Next up: Black Cube — the Israeli private security firm that made headlines for targeting accusers of #HarveyWeinstein — is back in the news. Last yr it tried to dig up dirt on former Obama officials who had worked on the #Iran nuclear — in an effort to discredit the deal itself.
One of those former Obama officials was @ColinKahl. Black Cube tried to get to him through his wife, @RebeccaKahl, a stay-at-home mom. An operative emailed her a year ago about donating to their daughter’s DC public school. nbcnews.com/news/world/bla…
.@RebeccaKahl says the outreach felt strange, and after a brief exchange, she stopped responding. #OnAssignment
The operative had emailed @RebeccaKahl under an alias, claiming to work for a London-based investment firm. Turns out that the operative who befriended @rosemcgowan as part of Black Cube’s work for #HarveyWeinstein claimed to work for that same bogus company.
We interviewed a source familiar w Black Cube’s #Iran work, who said the firm hoped to cultivate a relationship with the Kahls and ultimately dig up dirt on them. The goal was to undermine the deal as "corrupt and underhanded."
Initially Black Cube gathered intelligence just for corporate clients. But 2 yrs ago it got involved in government-related work, landing the firm at the center of some highly sensitive political disputes. That’s caused tension in the company, according to one of our sources.
Like in Romania, where 2 Black Cube operatives were arrested for spying on the chief anti-corruption prosecutor #OnAssignment timesofisrael.com/israelis-arres…
As part of its #Iran work, Black Cube also targeted @tparsi, an advocate of the deal. An operative called him and posed as a journalist, trying to get him to say damning things about @ColinKahl and @brhodes. #OnAssignment
Who commissioned Black Cube to carry out its Iran-related spying remains a mystery. But according to one of our sources, word in the company was that it was done “for Trump.”
“You’ll never find their name on a contract,” our source said. “I was told by someone familiar with it, whom I trust implicitly that, with a nudge and a wink, ‘We've been hired by Trump.’" #OnAssignment
Today @OversightDems and @HFACDemocrats requested documents from Black Cube related to its work spying on @ColinKahl and @brhodes. Read their letter here: democrats-oversight.house.gov/sites/democrat…
