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Comment by throwaway_98554 | Hacker News Reader

Great, now I know how to frame someone using Bitcoin.

1. Select a victim 2. Every time you are about to make a Bitcoin transaction, send an email to the victim's address requesting the amount you are about to send. (Bonus point if you can get directly into the spam folder.) 3. Send bitcoins as you intended to do.

Now lay back and wait for your victim to be linked to your shady activities.

(I'm writing this as a critique of the technique used and conclusions reached in the article. Hopefully the investigation has something more robust.)

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Or just pick someone and watch the chain and send the appropriate emails.

I used to do that in a weird way with a lightly paranoid coworker (he wasn't battling mental illness or anything, he was fine). He did have a lot of concerns about e-privacy in the 90s (legit forward thinking stuff) and I would send him emails through open mail relays like whitehouse.gov and such "Hey man I dropped off all the magic white powder stuff in your blue Honda Accord.". It was all in jest, he was fine last I heard.

Hahaha, I like how much you justify him being okay

Well I said paranoid... didn't want anyone to think he was in a clinical sense.

> Great, now I know how to frame someone using Bitcoin.

> 1. Select a "victim" under investigation by all US law enforcement agencies involved in counterintelligence and a significant fraction of Western intelligence agencies in general

Fixed that for you.

Next time you want to frame someone, send money simultaneously to them AND to the Bitcoin address cited in the article, and they'll be linked to a Russian conspiracy...

If they find evidence the wallet owner communicated with you to send the money and then used the transaction to pay for goods and services used in the course of a criminal act, then you might be in trouble. Otherwise, I don't see why you think it would be viewed as anything but a stupid prank.

I guess the government investigating why your wallet is somehow related to a russian spy's wallet may cause quite some trouble in your life.

Maybe they'll accuse you of financing terrorism in the end. It's your right to trust justice to never make mistakes.

Hopefully the investigation has something more robust.

That's quite unlikely, because of exactly what you pointed out. The reality is that this case could not and was not meant to be able to stand up to the rigors of a federal prosecution with good defense attorneys in a US court. People that could not be arrested or extradited were indicted for a reason - Mueller knew this case would never actually be litigated. This was Mueller's ham sandwich indictment for the day [1].

This indictment was meant for Mueller to justify his existence and the expenses that we, the taxpayers, have incurred on this investigation. He got a PR win that satisfied the media's need for headlines about Russian involvement in the election by putting together some broad strokes, knowing that he'd never have to actually prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

[1] https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/ind...

> People that could not be arrested or extradited were indicted for a reason - Mueller knew this case would never actually be litigated.

https://i.imgur.com/8BaL1w9_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&f...

Guilty: https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2017/05/22/ap_1703269051709...

Guilty: https://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2018/02/19...

Guilty: https://i0.wp.com/www.nationalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/...

Guilty: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/02/21/us/21meuller_dc/2...

Those are random pictures of people not in this indictment just FYI. Your comment is completely off topic.

Indicted. You know, the first step before someone can get convicted?

I know that Russia will never extradite them, and so does Mueller.

Well then, you should also know that these indictments were filed under oath by Mueller and his team, under the penalty of disbarment and literal criminal charges. You would also know that these indictments would be relevant to any future charges of conspiracy (the thing Trump is accused of) and would be open to challenge by any relevant defendant, regardless of whether they were Russian or not, right?

You see, that's how a system based on law and order works.

Oh and did I mention, Mueller and the vast majority of his team are career Republicans, were appointed by Republicans, and gave up multi-million dollar a year jobs to do this? You know, the DEEP STATE.

Well then, you should also know that these indictments were filed under oath by Mueller and his team, under the penalty of disbarment and literal criminal charges

They didn't lie, they don't have to. Everything in this indictment may be what they believe happened. But these are broad strokes. It looks like any of these allegations would be difficult or impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Grand juries indict based on probable cause, which an entirely different (and far lower) standard. They have probable cause if a credible witness, such as an FBI agent, simply tells them that they believe something happened.

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