| Bladewire |
06-28-2017 09:53 AM |
Russian Kaspersky Labs Paid Michael Flynn for "consulting" FBI Interrogates Employees
Why would a Russian cyber security software company pay Michael Flynn tens of thousands of dollars for "consulting"?
The plot thickens...
FBI Interviews Employees of Russia-Linked Cyber Security Firm Kaspersky Lab - NBC News
FBI agents on Tuesday paid visits to at least a dozen employees of Kaspersky Lab, a Russia-based cyber-security company, asking questions about that company?s operations as part of a counter-intelligence inquiry, multiple sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
In a classic FBI investigative tactic, agents visited the homes of the employees at the end of the work day at multiple locations on both the east and west coasts, the sources said.
There is no indication at this time that the inquiry is part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller?s investigation into Russian election meddling and possible collusion. Kaspersky has long been of interest to the U.S. government.
Its cyber-security software is widely used in the United States, and its billionaire owner, Eugene Kaspersky, has close ties to some Russian intelligence figures, according to U.S. officials. He graduated in 1987 from the Soviet KGB-backed Institute of Cryptography, Telecommunications, and Computer Science.
Kaspersky Lab paid former national security adviser Michael Flynn $11,250 in 2015 for cyber-security consulting, according to public documents, but that was not a focus of the FBI questioning, multiple sources said.
FBI agents told employees they were not in trouble, and that the bureau was merely gathering facts about how Kaspersky works, including to what extent the U.S. operations ultimately report to Moscow. |
