A Colorado Springs man who was employed by the National Security Agency used an encrypted email account to transmit excerpts of three classified documents to someone he thought was working for an unnamed foreign government.
Jareh Sebastian Dalke, who was an Army veteran and known to speak both Spanish and Russian, sent documents he had accessed during his employment to an individual who turned out to be an FBI undercover agent. Dalke was trying to trade the information for cryptocurrency.
“To prove he had access to sensitive information, Dalke transmitted excerpts of three classified documents to the undercover FBI agent,” said a news release from the Department of Justice. “Each excerpt contained classification markings. One excerpt was classified at the Secret level, and two excerpts were classified at the Top Secret level. In return for this information, the FBI undercover agent provided the requested cryptocurrency to an address Dalke provided.”
Dalke told the undercover agent that he had taken highly sensitive information relating to foreign targeting of U.S. systems and information on U.S. cyber operations, among other topics.
“At that time, Dalke reported that he had approximately $32,809.52 in student loan debt and $50,987.34 in other non-secured debt, primarily credit card debt,” the FBI agent’s affidavit says. “At the time of the bankruptcy filing, Dalke also reported that he had approximately $8,373.12 in total assets.”
“Dalke represented to the undercover FBI agent that he was still employed by the U.S. government but said he was on a temporary assignment at a field location. Dalke requested compensation via a specific type of cryptocurrency in exchange for the information he possessed and stated that he was in financial need,” the Department of Justice said.
Dalke faces charges of the Espionage Act, which could carry a death penalty or life in prison.
The buses started leaving the Centennial Campground Saturday morning and about 60 summer campers arrived at the Sullivan Arena, where cots and totes awaited them. The summer of having fewer homeless encampments littering the city of Anchorage has ended, and Mayor Dave Bronson has reopened the Sullivan for those who want to come in from the cold. Temperatures in Anchorage are reaching the low 40s this weekend.
The municipality hoped to resettle dozens of the homeless campers today in what appears to be a smooth operation.
Mayor Bronson has been trying to complete his homelessness mitigation plan, and keep unsafe encampments from redeveloping around the greenbelts and streets of Anchorage. But the Anchorage Assembly has refused to allow the mayor to complete the hub of his plan, the navigation center, which is a one-stop shop for homeless people to access shelter, services, and a path forward for their wellbeing.
The campers, who have been spending the summer free of charge at the Centennial Campground, are those who have not found shelter on their own over summer and who will accept coming in from living outdoors. Not all of the campers will come in, as some prefer to live outdoors.
Anchorage Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar warned on his Twitter account that the mayor was about to declare a civil emergency, but it was fake news. No civil emergency was declared. Dunbar lost in his attempt to become Anchorage mayor in the 2021 election and has been nursing his political grudge ever since.
Earlier in the week, the mayor declined to open the Golden Lion Hotel for homeless shelter. The Ethan Berkowitz Administration purchased that hotel with proceeds from the sale of Municipal Light & Power, but an ordinance on the books prohibits its use. The Assembly, however, seeks to violate its own ordinance and wants the mayor to put homeless into the building, which is not occupied and needs renovation work to be habitable. Neighbors and local preschool operators object to the use of the hotel for vagrants.
A poll conducted this week by Alaska Survey Research shows that Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy is in a strong position going into the Nov. 8 general election. Early voting begins on Oct. 24.
Some 49% of Alaskans surveyed last week rate Dunleavy positively; 46.5% rate him negatively. The rest said they were neutral, and only one of the 1,403 survey participants said he/she didn’t know who Dunleavy is.
The positive rating for Democrat Les Gara is 31%, and his negative rating is nearly 25%. But his biggest problem is that 23% of likely Alaska voters don’t know who he is.
Bill Walker, the former governor who left the Republican Party and became a leftist undeclared candidate many years ago, has an approval rating of 38.4% and a disapproval rating of 43%. Just 5.6% of those answering the survey didn’t know who Walker is.
Charlie Pierce, a Republican from Sterling, has a high “who” factor, with 44% not knowing who he is.
