It appears that Paris has tried to trap Telegram founder Pavel Durov for quite a while, Wall Street analyst and investigative journalist Charles Ortel told Sputnik, not ruling out that granting of the French citizenship to the Russian tech prodigy was part of the plan.
"It looks very much like a trap," Ortel said.
He also referred to the claim by the French newspaper, Le Canard Enchaine, that the Telegram founder came to Paris to dine with President Emmanuel Macron. The claim was rejected by the Elysee Palace.
This apparent plot to entrap Durov could have been initiated by Macron either at the behest of the US "deep state," or as the French president's attempt to "curry favor" with American deep state figures, according to the Wall Street analyst.
"The essence of the problem is simple: Deep State 'globalism' is a fundamentally flawed construct that enriches a tiny minority of connected insiders, and impoverishes the balance of the world," Ortel told Sputnik. "Those who play along pretending that unregulated, chaotic globalist plans are actually working are celebrated including the Clintons, Soros, Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg, Rupert Murdoch and people like Macron, Blair and Obama. Those who wish to punish corrupt globalist actors are targeted."
According to the Wall Street analyst, Macron is "a purveyor of trash talk". The analyst notes that platforms like Telegram are educating "the deluded mass audience," which could hold corrupt actors— including those within the deep state— accountable. Consequently, the deep state and its allies are targeting Durov's Telegram and other independent platforms, the analyst maintains.
How the French 'Trap' Ensnared Durov
On August 28, the Wall Street Journal reported that Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, had at least one dinner with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, during which the possibility of relocating Telegram's headquarters to France was discussed. Macron also allegedly put forward the offer of granting French citizenship to the Russian tech mogul.
According to the WSJ, this conversation took place in 2018. Interestingly, a year earlier, Durov had become the target of a French-Emirati intelligence operation code-named "Purple Music." Sources familiar with the situation revealed that Durov's iPhone was reportedly hacked by spies at that time.
In August 2021, Durov was granted French citizenship through "an exceptional and highly political procedure," as the French press described it in June 2023, calling it "a surprising choice on the part of the authorities."
That being said, it does not appear that the Russian national urgently required another foreign citizenship. Before obtaining a French passport, Durov became a citizen of the UAE. Additionally, he has held citizenship in Saint Kitts and Nevis since 2013. Likewise, there were no announcements that he planned to move the Telegram headquarters anywhere from Dubai where he has resided since 2017.
The Telegram CEO was arrested on August 24, immediately after his private jet landed at Paris’ Le Bourget airport.
When the Russian Embassy in France sent a note to the French authorities, requesting consular access to the detained Telegram founder, Paris made it clear that they arrested Durov as a French citizen. This is how the trap for Durov snapped shut, according to Russian diplomats.
"The problem is that… Pavel Durov has French citizenship. Accordingly, for Paris, for France, he is, first and foremost, a citizen of their country," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a press briefing on August 25.
The German press cited an unnamed investigator as saying that Durov had apparently been aware he was a wanted man in France which makes his flight to Paris "something of a surprise".
Le Canard Enchaine, however, cites Durov as saying that he was invited by the French president. If the Russian businessman believed he was invited by Macron there is nothing surprising in his decision to go to Paris.
According to Ortel, this situation speaks volumes about the French government. The Macron cabinet was lambasted by French politician and head of the Patriot Party, Florian Philippot: "Macron is perfectly capable of this kind of trickery, in order to fulfill the mission demanded by his masters: to jail all those who defend freedom of expression!"
Timing of Durov Arrest Serves as Key Point
Telegram insists it complies with the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which requires online companies to cooperate with authorities in countering the spread of illegal content on their platforms. Nonetheless, the Paris prosecutor's office claims Durov's platform could have enabled online criminality, including the spread of child pornography, drug trafficking and the sale of illegal encryption software.
Ortel suggests that the French authorities are deliberately trying to threaten Durov as much as possible to coerce him into submission. He drew parallels between the apparent intimidation of Durov and persecution of Donald Trump supporters and January Sixers in the US. The methods are almost the same, according to the analyst.
"As in the case of mass arrests for January 6, 2021 Washington, DC arrests and other persecutions of Trump and Trump allies, this is a bold attempt to squelch valid criticism of failed policies and corruption," he said.
He pointed out that Durov has been chased by US and Western allied intelligence services for years.
In July 2021, the Telegram founder revealed he had been on the list of the Israeli cyberintelligence firm, NSO Group, since at least 2018 as a person of interest for its government clients using the Pegasus spyware.
In April 2024, Durov told US journalist Tucker Carlson that he had been a target of the US intelligence service for some time and that one of his employees was approached by American cybersecurity officials who sought to create a backdoor in the encrypted Telegram app to spy on users.
The timing of Durov's arrest also suggests the US deep state connection, according to the analyst: it occurred prior to the 2024 election in the US which promises to be highly politicized and, probably, rigged. According to recent polls, many Americans fear election cheating this year. According to Ortel, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the Harris-Walz campaign.
"The Democrat plan for the 2024 election is a flagrant assault on Democracy and the Constitution," Ortel said. "Harris and Walz have been selected without receiving a single vote in any primary. They refuse to provide detailed policy prescriptions for their 'Administration.' They refuse to take real interviews to explain their backgrounds and plans."
Ortel pointed out that Harris and Walz's "accomplishments" in political offices appear disqualifying for the highest available American positions. He believes that "they and their handlers are trying to chill investigative inquiry, run out the clock avoiding the press, and then attempt to steal an election."
US Deep State Seeking Total Control of Social Media Prior to 2024 Election
Under these circumstances, the US deep state should have an almost complete control of the media and social platforms akin it had in 2020, when it managed to ban and isolate Donald Trump and his supporters over "election denial". Donald Trump and a majority of Republicans believe that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump.
Back in September 2020, US technology companies including Facebook*, Alphabet's Google, Microsoft Corp and Twitter met with US intelligence agencies "to discuss security strategies ahead of the November 2020 election," according to the Western press.
In October 2020, social media platforms quickly banned and removed credible information about Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, and his "laptop from hell" under the pretext it was a "Russian disinformation operation", and ostracized Trump and conservatives after the 2020 election.
Likewise, in spring 2024, reports emerged saying that key US federal agencies, including the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) resumed discussions with hi-tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Meta* over "foreign propaganda" and "disinformation removal."
In contrast to 2020, there are at least two "wild cards" now: Telegram and Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter). One needs to bear in mind that prior to Musk's acquiring Twitter, many conservatives switched to Telegram, after being banned by the Silicon Valley giant.
Ortel doesn't rule out that Musk would be subjected to the same sort of "sabotage" by the deep state prior to the 2024 election, as Durov.
"Chief beneficiaries in the American political class are running scared – the Obamas, the Clintons, the Biden’s and the Bushes – so they are playing every possible dirty trick," the Wall Street analyst said.
According to him, the real issues of the 2024 election are "turnout and stealing":
"Will enthusiastic Trump supporters overwhelm supporters of hapless Harris, and will it be possible in 2024 for Democrats to manufacture enough winning votes in swing states? We shall soon see in about 10 brief weeks," Ortel concluded.
24 December 2022, 12:41 GMT
*banned in Russia for extremism