Operation Broken Heartland

"It will not be long until A. D. is confirmed in MSM...and this is not merely embarrassing"---John Mashey (2-19-12)


On Valentines Day (2-14-12), the computer scientist Dr. John Mashey released his report on the Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based organization that spreads anti-scientific propaganda denying climate change. The report is titled "Fake Science, Fake Experts, Funny Finances, Free of Tax: SEPP, Heartland, CSCDGC, Allies and Donors" (2-14-12). Dr. Mashey also sent his report to the Internal Revenue Service because the "charities" named in his report seem to be violating the tax laws. DeSmogBlog has posted Mashey's overview and the link to the report. The Guardian has published an article titled "Heartland Institute Faces Fresh Scrutiny over Tax Status" (2-17-12).


A few days later, in a comment on Deep Climate (2-19-12), Dr. Mashey predicted that the identity of the Heartland Institute's "Anonymous Donor" will soon be revealed in the mainstream media. Dr. Mashey promises that the unmasking of Heartland's Anonymous Donor is "not merely embarrassing."

Heartland Demands DeSmogBlog Remove ''Climate Strategy" Document

"DeSmogBlog will leave them in place - in the public interest"


DeSmogblog (2-19-12) reports:


Heartland Institute general counsel Maureen Martin has sent letters to the DeSmogBlog and several other publications demanding that we remove all Heartland-related documents that we posted on February 14, as well as all related commentary.

After due consideration, we could see no basis in fact or law for Heartland's demand that we remove these documents.

The Heartland letter is reproduced in full below with our observations. [See full text of DeSmogBlog (2-19-12)]

On Thin Ice: Heartland's Hypocrisy

Desmogblog (2-15-12) reports that Joe Bast's Heartland Institute, a climate change denialist "think tank" in Chicago, is claiming that it is the victim of "identity theft and computer fraud" because some of their confidential documents [see attachments at bottom of post] were allegedly stolen under false pretenses and ended up posted on the Internet.


The Heartland maligned climate scientists after their emails were stolen from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) by hackers, published on the Internet, and mischaracterized; but now that the shoe is on the other foot, Heartland is very indignant about their documents allegedly being stolen. These hypocrites didn't protest when the scientists were the victim of a crime. 


Heartland's Joe Bast is telling his donors that he has gone to the police and FBI. Bast is using this alleged "crime" as a fundraising gimmick; however, Chicago FBI Special Agent Royden "Ross" Rice states that, based on media accounts, the FBI has no legal basis to investigate.


Politico (2-16-12) reports:

On Thursday, Mother Jones also reported that Bast sent another email to donors stating that the group had reported the identity theft and computer fraud to the police and FBI.

In that email, Bast made another pitch for money to help with its legal defense fund. "Litigation is expensive, and it surely wasn't in our budget for 2012. But we don't think the criminals who did this ought to be allowed to skate away without penalty," he wrote.

"You would be helping us defend ourselves against a cowardly and criminal attack. You would also help us take down a notch some of the left-wing activists and their friends who so plainly crossed the line this time," Bast added.

Heartland Institute spokesman Jim Lakely confirmed both emails were real.

Ross Rice, an FBI special agent in the Chicago field office, said Thursday that "nothing has been reported to our office" from the Heartland Institute.

After reviewing some of the media reports, Rice added, "It would appear that the items were given to outsiders under false pretenses as opposed to a breach of their IT system or theft."

"As such, there would be no legal basis for us to investigate," Rice said.

An FBI spokesman in Washington said he could neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation. The Chicago Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.  

Heartland (2-15-12) claims:


The stolen documents were obtained by an unknown person who fraudulently assumed the identity of a Heartland board member and persuaded a staff member here to “re-send” board materials to a new email address. Identity theft and computer fraud are criminal offenses subject to imprisonment. We intend to find this person and see him or her put in prison for these crimes.


Heartland also claims that the Climate Strategy document has been totally fabricated. DeSmogBlog (2-16-12) responds:


The DeSmogBlog is committed to accuracy. Joe Bast says the document is a fake, a statement we take with a grain of salt given the Heartland Institute’s previous dissembling on the subject of climate change and its discredited position on the safety of second hand smoke.  In the circumstances, if the Heartland Institute can offer any specific criticism of the Climate Strategy or any evidence that it was faked and not, actually, written on Joe Bast’s laptop, printed out and scanned, we would be pleased to consider that evidence.

