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Comment by _dain_ | Hacker News Reader

Yep, probably true. Receives funding from public and private intel or intel-aligned firms or fronts, staffed with former Five Eyes spies, etc.

All the commenters acting incredulous about this only need to Google it.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/bellingcat-intelligence-agenci...

https://thegrayzone.com/2021/10/09/bellingcat-intelligence-c...

I think what a lot of people don't really grok about intelligence types is how similar their internal cultures are to gangs and mafias: it's blood in, blood out, and even if you "leave" you've never actually left. This makes sense, right? These people are vetted to be given security clearances, to be trusted with secrets -- what good would it do if the secret keeping only lasted through a term of employment? Once you know the secret, you've gotta keep it forever. So you'll always be one of us.

Maybe the less melodramatic comparison to make is to US college and university fraternities: just because you graduate doesn't mean you're not a Delta Tau guy anymore. If anything, the opposite: you're now out there in the world as a real Delta Tau guy, and when you see another member, it's a wink and a handshake and a favor. Doesn't have to be all that secret, either.

So, a "former intelligence professional" who goes to work for a "citizen journalism" website like Bellingcat remains, and cannot be anything other than, a spy. It doesn't need to be the case that, for Bellingcat to be an intelligence front, the CIA literally went on Legalzoom and started the LLC or whatever.

As for Bellingcat itself, well, if it's funded by ducks, and it's staffed by ducks, maybe it's a duck.

I mean even if it is, it's still quality journalism that does a different breed of research than most other outlets. So no wonder it needs those kind of people. NPR may print a lot of junk but there's still some stuff worth reading even though it's government funded.

This is nonsense, they also have reported stories that didn't fit the CIA/US' favorite narratives, e.g. https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2021/11/17/the-data-and... or https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2021/07/20/a-new-platfo...

For a CIA front the early Bellingcat looked remarkably like a bloke in his front room in Leicester https://www.siliconrepublic.com/life/the-interview-eliot-hig...

What kind of cheap comment is this? If you make such an accusation, which I would say is not obvious at all, at least provide an iota of support for your argument. Or are you a troll?

Do you have a source for that theory?

I actually agree that it's an odd theory, but I do not see how someone would have a "source" for this. Did you mean to ask for "evidence" or "proof"?

To paraphrase Caitlin Johnstone, what does evidence matter when my source owns aircraft carriers?

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