Joel Zamel

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Joel Zamel (born 1986) is an

White Knight, and Psy-Group, an agency specializing in counter-extremism activities and social media operations.[1][2][3][4][5]

Early life and education

Joel Zamel was born in Australia in 1986,[4] the son of Gary Zamel, a wealthy Australian mining engineer and businessman[3] predominantly related to coal, nickel and copper mining and previous Director of the Australian Israel Chamber of Commerce. Gary Zamel also has done work for his son's company Wikistrat.[6][7] Zamel attended the

Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, specializing in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security graduating with a master's degree in government, Diplomacy and Strategy.[2][3] He's a member of the Central Eurasia Leadership Alliance (CELA) network.[8]

Career

Joel Zamel gained widespread visibility and public attention in 2018, after a number of media sources reported about Wikistrat during

Special Counsel investigation
. Zamel is the founder of a number of private intelligence and political analysis agencies including Wikistrat, a geostrategic consultancy firm, White Knight (a successor company to the now inactive firm known as Psy-Group).

Zamel's agencies have a broad network of analysts consisting primarily of former government officials and private experts. He is also an active investor in the cybersecurity sector, especially for those firms with a focus on CVE efforts.[9] He is reported to have established various social media influence companies based in Eastern Europe and Asia, and is known to have formed a close advisory team of renowned former senior government officials who served at upper levels of government in the U.S., UK and Middle East.[2][10]

In 2015 Zamel's Wikistrat spent a week running scenarios called the "Cyber Mercenaries project" on how a U.S. election interference campaign could be made by Russian cyber actors, which was later reported to Donald Trump Jr in 2016.[11]

On August 3, 2016, Zamel participated in a high-level meeting with Donald Trump Jr., Erik Prince, Stephen Miller and George Nader. This was followed by a post inauguration meeting in December 2016 with George Nader, Steve Bannon former vice president of Cambridge Analytica,[12] and Jared Kushner[13][14]

After the 2016 Trump election win, Zamel's company Psy Group formed a partnership with Cambridge Analytica to jointly bid for contracts with the American Government.[15] In December 2016, George Nader used WhiteKnight, based in the Philippines, to purchase a presentation demonstrating the impact of social media campaigns on Donald Trump's electoral victory.[13]

Zamel had first met Nader at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2016.[4] In November 2016 George Nader paid Zamel $2M for undisclosed reasons.[16][4] Prince then lied about it to congress.[17]

The meeting with Trump was later scrutinised by Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation and subsequent investigations into his links to Trump officials, which continued after the Mueller investigation finished.[13][18] Zamel's meetings with Saudi officials was also scrutinised by Mueller.[19]

In February 2019, federal agents detained Zamel at a Washington airport and he appeared before a grand jury to give evidence to Robert Mueller about his links to George Nader.[13][20][3] Zamel bragged to Nader that he had conducted a secret campaign which had been influential in Trump's victory, a characterisation which Zamel's lawyer has disputed.[4][11] Zamel also had contact with Michael Flynn.[21]

On April 5, 2019, the Senate Intelligence Committee sends letter to

Orbis Business Intelligence (a firm co-founded by Christopher Steele). Soriano has links to Oleg Deripaska.[22]

Zamel's firms have completed work for Oleg V. Deripaska and Dmitry Rybolovlev.[13]

Zamel has been represented by Marc Mukasey, who specialises in reputation protection.

Eddie Gallagher a soldier accused of committing war crimes.[25]

Beliefs

Zamel believes Bitcoin is a “truth machine protected by a fortress of misconceptions.” [26]

Zamel believes in information operations as an underutilized tool for countering extremist ideologies. He believes “dictators are beating the West when it comes to sophisticated information operations.” [27] Has advocated for “exploiting the frequent protest movements in Iran and the ever-present disgust with the regime through covert on-the-ground and digital support”.[28]

See also

  • Psy-Group
  • Mueller Report
  • Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2018)
  • Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2019)

References

  1. ^ Joel Zamel Private Investment Group, retrieved 2020-01-21
  2. ^ a b c Sommer, Allison Kaplan (2018-05-21). "Who Is Joel Zamel, the Australian-Israeli Linked to Mueller's Trump Probe?". Haaretz. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  3. ^ a b c d Rosemary Bolger, Leesha McKenny (22 May 2018). "The Australian caught up in Mueller's US election probe". SBS News. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  4. ^ a b c d e Farrow, Adam EntousRonan (2019-02-18). "Private Mossad for Hire". www.newyorker.com. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  5. ^ Rawnsley, Erin Banco|Adam (2019-02-12). "Swiss Mystery Company Is at the Heart of a Mueller Puzzle". Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  6. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  7. ^ "Our Board Outcomes Australia". www.outcomesaustralia.com.au. Archived from the original on 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  8. ^ "CELA 8 BIOGRAPHIES" (PDF). celanetwork.org. 2011.
  9. ^ Liebkind, Joe (October 17, 2019). "The Crucial Role of Powerbrokers in International Affairs". International Policy Digest. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  10. ^ Stedman, Scott; Hulvalchik, Alex; DeNault, Bobby; Levai, Eric; Gonzales Jr., Xavier; Cobb, Adrienne; Coleman, Jess (October 22, 2019). "Israeli private intelligence firm claimed recruitment of Khashoggi prior to murder (Financial Structure Section)". Forensic News. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  11. ^ a b Banco, Erin (2019-01-16). "Rick Gates Tells Mueller About Trump Team's Dealings With Israeli Intelligence Firm". Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  12. ^ Illing, Sean (2017-10-16). "Cambridge Analytica, the shady data firm that might be a key Trump-Russia link, explained". Vox. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  13. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  14. ^ Danner, Chas (2018-05-20). "Beyond Russia: Understanding the New Trump Campaign Collusion Story". Intelligencer. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  15. ISSN 0099-9660
    . Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  16. ^ "QAnon is an Attack on Democracy and Must Be Eliminated". Phil Davis. 20 January 2021.
  17. ^ Fmr. Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Gets Called Out For Apparently Lying, MSNBC, 12. March 2019
  18. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  19. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  20. ^ "Mueller Asked About Money Flows to Israeli Social-Media Firm, Source Says". Bloomberg.com. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  21. ^ Klippenstein, Ken (2018-06-04). "Inside Wikistrat, the Mysterious Intelligence Firm Now in Mueller's Sights". Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  22. ^ Jackman, Tom; Hsu, Spencer S. (April 5, 2019). "Appeals court in D.C. rules judges may not create exceptions to grand-jury secrecy rules". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 12, 2019. [verification needed]
  23. ^ "Marc L. Mukasey and Partners Announce Formation of Mukasey Frenchman & Sklaroff LLP, a Boutique Trial Law Firm". AP NEWS. 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  24. ^ "One Of Donald Trump's New Attorneys Recently Left His Global Law Firm". BuzzFeed News. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  25. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  26. ^ "Bitcoin's endgame: Why sovereign investment offers the final layer of legitimacy". October 2021.
  27. ^ "Information Operations are Critical to Defending Western Civilization". 2 August 2021.
  28. ^ "In Absence of Soft Warfare, National Security Policy Will Continue to Fail Against Global Threats – Analysis". 15 December 2021.
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