https://www.npr.org/2019/02/13/694234985...ts-to-iran

Quote:A former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran has been charged with providing classified information to the Islamic Republic, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday by the Justice Department.

Monica Witt, who was born and raised in Texas, allegedly provided Iranian security officials with the code name and classified mission of a U.S. Defense Department special access program.

Prosecutors say she also did research to help Iranian authorities target her former co-workers within the American intelligence community.

Four Iranian nationals were named in the same indictment with Witt. They face charges including conspiracy, computer intrusions and identity theft targeting Witt's former colleagues.

Quote:Witt, 39, served in the Air Force from 1997 to 2008, records show, rising to the rank of technical sergeant. Shortly after joining the military, Witt studied Farsi at the U.S. Defense Language Institute in California before deploying overseas for four years to conduct classified missions collecting signals intelligence.

During her time in the military, she had top-secret clearance, the indictment says, which gave her access to intelligence materials that contained the real names of American sources and clandestine agents.

After leaving the armed forces in 2008, Witt worked as a contractor for two years, officials said. Her work for the government ended in 2010.

Two years later, court papers say, her involvement with Iran began.

Witt traveled there in February 2012 to attend the New Horizon Organization's "Hollywoodism" conference, the indictment says. That event, which court papers say is sponsored by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, promotes an anti-American viewpoint.

Around the same time, Witt appeared in at least one Iranian video in which she criticized the U.S. government.

Quote:Witt allegedly gave Iranian officials the code name and mission of a highly classified U.S. Defense Department program and the specific target involved in that intelligence operation.

She also conducted online research, including on Facebook, to create information "packages" on her former colleagues in the U.S. intelligence community. In short, she worked up dossiers about them that outlined who they were and what kind of work they might have been doing.

Iranian hackers then used that information to target those individuals with cyberattacks, the Justice Department said.

Four Iranian nationals — Mojtaba Masoumpour, Behzad Mesri, Hossein Parvar and Mohamad Paryar — were charged with those activities in the same indictment as Witt.

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/counterintell...riede-witt

Wonder where her parents were born?

(02-13-2019 05:34 PM)banker Wrote:  Wonder where her parents were born?

Revoke her citizenship and then put a hit on her.

Has she declared as a democrat candidate for president yet?

Should have married Bill before her crimes. To get a pass on 'em.

(02-13-2019 07:04 PM)shere khan Wrote:  Has she declared as a democrat candidate for president yet?

Sounds like she is in Iran. I ran for president?

(02-13-2019 05:28 PM)q5sys Wrote:  https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/counterintell...riede-witt

What kind of background and subsequent contacts checks does the Air Force run these days? Somebody dropped the ball on this one.

(02-13-2019 09:11 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(02-13-2019 05:28 PM)q5sys Wrote:  https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/counterintell...riede-witt

What kind of background and subsequent contacts checks does the Air Force run these days? Somebody dropped the ball on this one.

And its not the first.

(02-13-2019 09:11 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(02-13-2019 05:28 PM)q5sys Wrote:  https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/counterintell...riede-witt

What kind of background and subsequent contacts checks does the Air Force run these days? Somebody dropped the ball on this one.

Not my Air Force! LOL

Her uniform has the US insignia of an ocifer. An enlisted person insignia has a round medal around the US.

(02-13-2019 09:24 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  

(02-13-2019 09:11 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(02-13-2019 05:28 PM)q5sys Wrote:  https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/counterintell...riede-witt

What kind of background and subsequent contacts checks does the Air Force run these days? Somebody dropped the ball on this one.

Not my Air Force! LOL

Her uniform has the US insignia of an ocifer. An enlisted person insignia has a round medal around the US.

If she was AF intelligence she could have worn any uniform based on her assignment and I would think if she had been to Monterey for language school she was probably OCS. There's more here than they are telling us.

And if that's the case they have their reasons and reserving judgment is in order.

(02-13-2019 09:11 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(02-13-2019 05:28 PM)q5sys Wrote:  https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/counterintell...riede-witt

What kind of background and subsequent contacts checks does the Air Force run these days? Somebody dropped the ball on this one.

Well right now all the details are not publicly known, its very possible that it was due to her exposure to people in Iran that she came to sympathize with them.
So any background checks when she joined would have come back clean.

People being convinced to change allegiances is how most espionage works. It's the very same thing we try to do to foreigners in their countries. Humans are remarkably easy to manipulate if you put enough time and effort and care into it.

(02-13-2019 09:43 PM)q5sys Wrote:  People being convinced to change allegiances is how most espionage works. It's the very same thing we try to do to foreigners in their countries. Humans are remarkably easy to manipulate if you put enough time and effort and care into it.

#hencemywife

Sorry stink

(02-13-2019 09:24 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  

(02-13-2019 09:11 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(02-13-2019 05:28 PM)q5sys Wrote:  https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/counterintell...riede-witt

What kind of background and subsequent contacts checks does the Air Force run these days? Somebody dropped the ball on this one.

Not my Air Force! LOL

Her uniform has the US insignia of an ocifer. An enlisted person insignia has a round medal around the US.

She was not an officer, she was enlisted. She has an enlisted NCO ribbon, but she doesn't have any additional oakleafs to show multiple courses taken to become an officer. Uniform standards have change over time. When I was enlisted the US pin did not have a circle around it. It does now, but it wouldn't have when she was active duty.

I think any news outlets claiming she's an officer doesn't understand the lingo. She was an intelligent agent. She was a Tech Sergeant (E-6) before she got out (2008). She was last assigned to the 2nd Field Investigations Squadron, Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

She 'defected' in 2013 according to the DOJ, but they didnt charge her until now, I think because, she's gone dark, which probably led to the announcement hoping that she'll be seen and reported if she's still in the country.
But reading through the indictment... she made a ton of really stupid mistakes for anyone who did that job to make. If you work in Intel... there are some mistakes you shouldn't make.

What I can pick out from her uniform.
She does have flight wings, although the only image I've found isn't clear enough to see what it is, but I'm going to assume its a basic Aircrew Officer Badge while the other looks to be the Intelligence Badge.

As for her ribbons, some of them are hard to tell since the picture I have is so pixelated.

From Top to Bottom / Left to Right.

Row 1) The Aerial Achievement Medal
Row 2) Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Air Force Good Conduct Medal , Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal or Joint Meritorious Unit Award
Row 3) Air Force Longevity Service Award, USAF NCO PME Graduate Ribbon, Air Force Training Ribbon