I wonder why Joe Bast doesn't just post a screen catch of the email that was sent to the unknown hoaxter by the duped staffer. This evidence would show what documents were attached and the email of the person they were sent to. If the duped staffer didn't send the allegedly fabricated "Climate Strategy" document, the screen catch of the email would show this. The screen catch would also have the email address of the hoaxter the documents were sent to. How strange that Joe Bast doesn't want to plaster the evidence of both his own innocence and this hoaxter's trick on the Internet.

The climate scientists whose emails were hacked and mischaracterized by Heartland have published this open letter about the online posting of Heartland's confidential documents:


An Open Letter to the Heartland Institute

As scientists who have had their emails stolen, posted online and grossly misrepresented, we can appreciate the difficulties the Heartland Institute is currently experiencing following the online posting of the organization’s internal documents earlier this week. However, we are greatly disappointed by their content, which indicates the organization is continuing its campaign to discredit mainstream climate science and to undermine the teaching of well-established climate science in the classroom.


We know what it feels like to have private information stolen and posted online via illegal hacking. It happened to climate researchers in 2009 and again in 2011. Personal emails were culled through and taken out of context before they were posted online. In 2009, the Heartland Institute was among the groups that spread false allegations about what these stolen emails said. Despite multiple independent investigations, which demonstrated that allegations against scientists were false, the Heartland Institute continued to attack scientists based on the stolen emails. When more stolen emails were posted online in 2011, the Heartland Institute again pointed to their release and spread false claims about scientists.


So although we can agree that stealing documents and posting them online is not an acceptable practice, we would be remiss if we did not point out that the Heartland Institute has had no qualms about utilizing and distorting emails stolen from scientists.


We hope the Heartland Institute will heed its own advice to “think about what has happened” and recognize how its attacks on science and scientists have helped poison the debate over climate change policy. The Heartland Institute has chosen to undermine public understanding of basic scientific facts and personally attack climate researchers rather than engage in a civil debate about climate change policy options.


These are the facts: Climate change is occurring. Human activity is the primary cause of recent climate change. Climate change is already disrupting many human and natural systems. The more heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions that go into the atmosphere, the more severe those disruptions will become. Major scientific assessments from the Royal Society, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, United States Global Change Research Program and other authoritative sources agree on these points.


What businesses, policymakers, advocacy groups and citizens choose to do in response to those facts should be informed by the science. But those decisions are also necessarily informed by economic, ethical, ideological, and other considerations.While the Heartland Institute is entitled to its views on policy, we object to its practice of spreading misinformation about climate research and personally attacking climate scientists to further its goals.


We hope the Heartland Institute will begin to play a more constructive role in the policy debate. Refraining from misleading attacks on climate science and climate researchers would be a welcome first step toward having an honest, fact-based debate about the policy responses to climate change.


Ray Bradley, PhD, Director of the Climate System Research Center, University of Massachusetts
David Karoly, PhD, ARC Federation Fellow and Professor, University of Melbourne, Australia
Michael Mann, PhD, Director, Earth System Science Center, Pennsylvania State University Jonathan Overpeck, PhD, Professor of Geosciences and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona
Ben Santer, PhD, Research Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Gavin Schmidt, PhD, Climate Scientist, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Kevin Trenberth, ScD, Distinguished Senior Scientist, Climate Analysis Section, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Dr. John R. Mashey: "Fake Science, Fake Experts, Funny Finances, Free of Tax SEPP, Heartland, CSCDGC, Allies and Donors"

"Dr. Seitz is quite elderly and not sufficiently rational to offer advice."---Phillip Morris staffer (1989)


The computer expert Dr. John R. Mashey has published a Valentine's Day report on organizations that deny climate change titled "Fake science, fakexperts, funny finances, free of tax SEPP, Heartland, CSCDGC, allies & DONORS" (2-14-12).


