SAN FRANCISCO — Was he a crafty spy who traveled the world to fulfill together with his handlers and established a shell firm to cover his cash? Or was he a dutiful Twitter worker who dealt with requests from V.I.P. customers and have become a scapegoat when the federal government allowed the true spies to slide by means of its fingertips?
These are the central questions within the trial that started on Thursday for Ahmad Abouammo, a former Twitter worker accused of spying on customers on behalf of Saudi Arabia. In 2019, Mr. Abouammo was arrested and charged with committing wire fraud and appearing as an agent of a international authorities with out disclosing that work.
In opening statements in federal courtroom in San Francisco, the Justice Division described Mr. Abouammo as an agent of Saudi Arabia who had used his inner entry to dig up the non-public data of dissidents on Twitter. He needed cash and proximity to energy, prosecutors stated. However attorneys for Mr. Abouammo argued that he had referred to as up customers’ data as a part of his regular duties and had not offered it to Saudi officers.
“Energy. Greed. Lies. This would be the story advised by the proof,” stated Colin Sampson, an assistant U.S. lawyer.
Mr. Abouammo maintained a detailed relationship with Bader Binasaker, who was a prime adviser of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the federal government stated. Prosecutors displayed a photograph of Mr. Abouammo and Mr. Binasaker standing in entrance of a picket sculpture of the Twitter brand throughout a tour of the corporate’s San Francisco headquarters. The lads additionally met in London, the place Mr. Binasaker gave Mr. Abouammo a luxurious watch.
“He needed to recruit a mole,” Mr. Sampson stated of Mr. Binasaker. After receiving the watch, Mr. Abouammo started trying up details about a pseudonymous Twitter account that was essential of the Saudi authorities, Mr. Sampson stated.
When he give up his job at Twitter in 2015, Mr. Abouammo related Mr. Binasaker with one other worker, Ali Alzabarah, who would proceed sharing dissidents’ data, prosecutors stated. He additionally contacted different Twitter staff to cross alongside requests from Saudi officers.
However attorneys for Mr. Abouammo argued that he had been entitled to have a look at account data as a part of his job at Twitter, and that he had not identified about Mr. Binasaker’s affiliation with the Saudi authorities.
His actions have been “fully authorized, fully correct and, most significantly, a part of Mr. Abouammo’s job,” stated Jerome Matthews, a federal public defender who represents Mr. Abouammo.
Twitter directed Mr. Abouammo to look into complaints concerning the pseudonymous Twitter account, a critic of the Saudi authorities often known as Mujtahidd, Mr. Matthews stated. The federal government had no proof that Mr. Abouammo handed details about the account to Mr. Binasaker, he added.
“There’s an enormous distinction between an account after which offering details about it to somebody,” Mr. Matthews stated.
Whereas Mr. Abouammo spoke with regulation enforcement officers who questioned him about his involvement with Mr. Binasaker, his former co-worker Mr. Alzabarah fled the nation, Mr. Matthews stated.
In 2018, The New York Occasions reported that Western intelligence officers had suspected Mr. Alzabarah was working with the Saudis in 2015 and warned Twitter executives about it. Mr. Abouammo’s former boss, Katie Stanton, testified that she texted the article to Mr. Abouammo when it was printed.
“I did know Ali Alzabarah,” Mr. Abouammo wrote again. “Truthfully by no means suspected him however how this reads, is smart. Appears that this began after I left. Unsure.”
Ms. Stanton additionally testified that, whereas he labored at Twitter, Mr. Abouammo had emailed her to say he was constructing a “sturdy relationship” with the group of Prince Mohammed.
Legal professionals for Mr. Abouammo identified that different Twitter staff responded to the e-mail thread, praising Mr. Abouammo for his work and elevating no alarms. In addition they questioned Ms. Stanton about her personal connections with Saudi royalty, together with Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a major investor in Twitter.
Ms. Stanton stated that in her time working at Twitter, she attended a taco buffet dinner at Prince Alwaleed’s property, took a camel experience and accepted a present bag from him. “It was a bag of articles about himself. He had a e book about himself after which quite a few inserts about himself,” Ms. Stanton stated. “It was in an enormous inexperienced bag with a brand of the Saudi Arabian authorities.”
One other Twitter government spoke concerning the significance of Twitter to dissidents.
“Partially as a result of Twitter doesn’t require you to make use of your actual title, Twitter is ceaselessly utilized by individuals engaged in dissent and political criticism,” stated Yoel Roth, the pinnacle of security and integrity at Twitter. “That’s a outstanding use of our service by numerous individuals world wide.”
In 2014 and 2015, throughout Mr. Abouammo’s tenure at Twitter, about six million individuals in Saudi Arabia used the social media service, making up about 4 % of its customers worldwide, the Justice Division stated.
The trial is anticipated to proceed for about two weeks.