According to the survey results, Dunleavy would win the first round of ranked-choice voting with 43.6% of the vote, not enough to win outright. Democrat Les Gara gets 28.3% and Bill Walker has just 21.2%,
For the second round, Charlie Pierce would have been eliminated and the Dunleavy/Dahlstrom ticket would be the beneficiary of most of those voters, ending up with 48.2%, while Gara would tick up to 29.1%, and Walker ticks up to 22.7.
For the third round, the Walker ticket would be eliminated, and most of those votes would go to Gara, but there would not be enough for Gara to overtake Dunleavy: Dunleavy and running mate Nancy Dahlstrom would win with 53.4%, to Gara’s 46.6%.
Walker has instructed his voters to vote for the Democrat ticket second, and at least in this survey, most of them are inclined to do so. Gara voters will likely return the favor and rank Walker second on their ballot. Both Walker and Gara support abortion on demand, and they’re both supported by dark money through the Alaska Center; both have been endorsed.
Who were the people who took the survey? About 1,400 people ages 18 and above who are likely Alaska voters. The mean age was 46 years old, while the average age of Alaskans is about 34.6. In 2020, 47.2% of these survey takers voted for Donald Trump for president, and 38% voted for Joe Biden. The actual number of Alaska voters who chose Trump in 2020 was 53%, with Biden getting 43% of the vote.
The most recent polling aggregate for approval/disapproval of Biden’s performance shows that 42.3% of Alaskans approve of him, and 54.6% disapprove of him, within the margin of error range reflecting the opinions of those who took the Alaska Survey Research Survey.
Evacuating hundreds of thousands of people from an impending disaster, as occurred in South Florida during Hurricane Ian this week, is hard enough with limited evacuation routes. There’s but one road out of Key West, and it takes hours to leave the Keys and get to the mainland. The challenge becomes daunting for those who own electric cars in places like Key West, Fort Myers, Port Charlotte, and Coral Gables, Florida.
The typical range for an electric car is just 200 miles. That would get a driver from Key West as far as Fort Lauderdale or from Fort Myers to Orlando. That is, if the driver isn’t stuck idling in traffic.
Florida, home to over 21.2 million people, doesn’t yet have enough charging stations to make it practical or for a majority of its people to evacuate in electric vehicles. The problem is compounded by power outages, such as the one that took power down for 2.6 million customers during the storm; days later, the power is still out for over one million Floridians.
“The 2020 Battery Electric Vehicle lineup features all-electric ranges between 123 and 402 miles, many older models have ranges under 100, which is not as practical for long distance highway travel,” a State of Florida report noted in 2020. “Despite the travel range increases, adequate infrastructure is still an issue, especially for those with EVs that have shorter travel ranges; a problem that seriously complicates planning for an evacuation.”
The problem is illustrated by the fact that there are only three public charging stations in Cape Coral, Fla., which was under evacuation orders for Hurricane Ian, and which is home to over 200,000 Floridians. Florida has fewer than 5,700 charging stations for its electric vehicles, which total over 200,000 this year, a number that increased 56% from July 2021.
“With the threat of a hurricane, EV drivers cannot spare much time to stop and charge their vehicles. Level 1 and 2 charging stations, which take hours to fully charge an EV’s battery, are not adequate for evacuation travel. Alternatively, DCFC stations can charge many batteries to 80 percent capacity in a half hour or less. EV charging lengths vary depending on the model and charger type, but even the quickest chargers take over three times the amount of time it takes to fuel a gasoline vehicle,” according to the 2020 report from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, linked below.
To be clear, even if someone is driving a gas-powered vehicle, he may have limited range if caught in a traffic jam, and if the power is out, drivers might not be able to find a gas station that has working pumps and electronic payment systems. But typically, a small SUV can go for about 480 miles on a tank of gas, more than double the range of an electric vehicle.
The short ranges that electric cars have in Alaska is even more of a challenge, because of long distances, remote areas, and the fact that cold weather affects battery life. There are few charging stations available across the state. Anchorage has 64 charging stations, including two DC fast chargers, while Juneau has 23 charging stations.
