Targeting the computers of genuine investigative reporters uncovering deep state corruption is a regular tactic
By Jon Dougherty
(TNS) Investigative reporter John Solomon, whose bombshells on Ukraine-Biden corruption have upset a number of deep state operatives and Democratic lawmakers in Washington, had his laptop computer stolen on the eve of the Senate’s impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
According to a report by RealClearInvestigation’s Paul Sperry, Solomon noted that nothing else was taken from his vehicle, just the laptop. Even his US Capitol press security badge was left untouched.
According to the report, Solomon said his laptop contained “notes on Ukraine and former Vice President Joe Biden and other sensitive information.”
Solomon told Sperry that the laptop has since been recovered, leading some to suspect that the ‘thief’ merely wanted to get a look at what information was contained on the device.
A Metropolitan Police Department detective is currently working the case, Sperry noted, adding:
The Secret Service is also involved in the matter, which appears suspicious. Break-ins are rare in the high-security area where the crime occurred, just outside the White House perimeter, and a sophisticated device appears to have been used to get into the vehicle.
In the early evening of Jan. 20, the police report states, Solomon’s Apple MacBook laptop and computer bag, valued at around $1,800, were stolen from his 2019 Toyota SUV parked at 1776 F St. NW, across from the White House’s Eisenhower Executive Office Building. No windows were broken, and there were no other signs of forced entry. Authorities suspect the thief or thieves used an electronic jamming device to open the car door lock.
Sperry notes that Solomon’s computer bad was found the following day about a block from where his vehicle was parked. The contents were dumped out on a picnic bench near the FDIC building, and in a location where there were no security cameras. Authorities described it as one of the very few “dark spots” in the area.
Solomon said he’s currently working with a computer forensics expert in order to determine if any information on the computer was dowloaded or exploited, or if someone scanned the hard drive.
“It’s a pretty professional job,” said Solomon, adding “but it’s probably just a coincidence.”
“It was probably just a street criminal searching for pass codes,” he noted further. “Or it could be someone searching for my Ukraine stuff. We don’t know at this point.”
Sperry notes further that Solomon, in recent months, has been a “political target”:
In December, House impeachment manager Adam Schiff released a report that published Solomon’s phone records. The Democratic leader cited Solomon no fewer than 35 times in his impeachment report. He added Solomon’s phone call history in a spreadsheet he compiled in the footnotes section of the report, which claimed Solomon reported “conspiracy theories” in The Hill newspaper to help President Trump “push false narratives” about Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election in favor of Hillary Clinton, as well as Biden’s attempts as vice president beginning late 2015 to fire a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating a gas industry oligarch whose company paid his son millions of dollars.
Solomon, who previously worked for the Associated Press and Washington Post, suspects Schiff was singling him out as part of a political smear campaign.
“I’m the only [reporter] who ends up having his records released,” Solomon said in a recent interview with Fox Business News anchor Lou Dobbs.
“It makes me wonder whether it’s a political payback, because a few months ago, I wrote a story exposing the fact that Chairman Schiff had met with Glenn Simpson at the sidelines of the Aspen Institute at a time when he shouldn’t have been having contact with Glenn Simpson,” he added. “It feels like a political payback.”
Targeting the computers of genuine investigative reporters doing yeoman’s work uncovering deep state corruption is a regular tactic.
Another investigative ace who ran afoul of the Obama administration, Sharyl Attkisson, had her computer remotely infiltrated early one morning at her home after exposing the “Fast and Furious” scandal. The cyber operators inserted a hard-to-locate classified document on her hard drive that a forensic expert friend found and removed for her.
According to her book, “Stonewalled,” she believes she was being set up for possible prosecution — or the threat of it — in order to get her off of the story.
And in March 2018, she charged that the Obama administration with secretly switching out the hard drive on one of her laptops.
“Re: My govt. computer intrusions…What would you think if I told you the hard drive of one of my personal computers was secretly switched out w/another while in custody of the Justice Dept. Inspector General– before they gave it back to me? (Tick-tock.)” she tweeted.
This article originally appeared at The National Sentinel and was republished with permission.
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