Dr. Mashey reports that the climate change denialist S. Fred Singer claimed that the elderly Frederick Seitz was the Chairman of Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP) for two years after Seitz had died at age 97 and 20 years after a staffer for Philip Morris had written in 1989, "Dr. Seitz is quite elderly and not sufficiently rational to offer advice."


Dr. Mashey has posted the highlights of his report and has linked his entire report at Desmogblog in an entry titled "Fake science, fakexperts, funny finances, free of tax" (2-14-12). Dr. Mashey has sent his report to the Internal Revenue Service because some of the denialist organizations are claiming charitable status.

Dr. Mashey reports that Robert Ferguson's Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI) is a fake institute located in a mailbox at a UPS store in a Haymarket, Virginia shopping center. Mashey also explains that SPPI added footnotes to the Princeton Physicist William Happer's 2-25-09 undocumented Senate testimony. I also posted about SPPI's location and Happer's footnotes on my obscure blog. See pages 73 and 74 of Dr. Mashey's report. Incredibly, some of the SPPI footnotes added to Dr. Happer's Senate testimony cite the screwball British climate change denialist Lord Christopher Monckton.


Dr. Mashey explains about Happer's footnotes (p. 74):


Ferguson calls [Happer's 2-25-09 Senate testimony] a “Reprint,” but the net effect is to “meme-wash” low credibility anti-science by modifying Senate testimony so it looks official.


If denialists think that they are going to confuse teachers about climate science, they might want to reconsider! Teachers are exposing the tricks of these denialist charlatans! Teachers want their students to learn peer-reviewed science, not propaganda spread by the fossil-fuel industry. High school teachers and even high school students can see that something funny is going on when so-called a "scientific institute" is housed in a P.O. box and when a Princeton physicist lets someone else add footnotes from a non-scientist to his undocumented Senate testimony. We aren't brain-dead like some people!

How the Mighty Have Fallen: Department of Justice and Scotland Yard Continue to Close in on Murdoch's News Corp

The Guardian has some new articles about the Department of Justice's and Scotland Yard's continuing investigation of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, which owns Fox News. A Scotland Yard  investigation is called Operation Elveden is investigating allegedly illegal payments to British police.

Reuters (2-7-12) reports:
British detectives are conducting three parallel investigations.

One inquiry, known as Operation Weeting, is investigating alleged phone hacking, and a second inquiry, Operation Tuleta, is investigating allegations of computer hacking. The third investigation, Operation Elveden, is investigating allegations that journalists paid police officers bribes in return for story tipoffs. The head of the three investigations said this week she was increasing the number of police looking at police payments.

Because their headquarters is in New York City, News Corp is subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act if they bribed British policemen. Here is a link to articles about Rupert Murdoch. Here is a link to a Guardian (2-11-12) article about why Murdoch may be subject to the FCPA act.

Here is Wikipedia's article on the FCPA. Here is what the Department of Justice says about the FCPA.

University of East Anglia Climate Scientist Professor Bob Watson Knighted

University of East Anglia climate scientist Prof Bob Watson [above] has received a knighthood in the New Year Honours.---The University of East Anglia (1-2-2012)

According to a press release from The University of East Anglia (2012): 

Prof Watson is professor of environmental sciences at UEA, director of strategic development at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, which has its headquarters at UEA, and chief scientific adviser at Defra. From 1997 to 2002, he was chair of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

On receiving the news Bob said: "I am delighted and humbled by this honour, which implicitly recognises the value of scientific knowledge in national and international environmental policy formulation. Of all the honours I have received this is very special, not only to me but also to my family and friends."

Prof Watson previously worked as chief scientist at the World Bank and environmental adviser to the Clinton White House. He has played a key role in chairing or co-chairing major international scientific assessments which have provided the scientific basis for informed national and international environmental policies. These include the IPCC, the International Ozone Assessments, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, and the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development. He also co-chaired the recently released UK National Ecosystem Assessment.

Prof Watson gained his PhD in Chemistry from London University in 1973. He has received numerous national and international awards and prizes for his contributions to science including: the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility (1993); the insignia of Honorary Companion of St Michael and St George from the British Government (2003); and the Blue Planet Prize (2010) – Japan’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize - for his roles in highlighting the influence of human activities in the depletion of the ozone layer and climate change.