The distance from Kenai to Anchorage is 158 miles, which means drivers need to leave the peninsula fully charged, just in case they get stuck in a traffic snarl, as often happens along the Seward Highway.
But while cold weather is one challenge, even in hot weather the range for batteries can be taxed because of the need to turn up the air conditioning in a vehicle that is idling in congested traffic, such as occurs during mass evacuations. For Floridians on Friday, the main north-south corridor of I-75 was suddenly shut down in both directions because of rising water from the Myakka River, which runs under an interstate bridge. People were stuck in their vehicles for several hours.
Mayor Dave Bronson, on advice from city attorneys, says the Golden Lion Hotel is not a legal location for a homeless shelter, and even using it for so-called “transitional housing” would need a parking variance and permitting. All of that would take time.
The city’s Department of Law released a memorandum outlining multiple challenges to using the Golden Lion, which the Anchorage Assembly has asked to be used as a homeless shelter. On Friday, the Centennial Campground was closed as a homeless encampment for the winter. Over the summer, the city allowed homeless people to live there without having to pay a fee, and brought in sanitation, safety patrols, clean up crews, and maintenance to keep the place orderly and safe. With winter coming, homeless will be sent back out to fend for themselves, unless something changes. Plans from the mayor’s office and plans from the Assembly have been in conflict for many months and are at what seems to be an impasse.
The Anchorage Assembly’s proposed use of the Golden Lion for housing, is not allowable per the Emergency Cold Weather Shelter Plan (Municipal Code 16.120)
The Golden Lion does not meet municipal zoning and building laws for the use proposed by the Anchorage Assembly.
The use proposed for the Golden Lion by the Anchorage Assembly puts the Municipality of Anchorage at risk of discrimination and violation of state and federal housing laws.
“I look forward to having further discussions with the Anchorage Assembly,” said Mayor Dave Bronson.
The Department of Law memorandum can be found at this link.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy today signed Administrative Order No. 340, creating the Office of Energy Innovation to address the evolving energy needs of Alaska.
The order is issued amid recent destabilizing global events that have illustrated the importance of energy independence and with recognition of the positive economic impacts that come from domestic energy production.
The Office of Energy Innovation, operating within the Office of the Governor, will develop policies to support the centralization of the state’s efforts to provide safe, sustainable, affordable, and reliable energy resources for all Alaskans.
The Office of Energy Innovation is formed with the purpose of developing policies that enable Alaska to capitalize on its vast energy potential to lower cost of energy and enhance the stability of energy delivered to Alaskans; to collaborate with public and private institutions to develop pragmatic, market-driven solutions; to assist all communities in accessing innovative technology and necessary funding to secure low cost reliable energy; and support efforts that enhance Alaska’s role in a national clean energy future through the development of a strong and responsible critical minerals mining program and the investment in emerging energy technologies.
“Alaska is an energy giant in all its forms. We’ll continue to be an oil and gas giant, but we are all in for every form of energy – wind, solar, hydro, tidal, geothermal, micronuclear, and hydrogen. The Office of Energy Innovation will coordinate this pursuit of sustainable, dependable, and affordable energy,” Dunleavy said. “From AEA’s electric vehicle charging station plan to the U.S. Air Force this week releasing a RFP for the Eielson Air Force Base micro-reactor pilot program, Alaska has seen a number of exciting developments recently. This is an exciting time for energy and the Office of Energy Innovation will make sure we don’t miss a single opportunity to support Alaska’s energy independence.”
Dunleavy announced the Office of Energy Innovation at Alaska Energy Authority in Anchorage, alongside Department of Natural Resources Acting Commissioner Akis Gialopsos, AEA Executive Director Curtis Thayer, President & CEO John Burns of Golden Valley Electric Association, CEO Tony Izzo of Matanuska Electric Association, Associate Vice Chancellor Gwen Holdmann of University of Alaska, and President Frank Richards of Alaska Gasline Development Corporation.
“Alaskans need energy supplies that are stable and secure,” Commissioner Gialopsos said. “A coordinated effort under Governor Dunleavy’s Office is a tremendous step forward that focuses agencies’ efforts on Alaska becoming a leader in both carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and building the critical minerals of this state and nation.”
