A British IT manager and former hacker from Darlington ran a disinformation campaign that duped former US intelligence agents and provided Donald Trump with manufactured “evidence” to deny that Russia interfered with the US election computerweekly.com/news/252445769…
"The campaign is being run from the UK by 39-year-old programmer Tim Leonard, who lives in Darlington, using the false name “Adam Carter”."
"Starting after the 2016 presidential election, Leonard worked with a group of mainly American right-wing activists to spread claims on social media that Democratic “insiders” and non-Russian agents were responsible for hacking the Democratic Party."
"A Twitter account traced to Leonard revealed his new project – a campaign claiming that the hacking was done by a Democratic Party insider – on 3 February 2017. “What if #Guccifer2 is NOT Russian ... NOT even a hacker – but still had access to DCCC docs?”
"Leonard registered the website g-2. space." "was given away by internet records which showed that the site was operated...one of two UK virtual servers he ran for web design company Creative Insomnia." (oops, it wasn't his boss, Mark)
"The document, rewritten for propaganda effect, was published three weeks later and claimed to be the work of a new fake personality called Forensicator, which claimed that stolen DNC documents were copied to a computer located in the eastern US"
"Some former intelligence officials, from a group called VIPS, backed up the claim. A group, including William Binney, a former technical director at the NSA, and former CIA officer Ray McGovern, were persuaded, without checking the file data"
William Binney was the source of Trump's false Obama wiretap claims. He is also a member of the Anti War Blog group with Assange confidant Craig Murray, who claimed the DNC was a leak and it was an inside job, and Thomas Drake, a disgruntled NSA employee.
