susceptible here. I’m suggesting people (more specifically leadership) being imperfect - and in some cases purposefully so.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- balentio 4y agoSounds like somebody was looking for a scapegoat.
- bsedlm 4y agothis is a form of corruption
- JumpCrisscross 4y agoYes? That’s a charge he plead guilty to.
- ldjkfkdsjnv 4y ago
- typeofhuman 4y agoWhen will we see the raids on the people in Epstein's black book?
- guywithahat 4y agoFor anyone wondering this was a political attack; the FBI agent was going after a pro-Trump Arkansas State Senator. The article doesn’t mention the FBI agent’s motive which is surprising given the context of this case plus other recent events with the FBI Here’s a better article on the topic https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/08/fbi-agent-pleads-guilty-destroying-evidence-frame-pro-trump-political-prisoner/ https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/08/fbi-agent-pleads-gu...
- encryptluks2 4y agoI can't take anyone seriously that posts links to a far-right fake news website notorious for pushing false narratives.
- guywithahat 4y agoIt's The Gateway Pundit, there's nothing wrong with them. More importantly however is there's nothing in that article which isn't true, and it contains important context unlike the original article
- encryptluks2 4y agoJust the title in itself is false. They are not a political prisoner. Maybe search up the case on Pacer and do your own research.
- mikeyouse 4y agoSomething can include facts but also extremely misleading. This "pro Trump" State Senator who the GP website is going to bat for was arrested for crimes he committed long before Trump was elected -- the kickbacks took place from 2012 - 2016, and his co-conspirators were other former State Senators who ratted him out. The FBI was interviewing his co-conspirators in October 2015 which is ~9 months before Trump won the GOP nomination and over a year before he was elected. Tying 2015 activity by the Missouri field office of the FBI to some sort of FBI vendetta against people who supported Trump is the dumbest thing I've read in awhile, which is generally why nobody should read the Gateway Pundit.
- stevefrench93 4y agoBeware the people who moralize about great issues; moralizing is easier than facing hard facts. - John Corry
- hsnewman 4y ago
- banannaise 4y agoYou think it's disinformation by fascists? I wonder where we might have a lot of fascists with a lot of sway over news cycles in the United States... ... oh, look, it's the Republican Party.
- aprinsen 4y agoI sort of assume this is always happening to varying degrees. The net effect even for a skeptic is that you are less trusting of all media. Feels like a nearly unsolvable problem. Btw I'm sure it's a two way street.
- stainablesteel 4y agoanyone who an is manipulating news, it's always been that way
- rohitb91 4y agoDoes anyone else notice that the days have been getting shorter lately? Could a fascist nation be manipulating the time so that we're more tired?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- twic 4y agoMust be the work of the sinister cabal over at the International Earth Rotation Service: https://www.iers.org/IERS/EN/Home/home_node.html https://www.iers.org/IERS/EN/Home/home_node.html
- cowtools 4y agoI think the public has always been skeptical of three-letter-agencies. Whether the recent outrage is a product of "natural" politics or some soviet-style "active measures" is anyone's guess
- mercy_dude 4y agoIt’s funny how they are bringing these charges when the trust in FBI is an all time low and now FBI (if it wasn’t after the whole Peter Strozk incident) is seen as a political operative for ruling elites in Washington.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago> how they are bringing these charges when the trust in FBI is an all time low The FBI agent is pleading guilty. These wheels have long been turning. The only part relevant to the present situation is the editorial discretion and social amplification putting an…ABC 7 KATV? Yes, that article on the HN front page. It’s topical, it gets clicks, it gets upvotes.
- mercy_dude 4y agoWhat’s your point though? That the publicizing of these charges are happening at a politically convenient time?
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago> publicizing of these charges are happening at a politically convenient time? It’s gaining attention because of the zeitgeist.
- stevehawk 4y agoWhat's funny is how one political party thinks the FBI is acting politically right now but argued otherwise 1 President ago. Turns out people just hate it when the law comes for them.
- willis936 4y agoIn my view they really were acting politically one president ago. Just read the wikipedia on James Comey. It's pretty difficult to argue that he wasn't using his position for a political agenda with every action while the Director of the FBI.
- Ygg2 4y agohttps://archive.is/8ANsu https://archive.is/8ANsu
- spaetzleesser 4y agoMisbehavior of people in the justice system should be viewed as one of the worst crimes. These people have enormous power over people’s lives and should therefore be held to the highest standards. There are so many cases of detectives falsifying evidence or bribing witnesses, prosecutors hiding evidence and often they get away with this for decades without any consequences.
- k0k0r0 4y agoThe major of my city is a proven liar. She was elected nonetheless. The president of my country seems to be somehow more or less losely involved in fraud at enourmous scales. He was elected nonetheless. I feel like people stopped caring long ago. And by now we seem to have only the choice between different liars and fraudsters at the voting bill. Maybe this was always like this. But I often wonder: How did we get such beautiful democratic systems (in some european countries at least, and yes I know it's not perfect) if not by much more competent and ethically intact politicians? I try to understand, but I have a hard time.
