Independent presidential candidate Mircea Geoană stated on Tuesday evening that he does not know who Tal Hanan is, the man whom USR President Elena Lasconi accuses him of recently meeting.
Lasconi said that Tal Hanan is „an individual who coordinates a very large team of hackers, troll farms, disinformation, an individual who manipulated elections in over 30 countries worldwide.”
What Lasconi said and how Geoană responded
"Why did you recently meet with Tal Hanan, also known as Jorge? For those who do not know who Tal Hanan is, he is an individual who coordinates a very large team of hackers, troll farms, disinformation, an individual who manipulated elections in over 30 countries worldwide," Elena Lasconi asked Mircea Geoană on Tuesday evening during the electoral debate organized by Antena 3.
In response, Geoană claimed that he does not know who this person is, and this kind of question seems to be posed by "Petrov," the name under which Traian Băsescu collaborated with the Securitate: "It seems that he has Petrov as a new advisor. It sounds too much like the old style, the old style."
Immediately after Mircea Geoană's statement, Elena Lasconi posted on Facebook several images that, she said, prove the meeting between Geoană and Hanan. According to her, "one of the photos shows Tal HANAN in front of the Aspen Institute headquarters in Bucharest, of which Mircea Geoană is the founding president."
The Guardian: Tal Hanan, the man who manipulates elections
Tal Hanan, known as Jorge, is an Israeli businessman and former officer of the Israeli special forces. He leads a team of hackers operating under the code name "Team Jorge," which manipulates elections globally, according to an investigation published last year by the British newspaper The Guardian.
"Team Jorge" controls a vast "army" of fake profiles on social media platforms and sells its services worldwide, including election manipulation, spreading false information, online sabotage, and disinformation.
Hanan and his team explained to undercover journalists how they can obtain compromising information about political rivals, including through hacking methods to break into Gmail and Telegram accounts. They claimed they could plant false materials in newsrooms to amplify them with special computer programs.
The "Team Jorge" members said they accept various forms of payment and currencies, including crypto, and the fee for interfering in elections ranges from 6 to 15 million euros.
Tal Hanan claimed that his team was involved in 33 presidential elections, out of which 27 were concluded "successfully."
The investigative journalism obtained evidence that Aims was used in false campaigns on social media, many of them commercial disputes, in over 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Senegal, India, and the United Arab Emirates.