NEW: Ex @USArmy Special Forces officer arrested for spying for #Russia from 1996-2011
Per @TheJusticeDept 45yo Peter Debbins of #Gainesville#Virginia "periodically visited Russia &met w/Russian intelligence agents," provided "information abt his chemical & Special Forces units"
Debbins "betrayed the Special Forces & endangered our country’s nat'l security by revealing classified information to #Russia|n intelligence officers...identifying Special Forces team members for Russian intelligence to try to recruit" per @TheJusticeDept Asst AG John Demers
“According to the allegations, Mr. Debbins knowingly provided information to self-proclaimed members of #Russia's Intelligence Service, the #GRU" per @FBIWFO acting Asst Dir James Dawson in statement
Per @TheJusticeDept, Debbins faces maximum of life in prison if convicted
According to the indictment, Debbins's mother was born in the #SovietUnion, and he developed an interest in #Russia "at least in part due to his mother's heritage"
He 1st traveled to Russia in 1994 & married his wife in Russia in 1997 - she became a US citizen in 2010
#Russia intelligence 1st contacted Debbins in 1996, learning he was ROTC and planned to serve in the US military though his political opinions were "pro-Russian & anti-American" per the indictment
During October 1997 meeting, #Russia intel agencts gave Debbins the code name "Ikar Lesnikov" & Debbins signed a document "stating he wanted to 'serve Russia'" per @TheJusticeDept indictment
Per the indictment, Debbins began his active duty US military duty in 1998, serving in #SouthKorea & #Louisiana, before joining @USArmy special forces and serving in #Germany & #Azerbaijan
His unit also operated in the Republic of #Georgia
Also per the indictment, Debbins was investigated for a security violation & had his security clearance suspended in late 2044, early 2005, shortly after he was "removed from his command in #Azerbaijan"
From 2005-2010, Debbins was with the US Army inactive reserve and worked for a #Ukrain|ian steel manufacturer in #Minnesota
Per @TheJusticeDept, during a visit to #Russia in 1999, Debbins told his Russian #GRU handlers he wanted to leave the US army but that one "encouraged Debbins to remain in the military"
#Russia intel may have worried Debbins was actually a US spy - and questioned him about it
#Russia intel "encouraged Debbins to pursue the Special Forces...he was of no use to the Russian intelligence service as an infantry commander"
Handlers offered to pay Debbins $1,000 - "Initially, Debbins declined payment, stating he has true love for #Russia" per the indictment
Per @TheJusticeDept, Debbins provided #Russia's GRU with more than just names of other special force operators they might want to approach... He "also provided them with the names of two US counterintelligence officers who had previously attempted to recruit [him]"
In January 2010, an adjudicator w/the US Army notified Debbins he had been approved for a TS/SCI security clearance but catuioned about his business connections, his father-in-law, and more: "[s]ituations such as those...have been exploited in the past"
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ISIS-Somalia has dug in - operating out of Buur Dhexaad, described by the UN sanctions monitoring team as "a strategic base secured by natural caves and defensive structures safe from aerial and ground offensives"
ISIS-Somalia leader Abdul Qadir Mumin has also sought to limit unnecessary exposure while focusing on boosting the affiliate's finances thru increased extortion campaigns, per the UN report
Some of that money has been poured into advanced weaponry and drones
ISIS-Somalia has "employed unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance and limited explosive deployment" per the UN. with an aim at "building suicide unmanned aerial vehicles"
NEW: "Growing confidence" that the global leader of ISIS is Abdul Qadir Mumin, also the head of ISIS-Somalia, per new UN sanctions monitoring team report
"But doubts continued to be expressed by other Member States"
If Somalia's Mumin is ISIS leader Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, "it may signify a deliberate pivot towards a more decentralized operational structure, further from the core conflict zone" per the UN report
Of the 9 regional offices set up by ISIS, only 2 remain active in Africa:
- the al-Karrar office in Somalia, which serves as a key financial hub
- the al-Furqan office in Nigeria
HAPPENING NOW: Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing for Tulsi Gabbard to serve as US Director of National Intelligence
"It’s fair to say Ms. Gabbard’s nomination has generated a bit more interest and attention than do most nominees before this committee" per Senate Committee Chairman, Tom Cotton
"But I want to stress that Ms. Gabbard has been and will be treated with the exact same respect, consideration, and professionalism that we have extended to every other nominee" per Cotton
NEW: US intelligence agencies pushing back vs claims health ailments linked to Havana Syndrome were caused by a foreign adversary
"The intelligence does not link a foreign actor to these events. Indeed, it points away from their involvement" per a US intelligence official
"5 elements of the intelligence community continue to assess that it's very unlikely of foreign actors responsible" per the US intelligence official
BUT 2 intelligence agencies have reevaluated - "shift from unlikely w/low confidence to roughly even chance with low confidence"
The US intelligence official, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity, describe the shift in view about the possible involvement of foreign adversaries as "subtle" - "They have a low confidence in their judgments"
NEW: Islamic State-Somalia getting boost from an "influx of foreign fighters"
A just-issued UN sanctions monitoring team report warns the foreign fighters "have expanded and enhanced the group’s capabilities against al-Shabaab"
Influx of foreign fighters to IS-Somalia " has coincided with the re-emergence of the Al-Karrar office as a
key administrative and financial hub for [ISIS] globally" per the UN report
IS-Somalia being led by "a cadre of former al-Shabaab
militants based in the Bari region of Puntland" per UN report
Abdirahman Fahiye Isse Mohamud is the emir of IS-Somalia, per report, "responsible for [ISIS] operations in Somalia"
NEW: Senate Democrats ask @DeptofDefense @TheJusticeDept to look at Elon Musk's reported contact w/Russian officials - "determine whether this behavior should force a review of Mr. Musk’s
continued involvement in SpaceX’s varying contracts" w/the US government
"Communications between Russian government officials and any individual with a security
clearance have the potential to put our security at risk" per @SenatorShaheen @SenJackReed
"We urge you to take appropriate action immediately"
Musk's alleged contacts with Russian officials was first reported by @WSJ, which cited current and former U.S., European and Russian officials