NBC News: Hunter Biden documents are work of fake "intelligence firm"

[Richard D]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Omaha Steve (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Last edited Fri Oct 30, 2020, 12:11 PM - Edit history (2)

Source: NBC News

One month before a purported leak of files from Hunter Biden's laptop, a fake "intelligence" document about him went viral on the right-wing internet, asserting an elaborate conspiracy theory involving former Vice President Joe Biden's son and business in China.

The document, a 64-page composition that was later disseminated by close associates of President Donald Trump, appears to be the work of a fake "intelligence firm" called Typhoon Investigations, according to researchers and public documents.

The author of the document, a self-identified Swiss security analyst named Martin Aspen, is a fabricated identity, according to analysis by disinformation researchers, who also concluded that Aspen's profile picture was created with an artificial intelligence face generator. The intelligence firm that Aspen lists as his previous employer said that no one by that name had ever worked for the company and that no one by that name lives in Switzerland, according to public records and social media searches.

One of the original posters of the document, a blogger and professor named Christopher Balding, took credit for writing parts of it when asked about it and said Aspen does not exist.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/how-fake-persona-laid-groundwork-hunter-biden-conspiracy-deluge-n1245387?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

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Post corrected.

[kwolf68]

1. People should goto jail over this

eom

[Doodley]

2. Yes they should, and every GOP lawmaker or campaigner who used this should be held to account.

[KS Toronado]

6. Tucker & Hannity come to mind besides those who made it up.

[robbob]

26. Dan Rather's career was destroyed

After an obviously Rove-ian stunt to pass him faked documents which nevertheless brought to light a 100% true story: Bush going AWOL from his cushy Vietnam era military service.

Why don’t Faux news anchors ever pay a price for peddling smears and falsehoods? Oh yeah, because it’s not really a news station at all. No integrity, no standards.

[joshcryer]

3. They used a freaking AI deepfake generator to create a persona.

But it wasn't even good and didn't pass the sniff test in quick order. From that point forward it is rather obvious the entire thing was a setup using faked or misleading timelines. I am very pleased The Intercept wouldn't let Greenwald run with the obviously fabricated story.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

43. It doesn't have to be a good fake. Just good enough to promote the story to tRump's base

and dominate the news cycle for a short time. A distraction from the real horrors that should have been reported on those days, like the RW takeover of SCOTUS.

[ancianita]

54. I get your point about fooling the base. This was a Russia fed operation.

Russia's SVR built persona timelines for its international operatives, and has been at this for so long (from its original "illegals" program in the days of Yeltsin), that now it's easy for them to pull one out of their archives and fool more than Trump's base. They add deepfake tech, and their Trump allies get enough doubt casting to fuck with Americans and an honest candidate's money and media time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegals_Program

A good book about this is Gordon Cordera's Russians Among Us from last year.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

55. Thanks for this.

I do have the book, a gift from a friend. Haven't read it yet but this may be a good time to do so.

[ancianita]

56. Welcome.

Now's the best time to read it. It's still in hardback or audio on Amazon.

It starts with The Big Spy Swap of 2010, I think? Then flashes back to how it got there. The FBI, MI5 and MI6 come in, eventually -- I think Frank Figliuzzi is in it, too -- and the end deals with our last election. You learn just how deeply entrenched is the Russian hate for the West that it would put its own people into the West to spend a lifetime here to feed intel back to the Motherland.

[lagomorph777]

4. "Promoting this comically obvious fraud might have been too much even for Fox News."

The "photo" of the head of "intelligence firm" is an obvious fake?

No need to even look at the rest of the "evidence" - obviously whoever sourced this (Яussia) has created the entire pile from scratch.

[greenjar_01]

34. They concocted a completely fake persona

Said he worked for an existing Swiss intelligence firm and lived in Switzerland. Completely invented! Somebody needs to go to jail for this.

[madaboutharry]

5. Sen. Ron Johnson needs to answer for this.

He needs to face censure and a serious investigation into his activities concerning this fraud.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. Could be reason for Johnson's JULY FOURTH visit to Moscow couple years back. . . nt

[Evolve Dammit]

49. The whole contingent that traveled that day were never scrutinized as to what transpired.

[dchill]

11. +1,000,000!

[NoRoadUntravelled]

44. Yes! He definitely should.

But what are the chances of that happening?

