1. What have you learned recently about elements that far right elements of the FBI appear to have included in their scheme of falsified law enforcement reporting for anti-democratic objectives?
Answer: I have learned that this group appears to be capable of faking cell phone location data pertaining to "targets of interest."
2. How would that be possible?
Answer: It's conceivable that this could be perpetrated through "mirror phones," which are devices that "mirror" or "reflect" all the information within a "target's" phone. I don't have sufficient software or engineering background to be answering with authority. But I'm sure there are those who do understand the technical side.
3. So, in terms of implicating innocent "targets" of wrongdoing, factions of the FBI would be able to convincingly allege that "targets" were present in a given place on a given date for a given period of time. And it could all be a lie.
Answer: Yes.
4. If falsified cell phone location data is combined with fake photos, AI-generated video, falsified witness statements, co-opted IP addresses from computers, fake social media accounts, fake messaging, misused and misappropriated DNA .... what is left?
Answer: The truth. There are always flaws in any given attempt to "frame" an innocent person. It's simply necessary to find those flaws and illuminate them.
5. But the technology that far right segments of the FBI appear to be employing is, on its face, profoundly implicating.
Answer: On the surface, it is -- especially when the public is not informed about the FBI's technological capabilities. In general, when the public views a video of someone they recognize committing a crime, they will believe that the video represents actual events.
The Washington Post has written a fair amount about "Deep Fakes," but the majority of the public is naive to this exploitation, unfortunately. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/25/threat-deepfakes-isnt-hypothetical-women-feel-it-every-day/
6. It appears that the Kremlin has utilized deep fakes to humiliate Ukranian women whom it considers to be political opponents.
Answer: But we don't expect this sort of crime to be originating from within the FBI in an attempt to defame law-abiding American citizens.
7. Fake cell phone location data presents problems all its own.
Answer: It does. I suspect that the agency is attempting to maintain an "out" for itself by purchasing cell phone data from third parties, just as it purchases "deep fakes" from third parties. FBI personnel can always attempt to say they didn't know the information was false.
8. But you don't believe that assertion.
Answer: Far right factions of the FBI are likely instructing contractors in the production of "deep fakes," and they are likely instructing affiliates in the creation of fake cell location data. So, no, I don't believe the assertion that the FBI is surprised by the falsehoods within the information the agency is both aggregating and disseminating.
There are financial incentives to expand the surveillance state manifested by far right factions of the FBI.
But the primary motives represent totalitarian drives.
The current FBI leadership is well aware of those objectives from within its own ranks, in my opinion.
9. Is there any way we can recover our democracy from a dystopian model that would seem to celebrate disinformation regarding honorable people?
Answer: There is. The system can be undone by one single investigation of FBI malfeasance demonstrating the agency's intentional utilization of fake data. After that, the inquiry can be broadened as appropriate.
10. Is a broad and public inquiry the appropriate response to the FBI's prevarications about law-abiding American citizens?
Answer: For our democracy, it is the only response. The necessary one. The compelling one. The urgent one.
The truth is not a matter for the FBI to negotiate.
The truth stands complete and undiminished, regardless of the far right's attempt to unmake it.
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The FBI is a deeply divided agency. There are many FBI employees who view their vows to the Constitution with the utmost seriousness and honor, and who strive to defend the fundamentals of our democracy with courage, fortitude and commitment. The fact that some segments of the FBI appear to have embraced a lawless course is not a justification to assail the FBI in general. The safety of FBI agents should be protected, just as the safety of the American citizenry should be protected. As President Joseph R. Biden has so rightly expressed, violence is never justified in any circumstance. The rule of law must always be honored and upheld. It is our shared determination to preserve the civil liberties and human rights of ALL AMERICANS that renders the United States a democracy. We must never abandon this promise. All of our most cherished freedoms depend upon it.
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