Key Players in Operation Ratf%$k: Interactive Relationship Map

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Key Players in Operation Ratf%$k: Interactive Relationship Map
By: Jane Hamsher Monday February 14, 2011 10:35 am	Tweet394

Last week, Anonymous released an enormous vault of 44,000 emails written by the principals and employees of HP Gary and HP Gary Federal, two sister companies that worked as government contractors in information technology. HP Gary Federal’s Aaron Barr, along with Patrick Ryan of Berico Technologies and Matthew Steckman of Palantir Technologies, worked on a WikiLeaks proposal for Bank of America that involved using the same tech tools these firms used on Al Qaeda to smear and discredit people like Glenn Greenwald, David House and others who were actively working to counter the flow of disinformation surrounding WikiLeaks. For background, see Marcy Wheeler’s work here.

The sheer volume of data in the emails is overwhelming. In order to help make the story comprehensible, FDL has been developing tools like timelines, organization charts and key indexes. These tools are similar to the ones we compiled for the Bradley Manning story.

Today, we’re releasing an interactive organizational chart that you can find here. A still shot of the chart is above; it shows how communication flowed from the Justice Department to the key players in the program we’re calling Operation Ratf%$k. According to an email from Matthew Steckman of Palantir to Berico and HP Gary, BofA’s General Counsel (Edward O’Keefe) had been called by the Justice Department and told to hire the law firm of Hunton & Williams to act as a firewall between BofA and the dirty dealing of the contractors. This conveniently allowed BofA to be shielded from all of the Operation Ratf%$k activities of the three firms through attorney-client privilege.

Bios of the key players in Operation Ratf%$k

Interactive relationship map of key players in Operation Ratf%$k

82 Comments

82 Responses to “Key Players in Operation Ratf%$k: Interactive Relationship Map”

perris February 14th, 2011 at 10:38 am

here’s another example;

http://www.youtube.com/user/fiercefreeleancer

demonstrates in clear terms why the banks have been given every intensive by our own government to force foreclosures, a must watch tube

KrisAinTX February 14th, 2011 at 10:42 am

Great work Jane, and everyone else on this project.

Anonymous really screwed these folks on this one.

PeasantParty February 14th, 2011 at 10:44 am

WOW! Look at that template! There is way too many fingers going on in that chart. Why, it’s almost a pyramid scheme. Oh heck! It is!

:-D

Terrible day for America when the DOJ helps defend criminals against exposure.

KrisAinTX February 14th, 2011 at 10:44 am

Here’s a key question I thought of yesterday, probably best answered by the legal-type folks here.

Can HB Gary, B of A, Palantir, or any of the actors in this scheme be prosecuted based on these emails? The evidence of wrongdoing is right in front of all of us, but since it was obtained illegally, can this stuff be used as evidence in court?

Margaret February 14th, 2011 at 10:45 am

I wonder if Palantir Technology is paying royalties to JRR Tolkein’s estate…?

KrisAinTX February 14th, 2011 at 10:49 am

In response to Margaret @ 5

Does Tolkein’s estate own “Palantir”?

PeasantParty February 14th, 2011 at 10:50 am

In response to KrisAinCA @ 4

I’m not an attorney, but have studied and worked in the legal field. My first answer would be YES!

Billy Glad February 14th, 2011 at 10:50 am

Enormous

mzchief February 14th, 2011 at 10:50 am

In response to Margaret @ 5

{ LOL }

RAWK on FDL et alia!

Margaret February 14th, 2011 at 10:50 am

In response to KrisAinCA @ 6

I imagine so. Tolkien invented the word.

grayslady February 14th, 2011 at 10:50 am

I don’t understand the connection between Booz Allen and Hunton & Williams.

EdwardTeller February 14th, 2011 at 10:50 am

In order to help make the story comprehensible, FDL has been developing tools like timelines, organization charts and key indexes

nobody does it better.

Scarecrow February 14th, 2011 at 10:54 am

Wondering about the attorney client privilege. I don’t think it can be used to conceal conspiracy or actual criminal activity approved by the client or undertaken by the attorney with the knowledge or consent of the client. But perhaps our attorneys can shed light on thtat?

ghostof911 February 14th, 2011 at 10:55 am

According to TP, Anonymous leaked another 27,000 emails over the weekend.

