Russian spies likely intercepted ambassador's cell phone call with Trump

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN)US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland's cell phone call to President Donald Trump from a restaurant in Ukraine this summer appears to be a shocking security breach that raises significant counterintelligence concerns, according to several former officials, who told CNN there is a high probability that intelligence agencies from numerous foreign countries, including Russia, were listening in on the conversation.

"If true, the cell phone call between Ambassador Sondland and President Trump is an egregious violation of traditional counterintelligence practices that all national security officials -- to include political appointee ambassadors such as Sondland -- are repeatedly made aware of," according to Marc Polymeropoulos, a former CIA officer who oversaw operations in Europe and Russia before retiring this summer. "I cannot remember in my career any time where an ambassador in a high counterintelligence environment like Kiev would have such an unsecure conversation with a sitting president. This just should not happen," he said.

Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, revealed during the first public impeachment hearing Wednesday that a member of his staff, who was accompanying Sondland to meetings in Kiev, saw the ambassador call Trump from his cell phone and overheard the President asking about "the investigations." Taylor confirmed that he had come to understand the term "investigations" meant matters related to the 2016 election and to probes of Joe and Hunter Biden and Burisma. "Ambassador Sondland told President Trump that the Ukrainians were ready to move forward," Taylor told lawmakers. The call occurred on July 26, according to Taylor -- the day after Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that prompted a whistleblower complaint alleging Trump solicited "interference" from a foreign country to help his 2020 presidential campaign.

This new information could strengthen Democrats' argument for impeachment that Trump engaged in an alleged quid pro quo but it also serves as another example of top US officials ignoring security protocols related to sensitive communications. It remains unclear if Sondland's cell phone was encrypted but US ambassadors do not typically have that type of protection on their mobile devices, according to current and former US government officials. The State Department did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment on whether Sondland's cell phone was outfitted with any sort of enhanced security.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/14/politics/bill-taylor-gordon-sondland-call-trump-security-concerns/index.html

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[Dennis Donovan]

1. Obligatory...

*Cough*

But, her emails.

Thank you.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. The imagery is effective

[BumRushDaShow]

5. They talk in mob boss code

That's why the idiocy of the Gymsuit Jordans and Mark Meadowlarks harping on a lack of literalisms.

[chriscan64]

6. It never used to be like this

When I was a kid the Russians were outsmarted by moose and squirrel.

[ffr]

8. Trey Gowdy! Trey Gowdy! Remember your cries about Hillary's server security?

The GOP and Fox News are going nuts about tRump's insecure telephone conversation.

It's about time!













To every person, who didn't trust Hillary Clinton. FUCK YOU!
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212684359

[Behind the Aegis]

9. Wasn't there a recent event where cell phone spy devices were found outside the WH?

Wasn't Russia suspected? Oh, no, they weren't.

[William Weehours]

10. Are you kidding?

Trump likely helped set up the Russian tap!