RED FLAGS

Tech Firm Hired by Rubio Landed Deals for 10 Years Despite Alleged Russia Ties

The group behind Oxygen Forensics allegedly makes much of its software in Russia and has sold its systems to the Kremlin.

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A scandal-hit spy tech firm hired by Marco Rubio has been landing government contracts for 10 years since concerns were first raised about its alleged ties to the Kremlin. The Justice Department charged Oxygen Forensics CEO Lee Reiber, 55, last month with allegedly trying to hide how the Virginia-based group was owned and controlled by Russian nationals. Prosecutors claim that Oxygen, which has long supplied phone-hacking tech to U.S. defense, law enforcement, and national security agencies, developed much of its software in Russia and sold versions of those systems to Vladimir Putin’s spies. But government records reviewed by PunchUp, the Daily Beast’s sister Substack, now show that federal investigators raised the alarm about Oxygen more than a decade before the DOJ finally brought charges against Reiber. We reported last week that under Rubio, the State Department even awarded Oxygen a new $50,000 contract this summer, at least six months after renewed concerns about the firm’s ownership began circulating among federal officials, and just weeks before Reiber was arrested. The company has secured at least $2 million in government contracts since concerns first surfaced in 2016, according to public procurement documents. Those deals were struck under both the Biden and Trump administrations.

Tom Latchem exposes the secrets, scandals, and stories that powerful people and institutions want to keep under wraps. Follow all of his reporting at PunchUp on Substack.

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