2023 in Review

I remember the first FOIA/ORR that I received documents back on. After coming down with COVID around this time two years ago, I’d sent out a blast of nearly 200 requests. In relation to the GRU allegedly leasing servers and computers in Arizona and Illinois, I had the idea that the FBI might’ve traveled to those states as part of their investigation and reasoned that they might’ve given the governors or AG’s a heads up. So the first documents I ever received came back from Illinois’ AG office while I was sitting in the parking lot of a pizza place.

I couldn’t open them on my phone.

I couldn’t wait. I left the pizza place, where my pizza was about 5 minutes away from coming out of the oven and I drove straight home to open the documents. When I did, I saw they contained only a few news articles referencing GRU and nothing relating to the basis of my requests.

Georgia Tech would be far more productive, and in collaboration with Margot Cleveland we advanced the understanding of Russiagate significantly. I was influenced into submitting requests after she had gotten some documents back that were pretty interesting and realized I could do it too. But there was another factor driving me.

Around October 2021 (in the wake of the Sussmann indictment), a source got in touch with the sleuths with a jaw dropping allegation - that Rodney Joffe had been the one who traced the hack of the DNC back to Russia for the government. More sources, independent of the original and from all levels of the government, have emerged and alleged the same.

*In March 2023 I made inquiries of Steven Tyyrell, Mr. Joffe’s attorney, and he unequivocally and vocerifously denied these claims - though my sources stand by what they allege.

Still, this explosive allegation was enough to draw my interest. As Margot and I began receiving documents, they indicated that perhaps Mr. Dagon and Mr. Antonakakis also had a role in the DNC hack investigation and apparently had provided work to the DOJ and Special Counsel Mueller. But at the Sussmann trial FBI agents said they wanted to interview Dagon and FBI leadership didn’t allow them to. That doesn’t jive. They had access to Dagon, they were literally tasking him to provide information on a host of issues.

I thought 2023 would be the last year of questions. Whether from Mr. Durham or the GOP Congress, I thought we would get all the answers. In early 2023 I interviewed for a position on the Weaponization Committee and quickly realized the GOP Congress wasn’t going to do anything.

I continued transitioning from FOIA-requesting to FOIA-demanding by filing lawsuits, and we’ve done 4 so far (one concluded and told us the NSA holds Joffe’s security clearance).

As just some guy on twitter, the evolution of all of this personally was pretty dramatic. At the end of 2023 I’ve been through alot. I’ve made a pretty incredible list of contacts and developed a working relationship with the best independent journalist in the country - Matt Taibbi. I’ve been helping him file FOIA’s/ORR’s for most of the year.

But there was also a dark side to all of this. In the fall of 2021 an employee of Zetalytics (tied to Joffe and April Lorenzen) named Eric Brogdon began mounting a vicious harassment campaign. Every time he did something, I committed to doubling down. His efforts continue, though less directly, and so long as his actions continue I will continue to go hard on this story.

There were also a couple weeks where I was subjected to a very conspicuous surveillance team - they wanted me to know I was being watched. I’ll save the other stuff maybe for a book one day.

I filed an Open Records lawsuit against Dr. Antonakakis in August 2021 to fight for documents relating to everything he did - which Georgia Tech doesn’t have despite paying for all his legal expenses. We developed alot of information on that front, including the payment for Dagon’s expenses, and in Indiana for L. Jean Camp. Indiana University was shocked as hell to find out they had approved $161,000 of payment for her legal expenses.

That lawsuit is pending Certiorari in the Georgia Supreme Court. We recently saw an Amicus filing in support of our position by the Georgia First Amendment Foundation. It’s a position that once subjected me to a $54,000 sanctions award - like I said, it hasn’t been easy. If we get it and if we win, my case will probably be cited long after I’ve passed away.

We’ll find out more in February 2024 about that.

Around a year ago I think I teased a nuclear option. I wasn’t truly anticipating the need for a metaphorical Manhattan project. As Mr. Durham finished, I knew we had to do more and spent most of the summer doing D-Day level planning. If this, then that. What would I do if X happened? What if they say this or that?

I wanted to intervene directly in United States v Netyksho but there are some inherent complexities in doing so. Instead, pursuant to rule 6(e) and local rule 57.6 I flew to Washington DC a few weeks ago and filed an application seeking materials on the DNC hack while also flagging much of what we have been talking about.

The segment of the Department of Justice now responsible for Netyksho recently filed a motion for an extension to respond citing the complexity in the factual matters I raised. They will respond in mid-January.

I’ll move to unseal/restore everything at some point so I can share more on that. Hopefully, we get access to materials relating to the attribution and we can find out alot more on what the hell the DOJ and Mueller were doing.

I’m considering more. Certainly more FOIA litigation but perhaps other forms of legal filings/lawsuits. At some point you have to assess your level of commitment to stuff like this. I have done alot, put alot on the line. I sincerely just want to go back to a normal life.

I’m resentful of the public discussion that boils Russiagate down to a few sentences or a fundraising punchline. There are still a litany of questions out there, and I’m not sure where the pivot point is before our reporting breaks through to the mainstream media. I might’ve expected more discussion of it after the collab with Matt.

I have sources that implicate President Obama explicitly in a conspiracy. Are my sources wrong about everything? Am I delusional?

We’re going to stay on the struggle bus for most of the year and then I am going to find some land in a remote corner of the world to live in peace.

My next hobby will boring, that much I know.