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US spy charged with spying for Iran six years after she vanished in central Asia – Monica Elfriede Witt defected to Iran in 2013 while in the field

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Ex-Air Force counterintelligence agent <&sol;strong><&sol;span><strong>Monica Elfriede Wit<&sol;strong>t <span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>is charged with spying for Iran&&num;8217&semi;s Revolutionary Guard six years after she vanished in central Asia<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Witt&comma; 39&comma; defected to Iran six years ago &&num;8211&semi; last believed to be in either Afghanistan or Tajikistan in July 2013&comma; where she was working as an English teacher<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>She is charged with revealing classified information&comma; spying on former colleagues between 2013-2014 when Iran was in nuclear talks with the US Govt<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>charged along with four &&num;8216&semi;cyber co-conspirators&&num;8217&semi; in Iran&comma; in scheme to deploy malware and spearfishing campaigns &&num;8216&semi;that would provide them covert access to the targets&&num;8217&semi; computers and networks&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Set up fake Facebook account to mimic account of one former colleague&comma;  to planted trojans thato mimic their key strokes <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Witt&&num;8217&semi;s MO was tricking &&num;8216&semi;several&&num;8217&semi; former colleagues to accept &&num;8216&semi;friend&&num;8217&semi; requests from the fake account  <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>She has been charged with &&num;8216&semi;revealing to the Iranian regime a highly classified intelligence program and the identity of a U&period;S&period; Intelligence Officer&&num;8217&semi; <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">The former spy and her four indicted co-conspirators remain at large<&sol;span><&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"artSplitter mol-img-group">&NewLine;<div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"image-wrap fff-pic">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"overlay-icon mobile-gallery">&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"mobile-gallery-icon"><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-307836" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;02&sol;Monica-Elfriede-Witt-4&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"686" height&equals;"684" &sol;>The Justice Dept on Wednesday announced an indictment against Monica Elfriede Witt&comma; &lbrack;photo &comma; circa 2013&rsqb;&comma; who defected to Iran in 2013 and is currently at-large&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">Federal prosecutors have charged a former U&period;S&period; Air Force counterintelligence specialist with collaborating with Iran&&num;8217&semi;s Revolutionary Guard forces to spy on her former American colleagues&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Monica Elfriede Witt&comma; 39&comma; defected to Iran in 2013&comma; and brought with information about U&period;S&period; spy techniques and the people who took part in them&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;She is charged with conspiring to deliver as well as delivering national defense information to representatives of the Iranian government&comma; a long-time adversary of Washington&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<iframe style&equals;"border&colon; none&semi;" src&equals;"&sol;&sol;rcm-na&period;amazon-adsystem&period;com&sol;e&sol;cm&quest;o&equals;1&amp&semi;p&equals;48&amp&semi;l&equals;ur1&amp&semi;category&equals;mac&amp&semi;banner&equals;0P715RANPJQMNW5YYR82&amp&semi;f&equals;ifr&amp&semi;linkID&equals;fd82abf5a90d867e9fcd97c6367c4a94&amp&semi;t&equals;konniemomen0a-20&amp&semi;tracking&lowbar;id&equals;konniemomen0a-20" width&equals;"728" height&equals;"90" frameborder&equals;"0" marginwidth&equals;"0" scrolling&equals;"no"><&sol;iframe><br &sol;>&NewLine;Along with four &&num;8216&semi;cyber co-conspirators&&num;8217&semi; in Iran&comma; she sought to deploy malware and spearfishing campaigns &&num;8216&semi;that would provide them covert access to the targets&&num;8217&semi; computers and networks&comma;&&num;8217&semi; according to prosecutors&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-307847 alignleft" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;02&sol;Monica-Elfriede-Witt-7-297x300&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"297" height&equals;"300" &sol;>Both Witt &lbrack;photo left&rsqb;&comma; and her four indicted co-conspirators remain at large&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In one brash attempt to unearth U&period;S&period; government information&comma; between January and May 2015&comma; the conspirators used fake and impostor accounts in an attempt &&num;8216&semi;to trick their targets into clicking links or opening files that would allow the conspirators to deploy malware on the target&&num;8217&semi;s computer&comma;&&num;8217&semi; according to the indictment&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8216&semi;In one such instance&comma; the Cyber Conspirators created a Facebook account that purported to belong to a USIC employee and former colleague of Witt&comma; and which utilized legitimate information and photos from the USIC employee&&num;8217&semi;s actual Facebook account&comma;&&num;8217&semi; according to the government&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The ploy worked&period; The fabricated account &&num;8217&semi;caused several of Witt&&num;8217&semi;s former colleagues to accept &&num;8216&semi;friend&&num;8217&semi; requests&&num;8217&semi; unwittingly&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"artSplitter mol-img-group">&NewLine;<div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"image-wrap fff-pic">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"overlay-icon mobile-gallery"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"artSplitter mol-img-group">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mol-img">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"image-wrap fff-pic">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"overlay-icon mobile-gallery">&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"mobile-gallery-icon"><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-307835" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;02&sol;Monica-Elfriede-Witt-3-300x253&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"806" height&equals;"680" &sol;>Wanted poster for Witt&colon; Feds issued a &&num;8216&semi;missing