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U.S. NEWS Friday 18 September 2020
FBI director says antifa is an ideology, not an organization

By ERIC TUCKER and BEN ference in the November
FOX election, which he said
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI was taking the form of for-
Director Chris Wray told eign influence campaigns
lawmakers Thursday that aimed at sowing discord
antifa is an ideology, not and swaying public opinion
an organization, testimony as well as efforts to deni-
that puts him at odds with grate Democratic presi-
President Donald Trump, dential nominee Joe Biden.
who has said he would des- He said that the U.S. had
ignate it a terror group. not yet seen targeting of
Wray did not dispute that election infrastructure like
antifa activists were a seri- in 2016.
ous concern, saying that "What concerns me the
antifa was a "real thing" most is the steady drum-
and that the FBI had under- beat of misinformation
taken "any number of prop- and sort of amplification
erly predicated investiga- of smaller cyber intrusions,"
tions into what we would Wray said. "I worry over
describe as violent extrem- time that they will contrib-
ism," including into individu- ute over time to a lack of
als who identify with antifa." confidence of American
But, he said, "It's not a group voters and citizens in the
or an organization. It's a Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray testifies before a House Committee on validity of their vote."
movement or an ideology." Homeland Security hearing on 'worldwide threats to the homeland', Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020 on He added that would be "a
That characterization con- Capitol Hill Washington. perception, not a reality."
tradicts the depiction from Associated Press Trump has resisted the idea
Trump, who in June singled of Russian interference
out antifa — short for "anti- Committee, — established Russia's attempts to inter- think of threats in terms of aimed at benefiting his
fascists" and an umbrella after the Sept. 11 attacks fere in the campaign. left, right, at the FBI. We're campaign and has been
term for far-left-leaning mili- to confront the threat of Wray sought to make clear focused on the violence, eager, along with other
tant groups — as respon- international terrorism — the scope of the threats not the ideology," he said administration officials, to
sible for the violence that focused almost entirely on while resisting lawmakers' later. talk about intelligence of-
followed George Floyd's domestic matters, includ- attempts to steer him into The FBI director said racially ficials' assessment that Chi-
death. Trump tweeted that ing violence by white su- politically charged state- motivated white suprema- na prefers that Trump lose
the U.S. would be desig- premacists as well as anti- ments. When asked wheth- cists have accounted for to Biden.
nating antifa as a terrorist government extremists. er extremists on the left or the most lethal attacks in Department of Homeland
organization, even though It underscored the shift of the right posed the biggest the U.S. in recent years, Security Acting Secre-
such designations are re- attention by law enforce- threat, he pivoted instead though this year the most tary Chad Wolf had been
served for foreign groups ment at a time of intense to an answer about how lethal violence has come scheduled to appear at the
and antifa lacks the hier- divisions and polarization solo actors, or so-called from anti-government ac- House hearing on world-
archical structure of formal inside the country. But one "lone wolves," with easy ac- tivists. wide threats but did not
organizations. area where foreign threats cess to weapons were a Wray also affirmed the in- testify because of his nomi-
The hearing before the were addressed was in the primary concern. telligence community's as- nation to be secretary, ac-
House Homeland Security presidential election and "We don't we don't really sessment of Russian inter- cording to the agency.q

More Iranian nationals charged in U.S. with hacking crimes

By MATTHEW BARAKAT officials said. Eastern District of Virginia G. Zach- America."
Associated Press The accused Revolutionary Guard ary Terwilliger, whose office is pros- And on Wednesday, the depart-
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — For the member is Said Arabi, 34. The ecuting the case. ment announced charges against
third straight day, federal pros- other two are Mohammad Reza Prosecutors say the conspiracy two Iranian nationals accused of
ecutors have announced criminal Espargham, 25, and Mohammad stretched from 2015 through 2019. stealing hundreds of terabytes of
charges accusing Iranian nationals Bayati, 34, all Iranian nationals re- The indictment spells out one data in a hacking campaign tar-
with conducting cyberattacks in siding in Iran. Espargham is identi- phishing attack that uses the name geting institutions in the U.S., Eu-
the U.S., with the charges this time fied in a leader in the Iranian Dark of an unidentified college profes- rope and the Middle East.
targeting a member of Iran's elite Coders Team, described in the in- sor who purportedly was seeking On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of
Revolutionary Guard. dictment as "a notorious group of help on a project related to the State Mike Pompeo announced
The most recent charges an- Iranian hackers responsible for nu- processing of satellite images. The sanctions against an Iranian cyber
nounced Thursday in U.S. District merous computer intrusions world- email asks recipients to click on a threat group known as Advanced
Court in Alexandria, Virginia, ac- wide." link to assist with the project. Persistent Threat 39 (APT39) and
cuse a member of the Revolu- All three are living in Iran. Court re- Earlier this week, prosecutors in Bos- 45 individuals associated with the
tionary Guard and two others of cords do not list an attorney for any ton obtained indictments against group. In a statement, Pompeo
stealing the identities of individuals of the men. an Iranian national and a Pales- called Iran "one of the world's lead-
working in aerospace and satel- "The use of malware, the theft of tinian national for allegedly de- ing threats to cybersecurity and
lite technology. The hackers would commercial data and intellectual facing websites across the U.S. in human rights online."
then use those identities to launch property, and the use of social en- retaliation to the targeted killing "We will continue to expose Iran's
phishing campaigns on the tech gineering to steal the identities of of Iran Gen. Qassem Soleimani, re- nefarious behavior and impose
workers' peers in order to launch United States citizens to accom- placing the websites' content with costs on the regime until they turn
malware and commandeer sensi- plish unlawful acts will not be tol- pictures of the top Iranian general away from their destabilizing agen-
tive data and intellectual property, erated," said U.S. Attorney for the and messages such as "Down with da." Pompeo said.q