From Law & Disorder:

The situation got so bad for the security company that HBGary, the company which partially owns HBGary Federal, sent its president Penny Leavy into the Anonymous IRC chat rooms to swim with the sharks—and to beg them to leave her company alone.

ghostof911 February 14th, 2011 at 10:58 am

In response to KrisAinCA @ 2

They’re secrets just aren’t safe anymore. Poor bastards.

KrisAinTX February 14th, 2011 at 11:01 am

In response to ghostof911 @ 14

Bwahahahahah!

jaango February 14th, 2011 at 11:01 am

Dear Jane,

I have been contemplating a “call for Impeachment” of the current leadership of the federal Department of Justice, and the one ‘data point’ that has hampered my “call” is that I yet to find anyone at the DOJ that took the decision, aside from the person that actually made the call that the lobbyist firm be hired as the proverbial “firewall”.

Therefore, has anyone been “identified” that resides within the DOJ that took this “decision” and not necessarily the person who made the telephone call?

I will continue to await your response, or a response from anyone thoroughly familiar with this subject area. Therefore, the Chicano Veterans Organization has no hesitation on calling for the “impeachment” of any political appointees at the DOJ. And equally important, we have no hesitation whatsoever since “good self-governance” is at risk here and in this instance.

Jaango

TomThumb February 14th, 2011 at 11:02 am

In response to Margaret @ 10

How Ironic for the operators who thought they were operating in the dark, to have been undone and revealed publicly for their schemes. It is just like when Mordor phoned in on the palantir to discover one of the Hobbits holding the phone!

eCAHNomics February 14th, 2011 at 11:04 am

So the only DoJ link is with BofA?

ghostof911 February 14th, 2011 at 11:05 am

In response to KrisAinCA @ 16

L M A!

Hope they release the chat log of the conversation.

ghostof911 February 14th, 2011 at 11:07 am

In response to eCAHNomics @ 19

According to Greenwald

And perhaps most disturbing of all, Hunton & Williams was recommended to Bank of America’s General Counsel by the Justice Department — meaning the U.S. Government is aiding Bank of America in its defense against/attacks on WikiLeaks.

eCAHNomics February 14th, 2011 at 11:07 am

In response to Scarecrow @ 13

Also, does it matter that the docs are now part of the public domain? I.E. can a lawsuit use them as long an no one in that lawsuit was party to stealing them? Or is it all fruit of the poisonous tree?

PeasantParty February 14th, 2011 at 11:08 am

Bank of America usually hosts their annual shareholders meetings in April at the Charlotte, NC headquarters. The past two years have seen protests and angry shareholders. Can’t wait to see what happens this year!

Shoto February 14th, 2011 at 11:09 am

Very good stuff. Good work Jane and your team.

On the other hand, the line from DOJ to BofA sickens (but does not surprise) me.

**************

“From DOJ to BofA” Catchy, huh? We should write a little jingle. Throw some of the most damning detail in the lyrics…

earlofhuntingdon February 14th, 2011 at 11:09 am

Plausible deniability is wonderful, at least until the facts make the deniability laughably implausible. A political technique abused by Dick Nixon to a generation’s detriment has become a major beltway industry in about a generation.

eCAHNomics February 14th, 2011 at 11:09 am

In response to ghostof911 @ 21

So there should be at least a dotted line bet DoJ & Hunton & Williams?

On edit: How does DoJ know enough of H&W to recommend them? What have been their connections in the past?

BoxTurtle February 14th, 2011 at 11:10 am

In response to ghostof911 @ 20

Ask and you shall receive: Chat Log

PesantParty@7: Charge them with what? No actual actions took place because of the presentation. Conspiracy is tough to prove, especially when one of the conspirators is the entity responsable for prosecuting!

Boxturtle (And we can be confident that DoJ is looking forward as far as possible)

Margaret February 14th, 2011 at 11:10 am

In response to TomThumb @ 18

Yes but Pippin being busted by Sauron aside, can it be more obvious why they chose the name “Palantir” to begin with? It’s obviously being used in the same context, “that which sees afar”. That could be actionable I would think.

