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This story seems to heavily imply that the government authorised somebody to break into the firm and steal the data relating to the whistleblower's case. That s

by Kapura 13y ago

This story seems to heavily imply that the government authorised somebody to break into the firm and steal the data relating to the whistleblower's case. That strikes me as highly unlikely. This entire story seems like the ultimate in yellow journalism. Maybe we should wait and see if the thief gets caught before we jump the gun and claim it's a conspiracy.

patrickod 13y ago
Not at all unlikely since the FBI has been in the practice of using surreptitious entry since at least the 1970 at the behest of the NSA and the CIA in a bid to recover cryptographic keys and other information instead of having to brute force them. Why spend all that money on computation when you can just break into someone's Embassy instead and steal it? James Bamford discusses this at length in The Puzzle Palace - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Puzzle_Palace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Puzzle_Palace
CamperBob2 13y ago
Yeah, nothing like this has ever been done in recent history, so it seems premature to jump to conclusions. /s
rayiner 13y ago
On the contrary, the article highlights the firms guess that it was an Obama or Hilary supporter, not the state department.
- rpedroso 13y ago
  The specific paragraph, for reference: After assessing the surveillance footage, Schulman said he believed the motivations were likely political, but did not suspect department involvement. "It wasn't professional enough," he said. "It is possible that an Obama or Hillary supporter feels that I am unfairly going after them. And the timing of this is right after several weeks of very public media attention so it seems to me most likely that the information sought is related to that case. I don't know for sure and I want the police to do their work."
rm999 13y ago
I read a lot of news articles and editorials and have taken a couple of journalism classes and IMO this reads like a very objective article that properly quotes every party that's involved. "Yellow journalism" is a really strong and misguided criticism. The article quotes an employee of the law firm clearly stating he doesn't suspect the state department was involved. It also reports that the state department has repeatedly denied any involvement. Neither the headline nor any part of the article declares that the government was involved in the breakin.
fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
>That strikes me as highly unlikely. Why? Are you new here? Want to read some transcripts of Nixon ordering all kinds of shady things along a similar vein? http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ellsberg/nixononpp.html http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ellsberg/nixon... That said, it could just as easily be foreign intelligence operatives looking for material with which to extort US spies/diplomats.
falk 13y ago
The government broke into Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office so that they could steal his patient files and use them to discredit him. Fortunately they couldn't find the files. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ellsberg#Fielding_break-in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ellsberg#Fielding_break-... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/opinion/30krogh.html http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/opinion/30krogh.html
lightyrs 13y ago
Interesting that in your 123 days here, you've made a point of defending the government in almost all of your comments. What makes you so secure in your trust?
- chrischen 13y ago
  Maybe he's part of the conspiracy?
  - lightyrs 13y ago
    What conspiracy are you referring to?
    - chrischen 13y ago
      He's an agent of the government!
      - Alex3917 13y ago
        Considering we already know that they're paying people to post on social news websites like Reddit and HN, it's not especially unlikely.
        beedogs 13y ago
        Had someone on reddit attack me pretty vehemently this morning for suggesting something similar there. The account in question was pretty much hanging on the US government's nuts in every comment.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
rorrr2 13y ago
> This story seems to heavily imply that the government authorised somebody to break into the firm and steal the data relating to the whistleblower's case. That strikes me as highly unlikely Chances are, it was. Just look for the agency with the most interest in their documents. Do you have a better hypothesis?
- mpyne 13y ago
  > Just look for the agency with the most interest in their documents. Maybe it would have been done by a group interested in having it look like the government was trying to steal data relating to this whistleblower case? Even weirder things than that have happened IRL.
  - meepmorp 13y ago
    I think I accidentally downvoted you. Sorry.
    - mpyne 13y ago
      No worries, I've done it too, and I'm used to seeing an occasional comment in light gray by now anyways. ;)
  - rorrr2 13y ago
    Maybe, but is it more likely than the government stealing the data?
    - mpyne 13y ago
      I thought the government already had it? :) :)

by Kapura 13y ago

patrickod 13y ago

Not at all unlikely since the FBI has been in the practice of using surreptitious entry since at least the 1970 at the behest of the NSA and the CIA in a bid to recover cryptographic keys and other information instead of having to brute force them. Why spend all that money on computation when you can just break into someone's Embassy instead and steal it? James Bamford discusses this at length in The Puzzle Palace - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Puzzle_Palace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Puzzle_Palace

CamperBob2 13y ago

Yeah, nothing like this has ever been done in recent history, so it seems premature to jump to conclusions. /s

rayiner 13y ago

On the contrary, the article highlights the firms guess that it was an Obama or Hilary supporter, not the state department.

rpedroso 13y ago
The specific paragraph, for reference: After assessing the surveillance footage, Schulman said he believed the motivations were likely political, but did not suspect department involvement. "It wasn't professional enough," he said. "It is possible that an Obama or Hillary supporter feels that I am unfairly going after them. And the timing of this is right after several weeks of very public media attention so it seems to me most likely that the information sought is related to that case. I don't know for sure and I want the police to do their work."

rm999 13y ago

I read a lot of news articles and editorials and have taken a couple of journalism classes and IMO this reads like a very objective article that properly quotes every party that's involved. "Yellow journalism" is a really strong and misguided criticism. The article quotes an employee of the law firm clearly stating he doesn't suspect the state department was involved. It also reports that the state department has repeatedly denied any involvement. Neither the headline nor any part of the article declares that the government was involved in the breakin.

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago

>That strikes me as highly unlikely. Why? Are you new here? Want to read some transcripts of Nixon ordering all kinds of shady things along a similar vein? http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ellsberg/nixononpp.html http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ellsberg/nixon... That said, it could just as easily be foreign intelligence operatives looking for material with which to extort US spies/diplomats.

falk 13y ago

The government broke into Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office so that they could steal his patient files and use them to discredit him. Fortunately they couldn't find the files. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ellsberg#Fielding_break-in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ellsberg#Fielding_break-... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/opinion/30krogh.html http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/opinion/30krogh.html

lightyrs 13y ago

Interesting that in your 123 days here, you've made a point of defending the government in almost all of your comments. What makes you so secure in your trust?

chrischen 13y ago
Maybe he's part of the conspiracy?
- lightyrs 13y ago
  What conspiracy are you referring to?
  - chrischen 13y ago
    He's an agent of the government!
    - Alex3917 13y ago
      Considering we already know that they're paying people to post on social news websites like Reddit and HN, it's not especially unlikely.
      - beedogs 13y ago
        Had someone on reddit attack me pretty vehemently this morning for suggesting something similar there. The account in question was pretty much hanging on the US government's nuts in every comment.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]

rorrr2 13y ago

> This story seems to heavily imply that the government authorised somebody to break into the firm and steal the data relating to the whistleblower's case. That strikes me as highly unlikely Chances are, it was. Just look for the agency with the most interest in their documents. Do you have a better hypothesis?

mpyne 13y ago
> Just look for the agency with the most interest in their documents. Maybe it would have been done by a group interested in having it look like the government was trying to steal data relating to this whistleblower case? Even weirder things than that have happened IRL.
- meepmorp 13y ago
  I think I accidentally downvoted you. Sorry.
  - mpyne 13y ago
    No worries, I've done it too, and I'm used to seeing an occasional comment in light gray by now anyways. ;)
- rorrr2 13y ago
  Maybe, but is it more likely than the government stealing the data?
  - mpyne 13y ago
    I thought the government already had it? :) :)