UEA Vice-Chancellor Prof Edward Acton said: "I would like to offer my warmest congratulations on this latest public recognition of one of our very finest scientists. Bob Watson has made, and continues to make, an enormous contribution to the globally important field of climate science - a field in which this university is committed to playing a leading role."

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Smears the Famous Writer Boris Akunin

Boris Akunin is one of Russia's most beloved writers. Here is Akunin's page at Amazon. Akunin is an expert on Japan who also writes detective novels set in pre-revolutionary Imperial Russia. The novels that feature his fictional 19th Century detective Erast Petrovich Fandorin are extremely popular in Russia. Check out Akunin's official English-language website and his Russian-language blog.


Detective novels are extremely popular in Russia, but they are usually lowbrow, vulgar pulp fiction. Akunin has taken the detective genre and transformed it into something that blends the modern Russian detective fiction with Dostoyevsky's famous detective story Crime and Punishment. The New York Times (7-13-03) reviewed Akunin's novel The Winter Queen. The reviewer Andrew Bromfield translated the novel into English.

The New York Times (11-3-12) reports that Akunin has been targeted by investigators for possibly violating Russia's vague terrorism laws because he allegedly included "extremist statements" in his novel All the World's a Stage. Sometimes, in Russia, novels provide commentary on the current political situation. Even the play Hamlet was seen as controversial in the Soviet era. The audience read a lot into Hamlet's observation that "something stinks in Denmark." 


Recently, Putin smeared Akunin by suggesting that the writer had made common cause with Putin's opposition due to his Georgian ethic heritage. Akunin described Putin's characterization of his motives as a smear and observed that Putin had learned how to smear people during his KGB training. 


Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (1-19-12) reports:


Akunin, whose real name is Grigory Chkhartishvili, joined a group of cultural luminaries to form a League of Voters to assure a more transparent presidential election on March 4. 

"As far as I know, he's an ethnic Georgian," Putin said about Akunin. "I understand that he could not have accepted Russia's actions during [the] armed conflict between Georgia and Russia," Putin said.


In an interview with RFE/RL's Russian Service today, Akunin fired back:

I'm not taking this seriously. That is how he was trained in his special [KGB] school. It is his normal method of smearing an opponent. I don't feel smeared. OK, I'm Georgian, so what? There are people of many ethnicities in our country. Actually, he was hinting that since I'm an ethnic Georgian, it means I'm an enemy of Russia. That is what he meant.... 

I have a feeling that whatever action Putin takes now, it only works to his detriment. The system has degraded so much that it keeps digging its own grave. I swear to God, I have a strong feeling that Vladimir Putin's time in history is coming to an end.

See the full text of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (1-19-12 article.

Department of Justice Pulls the Plug on Megaupload File Sharing Site

"The [Mega Conspiracy] case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, Organized Crime and Gang Section, and Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section also assisted with this case.

The investigation was initiated and led by the FBI at the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) [link added], with assistance from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. Substantial and critical assistance was provided by the New Zealand Police, the Organised and Financial Crime Agency of New Zealand (OFCANZ), the Crown Law Office of New Zealand and the Office of the Solicitor General for New Zealand; Hong Kong Customs and the Hong Kong Department of Justice; the Netherlands Police Agency and the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Serious Fraud and Environmental Crime in Rotterdam; London’s Metropolitan Police Service; Germany’s Bundeskriminalamt and the German Public Prosecutors; and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police – Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Federal Enforcement Section and the Integrated Technological Crime Unit and the Canadian Department of Justice’s International Assistance Group. Authorities in the United Kingdom, Australia and the Philippines also provided assistance."---Department of Justice (1-19-12) 

The Department of Justice Criminal Division Cybercrimes and Intellectual Property Taskforce has taken down a file-sharing site called Megaupload. This action was taken after a federal grand jury studied the evidence for two years, determined that there was probable cause that felonies were/are being committed, and issued an Indictment.


A website of the U.S. Federal Courts explains the functions of the grand jury and the petit (trial) jury:


The United States attorney, the prosecutor in federal criminal cases, presents evidence to the grand jury for them to determine whether there is "probable cause" to believe that an individual has committed a crime and should be put on trial. If the grand jury decides there is enough evidence, it will issue an indictment against the defendant. Grand jury proceedings are not open for public observation.


