{"id":249557,"date":"2023-12-04T12:00:43","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=249557"},"modified":"2023-12-02T05:09:54","modified_gmt":"2023-12-02T05:09:54","slug":"foi-request-reveals-bellingcat-collusion-with-western-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/12\/foi-request-reveals-bellingcat-collusion-with-western-intelligence\/","title":{"rendered":"FOI Request Reveals Bellingcat Collusion with Western Intelligence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Eliot Higgins from Bellingcat – The Grayzone<\/p><\/div>\n

30 Nov 2023 – An extraordinary email uncovered by a Dutch researcher under freedom of information laws confirms what many have long charged: Bellingcat, the \u201copen source\u201d collective widely cited by mainstream journalists and loved by the CIA<\/a>, collaborates directly with Western intelligence agencies.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

An email sent on 12 Nov 2020 by an officer within Amsterdam\u2019s National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) shows a Bellingcat investigation was intentionally shared with the agency prior to publication, so as to assist the Dutch spooks in shaping media strategies and messaging following its release. The revealing communication is irrefutable proof of the cozy relationship the self-styled \u201cindependent investigative collective of researchers, investigators and citizen journalists\u201d enjoys with Western intelligence services.<\/p>\n

In the message, marked \u201chigh importance,\u201d the undisclosed author explained that Bellingcat would soon publish research amounting to a deeply libelous attack on independent journalists and researchers, who challenged the mainstream narrative surrounding Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. As such, the Dutch intelligence officer wrote, \u201cit is probably smart to put together interdepartmental wording for this already\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the article highlights several sides (MH17 but also COVID19) it is probably wise to wait a while and see if; a. the mainstream media pick it up; b. from which angle the media pick up and highlight it (MH17 or COVID); c. from this angle to determine the wording and therefore which department is in the lead; d. coordinate the language as much as possible interdepartmentally.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A \u2018bonanza\u2019 of Western intel propaganda<\/h3>\n

The article in question<\/a>, entitled \u201cThe GRU\u2019s MH17 Disinformation Operations Part 1: The Bonanza Media Project,\u201d was framed as an investigation into a now-defunct independent media venture named Bonanza Media which was established by Russian journalist Yana Yerlashova with the help of freelance Dutch researcher Max Van der Werff.<\/p>\n

Much of Bonanza\u2019s work challenged Western assertions that separatist fighters in Donbass shot down MH17 with a Buk surface-to-air missile system provided to them by the Russian military. Ukrainian officials began pushing that narrative, citing audio recordings they claimed to have intercepted alongside material purportedly found on social media implicating the separatists, even before Malaysia Airlines publicly announced it had lost contact with the plane.<\/p>\n

Bellingcat, which serendipitously launched<\/a> just days before the downing of MH17, came to prominence by immediately seizing on this deluge of carefully-curated and potentially falsified information. With amazing speed, the organization claimed to have precisely mapped out what happened that fateful day, and exactly how it occurred. Despite its relative inexperience and opaque organizational structure, its findings were accepted without a shred of scrutiny by Western journalists, lawmakers, pundits, and the official Dutch MH17 tribunal, which concluded<\/a> in November 2022.<\/p>\n

Bonanza Media\u2019s film<\/a>, \u201cMH17 \u2013 Call for Justice\u201d, features interviews with witnesses on-the-ground that day and Malaysian government officials who did not accept the official story, but doesn\u2019t rule out the possibility of Russian culpability altogether. However, the documentary presented a substantial challenge to Bellingcat\u2019s version of events \u2013 which also happened to align neatly with the official narrative. In 2020, Bonanza also published leaked documents confidentially submitted to the tribunal. This included Dutch intelligence files recording that while many Ukrainian Buk systems had been spotted in eastern Ukraine, Russian equivalents were nowhere to be seen.<\/p>\n

Evidently, Bellingcat and its founder, Eliot Higgins, were displeased with their results. As Dutch freelance journalist Eric van de Beek wrote<\/a> in 2020, \u201cbecause it was impossible for Bellingcat to discredit Van der Werff on the basis of the well-researched content featured on his blog and in his recent documentary, Eliot Higgins opted to wage a campaign of misinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bellingcat\u2019s 2020 investigation into the group strongly insinuated Bonanza was being run by Russia\u2019s GRU, heavily implied their investigations were edited by the agency\u2019s operatives before publication, and suggested its contributors were on the Kremlin\u2019s payroll. The group claimed their conclusions were \u201cbased on emails from the mailboxes of two senior GRU officers obtained by a Russian hacktivist group and independently authenticated by us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strict British libel laws may have prevented the group from making direct allegations to this effect, but the Dutch media had no such qualms, and the investigation triggered a wave of smears in major local publications. One daily newspaper headlined as fact<\/a>: \u201cDutch MH17-blogger directed by Russian secret service.\u201d Another, which directly asserted<\/a> that \u201cVan der Werff worked on the orders of the Russian military intelligence service GRU,\u201d is currently being sued by the researcher regarding the unproven claim.<\/p>\n

Strikingly, throughout this period not a single mainstream journalist questioned how Bellingcat acquired the highly sensitive trove of documents upon which its investigation depended. On top of confidential GRU emails, Bellingcat somehow apparently acquired phone data showing calls between purported Russian intelligence officials and cell tower data tracking their movements, which it claimed pinpointed their locations to GRU headquarters in Moscow. None of this information is remotely \u201copen source,\u201d and since it wasn\u2019t shared publicly, it can\u2019t be independently verified.<\/p>\n

Oddly, in one passage, Bellingcat stated \u201cit is not clear who requested or suggested\u201d changes to a Bonanza article it alleged were made after the piece was submitted to the GRU, before publication. One might think ascertaining this would be simple, given the vast amount of highly incriminating evidence to which Bellingcat had exclusive access. Perhaps British libel laws were a deterrent to accusing the GRU \u2014 but why would this be the case if the material was authentic, and defending it in court was no issue?<\/p>\n

MH17 verdict undermines Bellingcat<\/h3>\n

The newly-released NCTV email strongly suggests Bellingcat\u2019s investigation into Bonanza was the product of a Western intelligence information operation, intended to steer the MH17 tribunal in a very specific direction \u2014 namely, towards the defendants\u2019 guilt. Sure enough, Russian nationals Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Donbas separatist Leonid Kharchenko, were convicted in absentia<\/a> for the murder of MH17\u2019s 283 passengers and 15 crew members, the court ruling they arranged the transfer of the Buk surface-to-air missile system that reportedly struck the plane.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the only defendant to seek legal representation and give testimony during the trial, Oleg Pulatov<\/a>, was acquitted on all charges. The court found there was \u201cno indication\u201d he was involved in obtaining the missile system, that he could have prevented its use, or that he was involved in transporting it to another location after the incident. Prosecutors announced they will not appeal the verdict.<\/p>\n

The response by the normally brash Higgins to the Dutch court\u2019s judgment was uncharacteristically muted. In an otherwise self-congratulatory Twitter thread, he merely noted<\/a> that \u201cPulatov is acquitted, the rest are found guilty.\u201d There was no explanation for why the defendant was found innocent, nor any analysis of the ruling\u2019s potential implications for Bellingcat\u2019s MH17 investigations.<\/p>\n

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This defence at the MH17 trial is a total car crash, the JIT has had 5 and a half years to prepare for this nonsense, and it's just recycling MH17 truther nonsense.<\/p>\n

— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) June 22, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n