Former Twitter employee is convicted in Saudi spy case
ReutersAug 08, 2022
A federal jury in San Francisco on Wed. convicted a former Twitter employee, Ahmad Abouammo, on charges related to spying on behalf of Saudi Arabia.
The court found the US-Lebanese citizen had acted as an unregistered agent of the Saudi government by supplying dissident information to Bader al-Asaker, a close adviser to Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman.
Abouammo received money and goods worth at least $320K for spying and conspiracy, handed over dissidents against the brutal Saudi regime straight to its dictators, and violated privacy and data rights. This case is a clear win for the Justice Department.
This isn't a win for anyone, but rather a distraction from what's really a botched investigation that allowed two other suspects to escape. Abouammo is merely a convenient scapegoat for the government's failings.
Not only does Saudi Arabia remain one of the world's worst human rights abusers, it has continued to conduct a brutal war on Yemen that has killed an estimated 400K and was responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Why does the US keep playing supplicant to this evil regime?