FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Senior Treasury Official Arrested for ‘Russiagate’ Leaks
Oct. 18, 2018 (EIRNS)—Has the stage of arrests in the war against British intelligence’s coup finally arrived? Politico reported yesterday that senior U.S. Treasury official Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards was arrested in Virginia Oct. 12 for illegally leaking large numbers of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) sent by banks to the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) where she worked. The leaks, which were published by BuzzFeed, were all attempts to substantiate the false claims of Russian electoral interference, Russian collusion with the Trump campaign, and other allegations from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office. The subjects of the leaks and BuzzFeed articles ranged from the Trump Tower meeting of June 2016, to the payments for Paul Manafort’s political work for foreign clients, and the banking transactions of Russian diplomats, among many others. BuzzFeed published 11 stories based on these leaks. The preliminary charges against Edwards are one count of leaking SARs, and another of conspiracy to do so, each punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
BuzzFeed, it should be recalled, played an important part in MI6 operative Christopher Steele’s Trump “dossier” blackmail operation.
The judge said that Edwards’ next appearance would be in New York (where BuzzFeed is headquartered).
According to Politico, Edwards appears to be the first criminal case in which a government employee is accused of releasing “Russiagate” information.
Last June, however, retired Senate Intelligence Committee staffer James Wolfe pleaded guilty to one count of lying to the FBI concerning his contacts with journalists, as part of a broader investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified information. Ali Watkins of BuzzFeed, later of the New York Times, was one of four reporters who prosecutors alleged communicated with Wolf. The Times reported that the two had earlier had a romantic relationship.
The FBI focused on Wolfe as the source of an April 3, 2017 BuzzFeed article by Watkins, in which she identified Carter Page as being in contact with a Russian intelligence officer, Kevin Johnson reported for USA Today.