[madaboutharry]

47. If the Democrats take the Senate, the chances are very good.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

52. I wish We the People could start a class action suit against these liars

for damage to our election process.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

45. Deleted. It was a duplicate.

[nattyice]

7. I wonder what Hunter Biden, private citizen, will do next against these criminals.

Sue sue sue for libel.

[onetexan]

8. Bingo! Having your life demonized by fake reports for political purposes constitutes libel.

[melm00se]

16. He, like other public figures, has a high bar to meet

to sue for libel.

Proving "actual malice" would be extremely difficult lacking evidentiary proof that 1) the documents were false and 2) those who disseminated it knew it was false.

The public figure requirement is specifically set that high to allow journalists to publish information regarding public figures (mainly elected/government officials) without financial risk.


See New York Times Company v. Sullivan 376 U.S. 254 (1964)

Among the opinion are comments like:

“against the background of a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.”

The Court held that applying the common law definition would me a “rule compelling the critic of official conduct to guarantee the truth of all his factual assertions and to do so on pain of libel judgments virtually unlimited in amount leads to … self censorship.”

Other comments/reasoning sprinkled through the opinion/decision included these as part of the 9-0 justification:

“maintenance of the opportunity for free political discussion,”
“fundamental principle of our constitutional system” that is “essential to the security of the Republic.”

It sucks sometimes when you are on the other side of this ruling/doctrine but it must apply equally otherwise it becomes nothing but a partisan weapon.

[scarletwoman]

30. How is Hunter Biden a public figure? He's not in government, he's not an author, he doesn't promote

himself in any way - I don't think he even has a Twitter account. Has he been in any way involved in his father's presidential campaign? (I don't recall seeing him doing any public appearances on his father's behalf.)

Isn't he just a private citizen who happens to be the offspring of a public figure? Or does being related to a public figure forfeit one's right to privacy?

[melm00se]

40. This is one of the tougher things to wrap heads around

There are voluntary public figures (Bob is elected, Sally is a actor, Chuck is a star athlete).

There are involuntary public figures. These are private individuals who, via publicity, become public figures. Sam is accused of a high profile crime and slathered all over the front page. He didn't seek out the notoriety but he has it. The court would rule that Sam is an involuntary public figure.

There is another kind of public figure who can exist in both of the above: a limited purpose public figure. This person becomes a public figure but only as it relates to the specific topic/issue that they have influence upon. So, if a Melissa criticizes a book, any commentary around that criticism is fair game. Saying that Melissa is a bad mother would fall under the private individual rules.

Hunter Biden, by virtue of
1. his father running for president.
2. his business dealings (and I make no judgment on those) with China, Russia, the Ukraine, etc.
in my opinion, has become an involuntary limited purpose public figure.

So anything that he has done, is doing or will do in regards to his father's role as a politician are subject to the public figure requirement.

It sucks but it happens whether the person in question intended it to happen or not.

[Evolve Dammit]

53. They only know how to fabricate and attack. As Rudy Colludy sez "They got bupkus."

[ananda]

10. Why am I not surprised?

[Sherman A1]

12. Well, there's a surprise........

Not

[NCjack]

13. Sen. Ron Johnson, you lying snake. DEMs are coming for you now in 2022.

"Democrat Tom Nelson, Outagamie county executive and a former state Assembly majority leader, has officially launched his bid for the 2022 Senate race, Nelson announced to POLITICO."
[link:https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/26/wisconsin-democrats-ron-johnson-2022-432411|]

Let's send Tom Nelson some money now. I'm in for $25 per month.

This ActBlue link worked for Tom Nelson: [link:https://secure.actblue.com/directory/WI|]

[scipan]

59. No. Don't donate emotionally. Be cold and smart.

I was listening to Rachel last night and the worst case scenario is that the House of representatives decides the Presidency. Each state "delegation" has one vote. Right now, repukes have the majority in 26 state delegations. One of the states ripe for flipping to the dems is PA. There are 2 close house races that were mentioned but I can't remember which one's.

Donate there if you want to make what could be a crucial difference.

[AmericanCanuck]

14. The Trumpanzee computer repair man

better start singing like a canary or he will die in jail.

[maxsolomon]

50. In a parallel universe, maybe.

In this one, he'll become a RWNM legend and suffer nary a consequence.

He's a dupe. He was selected for that purpose.

