DavidKenner

Reporter/Middle East coordinator @ICIJorg. Words in @TheAtlantic. Middle East editor @ForeignPolicy once upon a time.

Leak to me: [email protected]

[John Scott-Railton @jsrailton]

NEW: we caught 🇨🇳Chinese hackers... again.

Twist: they're hacking journalists & activists, but we suspect they're private contractors.

State repression... with a profit margin.

Thread + how to protect yourself 1/

By us @citizenlab in collab w/@ICIJorg

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

Very normal behavior here.

"After you make us lose $900,000 we will invest no less than that to finish you."

https://t.co/Uu100jIK67

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

I reported last year that seven Arab states and Israel were participating in a U.S.-led "Regional Security Construct," deepening security cooperation to counter Iran.

Worthwhile time to point out: Kuwait wasn't one of those seven.

https://t.co/QkiNqRx8eG

[Peter Baker @peterbakernyt]

Kuwaiti air defenses mistakenly shoot down three US fighter jets. All six American crew members safely ejected and were later recovered, military says. https://t.co/1UhEoGiRqF

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

@bryanrwalsh @AkbarSAhmed Just fyi, your listing says up top that it’s a 16-month position, but then (under What We Offer) describes it as a “permanent” job. Might be confusing to applicants.

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

This is not to downplay his position in the UAE, a country that does not use sultan as a title.

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. He’s not a sultan, his name is Sultan. This is obvious to anyone with a passing familiarity with the Gulf.

[Acyn @Acyn]

.@PabloReports: There was a sultan who was named?

Khanna: That is the person that we're protecting. Why not put out his name. He's a sultan, a powerful person in Dubai. He's obviously allegedly involved in these crimes..

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

This is neither here nor there but the individual’s name is Sultan, it’s not a title

[Acting AG Todd Blanche @DAGToddBlanche]

You looked at the document. You know it’s an email address that was redacted. The law requires redactions for personally identifiable information, including if in an email address. And you know that the Sultan’s name is available unredacted in the files. See EFTA00666117.

Be honest, and stop grandstanding.

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

@semaforben The real answer is that there’s nothing like what you’re after - at least nothing I’m aware of. Which is a shame, because it’s a really colorful period in modern history. The closest I can think of is: https://t.co/AbmpujNJ52 (but not solely about Philby or Ibn Saud)

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

@semaforben Arabian Jubilee is also a unique book about Ibn Saud but be warned, he was a truly awful writer

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

@semaforben Not great but https://t.co/x753oR2XfJ

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

Today @Sana__gov published:

-A Justice Ministry circular on how publishing Assad regime security files is "a crime that affects the security of the state."

-A description of an @snhr report based on Assad regime security files.

https://t.co/PaZWThcDXf
https://t.co/2N71rLJqVF

[Louisa Loveluck @leloveluck]

Harrowing and deeply important work by @DavidKenner and @NicoleSadek on the survivors of Assad's killing machine -- relatives of the missing, left to pick up the pieces without answers from the old regime or the new. A telling anecdote at the end. https://t.co/BvMTjerveV

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

NEW: The United Nations paid $11 million to a Syrian security firm that documents show was owned by a branch of Assad's intelligence services guilty of torture, rape, and murder.

https://t.co/7YJNe6rKxl

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

New from me: Israel and key Arab states quietly deepened military cooperation over the past three years, even as the Gaza war raged.

https://t.co/QkiNqRxG4e

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

I have never seen a government agency respond to a FOIA request like this. Not just: "Hey, please tell us if you're still interested in a previously submitted FOIA?" But: "We're not going to tell you which FOIA requests are outstanding, but please write us about them."

[Vas Panagiotopoulos @criticalvas]

“An unlikely firm linked to key #Intellexa figures has also sprung back to life online: a skincare company called Medovie.”

https://t.co/c9Mf7VQOhJ

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

"'The only thing he ever talks about is prostitutes,' the official said."

https://t.co/PPR5Oc7aSI

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

This week, we learned John Doe's fears were well-founded.

Russian hackers lurked in US courts for years, took sealed files.

https://t.co/lsiQKKJK2J

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

In 2023, Panama Papers whistleblower "John Doe" tried to sue the German government - but was stopped after the judge said they'd have to reveal their identity to the court. Doe said this would put their life at risk.

https://t.co/kd1xaa277d

[DavidKenner @DavidKenner]

I have not tried them - clearly a gap in my reporting.

[Counter Spyware Solutions by Numbers Station @Numbers_STN]

Great piece by @DavidKenner. Still wondering though—are their skincare products actually any good? #spyware

https://t.co/IAEdai6D7e