According to page 18 of the grand jury's Indictment, 525 servers leased by Megaupload are located in Ashburn, Virginia. The computers are owned by Carpathia Hosting, a company "headquartered in Dulles and with data centers in Ashburn, Harrisonburg, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Toronto." Ashburn Patch (1-20-12). According to the Ashburn Patch (1-20-12), millions of dollars are going to a Carpathia bank account in Richmond, Virginia. Details about the financial transactions between Megaupload and Carpathia Hosting are available at the Ashburn Patch (1-20-12), but I think the same information is in the 74-page Indictment.

Seven people and two companies (Megaupload Limited and Vestor Limited) were indicted, but the Indictment says that other people "known and unknown to the grand jury" were also part of the conspiracy. (See page 2 of the Indictment.) The mention of known and unknown conspirators might mean that the government has unindicted co-conspirators who are cooperating with the investigation, but nobody knows who is talking to the grand jury and/or the authorities and whom the authorities are still tracking down. According to the Indictment (page 13), Megaupload employs more than 30 people in approximately 9 countries.   

The founder of Megaupload is said to be Kim Dotcom (formerly known as Kim Schmitz), a person with a string of aliases and a long history of unethical and criminal behavior. Schmitz sounds like a cartoon villain in a Bond movie according to this colorful article titled "Inside Megaupload's Megamind" (1-20-12). 

Read the DOJ press release titled Justice Department Charges Leaders of Megaupload with Widespread Online Copyright Infringement. See more information about the Intellectual Property Task Force.

It is hard to read the FBI and DOJ sites because the hacktivists called Anonymous are taking it down with a Denial of Service attack.  Cyber criminals evidently think that there is nothing wrong with preventing the public from reading our government's websites or with making millions by selling stolen movies.

Some people parked the emails stolen from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in a file on the Megaupload site. Now the site is shut down, and global warming denialists like Virginia's oppressive Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Ashburn's ludicrous blogger "ex-CIA operative" Kent Clizbe might not be able to access these stolen emails in order to mischaracterize their contents and defame climate scientists as liars and criminals. This suits me just fine.

In order to seem like an authoritative source on the so-called "hoax" of global warming, blogger-conspiracist Kent Clizbe claims that he used to be an operative for the CIA; but Kent Clizbe fails to inform his readers that the CIA is giving climate scientists security clearances or that the CIA is studying the national security implications of climate change. If people want to know what the CIA says about climate change, perhaps they should read what Larry Kobayashi, the head of the CIA's Center for Climate Change and National Security, explained to the media in an article titled "Our Man in the Greenhouse: Why the CIA is Spying on a Changing Climate." For Kent Clizbe's unhinged disinformation campaign read "Kent Clizbe: Our Man in the Nut House."

Virginia's Attorney General Cuccinelli and Ashburn's "ex-CIA operative" Kent Clizbe might also want to read what the National Intelligence Council says about global warming and climate change. The National Intelligence Council (NIC) "is a center of strategic thinking within the US Government, reporting to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and providing the President and senior policymakers with analyses of foreign policy issues that have been reviewed and coordinated throughout the Intelligence Community." Probably they know more than Ashburn's "ex-CIA operative" and blogger-conspiracist Kent Clizbe.

The NIC does research on a variety of foreign policy and national security issues, but they are most recognized for their groundbreaking research on transnational organized crime. According to the National Intelligence Council, “Transnational criminal networks are actively targeting U.S. ... government programs.”

The NIC has posted a document called "The Impact of Climate Change to 2030." This document is a collection of research and conference reports. On June 25, 2008, Dr. Thomas Fingar, the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis, summarized this report in Congress.

In his testimony before Congress, Dr. Fingar stated:

"Our primary source for climate science was the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report, which we augmented with other peer-reviewed analyses andcontracted research. We used the UN Panel report as our baseline because this document was reviewed and coordinated on by the US government and internationally respected by the scientific community."

The conspiracist Ashburn blogger Kent Clizbe and the abusive Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who is persecuting the world-famous climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann, might want to read "The Impact of Climate Change to 2030." In my opinion, Cuccinelli persecutes climate scientists because his father is a consultant/lobbyist for the natural gas industry. His father's company, Quest-Fore, gave $96,000 to Attorney General Cuccinelli's campaign, according to a report published on the Internet.

