Originally published Jul 25, 2017

As I outlined in a previous essay (https://caucus99percent.com/content/what%E2%80%99s-left-russiagate%E2%80...), forensic analyses of the DNC material posted by “Guccifer 2.0”, conducted by Adam Carter and an anonymous entity calling itself “the Forensicator”, have indicated that “Guccifer 2.0” downloaded his subsequently leaked material via USB drive or local connection to the DNC computers, on the East Coast — contrary to the assertions of our intelligence community that Guccifer 2.0 was a Russian hacker. This download occurred after Wikileaks had announced that it would be releasing DNC material pertinent to the Clinton campaign and, curiously, just 5 days before Seth Rich was murdered by hitmen.

Furthermore, before being placed online, the metadata of the Guccifer 2.0 leak was intentionally altered to add “Russian fingerprints” that would suggest to naive analysts that the material had been hacked by Russians. Following the Wikileaks release of DNC material, “Guccifer 2.0” claimed to have provided that material to Wikileaks. The material released by “Guccifer 2.0” is notable for being anodyne — unlike the Wikileaks release, it did little to impugn the DNC.

These findings suggest that “Russiagate” was a consciously constructed hoax, by someone likely affiliated with the DNC (as he had local access to the DNC computers), the intent of which was to falsely implicate Russians as hackers of the DNC, and to imply that Wikileaks had obtained its DNC material from Russian hackers. This cast aspersions on Wikileaks, distracted from the damaging content of the leaked emails, and provided the Deep State with another narrative which they could use to demonize Russia.

The credibility of these bombshell conclusions evidently rests on the accuracy of the forensic analyses by Adam Carter and Forensicator. It is therefore of momentous importance that Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, a distinguished consortium of retired intelligence professionals (including notably Ray McGovern and NSA co-founder William Binney) that has no political ax to grind, has vetted these forensic analyses and finds them to be sound:

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/07/24/intel-vets-challenge-russia-hack-e...

“Forensic studies of “Russian hacking” into Democratic National Committee computers last year reveal that on July 5, 2016, data was leaked (not hacked) by a person with physical access to DNC computers, and then doctored to incriminate Russia.”

— — — — —

“Independent analyst Skip Folden, a retired IBM Program Manager for Information Technology US, who examined the recent forensic findings, is a co-author of this Memorandum. He has drafted a more detailed technical report titled “Cyber-Forensic Investigation of ‘Russian Hack’ and Missing Intelligence Community Disclaimers,” and sent it to the offices of the Special Counsel and the Attorney General. VIPS member William Binney, a former Technical Director at the National Security Agency, and other senior NSA “alumni” in VIPS attest to the professionalism of the independent forensic findings.”

(I have amended my own Russiagate essay to add this key citation.)

How long will it be before MSM outlets even deign to acknowledge the existence of this new compelling evidence? Our MSM have raised “lying by omission” to an art form.

With respect to the identity of “Guccifer 2.0”, Adam Carter indicates that he suspects members of Crowdstrike, the private cybersecurity firm which the DNC retained to evaluate the “hacking” of its servers. Carter also indicates that he hopes to provide proof of this in coming weeks. Notably, Crowdstrike — whose founders have strong animus toward the Russian government — is the only group that has been allowed to analyze the DNC servers, as the DNC rather suspiciously refused to allow their servers to be examined by the FBI, even after multiple requests. Hence, our intelligence community is relying soley on the reports of Crowdstrike in concluding that hackers affiliated with the Russian government hacked the DNC servers. Crowdstrike is clearly in an ideal position to foment the Russiagate narrative.

In any case, whether or not Crowdstrike concocted the Guccifer 2.0 persona, it is now clear that people close to the DNC attempted to hoax our intelligence community on Russiagate — a hoax which the Deep State very likely was eager to fall for. Bear in mind that the widely touted Intelligence Community Assessment implicating Russia in election meddling was not a formal National Intelligence Estimate collating input from a wide range of intelligence agencies and experts (and noting dissents), but rather an ad hoc report concocted by intelligence professionals hand-picked from 3 agencies by the Russophobes Brennan and Clapper. There is every reason to believe that such a report would be highly politicized. Also recall that, in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, our intelligence agencies proved themselves to be remarkably credulous in accepting the bogus reports of Iraqi defectors recruited by Ahmed Chalabi.

For evidence rebutting additional claims regarding Russian interference in our election, please see my previous essay.