person&&num;8217&semi; notice for the former service woman&period; She was last believed to be in either Afghanistan or Tajikistan in July 2013&comma; where she was working as an English teacher<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">An FBI &&num;8216&semi;missing person&&num;8217&semi; notice released Wednesday says she was last believed to be in either Afghanistan or Tajikistan in July 2013&comma; where she was working as an English teacher&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<iframe style&equals;"border&colon; none&semi;" src&equals;"&sol;&sol;rcm-na&period;amazon-adsystem&period;com&sol;e&sol;cm&quest;o&equals;1&amp&semi;p&equals;12&amp&semi;l&equals;ur1&amp&semi;category&equals;professional&lowbar;beauty&amp&semi;banner&equals;1MW66JMA9EFHZB6W6W02&amp&semi;f&equals;ifr&amp&semi;linkID&equals;080bfcf631497a01c3fb5a449558ec23&amp&semi;t&equals;konniemomen0a-20&amp&semi;tracking&lowbar;id&equals;konniemomen0a-20" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"250" frameborder&equals;"0" marginwidth&equals;"0" scrolling&equals;"no"><&sol;iframe><br &sol;>&NewLine;The indictment says the four Iranians were acting on behalf of the government-linked Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8216&semi;It is a sad day for American when one of its citizens betrays our country&comma;&&num;8217&semi; said Assistant Attorney General John Demers&comma; the head of the Justice Department&&num;8217&semi;s national security division&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The timing of her activity&comma; 2013 and 2014&comma; appears to indicate she conducted her spying while secret talks were underway for what became the Iran nuclear deal&comma; which was reached in 2014 under the Obama administration&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;ronmat96&period;gaming777&period;hop&period;clickbank&period;net"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;gamingjobsonline&period;com&sol;images&sol;banner&sol;banner250x250&period;jpg" rel&equals;"prettyPhoto"><&sol;a><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;ronmat96&period;gaming777&period;hop&period;clickbank&period;net"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;gamingjobsonline&period;com&sol;images&sol;banner&sol;250&sol;250x250-2&period;jpg" rel&equals;"prettyPhoto"><&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;Her actions were a &&num;8216&semi;violation of the law&comma; her solemn oath to protect and defend our country&comma; and the bounds of human decency&comma;&&num;8217&semi; he said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Jay Tabb&comma; the FBI&&num;8217&semi;s top national security official&comma; said the FBI had warned Witt before her defection that she was a vulnerable target for recruitment by Iranian intelligence but that Witt had ignored those warnings&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8216&semi;Monica Witt is charged with revealing to the Iranian regime a highly classified intelligence program and the identity of a U&period;S&period; Intelligence Officer&comma; all in violation of the law&comma; her solemn oath to protect and defend our country&comma; and the bounds of human decency&comma;&&num;8217&semi; said Demers in a statement sent out by the Justice Department&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8216&semi;Four Iranian cyber hackers are also charged with various computer crimes targeting members of the U&period;S&period; intelligence community who were Witt&&num;8217&semi;s former colleagues&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"mol-para-with-font"><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-307834" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;02&sol;Monica-Elfriede-Witt-2-300x228&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1175" height&equals;"893" &sol;>Monica Witt &lbrack;photo&comma; circa 2012&rsqb;&comma; is charged with revealing to the Iranian regime a highly<&sol;strong> <strong>classified intelligence program and the identity of a U&period;S&period; Intelligence Officer and planting malware among her colleagues<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">He added&colon; &&num;8216&semi;This case underscores the dangers to our intelligence professionals and the lengths our adversaries will go to identify them&comma; expose them&comma; target them&comma; and&comma; in a few rare cases&comma; ultimately turn them against the nation they swore to protect&period; When our intelligence professionals are targeted or betrayed&comma; the National Security Division will relentlessly pursue justice against the wrong-doers&period;&&num;8217&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;ronmat96&period;ridtattoo&period;hop&period;clickbank&period;net&quest;tid&equals;applyeasycreamjar"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;getridtattoo&period;com&sol;images&sol;ApplyEasyCreamJar&period;jpg" rel&equals;"prettyPhoto"><&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;ronmat96&period;ridtattoo&period;hop&period;clickbank&period;net&quest;tid&equals;banner468x60"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;getridtattoo&period;com&sol;images&sol;468x60getridtattoobanner&period;png" rel&equals;"prettyPhoto"><&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;An online Iraq Veterans Against the War page features a Monica Witt who says she worked with Air Force Office of Special Investigations&period; It says she provided support in Thumrait&comma; Oman&comma; and Irbil&comma; Iraq&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8216&semi;I served in the Air Force for 10 years and participated in both the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars&period; After viewing so much corruption and the damage we were doing both to Iraq&sol;Afghanistan and to the perception of the U&period;S&period;&comma; I decided I needed to do as much as I could to help rectify the situation&comma;&&num;8217&semi; according to the page&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that his agency is imposing sanctions on New Horizon&comma; an anti-zionist organization that hosted Witt at a conference&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8216&semi;New Horizon hosts international conferences that have provided Iranian intelligence officers a platform to recruit and collect damaging information from attendees&comma; while propagating anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial&comma;&&num;8217&semi; said Mnuchin&period; &&num;8216&semi;We are also sanctioning an Iran-based company that has attempted to install malware to compromise the computers of U&period;S&period; personnel&period;&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;

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