A British judge has suggested extraditioning a private investigator to the United States, with the Justice Department accusing leading hacking operations against U.S. climate activists.

this Allegedly entrusted According to a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department in the UK, the company is a Washington, D.C., a major oil and gas company in Texas, lobbying and consulting firm as part of its extradition request. A federal prosecutor said in an affidavit that the goal is to discredit groups and individuals involved in U.S. climate change lawsuits

The Justice Department has charged private investigators, an Israeli private investigator named Amit Forlit, conspired to commit computer hacking and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Forlit previously refused to order or pay for hackers.

Forlit has two weeks appealed the ruling. "The score is one person for the United States," Forlit's lawyer Edward Grange said Wednesday outside the London courtroom, adding: "It's the beginning of a long road."

Climate and environmental activists hacked by hackers say the attacks are designed to silence critics of the fossil fuel industry. Lee Wasserman, director of the Rockefeller Family Foundation, said the attack also represents a widespread attack on American civil society and is also the target of hackers.

"It's a very big problem, and it really goes beyond the most fundamental aspects of freedom and citizens' ability to participate in their government processes," Wasserman said.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to news seeking comments.

"This is an important step towards accountability and sheds light on evidence from the U.S. government," said Kathy Mulvey, director of climate accountability activities at the Coalition of Scientists. "Continuing legal proceedings through this extradition can help confirm who hires (Forlit) and holds these people accountable."

U.S. attorney named DC lobbying company, which allegedly commissioned hackers to attack

In the indictment against Welfare, the names of oil and gas companies and the lobbying company allegedly work by Forlit. However, the prosecutor's affidavit failed to anonymize "DC lobbying companies" in part of the document. Prosecutors involved employees of the "DCI Group" allegedly sharing a version of the stolen memorandum belonging to environmental lawyers and information about the person who received the memorandum, about half of the 30-page affidavit.

NPR cannot confirm that the Justice Department mentions DCI every time it mentions “DC lobbying companies.” However, the Justice Department only cites one lobbying company in the affidavit.

DCI is a long-time lobbyist for Exxonmobil and has deep ties to the U.S. fossil fuel industry. Benefit lawyer In the court filing, it says Earlier this year, her client was accused of leading a hacking campaign “allegedly commissioned by DCI Group, a lobbying company representing one of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies.”

Foley's lawyer Claims the United States is trying to sue welfareTo some extent, “the political motivational reasons that promote the pursuit of ExxonMobil”.

DCI executive Craig Stevens did not immediately respond to news seeking comments. Stevens had previously told NPR that the U.S. government has not questioned anyone at the company, which is part of a hacker investigation. "The allegations of DCI's allegations of hacking that occurred nearly a decade ago were false and unfounded. We direct all employees and consultants to comply with the law," Stevens said. "At the same time, radical anti-greaser activists and their donors are peddling conspiracy theories to distract themselves from their anti-US energy activities."

Exxonmobil mentioned a previous statement in which it told NPR that it was not “engaged and did not know of any hacking activities. The company has said it repeatedly acknowledged: “Climate change is real and we have the entire business and are committed to reducing emissions.” ”

ExxonMobil and other fossil fuel companies face dozens of state and regional climate lawsuits that allegedly mislead the public for decades of burning fossil fuels, a major cause of climate change. These lawsuits seek funding to help communities cope with the risks and harms of global warming, including more extreme storms, floods and heat waves. The U.S. government is not part of the lawsuit. The fossil fuel industry says the lawsuits are out of reach, politicized, and climate change is a problem Congress should address, not a court.

Victims say hackers aim to silence fossil fuel critics

As part of the Justice Department investigation, one of Foley's business partners, another Israeli private investigator, is named Aviram Azari, Sent to prison In the second half of 2023, after conspiring to commit computer hacking, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft after pleading guilty in the United States. Azari hired hackers targeting U.S. climate activists and African government officials, members of Mexican political parties and critics of a German company called Wirecard, according to federal prosecutors.

exist Azari is involved in the memoProsecutors have picked Exxonmobil, saying the company used information based on activists' stolen as part of its defense of the national climate investigation. In this case, prosecutors did not accuse ExxonMobil or DCI of wrongdoing.

Azari's sentence was several months after Forlit was sentenced, Forlit was arrested in an Interpol red notice at London Heathrow Airport on his way to Tel Aviv.

The affidavit filed in Forlit’s extradition case details how the Justice Department has worked for accusing hackers:

• DC lobbying allegedly identified people and organizations that wanted to discredit as part of the Texas Oil Company’s job;
• Forlit allegedly, or co-conspirators, have listed people or accounts interested in DC lobbying companies;
• Azari allegedly hired hackers to target climate activists.
• Later, according to the prosecutor's affidavit, the lobby company shared with private documents (or versions of files) of oil companies that "maybe obtained through successful hackers."

The Justice Department said private documents appeared in media reports shortly afterwards that “purpose to undermine the integrity of oil companies’ civil investigations.” The affidavit alleges that the oil company then "rely on published articles about the stolen and leaked documents" to fight the lawsuit.