PeasantParty February 14th, 2011 at 11:11 am

I wonder if HB Gary thought BofA or the DOJ was going to pay them?

veganrevolution February 14th, 2011 at 11:13 am

I guess in the coming years we’ll have to depend on hacktivists to expose the criminality of the evil corporatists. Oilbummer is too busy pushing trade deals with Korea and offshoring our jobs overseas to bother with convicting the people who raid our 401ks and steal our Soc Security.

KrisAinTX February 14th, 2011 at 11:14 am

In response to eCAHNomics @ 22

That’s my main question. Since the information was stolen, can it be used in prosecution?

PeasantParty February 14th, 2011 at 11:14 am

In response to BoxTurtle @ 27

Well, you could go after them for using the Government’s DOJ for personal gain.

You can also go after them for secretly trying to alter the business of another online entity.

eCAHNomics February 14th, 2011 at 11:15 am

In response to BoxTurtle @ 27

No actual actions took place

that we know of.

Guess this isn’t the R.C. church, where thoughts can be sinful too. Beginning of confession is: Bless me Father, for I have sinned, in thought, word and deed. Or at least that’s how I remember it from the early 60s.

KrisAinTX February 14th, 2011 at 11:16 am

In response to eCAHNomics @ 26

Google search

Multiple actors at H&W were prior DoJ employees. The incest continues!

mswinkle February 14th, 2011 at 11:17 am

In response to perris @ 1

Everyone should look at the video you posted. Just another day and another example of how our govt is screwing us and lining the pockets of the banksters.

hotdog February 14th, 2011 at 11:19 am

Operation ratfuck, LMAO. I love this site. Happy Valentines FDL!

eCAHNomics February 14th, 2011 at 11:19 am

In response to KrisAinCA @ 34

Thanks. I’m coming to the story late, and interactions are hard to understand.

mswinkle February 14th, 2011 at 11:20 am

If anybody here is expecting anyone to be prosecuted for this – dream on. The only people going down for this are the hackers – meanwhile back on msm we continue to be fed drivel

KrisAinTX February 14th, 2011 at 11:20 am

In response to eCAHNomics @ 37

No no, it was a good question. I just googled it now and found the top two results were biographies of H&W partners having worked in DoJ.

ghostof911 February 14th, 2011 at 11:21 am

In response to BoxTurtle @ 27

Cheney and Rumsfeld should just come out with their hands up.

Don’t fuck with Anonymous!

BoxTurtle February 14th, 2011 at 11:21 am

In response to PeasantParty @ 32

Well, you could go after them for using the Government’s DOJ for personal gain.

The DoJ was fully aware of what was happening, indeed they even encouraged it. Thus, it is an Admin violation and the only punishment available is dismissal.

You can also go after them for secretly trying to alter the business of another online entity.

What would be the formal charge for that?

Boxturtle (There may be a civil suit, if Greenwald or such wants to spend the money to fight in discovery)

eCAHNomics February 14th, 2011 at 11:23 am

In response to mswinkle @ 38

USG won’t prosecute. I gather Q is whether there is any opening for civil suits.

mzchief February 14th, 2011 at 11:23 am

In response to perris @ 1

Great video with kewl ka-ching sound effects! Love the exposé on the counterfeiting banksters and their buddies in the FDIC. Yet another horror story involving the Gold Sacks.

Meanwhile,

DING DONG OPEC‘s dead: “A message to the 5,000 Saudi princes: Are you out of oil? Apply for a job down at McDonalds!“

eCAHNomics February 14th, 2011 at 11:26 am

In response to KrisAinCA @ 39

Which is why for current & past administration (that we know of), they have been so eager to farm stuff out to private corps. To create a complicated veil of plausible deniability. “Agents” salted everywhere. Sort of CIA methodology applied to other branches of USG.

grayslady February 14th, 2011 at 11:26 am

In response to KrisAinCA @ 39

On Hunton & Williams website they also brag about how many assignments their tech law dept has received from the Dept of Homeland Security. H & W appears to be a major lobbying firm.

PeasantParty February 14th, 2011 at 11:28 am

In response to BoxTurtle @ 41

Okay. What if Brad and Glenn decided they wanted to pursue against BofA?

