Hello folks. It has taken me awhile to come to grips with what happened recently in Brooklyn. The first version I heard was that an SS agent had left a laptop with sensitive information in plain sight on the seat of her car in Brooklyn. Someone broke into the car and stole it. (She said than someone broke into her car.) I had a mental image of a SS agent parking a big black SS Cadillac Escalade on the street to go into a cafe, then bad luck, a common criminal commits an opportunistic crime. Sorry, fake news, not what happened at all. What did happen blew my mind.
The key is the NY Post article:
http://nypost.com/2017/03/17/secret-service-hunts-for-stolen-laptop-with-trump-tower-floor-plans/
"The thief drove up to Argentieri’s home around 8:40 a.m., walked right up to her Bajaj motorcycle and took the items. He was then caught on video fleeing the scene on foot, sources said." Ok, how does one "break into" a motorcycle? How does one leave a laptop on the seat? The vehicle in question in a Bajaj Qute. This is a 4 wheeled tuk tuk with plastic sheeting for windows. In the US it is licensed as a motorcycle, not a car. There are no door locks, it is impossible to lock this vehicle, therefore, no "break in" is required:
http://www.bajajauto.com/bajajqute/
I won't even try to wrap my head around why anyone living in the NE of the USA would want to own such a vehicle. It has just 13.2 horsepower and is speed limited by a chip to 70 kph = 43.5 mph. There is no form of climate control, probably is not even particularly watertight, has no air bags of course. It would be a death trap in traffic with real cars and trucks. But, never mind that.
The NY Post article correctly identified the Bajaj Qute as a motorcycle, but their article also has fake news! The NY Post told us "The thief drove up to Argentieri’s home around 8:40 a.m., walked ..." Nope, wrong! While the Daily Mail failed to get the story on the vehicle, their description of the nature of the crime was better. "Surveillance footage reportedly shows the thief get out of a car, possibly an Uber, near the home. He is later seen walking away from the scene with a backpack." Ah, the thief did NOT drive there, he was driven there by someone else! He was not a random passerby, he had been given a time and a place to make the pickup.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4324702/Frantic-search-Secret-Servi.html
For more breadcrumbs (mixed with fake news) we go to the CBS local website. "Surveillance video possibly from the street shows a white man wearing dark clothing exit the back passenger side of what may be a Chevrolet Malibu after pulling up to the secret service agent’s street. The car then pulls up to victim’s house and stops with its hazard lights on. The man then exits from the back passenger side, sources said. Video does not show the actual break-in. The same individual is later seen carrying the agent’s bag walking on Bay 10th Street and Cropsey Avenue, sources said." Ok, the arrival of the "thief" is clearly shown by a street camera, he was dropped off at that exact address. But the report is also full of fake news. Argentieri’s 2015 Bajaj Qute quadcycle is falsely referred to as a car, and we are told there was a "break-in". But, we have already determined that one does not need to break into an unlockable four wheel tuk tuk.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/03/17/secret-service-agent-laptop-stolen/
Does anyone believe that one leaves a laptop with sensitive information in plain sight on the seat of their unlockable quadcycle by accident? Does anyone believe the "thief" just happened to ask a driver to drop him off at the very driveway where the laptop was waiting for him? If anyone believes this - I also own the Brooklyn Bridge and it is for sale. This is a classic dead drop. Argentieri passed the laptop to the courier (not thief) by prior arrangement.
Now we can float theories. Really they reduce to just two basic ideas:
1) Argentieri is a Trump loyalist acting under instructions to pass the laptop on to a wikileaks type operator to break through the FBI coverup of pedogate
or
2) Argentieri is a Clinton loyalist acting under instructions to pass the laptop on to a Clinton operative so Hillary's defense team can find out how much the investigators know
Personally, I think that theory 2 is considerably more likely. In which case, I hope that Argentieri is enjoying enhanced interrogation as a reward for her treason.
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Kiwi_Slave ago
"Marie Argentieri is 88 years old", either a name picked out of the phone book or the SS woman could have been named after her father's mother, not a rare event. I do think something happened (was staged) at the house in Brooklyn whether it was the actual home of an actual SS agent or not. I am a bit of a car buff and drive a 810 kg car not legal in the US. So I was shocked that Americans can buy the Bajaj Qute. The Qute is not even legal for personal use in India, only allowed as a commercial vehicle. The inclusion of the Bajaj in the story added a surreal element which drew me in.
PS: New Zealand has allowed mail deliveries from Paxsters - what amounts to a skinny golf cart: https://www.nzpost.co.nz/about-us/media-centre/media-release/first-of-500-electric-parcel-delivery-vehicles-arrive-in-nz But even here a Bajaj Qute would be beyond the pale
OutlawStriding ago
The posties are right, these do look like oversized fisher price toys...