Russian Fancy Bears Hackers Attempts to Discredit McLaren Report as Politically-Motivated Attack by the United States

The Russian Fancy Bears Hack Team attempted to discredit the Independent McLaren Investigation Reports (“The McLaren Reports”) as a politically-motivated attack on Russia orchestrated by agents working for the United States government.

Fancy Bears identified five members of the McLaren research team that had close ties to United States law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies and military special forces. Fancy Bears hoped to sow the seeds of doubt regarding the true intentions behind The McLaren reports by highlighting the involvement of individuals closely linked to the U.S. government.

Specifically, Fancy Bears identified Richard Young, Martin Dubbey, David Tinsley and Bryan Talay as Americans with close ties to the U.S. government.

Richard Young worked for the McLaren investigation team as a liaison between McLaren and IOC Medical and Scientific Director Richard Budgett. As far as his day job, Young is a partner at Bryan Cave LLP which allegedly has close ties to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).

Martin Dubbey, David Tinsley and Bryan Taylay all work for 5 Stones Intelligence (5Si). Dubbey is the 5Si Chief of Intelligence. Tinsley is the 5Si Chief Executive Officer. Bryan Taylay is the 5Si Chief Operating Officer for North America.

Martin Dubbey worked for the McLaren investigation team as its chief investigator overseeing the work of Tinsley and Taylay. The 5 Stones Intelligence (5Si) organization identified itself as a “Judeo-Christian principled state of the art intelligence agency and protective intelligence service” that is comprised of a “network of former members of the DEA, United States Secret Service, CIA, FBI, IRS-CID, SOCA Military Tier 1 and Tier 2 Special Operators, Delta Force, SEAL Team and Detectives from the New York Police Department and Miami Police Agencies.” In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice awarded the company a 7 year contract valued at $625 million.

Of course, high-level investigators with extensive law enforcement and intelligence-gathering experience are exactly who you would expect Richard McLaren to hire for the investigation of a systematic and state-sponsored doping program. The associations are not very surprising and really don’t provide any evidence of a U.S.-backed political conspiracy.

The Fancy Bears allegations support the claims made by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin has repeatedly attempted to dismiss the Russian doping allegations as nothing more than an American conspiracy orchestrated by the United States.

In November 2017, President Putin alleged the Russian doping investigation was merely retaliation for its alleged interference in the 2016 Presidential Elections.

“I have very serious suspicions that this is done to create the necessary environment, to incite discontent among sports fans, athletes, that the state was allegedly involved in these violations and is responsible for them,” Putin said. “In response to our alleged interference in their elections, they want to create problems during the election of the president of Russia.”

In December 2017, President Putin accused United States intelligence agencies, including the FBI and CIA, of manipulating and exploiting Grigory Rodchenkov, the former director of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA). After becoming a whistleblower on Russian doping, Rodchenkov defected to the United States and was granted protection by the U.S. Department of Justice in the Federal Witness Protection Program or Witness Security Program (WITSEC).

“[Rodchenkov’s defection to the United States] is not a positive for us, it's a negative. It means he's under the control of American special services," Putin said. "What are they doing with him there? Are they giving him some kind of substances so that he says what's required? ...

"The scandal is being created ahead of the domestic political calendar. Whatever people say, I'm convinced, I just know this is the case."

American intelligence officials have linked the Russian Fancy Bears Hacking Group to Russia’s largest foreign intelligence agency – the Main Intelligence Directorate or GRU. Not only has Fancy Bears been accused of hacking WADA databases, it is the Russian hacking group that allegedly hacked the Democratic National Committee (DNC) databases during the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections.

Source:

Ruiz, R. (January 10, 2018). Russian Hackers Release Stolen Emails in New Effort to Undermine Doping Investigators. Retrieved from nytimes.com/2018/01/10/sports/olympics/russian-hackers-emails-doping.html