The mendacious Cuccinelli and his deputy W. Russell claim that Dr. Michael Mann is being investigated for fraud, not because he is one of the world's foremost climate scientists. That is a transparent lie. Dr. Mann is being hounded by operatives for the fossil-fuel industry who are operating against our national security from their outpost in the Virginia Attorney General's office.

Dr. Michael Mann earned two Ph.D.s from Yale and a Nobel Prize (2007) for his work on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report.

Dr. Mann and Dr. Kump have co-authored a book titled Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming. This book is based on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report and more recent research.

Our intelligence agencies accept what the IPCC scientists say, but when he sued the EPA, Attorney General Cuccinelli used an article from the Russian government's press agency RIA Novosti as "proof" that climate scientists are fudging their research.

Michael Mann: The Climate Scientist Who the Deniers Have in Their Sights

"I've been the focus for attack by those who deny the reality of climate change for so long that it almost seems like forever," the professor of meteorology at Pennsylvania State University [Dr. Michael Mann] says. "I'm a reluctant public figure, but I have embraced the opportunity to communicate the science."...


"[The theft of the climate scientists' emails] was a very successful, well-planned smear campaign intended ... to go directly at the trust the public had in scientists," [climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann] insists. "Even though they haven't solved the crime of who actually broke in, the entire apparatus for propelling this manufactured scandal on to the world stage was completely funded by the fossil-fuel front groups."---The Independent (1-16-12)


The Independent (1-16-12) has published a fantastic account about how the powerful politicians Senator James Inhofe, Congressman Joe Barton, and Virginia Attorney General Cuccinelli have unjustly vilified the famous climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann because he was the creator of the "hockey stick" graph, which demonstrates that the earth's temperature is rising rapidly.


American politicians should uphold the law, but instead these politicians hoped to help their wealthy fossil-fuel sponsors by collaborating with criminals who stole the famous climate scientists' emails in order to discredit them by mischaracterizing their correspondance. Read "Michael Mann: The climate scientist who the deniers have in their sights."

Virginia Supreme Court Justice Bernard Goodwyn Observes that Attorney General Cuccinelli Wants Carte Blanche

Last Thursday, January 12, 2012, the Virginia Supreme Court heard arguments from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and the University of Virginia in connection with Cuccinelli's allegation that the famous climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann may have committed fraud against Virginia taxpayers. Cuccinelli wants to use a civil investigative demand (CID) to get Dr. Mann's emails. I am not a lawyer, but a civil investigative demand in Virginia to uncover fraud against taxpayers seems to require probable cause, just like any subpoena:


Each civil investigative demand issued under this article shall state the nature of the conduct constituting the alleged violation of a false claims law that is under investigation, and the applicable provision of law alleged to be violated.


Cuccinelli denies global warming, and his father is a lobbyist for the natural gas industry.  Cuccinelli wants the University to hand over Dr. Mann's emails without probable cause so he can mischaracterize what the emails mean and discredit climate science. The tyrant wants to abuse his power to do the same thing as the hacker-criminals who stole scientists' emails from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU).


The PilotOnline (1-13-2012) reports that Supreme Court Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn told Cuccinelli's underling W. Russell, “You want us, I guess, to give you carte blanche.” It seems to me that Justice Goodwyn is alluding to the fact that Cuccinelli lacks probable cause. Cuccinelli was already refused his civil investigative demand from a lower court on the grounds that he lacked probable cause.

Cuccinelli poses as a person who is defending us from a tyrannical federal government, but I think that Cuccinelli is the tyrant. Cuccinelli is so disingenuous that he even claims that his civil investigative demand is not about climate change but only about some alleged fraud. I think the only people misusing our tax dollars are the demagogue Cuccinelli and the fossil-fuel interests he serves.


Climate Crocks (12-22-11) wonders whether the CRU hacking can be "characterized as a simple cybercrime — or are there elements of cyber-terrorism involved?" Climate Crocks observes that cyber-terrorism expert Bruce Schneier notes:


What I’ve been thinking about is whether the hack was intended to intimidate, threaten or bully. Then the crime becomes an effort to stop people from doing legitimate research. So, it is not just a data theft, but has a goal of creating a chilling effect, a threat, an intimidation.