Are you saying they can’t?

hate2haggle February 14th, 2011 at 11:29 am

Way back when I was a Watergate freak there were several “bombshells” that exploded. My favorites were: the discovery that the burglars were employed by the Committee To Re-elect The President and Alexander Bufferfield’s testimony revealing the White House taping system. The story we’re discussing here is much bigger. I’ll see ya at the refreshment stand. Large popcorn please.

ghostof911 February 14th, 2011 at 11:30 am

In response to eCAHNomics @ 37

Isn’t it fun watching the perps run like squealing pigs?

KrisAinTX February 14th, 2011 at 11:30 am

This chat log is glorious!

eCAHNomics February 14th, 2011 at 11:32 am

In response to ghostof911 @ 48

We gotta find our fun where we can, puny as it is.

Kinda liked W’s canceled trip to Switzerland too.

BoxTurtle February 14th, 2011 at 11:33 am

In response to PeasantParty @ 46

Well, they could try. If I wanted to pursue such a claim, first I’d try to get a judge to allow discovery of prior HBGary contacts based upon the evidence of conspiracy that is already public and a laundry list of unexplained activity against me that could have been dirty tricks. BofA would call that a fishing expedition. Who has the better lawyers?

It would be very expensive and without more evidence of overt acts the odds will be against them.

Boxturtle (But McD’s has been successfully sued for coffee too hot, so anything could happen)

mswinkle February 14th, 2011 at 11:35 am

A Disillusioned 99′er Shares His Disappointment With The American Dream, Welcomes Death
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/disillusioned-99er-shares-his-disappointment-american-dream

You all need to read this. is this our “We are all Khaled Said” moment

waynec February 14th, 2011 at 11:36 am

In response to TomThumb @ 18

Great analogy, love it!

Margaret February 14th, 2011 at 11:37 am

A few more jobs in the paper this week, including one I could do a very good job at in my sleep. Cross your fingers!

BoxTurtle February 14th, 2011 at 11:37 am

In response to eCAHNomics @ 50

Kinda liked W’s canceled trip to Switzerland too.

He can’t safely leave the USA anymore. I hope the time will come when he won’t be able to safely leave Texas for the same reasons.

Boxturtle (In Bush’s defense, given a choice of a Swiss trip and box seats at that superbowl, I’d take the seats)

Rayne February 14th, 2011 at 11:38 am

In response to hate2haggle @ 47

To hell with the popcorn stand. I’m buying corn futures at this rate.

PeasantParty February 14th, 2011 at 11:38 am

In response to BoxTurtle @ 51

I realize that the DOJ and BofA are Goliaths. The question was not whether or not justice would prevail against the behemouths. It was can they sue. My answer was Yes they can.

Discovery of the leaked emails or other unknown items is up to the attorneys and judge. However, the attorney must do his due diligence first, or have his paralegal do it for him. ;-)

orionATL February 14th, 2011 at 11:39 am

jane hamsher-

this is just oustanding public service journalism.

what you and your fdl colleagues like ew are doing is, i would hope, creating an investigative template that other journalists can use to determine the ways the u.s. department of justice may have employed private companies and individuals as deputized vigilantees and assassins to harm groups and individuals critical of american domestic or foreign policy.

it would also seem to serve as a neat little way for the doj to get around the first amendment.

Ann in AZ February 14th, 2011 at 11:40 am

Blue Texan’s regularly scheduled post is here: Maggie Gallagher is a Big Fan of Genesis

nahant February 14th, 2011 at 11:41 am

In response to Margaret @ 54

heres hoping for ya PEG!!

PeasantParty February 14th, 2011 at 11:42 am

In response to Margaret @ 54

X Crossed! I hope you get something and soon. I’ve been applying for the jobs listed every week. Looks like the remaining 2.3 million in my area are too.

TeresaInPa February 14th, 2011 at 11:42 am

Dear Jane and FDL folks who put this together:
Could you do a version for dummies? I am fuzzy headed today and all I can do is pop pain pills and watch old episodes of Glee. But I am impressed and grateful that people are still doing blogs about something other than the democrats favorite shiny object, Sarah Palin and what a stupid Bimbo she is, or all the excuse making for Obama. I have been so disgusted and fed up, but when someone or a group of people put together a piece like this, I have the feeling like I am not just standing alone and spitting in to the wind when I criticize our government, our president, our congress and most of all the complicit and truly idiotic corporate media.
Thank you and I will book mark this and read it later when I can make more sense of it.

