This is one of the most interesting stories of black operations to come along in a long time. It is interesting because it has nothing to do with war, drugs or politics, places where black ops have been applied very well. This story is about black ops used to discover and disrupt potential witnesses in a civil suit or criminal act of an individual, Harvey Weinstein. We have another instance in those things alleged in the case of Fusion GPS, a story that will go on forever, no doubt.
Black ops seems to be accepted in these circles. Paying someone to pretend to be investigating a case of sexual harassment, then using what is collected to head off that investigation is a trick that only shyster defense lawyers use - and then only rarely. These guys are not lawyers and apply their trade as “investigators” who are looking for facts. They even try to disguise themselves as people who are trying to help the person they are interviewing.
But, when I thought about this, I find many more instances of black ops in use outside of its normal realm. It seems to be acceptable to pretend to be a reporter from a newspaper, a representative of some company, or agency that helps people, like the Red Cross. When governments do this, it is intelligence gathering. When private companies do it, it should be illegal.
If a person pretends to be a government official, police, or FBI they can be arrested. When they pretend to represent someone who they do not represent, or fail to disclose their relationship with a foreign government, that should be a crime too. The real crimes are going on above this kind of thing, but it is what is called a lesser, included offense. We need to clamp down on “investigators” who misrepresent themselves. Leave intelligence collection to governments and get these guys out of this kind of corrupted business.
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