Russia and China seek to recruit officials dismissed by Trump, CNN says
Pravda Ukraine
Russia, China, and other foreign adversaries of the United States have recently instructed their intelligence services to step up efforts to recruit American officials who were recently dismissed or are at risk of being dismissed.
Source: CNN, citing four sources and a related document on the matter, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Intelligence reports indicate that foreign adversaries of the US are looking to exploit the Trump administration’s plans for mass dismissals of federal employees.
Two sources told CNN that, among other things, Russia and China are focusing their efforts on recently dismissed employees with security clearances and probationary staff who may have valuable information about critical US infrastructure.
A document produced by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, reviewed by CNN, suggests that intelligence agencies with “high confidence” consider it likely that federal employees will be targeted for recruitment.
The document also states that foreign intelligence operatives were instructed to search for potential sources on LinkedIn, TikTok, RedNote and Reddit.
Current CIA employees have been discreetly discussing this risk and ways to mitigate it in recent weeks, current and former intelligence officials told CNN.
Background:
- Republican senators recently voiced concerns to the White House chief of staff about the aggressive approach to freezing funding and dismissing federal employees.
- Five former US defence secretaries publicly condemned Trump’s “reckless” dismissal of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior officers, urging Congress to block any approval of their successors.
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