[AmericanCanuck]

51. He was already nervous talking to a reporter

Wait till he is interrogated by seasoned G men as a part of a Russian disinformation campaign. He will name names faster than a blink of an eye.

[NCjack]

15. Sen. Ron Johnson, you lying snake. DEMs are coming for you now in 2022.

"Democrat Tom Nelson, Outagamie county executive and a former state Assembly majority leader, has officially launched his bid for the 2022 Senate race, Nelson announced to POLITICO."
[link:https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/26/wisconsin-democrats-ron-johnson-2022-432411|]

Let's send Tom Nelson some money now. I'm in for $25 per month.

This ActBlue link worked for Tom Nelson: [link:https://secure.actblue.com/directory/WI|]

[chuckperth]

18. Whomever the Nominee

They should get the Sarah Gideon treatment, 10 million upon winning the nomination.

[NCjack]

22. Yeah -- I hope someone sets it up. Everything to drown Johnson in

DEM ground swell coming at him.

[NoMoreRepugs]

39. Sent $25 to Nelson - johnson has to GO.

[Richard D]

23. Thanks.

Corrected it. I should not post before the coffee hits.

[jayfish]

32. Well Done Sir.

[scarletwoman]

35. There's still a problem - it says ABC at the top of the post, but the link says NBC.

[Richard D]

36. Can't blame the lack of coffee . . .

. . . must be the A shaped dust mark on my glasses . ..
Corrected. Thanks.

[scarletwoman]

37. Nah, it's totally understandable. I think we're all getting a little nuts,

worrying about the election. I know I am, anyway!

[jcgoldie]

19. How fucking incompetent are they?

I mean if they are going to go to all this trouble to completely fabricate this shit months in advance of the election... couldn't they come up with something that would at least be a REAL SCANDAL that somebody gives a fuck about? Nobody even understands what Joe supposedly did wrong in this Hunter Biden BS ruse.

[58Sunliner]

20. That they were willing to try to smear Hunter as a pedophile says who they are.

Gutter scum.

[jonstl08]

21. Head of DNI

DNI head John Ratliffe needs to be asked about this also since he said it was not a Russia disinformation campaign. I guess we will be waiting until hell freezes over for that to happen.

[dalton99a]

24. Preplanned and orchestrated at the highest levels.

[Clearly fogged in]

25. Who would beleive?

And they were this '' close too

[Dukkha]

27. the crickets at Faux News are deafening

There will be stories on Halloween cakes instead of this ever making the airwaves

[AllyCat]

28. Of course it is

There is no “there” there. Just like HRC’s emails. Completely malicious. These crooks need to pay.

[BobTheSubgenius]

29. The phrase "taking credit" seems very misplaced here.

No "credit" is being accrued by anyone that was a party to this.

[greenjar_01]

31. New AG should really look into Balding's role in this

Seems like he is colluding with some foreign parties on this. Lots of subterfuge. He got caught, so now he's like "Sure, it's a fake name, but we're trying to keep the real person anonymous!" Yeah, why make up the completely fake Swiss background then? This stuff is criminal conduct. Track them down, and lock them up.

[jmowreader]

33. Assume everything on the laptop is fake too

And don’t believe the “it had a Beau Biden Foundation sticker on it” crap. You know kids, it is possible to download the BBF logo off the BBF website, take it to a print shop that has an Indigo digital press, and get a sheet of oval gloss labels run off.

[iluvtennis]

41. +++ agree. nt

[orleans]

38. when tucker said he wasn't going to press the issue

we knew it wasn't because he was being a nice guy -- we knew the whole thing was blowing up in his face. now we know the details.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

42. Is this something different then the Laptop thing?

I thought the FBI seized the laptop.

[NoMoreRepugs]

46. Really would like to see Hunter Biden pursue the braintrust that put this plan together

in the courts. Discovery would be AMAZING.

[unitedwethrive]

48. They are such F-ing cheaters!! Doesn't it occur to any of them to come up with some ideas

and a platform that people might actually want to see implemented, and try to get votes honestly?

[Renew Deal]

57. So Kennedy from Fox was right! Guiliani is an evil Christopher Steele

Christopher Steele is a good guy, fighting the democratized worlds enemies. Guiliani is his sworn nemesis. A purveyor of lies, working for the enemies of democracy.

[H2O Man]

58. Recommended.

[Omaha Steve]

60. After a review by forum hosts....LOCKING

Dupe. See the earlier post here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142616203

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