A chilling effect is what the tyrannical bully Ken Cuccinelli is no doubt trying to achieve with his lawless inquisition, but the University of Virginia and Michael Mann are not backing down.

Here is an interesting interview (12-4-09) about cyber-terrorism and cyber-crime with the FBI official Shawn Henry. Mr. Henry was appointed executive assistant director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch on September 15, 2010. In this position, he is responsible for all FBI criminal and cyber investigations worldwide, as well as international operations and critical incident response.


Network World (12-19-11) reports Shawn Henry's warning to "hacktivists":

"When anybody breaches a network and steals data and then publicizes it--whether they're from a foreign country and they're using the data to help their country's industry, they sell it as an organized crime group, or they just display it because they think the company they stole it from is acting inappropriately--the fact that the data is stolen is a violation of federal law," he says, his voice rising with conviction. "Hacktivism is no different from organized crime groups or foreign governments. It's the exact same activity, perhaps done for a different reason or purpose, and it's all still illegal." 

Hacker Julian Assange AKA "Nathanial Frank" May Face Espionage Charges in the USA

Wikileaks hacker Julian Assange may face espionage charges in the US because he allegedly advised the American soldier Bradley Manning about how to hack into U.S. government computers and steal classified documents.


Assange allegedly used the alias "Nathanial Frank" when he communicated with Manning. This is a variant spelling of Nathaniel Frank, the name of the man who wrote the book Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America. This book advocates ending the policy about "don't ask don't tell" in the U.S. military.


Wired (12-19-11) has a technical account of how federal investigators uncovered the Assange-Manning chat logs. It may be that the U.S. investigators want the young Private Manning to testify against the older hacker Assange in exchange for a more lenient sentence. 


The Daily Mail (12-24-11) reports:


WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could face spy charges in the U.S. after a court revealed his apparent 'role' in the theft of secret military documents, it emerged today.

Lawyers have produced logs of online chats they claim show him coaching U.S. Private Bradley Manning how to break passwords to gain access to military computer networks...

The prosecutors claim Manning, 24, used the online alias of 'Nobody' while talking to 'Nathanial Frank' which they claim was an alias for Mr Assange.

In one chat, the young intelligence analyst asked 'Frank' for help cracking the password on his classified computer so he could log on anonymously. (See the full text.)

Renowned Climate Scientist Dr. Michael Mann Appears on MSNBC with Chris Hayes

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Dr. Michael Mann (check out his Facebook and twitter) appears on MSNBC with Chris Hayes following the discussion about prisoners in Guantanamo. 

The Game is Afoot: U.K. Investigation of Climategate Hacker-Criminals Heats Up!

"It seems to me the authorities wouldn't have acted without some actionable intelligence," said Michael Mann, a scientist at Pennsylvania State University who specializes in climate modelling and whose messages came in for particular scrutiny in 2009. "They must know something that we don't yet know."---NYT (1-1-12)

The New York Times (1-1-12) has published an informative article about the new leads in the search for the hacker-criminals who  stole climate scientists' emails and other documents from a server at the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Institute (CRU) and posted them on the Internet in 2009. The hacker-criminals posted a second tranche of stolen emails on the Internet in November 2011, and this may have given the authorities new information for their investigation. Even the U.S. Department of Justice is cooperating with the British authorities. See my previous post.


The Guardian (12-15-11) reports: 


A spokesman for the University of East Anglia said today: "We are pleased to hear that the police are continuing to actively pursue the case following the release last month of a second tranche of hacked emails from the Climatic Research Unit. We hope this will result in the arrest of those responsible for the theft of the emails and for distorting the debate on the globally important issue of climate change."

Computers Seized in Climategate Hacking!

Full Department of Justice Criminal Division document linked here. The Request for Preservation of Records is signed by Trial Attorney Kendra R. Ervin of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section. 