“As the State’s energy office, we are committed to ensuring that all Alaskans have access to safe, reliable, affordable energy,” Thayer said. “This Administrative Order builds on and reaffirms the work that the State of Alaska has already undertaken with our partners here today, and will contribute to economic growth and job creation, as we accelerate our transition to a clean energy economy.”
“Alaska has tremendous capacity to produce clean and affordable hydrogen in the form of ammonia to meet the growing demand from Alaskans and world markets. The Alaska LNG project can deliver North Slope natural gas to re-start existing and jump start future ammonia production in Nikiski,” said Richards of AGDC.“Governor Dunleavy’s new Office of Energy Innovation will foster vital collaboration between numerous Alaska stakeholders to craft a versatile and innovative energy future for Alaska and the nations around the world who look to us for energy abundance and security.”
The order takes effect immediately and will utilize existing personnel and resources within the Office of the Governor.
A fresh poll from Alaska Survey Research shows that congressional candidate Sarah Palin still has a high negative rating among most Alaska voters and it’s hurting the chances Republicans have for winning back the congressional seat in November from the Democrats. Even though 60% of voters chose a Republican in the special general election to replace the late Congressman Don Young, Democrat Mary Peltola won with 40%.
Now, voters must choose who will have the seat starting in January and for the next two years.
Over 65% of those surveyed said they have a somewhat or very negative view of Palin, Alaska’s former governor. She does worse with voters than even President Joe Biden, who is has a 59% negative rating among those surveyed. 36% of those surveyed had positive opinions of Biden, but less than 31% had positive opinions of Palin.
Palin also fares worse on this poll than former President Donald Trump in terms of negatives. 56% of Alaskans surveyed in the poll have a somewhat or very negative view of Trump.
Palin also is worse off in the ratings than Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who is rated poorly by 50% of those polled. Palin does worse than Bill Walker, who Palin endorsed for governor in 2014; Walker has a 43% negative rating, and a 5.6% “who?” factor.
As for Republican congressional candidate Nick Begich, he has a 40.6% negative rating and 42% positive rating.
The poll also shows that 54% view Congresswoman Mary Peltola positively (27% negatively) and nearly 49% of voters would rank Peltola in the first round of ranked choice voting. That’s nearly enough to win outright. Candidates need to reach 50+1 to win without having to go to a second round of voting.
Begich comes in with the second-most first place votes, with nearly 27% choosing him first. Palin drops to 24% first-place votes, and Chris Bye, the Libertarian, gets 2.4% in this poll.
When Bye is eliminated for the second round of vote redistribution, Peltola reaches nearly 50%, with Begich at 26.3% and Palin at 24% This shows that some of Bye’s voters are choosing Peltola second on their ballots, but there are not many votes of his to redistribute.
In Round 3, if Palin is eliminated, Peltola reaches 54.3% and wins, with Begich ending up with 45.7%, meaning that many of Palin’s voters are going over to Peltola to give her the win.
In the Round 3 hypothetical, if Begich was eliminated, Peltola wins with 56.4% of the vote and Palin ends up with 43.6%, which shows that many of Begich voters are not choosing Palin second, but are going with Peltola second.
The statewide survey was conducted Sept. 25-27. While Alaska Survey Research has had variable results in polling of past races, the polling company has, this year, nailed the Alaska congressional race, even with the wild card of ranked choice voting, which has never been used in Alaska until this year.
The survey sampled 1,403 Alaska adults ages 18 and older, and it was a poll conducted via text, which could mean the poll skews young for who the actual voters will be in the November election.
The survey also shows that Peltola, who was a relatively unknown name among most voters just six months ago, is enjoying a honeymoon period as Alaska’s first Native and first woman member of Congress. Only 7.4% of those surveyed did not know who she is.
The challenge for Republicans is whether the voters that prefer Sarah Palin or Nick Begich will rank the other Republican second. It’s the only way Republicans have to win the seat back from the Democrats, who were able to use ranked choice voting to their advantage in August to flip Alaska’s congressional seat blue.