- webinvest 4y agoThe voters need to have easy access to more information about their electable officials. How would the average person know that your city official is a proven liar?
- dennis_jeeves1 4y ago>How did we get such beautiful democratic systems There was never democracy. People have an illusion of democracy. I think it was Noam Chomsky who said that in a democracy consent is manufactured.
- Sugimot0 4y agoHad a feeling I would see Chomsky in the comments, this is a classic example of how intelligence agencies are a tool of the ruling class, history has shown they rarely ever bite the hand that feeds them, unless it's for self preservation.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- macinjosh 4y agomakes my blood boil.
- dingosity 4y agomeh. before offering your hot takes on how Mr. Woods was the victim of governmental overreach, maybe read this... https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-woods-260 https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-woods-260
- salawat 4y agoIt doesn't matter one iota. He could have waterboarded Mother Theresa for all I care. Due. Process. Them you can abscond with liberties. No due process, no absconding with liberties. Destroying evidence, especially exculpatory evidence is the System placing itself above it's mandate from the People as laid out in the Constitution. If you want to imprison someone, you prove your case, maintain all evidence, and investigate every instance of exculpatory evidence you can. It is not the job of Law Enforcement to secure a conviction. It is their job to see Justice done to the best of their ability. If they violate that mandate by destroying exculpatory evidence, they vacate their authority to imprison. The scales of Justice demand this bias. Otherwise you've equipped the State with carte blanche to lock up and keep locked up anyone they like. Due Process. It means something. You may not sympathize with the person, but it is critically important that we hold the edifices of power to maximal account.
- dingosity 4y agoGo ahead and read the material facts of the case, it's actually useful.
- arminiusreturns 4y agoCare to actually elaborate on what your meaning is, or refute any points presented?
- arminiusreturns 4y agoThe supposed guilt (assuming you reference that as a "look how obviously guilty he is!") of a person is independent of the fact that destruction of evidence by the government is a violation of due process...
- faxmeyourcode 4y agoWow, I did not expect to see my home town news KATV on the top of HN.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- chiefalchemist 4y agoBut why? Who or what encouraged him - or pushed him? - over that line? This is likely more telling than the act itself.
- puffoflogic 4y agoConvicted of helping prosecutors. I'm sure his sentence will be on the upper end of possible sentences, not some cushy parole equivalent. /s
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- muaytimbo 4y agoI think we need to remember this is just the first time this guy got caught, how many previous defendants are now imprisoned because he tipped the scales of "justice" by destroying exculpatory evidence? The problem is structural and cannot be fixed, LEOs, judges, and prosecutors all have a vested interest in working together to imprison defendants regardless of guilt. Whether through financial coercion, ejecting impartial jurors, or losing evidence they have a well greased machine that is designed to railroad the innocent just as quickly as the guilty.
- ProjectArcturis 4y agoI'm sure anyone convicted by this agent's work in the past is now writing an appeal to have the conviction struck.
- muaytimbo 4y agoThat is only so helpful if you've already rotted in prison for 20yrs.
- landemva 4y agoNot if they took a plea bargain, as almost every federal defendant does.
- t6jvcereio 4y agoSurely one could make the argument that "I only took the plea deal because the prosecution produced evidence X which I knew was fake but I couldn't prove it"?
- mafuy 4y agoNope. Does not work like that. You committed - you're in. It's like when you get an invoice for something you did not buy, and you pay even 1 dollar of it for whatever reason. You're now on the hook for all of it.
- johnklos 4y agoMeta: What extreme duckery is this? How does it take 45 seconds on a computer that's capable of 8 billion instructions per second per core with 16 gigs of memory to "process preferences" about cookies? https://www.klos.com/~john/katv.com.png https://www.klos.com/~john/katv.com.png Holy cow! The list of errors on that page is huge. Oh, well. When they duck up that badly, it provides the impetus to see where this shitshow is coming from so I can block even more of these horrible domains.
- daveloyall 4y agoAdditional extreme duckery: Some words appear in the URL which do not appear in the article. Perhaps there is a previous version of this article? Archive.is and the wayback machine don't seem to have it, not at that URL.
- PeterStuer 4y ago"Cessario could possibly face 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, forfeiture of property involved in the criminal offense, and supervision upon release." The real story will be how that "could" will be translated into an "is" beyond a slap on the wrist not to discourage future minions.
- ncmncm 4y agoAbuse of State power is the only offense I would endorse the death penalty for. There is hardly anything worse. An individual is fairly limited in how much harm they can do (unless they control a biggish corporation). A public official abusing the power of the Federal Government can blight the lives of millions. That said, people in control of corporations casn do enormous harm, and the go-to treatment of this malfeasance in the US is to fine holders of the stock at the time a conviction loses its final appeal, with no prosecution of company officers at all unless they defrauded stockholders. That is seriously messed up. All the executives of pint companies that poisoned millions for decades retired untouched.