A judge in the United Kingdom has recommended the extradition of a private investigator to the United States whom the Justice Department accuses of leading a hacking operation that targeted American climate activists.
The hacking was allegedly commissioned by a Washington, D.C., lobbying and consulting firm that worked for a major oil and gas company in Texas, according to an indictment the Justice Department filed in the UK as part of its extradition request. A federal prosecutor said in an affidavit that the goal was to discredit groups and individuals involved in climate-change litigation in the U.S.
The Justice Department has charged the private investigator, an Israeli named Amit Forlit, with conspiracy to commit computer hacking, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Forlit has previously denied ordering or paying for hacking.
Forlit has two weeks to appeal the ruling. "The score is one-nil to the U.S.," Forlit's lawyer, Edward Grange, said Wednesday outside of court in London. He added, "This is the beginning of a long road."
Climate and environmental activists who were targeted by hackers say the attacks were intended to silence critics of the fossil fuel industry. But the attacks also represent a broad assault on American civil society, says Lee Wasserman, director of the Rockefeller Family Fund and a target of the hacking.
"It's a very big issue that transcends, really, the most basic aspects of freedom and citizens' ability to participate in their governmental processes," Wasserman says.
The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
"This is an important step toward accountability and to bring into the light the evidence that the U.S. government has," says Kathy Mulvey, climate accountability campaign director at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "The continuation of legal proceedings through this extradition could help to confirm who hired [Forlit] and hold those people accountable."
U.S. prosecutor named the D.C. lobbying firm that allegedly commissioned the hacking
In the indictment against Forlit, the names of the oil and gas company and the lobbying firm Forlit allegedly worked for are anonymized. However, the prosecutor's affidavit fails to anonymize the "D.C. lobbying firm" in one part of the document. About halfway through the 30-page affidavit, the prosecutor cites emails in which "DCI Group" employees allegedly shared versions of a stolen memo belonging to an environmental lawyer, as well as information about people who received the memo.
NPR couldn't confirm that the Justice Department is referring to DCI every time the affidavit mentions the "D.C. lobbying firm." However, the Justice Department only cites one lobbying firm in the affidavit.
DCI was a longtime lobbyist for ExxonMobil and has deep ties to the U.S. fossil fuel industry. A lawyer for Forlit said in a court filing earlier this year that the hacking operation her client is accused of leading "is alleged to have been commissioned by DCI Group, a lobbying firm representing ExxonMobil, one of the world's largest fossil fuel companies."
Forlit's lawyer claimed the U.S. is trying to prosecute Forlit, in part, "to advance the politically-motivated cause of pursuing ExxonMobil."
A DCI executive, Craig Stevens, didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Stevens previously told NPR that no one at the firm has been questioned by the U.S. government as part of the hacking investigation. "Allegations of DCI's involvement with hacking supposedly occurring nearly a decade ago are false and unsubstantiated. We direct all our employees and consultants to comply with the law," Stevens said. "Meanwhile, radical anti-oil activists and their donors are peddling conspiracy theories to distract from their own anti-U.S. energy activities."
ExxonMobil referred to a previous statement in which the company told NPR it has not been "involved in, nor are we aware of, any hacking activities. If there was any hacking involved, we condemn it in the strongest possible terms." The company has said it has repeatedly acknowledged "climate change is real, and we have an entire business dedicated to reducing emissions."
ExxonMobil and other fossil-fuel companies face dozens of climate lawsuits filed by states and localities for allegedly misleading the public for decades about the dangers of burning fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change. The lawsuits seek money to help communities cope with the risks and damages from global warming, including more extreme storms, floods and heat waves. The U.S. government is not part of the litigation. The fossil fuel industry says the lawsuits are meritless and politicized, and that climate change is an issue that should be dealt with by Congress, not the courts.
Victims say the hacking was aimed at silencing fossil-fuel critics
As part of the Justice Department investigation, one of Forlit's business associates, another Israeli private investigator named Aviram Azari, was sentenced to prison in the U.S. in late 2023 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit computer hacking, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Azari hired hackers who targeted American climate activists, as well as government officials in Africa, members of a Mexican political party and critics of a German company called Wirecard, according to federal prosecutors.
In a sentencing memo for Azari, prosecutors singled out ExxonMobil, saying the company used news stories based on information stolen from activists as part of its defense against state climate investigations. Prosecutors didn't accuse ExxonMobil or DCI of wrongdoing in that case.
Months after Azari's sentencing, Forlit was arrested under an Interpol Red Notice at London's Heathrow airport on his way to Tel Aviv.
The affidavit filed in Forlit's extradition case details how the Justice Department alleges the hacking operation worked:
- The D.C. lobbying firm allegedly identified people and organizations it wanted to discredit as part of its work for the Texas oil company;
- Forlit or a co-conspirator allegedly gave Azari lists of people or accounts that were of interest to the D.C. lobbying firm;
- Azari then allegedly hired hackers to target the climate activists;
- Later, the lobbying firm allegedly shared with the oil company private documents — or versions of documents — that were "likely obtained through the successful hacking," according to the prosecutor's affidavit.
Soon after, the private documents appeared in media reports that were "designed to undermine the integrity of the civil investigations" into the oil company, the Justice Department alleges. The affidavit claims the oil company then "relied on the published articles about the stolen and leaked documents" in court filings to fight litigation.
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