So, which country is "COUNTRY1"? It seems like it would almost have to be Russia (or another potential adversary), but why would they then turn over his letter to the FBI?
>Theory: The redacted country is France, which appears to have collaborated with the FBI on this investigation.
>This would explain even more so why France viewed the AUKUS deal as such a betrayal
>The indictment strongly implies that the country already posses nuclear subs.
>That means Russia, China, India, UK and France. First 3 wouldn’t cooperate with us. And he wouldn’t contact UK. That leaves… France
>Oh. And he told his fake handler that he wants to one day meet them in a cafe and have a bottle of wine. Case closed
He also apologizes for a badly translated email early on. Which would rule out the UK.
I think France should be the short-priced favourite though.
The risk is none. What is going to happen exactly?
France probably routinely try to steal military secrets from the USA. That's business as usual for modern countries. The USA spies on all its allies. There was a minor scandal at the beginning of the year because it leaked that Denmark helped them spy on Germany.
They mostly rely on their nukes, their nuclear submarines and their army and their extensive diplomatic ties. France has some moderate capacity of projection. They would be fine defending themselves.
Eastern Europe relies on the USA for its protection, Germany somewhat does but actually would likely be fine without, France does not. That’s why they can say NATO is brain dead and push for more strategic autonomy in the EU.
And what will the USA do anyway. Withdraw their support because they are spied upon? What would they stand to gain from that?
However, at one point the guy explains to them:
The [REDACTED] is the [REDACTED] provided to US Navy crews.
How to operate [REDACTED]. How to [REDACTED]. Troubleshooting
Problems. Routine Maintenance. Your naval experts will be
able to adapt these procedures to fit your own operations.
Operating a [REDACTED] has many unique aspects, and these
[REDACTED] reflect decades of U.S. Navy "lessons learned"
that will help keep your sailors safe.
Here's something else I noticed:
[REDACTED] 7919 pages (4 pages per sheet). The [REDACTED]
reports the detailed results of all [REDACTED] done to
predict the behavior of the [REDACTED] during normal
[REDACTED]. The REDACTED] also documents the design basis
assumptions used to carry out these analvses. Your technical
experts should be able to use this information and the
(REDACTED] to verify the results using their own [REDACTED]
codes.
So I did a Google wildcard search
"behavior of * during normal *" "codes"
High-fidelity and accurate nuclear system codes play a key role in the design and analysis of complex nuclear power plants.
RELAP/SCDAPSIM is a best-estimate nuclear tool designed to
analyze the behaviour of reactor systems during normal and
accident conditions.
High-fidelity and accurate nuclear system codes play a key
role in the design and analysis of complex nuclear power
plants. Among such multiple subsystems, the behaviors of the
reactor core (and its fuel, burnable poisons, control
elements, etc.), the reactor internal structures, the vessel,
and the energy conversion subsystem and beyond to grid demand
affect to each one of them. Generally, the interplay between
these various subsystems is modeled by the use of coupled
codes, and in this matter, the most common is that of
thermal-hydraulics and neutronics codes. As regards this
issue, the present paper introduces the new features (NIRK3D
and 3DKIN) that have been added to RELAP/SCAPDSIM/MOD4.0
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221915511_Safety_St...
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328499091_CANDU_6_A...
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/C-Allison/publication/3...
This though, gave me a belly laugh:
Thank you for your partnership as well, my friend. One day,
when it is safe, perhaps two old friends will have a chance
to stumble into each other at a cafe, share a bottle of wine
and laugh over stories of their shared exploits...
… as a sign of good faith and trust we wish to pay you [the] equivalent of 10,000 USD immediately on Monero to [an] address you provide.
Your thoughtful plans indicate you are not [an] amateur.
This method will build trust between us for a larger transaction in [the] future.> On or about December 20, 2020, the FBI’s attaché (“LEGAT”) in COUNTRY1 obtained a package representatives from COUNTRY1 had received in April 2020 through a mail carrier from the U.S. by an unidentified subject in an attempt to establish a covert relationship.
It sounds like he tried to contact a foreign country, that country turned him over to the FBI, and then an undercover FBI agent pretended to be an agent of that country.