Open Letter to Orange County CA Board of Supervisors:
As a former resident of San Clemente and a former public information staffer for NASA and the U.S. Navy, I have watched recent BOS meetings in Santa
Ana with great interest. Disinformation is a weapon of war and it seems there is
a population of persons in Orange County who have been so well targeted with weaponized
propaganda that they fervently believe the lies. They are so adamant that they
are right and everyone else is wrong that they dominate every meeting by taking
the microphone to shout threats, make intimidating predictions, and wild-eyed repeat false
facts that can be proven false with five minutes of research to news
and government websites.
This propaganda is not just innocent lies. Claims that popular
elections cannot be trusted are a direct attack on the foundation of democracy.
Lies that it is not a virus that is killing people but the vaccine against the virus
that is killing people are a direct attempt to Kill Americans.
At yesterday’s meeting a public speaker claimed two Iranians were heroes for pointing out that voting machines produced fraudulent election results. In truth, on Nov 18 the DOJ released the story headlined “Two Iranian Nationals Charged for Cyber-Enabled Disinformation and Threat Campaign Designed to Influence the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election” reporting that two Iranian agents had been indicted for hacking into information systems and spreading false election information, including that voting machines produce fraudulent results.
The DOJ news release is copied at end of this post. Here is a link to the news release at DOJ website about their arrest: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-iranian-nationals-charged-cyber-enabled-disinformation-and-threat-campaign-designed?fbclid=IwAR0KOPVe9dY795tFRmMb3ZQNEL7TGM3rLyJudaD-hYG7P6wHDqna6mrbHgI
Why didn't a supervisor stop the speaker right at that moment to point out the true story and that her claims are disinformation?
It's bad enough that this group of Orange County residents, mesmerized
into believing they need to spread anti-American messaging, are able to disrupt
every attempt by Supervisors to conduct business. Worse still is that this dissemination of
weaponized disinformation that is aimed at destroying USA and killing Americans
is being broadcast at every Board meeting.
I know you can't stop them from speaking. But is anyone working
to find out why so many Orange County residents believe this propaganda? Was
your region targeted by foreign agents as a soft target for weaponized disinformation?
If so, what is it about Orange County that makes so many residents vulnerable to
blatant lies and misreading of science and history, empowering them to show up
at every meeting certain that they have information that the rest of us need to
have, when actually the rest of us have heard it and know it's not true.
Can you make some effort to counter the disinformation, such as pointing out the obvious lies in the films “2000 Mules” and “Died Suddenly” to which these speakers refer to often as "Important Documentaries We All Need to Watch"?
They are about as credible as "Reefer Madness."
Also why is no news organization reporting on this misinformation
phenomenon in Orange County, where there seems to be a small local army ready
to spread every lie, not seeming t o realize that they are doing the work of
foreign agents whose purpose is to destroy USA and Democracy?
For instance the claim that paper ballots are more reliable
than electronic machines is easily refuted.
Machines leave a footprint that can be confirmed, pieces of paper can
easily end up in a poll worker’s pockets.
I AM ALARMED that disinformation that is aimed at destroying
USA is finding its way so easily into the population of Orange County and
apparently those in charge are not doing anything to make it stop, or to prove it
is disinformation, or to show the destruction these lies are causing.
Please don’t just sit there letting these public speakers
carry out an attack on USA.
Sincerely
Kay Ebeling
Temporarily living in South Lake Tahoe
Sent by email to:
Donald.Wagner@ocgov.com Fourth.District@ocgov.com Andrew.Do@ocgov.com Katrina.Foley@ocgov.com Lisa.Bartlett@ocgov.com LaShe.Rodriguez@ocgov.com Al.Jabbar@ocgov.com Jannelle.Welker@ocgov.com
As well as to members of local news media
Two Iranian Nationals Charged for Cyber-Enabled Disinformation and Threat Campaign Designed to Influence the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election
An indictment was unsealed in New York today charging two Iranian nationals for their involvement in a cyber-enabled campaign to intimidate and influence American voters, and otherwise undermine voter confidence and sow discord, in connection with the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
According to court documents, Seyyed Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazemi (سید محمد حسین موسی کاظمی), aka Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazem, aka Hosein Zamani, 24, and Sajjad Kashian (سجاد کاشیان), aka Kiarash Nabavi, 27, both of Iran, obtained confidential U.S. voter information from at least one state election website; sent threatening email messages to intimidate and interfere with voters; created and disseminated a video containing disinformation about purported election infrastructure vulnerabilities; attempted to access, without authorization, several states’ voting-related websites; and successfully gained unauthorized access to a U.S. media company’s computer network that, if not for successful FBI and victim company efforts to mitigate, would have provided the conspirators another vehicle to disseminate false claims after the election.
“This indictment details how two Iran-based actors waged a targeted, coordinated campaign to erode confidence in the integrity of the U.S. electoral system and to sow discord among Americans,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The allegations illustrate how foreign disinformation campaigns operate and seek to influence the American public. The Department is committed to exposing and disrupting malign foreign influence efforts using all available tools, including criminal charges.”
