It might have implications for the Mueller investigation.
By
Jen Kirbyjen.kirby@vox.com
Mar 22, 2018, 8:54pm EDT
Guccifer
2.0, the alleged lone hacker of the Democratic National Convention, just so
happens to be an agent of Russian intelligence, the Daily Beast reports.
The
Daily Beast’s Spencer Ackerman and Kevin Poulsen reconfirmed what U.S.
intelligence had conjectured: that Guccifer 2.0 was not the lone Romanian hacker
he claimed to be, and was instead a front for Russian military intelligence,
known as General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate or GRU.
But
Ackerman and Poulsen add to this narrative: Guccifer 2.0 is a specific (but
still unnamed) Russian military intelligence officer. It turns out the hacker
who caused chaos in the United States elections made a small but critical error
that allowed U.S. investigators to trace his identity:
But
on one occasion, The Daily Beast has learned, Guccifer failed to activate the
VPN client before logging on. As a result, he left a real, Moscow-based Internet
Protocol address in the server logs of an American social media company,
according to a source familiar with the government’s Guccifer investigation.
Twitter and WordPress were Guccifer 2.0’s favored outlets. Neither company would
comment for this story, and Guccifer did not respond to a direct message on
Twitter.
Working
off the IP address, U.S. investigators identified Guccifer 2.0 as a particular
GRU officer working out of the agency’s headquarters on Grizodubovoy Street in
Moscow. (The Daily Beast’s sources did not disclose which particular officer
worked as Guccifer.)
The
Guccifer 2.0 revelation is a big deal for a few reasons. 1) It piles on to the
evidence that Russia attempted to interfere in the U.S. elections. 2) It raises
more questions about the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia, given the
well-documented chats between Guccifer 2.0 and Trump adviser and surrogate Roger
Stone. 3) Finally, it could mark a development in special counsel Robert
Mueller’s investigation, though Mueller’s office declined to comment for the
Daily Beast’s story.
Attributing
Guccifer 2.0 to Russian military intelligence means Mueller can charge
someone
In
February, Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals tied to the Internet Research
Agency, accusing them of spreading propaganda to interference and influence the
U.S. elections. It’s highly unlikely that those Russians will ever see the
inside of a U.S. courtroom, but the indictments laid out a compelling case
against the Kremlin.
Those
indictments did not tackle other elements of Russia alleged cyber campaign
against the U.S., including the hack of the DNC and the subsequent dumps on
Wikileaks. But if U.S. authorities have attributed Guccifer 2.0 to a specific
member of Russian military intelligence, Mueller likely has the ability to
charge him or her.
The
Daily Beast reports that Mueller has, in fact, taken over the investigation into
Guccifer 2.0, and has brought the investigators who tracked the officer down
onto his team.
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