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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBREAKING State Dept official charged with obstruction of justice, making false statements to the FBI
Whats this about......
Link to tweet
The employee, Candace Claiborne, works in the State Department office that handles Caucasus Affairs, government records showed.A U.S. State Department employee is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Wednesday to face charges in a FBI counterintelligence investigation, two U.S. officials told Reuters.
State Department employee also allegedly failed to report contacts with Chinese foreign intelligence who provided her with gifts - DOJ
State Department employee 'used her position and her access to sensitive diplomatic data for personal profit' - DOJ
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,182 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)sunonmars
(8,656 posts)LeftInTX
(25,364 posts)It doesn't include Belarus or the Ukraine.
It generally includes Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan
LuvLoogie
(7,009 posts)Here it comes...
herding cats
(19,564 posts)State Department employee accused of making false statements
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON Mar 29, 2017, 3:36 PM ET
A veteran State Department employee has been arrested on charges that she made false statements to federal investigators.
Candace Claiborne appeared in federal court in Washington on Wednesday, shortly after her arrest.
Federal prosecutors are asking that Claiborne be placed on home confinement, and a decision on that request could come later Wednesday.
Family members of Claiborne who were in court declined to comment.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/state-department-employee-accused-making-false-statements-46453767
sunonmars
(8,656 posts)herding cats
(19,564 posts)sunonmars
(8,656 posts)herding cats
(19,564 posts)Hekate
(90,708 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)One what?
She's been at State for a long time.
Hekate
(90,708 posts)The first of many? Mostly Trumpites? One can only hope.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)That joke?
Hekate
(90,708 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Amishman
(5,557 posts)This is going to be a big mess for someone
Edit: nevermind - as others posted holdover in bed with China
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)onenote
(42,704 posts)sunonmars
(8,656 posts)onenote
(42,704 posts)MagickMuffin
(15,943 posts)And might I offer the very first one to be investigated would Jeff Sessions.
herding cats
(19,564 posts)FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
State Department Employee Arrested and Charged With Concealing Extensive Contacts With Foreign Agents
A federal complaint was unsealed today charging Candace Marie Claiborne, 60, of Washington, D.C., and an employee of the U.S. Department of State, with obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements to the FBI, both felony offenses, for allegedly concealing numerous contacts that she had over a period of years with foreign intelligence agents.
The charges were announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary B. McCord for National Security, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District of Columbia and Assistant Director in Charge Andrew W. Vale of the FBIs Washington Field Office.
Candace Marie Claiborne is a U.S. State Department employee who possesses a Top Secret security clearance and allegedly failed to report her contacts with Chinese foreign intelligence agents who provided her with thousands of dollars of gifts and benefits, said Acting Assistant Attorney General McCord. Claiborne used her position and her access to sensitive diplomatic data for personal profit. Pursuing those who imperil our national security for personal gain will remain a key priority of the National Security Division.
Candace Claiborne is charged with obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements in connection with her alleged concealment and failure to report her improper connections to foreign contacts along with the tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and benefits they provided, said U.S. Attorney Phillips. As a State Department employee with a Top Secret clearance, she received training and briefing about the need for caution and transparency. This case demonstrates that U.S. government employees will be held accountable for failing to honor the trust placed in them when they take on such sensitive assignments
Candace Claiborne is accused of violating her oath of office as a State Department employee, who was entrusted with Top Secret information when she purposefully mislead federal investigators about her significant and repeated interactions with foreign contacts," said Assistant Director in Charge Vale. "The FBI will continue to investigate individuals who, though required by law, fail to report foreign contacts, which is a key indicator of potential insider threats posed by those in positions of public trust.
The FBI arrested Claiborne on March 28. She made her first appearance this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
According to the affidavit in support of the complaint and arrest warrant, which was unsealed today, Claiborne began working as an Office Management Specialist for the Department of State in 1999. She has served overseas at a number of posts, including embassies and consulates in Baghdad, Iraq, Khartoum, Sudan, and Beijing and Shanghai, China. As a condition of her employment, Claiborne maintains a Top Secret security clearance. Claiborne also is required to report any contacts with persons suspected of affiliation with a foreign intelligence agency.
Despite such a requirement, the affidavit alleges, Claiborne failed to report repeated contacts with two intelligence agents of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), even though these agents provided tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and benefits to Claiborne and her family over five years. According to the affidavit, the gifts and benefits included cash wired to Claibornes USAA account, an Apple iPhone and laptop computer, Chinese New Years gifts, meals, international travel and vacations, tuition at a Chinese fashion school, a fully furnished apartment, and a monthly stipend. Some of these gifts and benefits were provided directly to Claiborne, the affidavit alleges, while others were provided through a co-conspirator.
According to the affidavit, Claiborne noted in her journal that she could Generate 20k in 1 year working with one of the PRC agents, who, shortly after wiring $2,480 to Claiborne, tasked her with providing internal U.S. Government analyses on a U.S.-Sino Strategic Economic Dialogue that had just concluded.
Claiborne, who allegedly confided to a co-conspirator that the PRC agents were spies, willfully misled State Department background investigators and FBI investigators about her contacts with those agents, the affidavit states. After the State Department and FBI investigators contacted her, Claiborne also instructed her co-conspirators to delete evidence connecting her to the PRC agents, the affidavit alleges.
Charges contained in a criminal complaint are merely allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The maximum penalty for a person convicted of obstructing an official proceeding is 20 years in prison. The maximum penalty for making false statements to the FBI is five years in prison. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. If convicted of any offense, the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
At her court appearance today, Claiborne pleaded not guilty before the Honorable Magistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather. A preliminary hearing was set for April 18.
The FBIs Washington Field Office is leading the investigation into this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John L. Hill and Thomas A. Gillice for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Julie Edelstein of the National Security Divisions Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)herding cats
(19,564 posts)onenote
(42,704 posts)Not enough information to do anything but guess.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)underthematrix
(5,811 posts)I'm gonna commit this case to memory
former9thward
(32,016 posts)Still like it?
underthematrix
(5,811 posts)FBI's counterintelligence unit will take down the Trumpers, Trump and the Trump Crime Family.
Jonny Appleseed
(960 posts)He lied to them about the sanctions calls.
former9thward
(32,016 posts)We only know speculation in the media which is about as far from actual evidence as you can get.