Congressional candidate Nick Begich continues to campaign hard, and was the host of a free pasta feed at the Palmer Train Depot, where he offered face painting and prizes for kids. About 200 people showed up. Spotted were Wasilla Mayor Glenda Ledford, Mat-Su Borough Mayor Edna DeVries, Senate Majority Leader Shelley Hughes, Kathy McCollum, Stu Graham, Curtis Thayer, and lots of people from the Mighty Mat-Su. Valley and Mat-Su Republican Women’s Clubs served as volunteers. Begich is the only candidate endorsed by the Alaska Republicans.
Begich has an event at Donut King in Wasilla at 10 am on Saturday, and another event at Little Italy Restaurante in Anchorage on Monday, from 5:30-7 pm, co-hosted by Loren Leman, former lieutenant governor and a bunch of others.
Sarah Palin, with an endorsement from Log Cabin Republicans, was the subject of a LGBTQNation story.
Congresswoman Mary Peltola has campaign help from movie star Mark Hamill, who calls Sarah Palin “Darth Palin” in mass text messages going to phones all over Alaska:
Ad gaffe: In her latest ad where she talks about needing to develop Alaska resources, Mary Peltola uses images from one of Alaska’s dead mines, the Independence Mine in the Talkeetna Mountains, which dates back to the 1897 golf rush era. It’s now a National Park historic site. Too much irony, not enough truth. (Clarification for readers who are trying to correct this story, it is officially a on the National Register of Historic Places).
Debate schedule: KTUU’s Debate for the State schedule:
AK gubernatorial debate – Wednesday, Oct. 19
US House debate – Wednesday, Oct. 26
US Senate debate – Thursday, Oct. 27
Media watch: David Siders from Politico is incoming on Friday to do a piece on the Alaska congressional campaign.
Don’t do this: Huhnkie Lee, former candidate for U.S. Senate (with 237 votes in most recent run), and State Senate, has the weirdest social media judgment of any candidate we’ve ever seen, with lots of hateful references to blacks and gays. He seems to have astrange sense of humor.
But now, Nazi insignia and KKK? Is this even funny?
Local elections take place across many communities in Alaska this coming week, ending Oct. 4.
For Juneau, it’s an all-mail-in election, plus drop boxes. Juneau residents don’t have a lot of choice in candidates. None on the Assembly is challenged, and there are only two school board candidates, but there are also only two seats to fill, so they will both win as well.
More interesting is the ballot propositions. Prop. 1 is a $35 million bond to build a new city hall. Prop. 2 would allow the city to borrow up to $6.6 million for improvements to parks and recreation facilities. Prop. 3 continues the “temporary” 1% sales tax for another five years for the total of 5% sales tax, which is just keeping things as they are. The 1% add-on sales tax would have retired in September of 2023. The sample ballot is here.
Meanwhile, a Juneau teacher using school resources to get more sign-wavers out this weekend? Evidently you can get community service hours as a student for waving political signs that agree with your teacher:
Fairbanks residents in the municipality have choices for City Council and School Board. The sample ballot is here.
A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Anna Gabrielian, age 36, and her husband, Jamie Lee Henry, age 39, both of Rockville, Maryland, with conspiracy and for the disclosure of individually identifiable health information related to assisting Russia in connection with the conflict in Ukraine.
The indictment was returned on Sept. 28, 2022 and unsealed Sept. 29, upon the arrest of the two defendants.
Gabrielian was scheduled to have initial appearance at 11:30 a.m. Thursday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brendan A. Hurson. Henry was also expected to have an initial appearance on Thursday.
Henry is the nation’s first transgender Army major. Henry, a Major in the United States Army, held a secret-level security clearance, and is Gabrielian’s husband and is a doctor. During the time of the alleged conspiracy, Henry worked as a staff internist stationed at Fort Bragg. Henry has been treating soldier patients for over 17 years.
Gabrielian is an anesthesiologist and worked at Medical Institution 1, located in Baltimore, Maryland.
