Aubrey Belford
@abelf.bsky.social
1.5K followers 350 following 230 posts
Investigative reporter / editor across the Asia-Pacific for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (occrp.org). Drugs/Bribes/Spies/Scams
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
frederikobermaier.com
In a digital world, talking to sensitive sources is nearly impossible without encryption. The EU’s #ChatControl plan is an attack on accountability journalism - and a gift to surveillance
signal.org
We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. signal.org/blog/pdfs/ge...
signal.org
abelf.bsky.social
Incredible. Truly a master at work
abelf.bsky.social
Is it really him? This rules
abelf.bsky.social
Is it really the same Nick Adams? He hasn't tweeted anything about it from his alpha male account
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
leftistwonk.bsky.social
This foreign policy re-alignment we've heard so much about
abelf.bsky.social
Both in Russia's invasion of Ukraine and in now the Israel/US war on Iran, military aggressors aren't even bothering to try to build consensus or justify what they're doing before they do it. Just pure force.

Looking back, it's pretty clear that the 2003 invasion of Iraq broke everything.
abelf.bsky.social
NEW + WEIRD one from us @occrp.org

The U.S. government charged and imprisoned a Chinese scam artist who who tried to create a Pacific city-state next to a U.S. ballistic missile range... but mixed his name up with his twin (who was already in prison in China)

www.occrp.org/en/news/us-i...
U.S. Imprisoned Head of Bogus UN Agency Using the Name of His Twin
The mix-up in the federal case against Cary Yan is the latest development in a bizarre global grifting odyssey first exposed in a 2023 OCCRP investigation.
www.occrp.org
abelf.bsky.social
Ryan wants to fall for this so badly
ryangrim.bsky.social
Presently the most sensible member of Congress
Reposted by Aubrey Belford
abelf.bsky.social
Telegram claims to be a secure "free speech" app

But reporting reveals its links to Russia's intelligence agencies

(Telegram's founder also visited Russia 50+ times while claiming to be in exile)

Translatable captions here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7pn...
Как Telegram связан с ФСБ? Что это значит лично для вас? Расследование
YouTube video by Важные истории
www.youtube.com
abelf.bsky.social
Russian exile reporters just revealed how the Telegram app is connected to Putin's FSB intelligence service

Makes a hell of a lot of sense

Russian-language link here: istories.media/stories/2025...
occrp.org
NEW: The Telegram messaging app has a reputation for security — but Important Stories found that its technical infrastructure is run by a man whose companies closely collaborate with Russian intelligence services.

Meet Vladimir Vedeneev 👇
abelf.bsky.social
Remember late last year when @mediapart.fr @dropsitenews.com etc thought they had uncovered a *scandal* in the fact that investigative journalism outlets openly received U.S. grants? What a quaint idea

Now, we can see the full effect of the brutal Trump aid cuts their reporting helped make happen
abelf.bsky.social
Glenn Greenwald, the Brazil-based journalist?
abelf.bsky.social
This is nuts. Son of a CIA deputy director was killed in Ukraine last year fighting for *Russia*, reports independent Russian outlet Important Stories.

istories.media/en/news/2025...
Son of CIA Deputy Director Joined Russian Army and Was Killed in the War in Ukraine
istories.media
abelf.bsky.social
Good! Wish I was in Toraja too!
abelf.bsky.social
The best thing is you get to chase it down by sharing an ultra-heavy clove cigarette with a mummified corpse
abelf.bsky.social
Baby I hear the smoots are hawley...
abelf.bsky.social
I once walked into a bar bathroom in New Orleans and an absolutely wasted Robert Downey Jr. stuck his head out of a stall like a meerkat with this exact expression. His bodyguard ushered me out a split second later but it is seared into my brain.
abelf.bsky.social
Update on crazy @occrp.org story about a pair of China-born "miracle water" scammers who infiltrated the U.N. and tried to create a crypto city on a radioactive atoll next to a U.S. army facility.

They just got their passports revoked, leaving them in limbo abroad:

www.occrp.org/en/news/conv...
Convicted Fraudsters Stranded Abroad After Marshall Islands Revokes Their Passports
Two China-born scammers, convicted of bribing officials through a fake U.N. agency, had their Marshall Islands passports revoked while abroad, leaving them stranded without valid travel documents and ...
www.occrp.org
abelf.bsky.social
Men who unbuckle and drop their pants at the urinal are basically The Joker to me. I'll smile and agree no matter what they say. I'll give them a wide berth.

These are people with nothing to lose. They are unspeakably dangerous.