“As alleged, Kazemi and Kashian were part of a coordinated conspiracy in which Iranian hackers sought to undermine faith and confidence in the U.S. presidential election,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. “Working with others, Kazemi and Kashian accessed voter information from at least one state’s voter database, threatened U.S. voters via email, and even disseminated a fictitious video that purported to depict actors fabricating overseas ballots. The United States will never tolerate any foreign actors’ attempts to undermine our free and democratic elections. As a result of the charges unsealed today, and the concurrent efforts of our U.S. government partners, Kazemi and Kashian will forever look over their shoulders as we strive to bring them to justice.”
“The FBI remains committed to countering malicious cyber activity targeting our democratic process,” said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s Cyber Division. “Working rapidly with our private sector and U.S. government partners and ahead of the election, we were able to disrupt and mitigate this malicious activity – and then to enable today’s joint, sequenced operations against the adversary. Today’s announcement shows what we can accomplish as a community and a country when we work together, and the FBI will continue to do its part to keep our democracy safe.”
According to the allegations contained in the indictment unsealed today:
The Voter Intimidation and Influence Campaign
Starting in approximately August 2020, and proceeding until November 2020, Kazemi, Kashian, and other co-conspirators began a coordinated, campaign to undermine faith and confidence in the 2020 presidential election (the “Voter Intimidation and Influence Campaign”) and otherwise sow discord within U.S. society. The Campaign had four components:
- In September and October 2020, members of the conspiracy conducted reconnaissance on, and attempted to compromise, approximately 11 state voter websites, including state voter registration websites and state voter information websites. Those efforts resulted in the successful exploitation of a misconfigured computer system of a particular U.S. state (“State-1”), and the resulting unauthorized downloading of information concerning more than 100,000 of State-1’s voters.
- In October 2020, members of the conspiracy, claiming to be a “group of Proud Boys volunteers,” sent Facebook messages and emails (the “False Election Messages”) to Republican Senators, Republican members of Congress, individuals associated with the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump, White House advisors, and members of the media. The False Election Messages claimed that the Democratic Party was planning to exploit “serious security vulnerabilities” in state voter registration websites to “edit mail-in ballots or even register non-existent voters.” The False Election Messages were accompanied by a video (the “False Election Video”) carrying the Proud Boys logo, which purported, via simulated intrusions and the use of State-1 voter data, to depict an individual hacking into state voter websites and using stolen voter information to create fraudulent absentee ballots through the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) for military and overseas voters.[1]
- Also in October 2020, the conspirators engaged in an online voter intimidation campaign involving the dissemination of a threatening message (the “Voter Threat Emails”), purporting to be from the Proud Boys, to tens of thousands of registered voters, including some voters whose information the conspiracy had obtained from State-1’s website. The emails were sent to registered Democrats and threatened the recipients with physical injury if they did not change their party affiliation and vote for President Trump.
- On Nov. 4, 2020, the day after the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the conspirators sought to leverage earlier September and October 2020 intrusions into an American media company’s (Media Company-1) computer networks. Specifically, on that day, the conspirators attempted to use stolen credentials to again access Media Company-1’s network, which would have provided them another vehicle for further disseminating false claims concerning the election through conspirator-modified or created content. However, because of an earlier FBI victim notification, Media Company-1 had by that time mitigated the conspirators’ unauthorized access and these log-in attempts failed.
Background on Kazemi and Kashian
Kazemi and Kashian are experienced Iran-based computer hackers who worked as contractors for an Iran-based company formerly known as Eeleyanet Gostar, and now known as Emennet Pasargad. Eeleyanet Gostar purported to provide cybersecurity services within Iran. Among other things, Eeleyanet Gostar is known to have provided services to the Iranian government, including to the Guardian Council.
As part of his role in the Voter Intimidation and Influence Campaign, Kazemi compromised computer servers that were used to send the Voter Threat Emails, drafted those emails, and compromised the systems of Media Company-1. Kashian managed the conspirators’ computer infrastructure used to carry out the Voter Threat Emails campaign and he purchased social media accounts in furtherance of the Voter Intimidation and Influence Campaign.
Kazemi and Kashian are both charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, intimidate voters, and transmit interstate threats, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of voter intimidation, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison; and one count of transmission of interstate threats, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Kazemi is additionally charged with one count of unauthorized computer intrusion, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; and one count of computer fraud, namely, knowingly damaging a protected computer, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Concurrent with the unsealing of the indictment, the Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Emennet Pasargad, Kazemi, Kashian, and four other Iranian nationals comprising Emennet Pasargad leadership pursuant to Executive Order 13848, “Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States Election.” Additionally, the Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program, is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on or about the Kazemi and Kashian’s activities.
The FBI’s Cyber Division and Cleveland Field Office are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dina McLeod and Louis A. Pellegrino and Trial Attorney Adam Small of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
[1] In actuality, the computer intrusions depicted in the False Election Video were simulated intrusions created by members of the conspiracy using their own server and data obtained during the State-1 exploitation. Further, the FVAP could not actually be leveraged in the manner implied by the False Election Video.
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