Twitter Worker Accused of Spying For Saudi Arabia Heads To Trial (nytimes.com) 13
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: While working at Twitter from 2013 to 2015, Ahmad Abouammo was responsible for helping celebrities, journalists and other notable figures in the Middle East promote their Twitter accounts. He handled requests for Twitter's coveted blue verification badges and arranged tours of the San Francisco headquarters. But the Justice Department says he misused his access to Twitter user data, gathering the personal information of political dissidents and passing it to Saudi Arabia in exchange for a luxury watch and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Mr. Abouammo, who is charged with acting as an agent of a foreign power inside the United States, committing wire fraud and laundering money, is set to stand trial this week in federal court in San Francisco. "We look forward to vindicating Mr. Abouammo and for him to have his day in court," said Angela Chuang, a lawyer representing him. The government expects Mr. Abouammo's legal team to argue that he worked lawfully as a consultant to Saudi Arabia, according to a court filing. Ms. Chuang declined to comment on legal strategy. The case, which illustrates the Saudi government's intensity in pursuing information about its critics, is unfolding at a delicate point in diplomacy between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
[...] Mr. Abouammo was charged in 2019 along with another former Twitter employee, Ali Alzabarah. The Justice Department said the men had used their Twitter access to dig up information about thousands of users and shared the information with Ahmed Almutairi, who the department said had served as their go-between with Saudi officials. Mr. Almutairi previously ran a social media marketing company that did work for the Saudi royal family. The men gathered "private user data, such as device identifiers, phone numbers, IP addresses, all of which could have been used by the Saudi government to identify and locate the individuals behind the accounts, including political dissidents," the Justice Department said in a court filing. When Twitter management confronted Mr. Alzabarah, he fled to Saudi Arabia, the Justice Department said. He and Mr. Almutairi remain wanted by U.S. law enforcement. Mr. Abouammo, who worked briefly at Amazon after leaving Twitter, was arrested in Seattle in 2019. He is free on bail but traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area for the trial. The report notes the "fraught" timing for U.S.-Saudi relations, as President Biden just returned from his first visit to the kingdom in hopes of securing closer Saudi-Israeli relations and relief from high gas prices. "It is also a fraught moment for Twitter, as the company faces heightened scrutiny over its data security practices and wages a high-stakes legal battle against Elon Musk, who is trying to back out of a deal to acquire the social media company," adds the report.
Mr. Abouammo, who is charged with acting as an agent of a foreign power inside the United States, committing wire fraud and laundering money, is set to stand trial this week in federal court in San Francisco. "We look forward to vindicating Mr. Abouammo and for him to have his day in court," said Angela Chuang, a lawyer representing him. The government expects Mr. Abouammo's legal team to argue that he worked lawfully as a consultant to Saudi Arabia, according to a court filing. Ms. Chuang declined to comment on legal strategy. The case, which illustrates the Saudi government's intensity in pursuing information about its critics, is unfolding at a delicate point in diplomacy between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
[...] Mr. Abouammo was charged in 2019 along with another former Twitter employee, Ali Alzabarah. The Justice Department said the men had used their Twitter access to dig up information about thousands of users and shared the information with Ahmed Almutairi, who the department said had served as their go-between with Saudi officials. Mr. Almutairi previously ran a social media marketing company that did work for the Saudi royal family. The men gathered "private user data, such as device identifiers, phone numbers, IP addresses, all of which could have been used by the Saudi government to identify and locate the individuals behind the accounts, including political dissidents," the Justice Department said in a court filing. When Twitter management confronted Mr. Alzabarah, he fled to Saudi Arabia, the Justice Department said. He and Mr. Almutairi remain wanted by U.S. law enforcement. Mr. Abouammo, who worked briefly at Amazon after leaving Twitter, was arrested in Seattle in 2019. He is free on bail but traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area for the trial. The report notes the "fraught" timing for U.S.-Saudi relations, as President Biden just returned from his first visit to the kingdom in hopes of securing closer Saudi-Israeli relations and relief from high gas prices. "It is also a fraught moment for Twitter, as the company faces heightened scrutiny over its data security practices and wages a high-stakes legal battle against Elon Musk, who is trying to back out of a deal to acquire the social media company," adds the report.
What's the problem here? (Score:4, Insightful)
After all America overthrows undemocratic governments. Just ask the Iraqis.
This guy is a proxy murderer. (Score:3)
The Saudis don't play nice, fair or smart with any dissident.
Re: (Score:1)
Ask Julian Assange how nicely the USA plays.
Re: This guy is a proxy murderer. (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think Assange can get a fair shake here, but he seems unlikely to get cut into pieces and smuggled out of the US embassy in London in suitcases.
Re: (Score:3)
The Saudis don't play nice, fair or smart with any dissident.
You need to look at it from their point of view. Saudia Arabia is an absolute monarchy run for the sole benefit of the royal family. So there is nothing to debate about with people claiming to represent the rights of Saudi citizens or, even worse, the millions of resident foreign workers.
It is zero-sum with no room for compromise. Rationally, murdering their opponents makes perfect sense.
Saudi Arabia is a brutal dictatorship (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Biden's fist bump with MBS was world class pathetic.
The symbolism was terrible, but Biden is being rational. The US has zero leverage over MBS. Withholding fist-bumps would mean nothing.
The West needs Saudi Arabia to ramp up oil production to enforce the sanctions on Russia. Right now, punishing Russia is more important than diplomatically isolating MBS.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Biden's fist bump with MBS was world class pathetic. You can't tell the world you stand for freedom and democracy and do shit like that. Does not fool anyone anymore.
Better to have Biden give him a fist bump, than Trump give him a blowjob.
Re: Saudi Arabia is a brutal dictatorship (Score:2)
Biden already had to kiss the ring of the acting Israeli Prime Minister. So that line has already been crossed.
If he is found guilty I hope (Score:2)
capitalists (Score:1)
Capitalists always try to handle the Rich-as-Croesus dictators with kid gloves. Treat them like any other person and you won't get to play with their money. "He handled requests for Twitter's coveted blue verification badges and arranged tours of the San Francisco headquarters." Of course he did, along with the hookers and $10,000 meals and hotels SF has to offer. Is anyone really surprised that "bonesaws" are not on the Twitter-Saudi agenda?