2 Former Twitter Employees Charged With Spying For Saudi Arabia

Federal authorities have charged two former employees at Twitter with spying for Saudi Arabia. This is believed to be the first time the U.S. Government has publicly accused the kingdom of spying in the United States.<br/><br/>

Thursday, November 7th 2019, 8:17 am

By: News On 6, Rachel Roberts

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2 Former Twitter Employees Charged With Spying For Saudi Arabia

Federal authorities have charged two former employees at Twitter with spying for Saudi Arabia.

This is believed to be the first time the U.S. Government has publicly accused the kingdom of spying in the United States.

Prosecutors accused the two former Twitter employees of spying on more than 6, 000 Twitter accounts for money.

U.S. citizen Ahmad Abouammo has been arrested. And authorities say a Saudi citizen, Ali Al-zabarha, fled the country.

According to the Washington Post, one of the accounts accessed belonged to a dissident who later became close to Jamal Khashoggi, the Post columnist and Saudi dissident who was killed by Saudi agents last year.

The men are accused of working with a Saudi official who leads a charitable organization that is owned by the country's leader, and who U.S. intelligence believe approved the operation to kill Khashoggi.

Twitter tells CBS news it is cooperating with the FBI.

Rachel Roberts

Rachel Roberts joined the News On 6 team in 2018. She is the Alert Desk reporter and Noon Show producer. As a fifth generation Oklahoman, Rachel is passionate about this great state and the people in it. She earned a Master of Arts in Sports Broadcasting

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