3 Russian Cyberexperts Arrested by Putin after Trump Inauguration

[dooner]

I'm just wondering..

Does it seem oddly coincidental that in January, 2017 Putin suddenly and dramatically arrested 3 Russian cyber-security experts and charged them with treason, reportedly related to US election-related hacking? One guy (Sergei Mikhailov, head of Center for Information Security, an arm of the Russian intelligence agency known by the acronym FSB) was dragged out of high-level meeting with a bag over his head. Another guy was a lead researcher at Kapersky Labs.

The arrests were widely reported on January 25, 2017 -- 5 days after Trumps inauguration.
Were the arrested cyber experts our secret sources of information on Russian hacking? Did "somebody" with access to US top secret information leak the identity of these 3 to the Russians, leading to their dramatic arrest?

Some media speculated that the 3 could have been arrested by Putin because of revelations in Steele Dossier (made public January 10, 2017.) Others speculated that Putin was throwing the US a bone by arresting those involved in our hacking. (Ha ha, seems unlikely!)

Quartz.com (is this a reliable news source?) reported:
One way or another, the arrests—according to the Russian media accounts—are linked to the country’s hacking of the US election. One suggestion is that those arrested are among the sources that led US intelligence agencies to conclude categorically that Russia hacked the election, that Putin ordered the hack, and that the objective was to help Trump.

Russian media suggest that one or more of the trio either leaked details of Russia’s role directly to American intelligence, or to Christopher Steele, the former British spy believed to have compiled the so-called Trump dossier. The dossier is a 35-page memo that suggested various links between Trump and Russia, involving information that allegedly made him vulnerable to extortion.

https://qz.com/898168/three-russian-cyber-arrests-one-suspicious-death-and-a-new-twist-in-the-us-election-hack/

The Guardian (UK) ran a story, saying Russia arrested them for being linked to the CIA.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/31/russian-cybersecurity-experts-face-treason-charges-cia

The NY Times suggested the arrests could be Russia's attempt to appease the US, by arresting hackers to endear himself to us. (That seems pretty unlikely given what we know today.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/world/europe/sergei-mikhailov-russian-cybercrimes-agent-arrested.html

In January 2017 Trump takes office and Putin arrests Russian cyber-experts and charges them with treason for working with the CIA.

Quite a coincidence?!

[lapfog_1]

1. I have always assumed that Trump spilled the beans to his buddy Putin

on the sources we had in Russia. Plus there have been a number of Russia diplomats around the world recalled and then "disappeared"

I wonder how many sources we have left now.

Trump is a traitor and people have paid with their lives

[rainin]

2. This is chilling. Mueller is a brave man. He's known how much danger he's in

and yet he continues. Maybe he will win the Nobel Peace prize.

[arthritisR_US]

3. Let's get real, no fecking coincidence.

[OnDoutside]

4. When did the Russians visit the Oval Office ?

[dhol82]

5. May 10, 2017

By then the asset had been secured.

[OnDoutside]

6. True. Thanks

[pnwmom]

7. Lots of people think it's not a coincidence. n/t

[smirkymonkey]

8. K&R

[The_jackalope]

9. I think Flynn shopped them. N/t

[Ilsa]

10. Malcolm Nance will say, "Coincidence takes a lot of planning." nt

[malaise]

11. Great post

Rec