"We are pleased to hear that the police are continuing to actively pursue the case following the release last month of a second tranche of hacked emails from the Climatic Research Unit. We hope this will result in the arrest of those responsible for the theft of the emails and for distorting the debate on the globally important issue of climate change."---University of East Anglia


In November 2009, one or more hacker-criminals released emails and other information they had stolen from a computer belonging to the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia. The criminals released some of the scientists' stolen emails again in November 2011. This second release may have provided the authorities with some clues about the identities of the hacker-criminals.


The hackers, who call themselves FOIA, first posted the CRU emails on a server with Russian ISP and then a posted a link to these stolen emails on the comments of blogs run by climate change denialists. After denialists copied the emails, the emails disappeared from the Russian server. These blogs are now being investigated by the British authorities with the cooperation of the U.S. Department of Justice. Computer equipment in the home of a British blogger known as Tallbloke has been seized by the police.  


The Guardian (12-15-11) is reporting that computer equipment has been seized in connection with the November 2009 hacking of the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU). Check the Guardian (12-15-11), Climate Progress (12-15-11), DeSmogblog (12-15-11), and ClimateCrocks (12-15-11).


No arrests have been made, but the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard), the Norfolk Constabulary, the computer crime division, and the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division seem to be closing in on the culprits who stole the CRU emails and posted them on the Internet. There is also this Twitter feed, which is carrying a lot of hysterical raving by denialists.


According to the DOJ:


The Criminal Division develops, enforces, and supervises the application of all federal criminal laws except those specifically assigned to other divisions. The Division, and the 94 U.S. Attorneys have the responsibility for overseeing criminal matters under the more than 900 statutes as well as certain civil litigation. Criminal Division attorneys prosecute many nationally significant cases. In addition to its direct litigation responsibilities, the Division formulates and implements criminal enforcement policy and provides advice and assistance. For example, the Division approves or monitors sensitive areas of law enforcement such as participation in the Witness Security Program and the use of electronic surveillance; advises the Attorney General, Congress, the Office of Management Budget and the White House on matters of criminal law; provides legal advice and assistance to federal prosecutors and investigative agencies; and provides leadership for coordinating international as well as federal, state, and local law enforcement matters.


The Guardian (12-15-11) reports:


Police officers investigating the theft of thousands of private emails between climate scientists from a University of East Anglia server in 2009 have seized computer equipment belonging to a web content editor based at the University of Leeds.


On Wednesday, detectives from Norfolk Constabulary entered the home of Roger Tattersall, who writes a climate sceptic blog under the pseudonym TallBloke, and took away two laptops and a broadband router. A police spokeswoman confirmed on Thursday that Norfolk Constabulary had "executed a search warrant in West Yorkshire and seized computers".  She added: "No one was arrested. Investigations into the [UEA] data breach and publication [online of emails] continues. This is one line of enquiry in a Norfolk constabulary investigation which started in 2009.”...


Last month, Tattersall's blog, as well as at least four other blogs popular with climate sceptics, received a comment from a user called "FOIA" providing a link to a Russian server hosting a compressed folder containing more than 5,000 emails exchanged between climate scientists, along with a short message setting out the perpetrator's motives. The folder also contained an encrypted subfolder containing a further 220,000 emails. It was the second time such a release had occurred.


In November 2009, thousands of emails were released in a similar manner on the eve the Copenhagen climate summit. The episode prompted a series of inquiries into the working practices of climate scientists. Although these were critical of the scientists' handling of Freedom of Information Act requests and lack of openness, they did not find fault with the climate change science they had produced.

Both Tattersall and a US-based climate sceptic blogger known as Jeff Id said they had received a "formal notice" that their blogging platform WordPress had been asked by the US Department of Justice's criminal division, dated 9 December, to preserve "all stored communications, records, and other evidence in your possession" related to their own blogs as well as to Climate Audit, a climate sceptic blog run by a Canadian mining consultant called Steve McIntyre. All three blogs had received messages from "FOIA" last month pointing to the link hosting a second tranche of emails first taken from the UEA in 2009...

A spokesman for the University of East Anglia said today: "We are pleased to hear that the police are continuing to actively pursue the case following the release last month of a second tranche of hacked emails from the Climatic Research Unit. We hope this will result in the arrest of those responsible for the theft of the emails and for distorting the debate on the globally important issue of climate change."