The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office
The two are accused of using their secret security clearance at Fort Bragg to steal records from the base hospital. The base is the home to the U.S. Army’s Delta Force and Special Operations Forces, also known as Green Berets. It’s also home to the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps. The base houses about 52,000 active duty warriors and is one of the largest military communities in the world.
Shortly after becoming a major, Henry participated in a gay pride event in 2015.
According to the eight-count indictment, Gabrielian and Henry conspired to cause harm to the United States by providing confidential health information of Americans associated with the United States government and military to Russia.
Specifically, the indictment alleges that beginning on Aug. 17, 2022, Gabrielian and Henry conspired to provide ‘Individually Identifiable Health Information’ related to patients at “Medical Institution 1” and at Fort Bragg to an individual whom they believed to be working for the Russian government in order to demonstrate the level of Gabrielian’s and Henry’s access to individually identifiable health information of Americans; their willingness to provide that information to the Russian government; and the potential for the Russian government to gain insights into the medical conditions of individuals associated with the United States government and military in order to exploit this information.
Gabrielian and Henry met with an individual they believed to be associated with the Russian government, but who was, in fact, a Federal Bureau of Investigation undercover agent, in order to convey to the agent their commitment to aid Russia, and to discuss ways in which they could help the Russian government.
Gabrielian told the agent that she had previously reached out to the Russian embassy by email and phone, offering Russia her and her husband’s assistance.
Gabrielian told the agent that, although Henry knew of Gabrielian’s interaction with the Russian Embassy, she never mentioned Henry’s name to the Russian Embassy. Gabrielian wanted to make sure Henry could deny any knowledge of her actions.
On Aug. 17, 2022, Gabrielian met with the undercover agent at a hotel in Baltimore. During that meeting, Gabrielian told the agent she was motivated by patriotism toward Russia to provide any assistance she could to Russia, even if it meant being fired or going to jail.
Gabrielian proposed potential cover stories for meeting the agent and stressed the need for “plausible deniability” in the event she was confronted by American authorities about meeting with the agent. Gabrielian also told the agent that, as a military officer, Henry was currently a more important source for Russia than she was, because he had more helpful information, including how the United States military establishes an army hospital in war conditions and information about previous training provided by the United States military to Ukrainian military personnel. Gabrielian arranged to meet with the agent and Henry later that evening.
At about 8:10 p.m. that evening, the indictment alleges that Gabrielian and Henry met with the agent in the agent’s hotel room. During the meeting, Henry explained to the agent he was committed to assisting Russia and had looked into volunteering to join the Russian Army after the conflict in Ukraine began, but Russia wanted people with “combat experience” and he did not have any.
Henry told the agent, “the way I am viewing what is going on in Ukraine now, is that the United States is using Ukrainians as a proxy for their own hatred toward Russia.”
Henry and Gabrielian allegedly offered to provide the agent with private medical records from the United States Army and Medical Institution 1 in order to help the Russian government. During the meeting, Gabrielian demanded that if she were put at significant risk of arrest, she wanted her and Henry’s children to, “have a nice flight to Turkey to go on vacation because I don’t want to end in jail here with my kids being hostages over my head.”
Henry also indicated that he was concerned about passing a background check for his security clearance, telling the agent, “I don’t want to know your name … because I want plausible deniability, too. In a security clearance situation they want to know names and people and all this stuff.”
As detailed in the indictment, a few days later Gabrielian and the UC again met at the hotel in Baltimore to discuss providing Army medical records to the UC. Gabrielian told the UC that Henry was concerned about violating HIPAA, but Gabrielian had no such concerns.
Gabrielian stated that she would check with Henry about providing medical records from Fort Bragg patients and get back in touch. The next day, Gabrielian sent a text to the agent, using coded language, to advise that Henry would provide Army medical records to the agent. On Aug. 31, 2022, Gabrielian and Henry allegedly met the agent at a hotel room in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
According to the indictment, Gabrielian provided the agent with health information related to two individuals, including the spouse of an employee of the Office of Naval Intelligence, whom Gabrielian pointed out had a medical condition Russia could “exploit.”
Henry also allegedly provided health information related to five individuals who were military veterans or related to military veterans.
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy, and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for each count of disclosing IIHI. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