Margaret February 14th, 2011 at 11:44 am

In response to PeasantParty @ 61

Looks like the remaining 2.3 million in my area are too.

Yeah, that’s been my problem too.

WagTheBanks February 14th, 2011 at 11:59 am

What an outstanding post! I think the potential information available via whistle blowers plus new methodologies such as the chart software demonstrated herein can help create a foundational path to bank reform.

The dictator of a country with 80 million people has just been overthrown using information, net-working, and focusing peoples’ frustrations on a central objective. That achievement serves as an example to more than just other societies in the Middle East. It is an example to us. We can reform the banking system, given time, and the will to do so.

It is a pleasure to join FDL and find such an innovative and far reaching post.

yellowsnapdragon February 14th, 2011 at 12:05 pm

I loooove Anonymous and hacktivists for giving us this treasure trove of emails. Long live Anonymous! Long live Wikileaks! Free Bradley Manning!

Margaret February 14th, 2011 at 12:06 pm

Looks like they also scraped facebook for user information.

Leaked emails show that Berico, Palantir, and HBGary conspired to store information scraped from social media sites on Palantir’s servers. On November 11, Barr sent Facebook data about the supporters and leaders of Change To Win, CodePink, US Chamber Watch and other organizations to Berico, who then passed the “scrapes” with “mugshots” along to Palantir

lsls February 14th, 2011 at 12:11 pm

In response to KrisAinCA @ 4

RICO???

BooRadley February 14th, 2011 at 12:11 pm

As always, thanks Jane, Marcy, FDL. Great job!

openhope February 14th, 2011 at 12:20 pm

Excellent post, thank you Jane and FDL. I love the name Operation Ratf%$k.

jedimsnbcko19 February 14th, 2011 at 12:28 pm

WOW! is all I can say

thanks Jane

Bank Of America better known as Bank “F” America

BeachPopulist February 14th, 2011 at 12:51 pm

Happy Valentines Day, Jane. (And all the other ladies here at the Lake.)

KrisAinTX February 14th, 2011 at 12:55 pm

In response to lsls @ 67

I would like to think so. Multiple parties conspiring to commit multiple crimes across multiple continents? Sounds like RICO to me.

Mauimom February 14th, 2011 at 12:59 pm

In response to EdwardTeller @ 12

TIMELINES!!!!

Marcy must have been jumping for joy when she heard those would be forthcoming [and, no doubt, that she'd be creating a few of them].

mzchief February 14th, 2011 at 1:00 pm

In response to Margaret @ 66

So noted.

yellowsnapdragon February 14th, 2011 at 1:01 pm

In response to KrisAinCA @ 72

Heh. ThinkProgress is reporting that Aaron Barr violated the Terms and Conditions of Facebook. Yeah, I’m thinking that’ll end in serious jail time./snark

Mauimom February 14th, 2011 at 1:01 pm

In response to ghostof911 @ 14

HBGary, the company which partially owns HBGary Federal, sent its president Penny Leavy into the Anonymous IRC chat rooms to swim with the sharks—and to beg them to leave her company alone

Somewhere I saw some of her pleas ["we haven't done anything bad"].

Pitiful. Ignorant, immoral, and pitiful.

mrydzewski February 14th, 2011 at 1:02 pm

IN the NY Times article, it names BofAs spokesman, lawrence DiRita, who you may remember as Rumsfleds right hand man at the Pentagon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/us/politics/12hackers.html?sq=bank%20of%20america&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=10&adxnnlx=1297717231-IZn0JaOTtQUzzvoiSvgU2Q

yellowsnapdragon February 14th, 2011 at 1:03 pm

In response to Mauimom @ 76

See the chatlog link upthread. It’s a fun read.

yellowsnapdragon February 14th, 2011 at 1:12 pm

Reading this blurb on BradBlog made me start searching my memory for any examples of this specific type of ratfucking of progressives over the last few years…

The plan presented by Team Themis, as the three security firms called themselves, would then use one of the “fake personas” as “leverage to discredit the other while confirming the legitimacy of the second” in hopes of publicizing the fraudulent appearance of some sort of “conspiracy” between the various progressive organizations in order to somehow discredit them.

Alternate ID February 14th, 2011 at 2:56 pm

In response to ghostof911 @ 14