Joel Zamel

Joel Zamel (born 1986) is an Australian-Israeli inventor, entrepreneur, owner and operator of private intelligence and political analysis agencies which offer forecasting simulations, wargaming, influence operations, social media campaigns, private investment brokering and election campaign strategy. Such firms include Wikistrat, a geostrategic consultancy firm, Joel Zamel Investment Group (JZIG), White Knight, and Psy-Group, an agency specializing in counter-extremism activities and social media operations.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Early life and education

Joel Zamel was born in Australia in 1986,^[4] the son of Gary Zamel, a wealthy Australian mining engineer and businessman^[3] predominantly related to coal, nickel and copper mining and previous Director of the Australian Israel Chamber of Commerce. Gary Zamel also has done work for his son's company Wikistrat.^[6][7] Zamel attended the University of New South Wales in Sydney, where he obtained a Bachelor of Mining Engineering and later moved to Israel studying at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, specializing in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security graduating with a master's degree in government, Diplomacy and Strategy.^[2][3] He's a member of the Central Eurasia Leadership Alliance (CELA) network.^[8]

Career

Joel Zamel gained widespread visibility and public attention in 2018, after a number of media sources reported about Wikistrat during Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation. Zamel is the founder of a number of private intelligence and political analysis agencies including Wikistrat, a geostrategic consultancy firm, White Knight (a successor company to the now inactive firm known as Psy-Group).

Zamel's agencies have a broad network of analysts consisting primarily of former government officials and private experts. He is also an active investor in the cybersecurity sector, especially for those firms with a focus on CVE efforts.^[9] He is reported to have established various social media influence companies based in Eastern Europe and Asia, and is known to have formed a close advisory team of renowned former senior government officials who served at upper levels of government in the U.S., UK and Middle East.^[2][10]

In 2015 Zamel's Wikistrat spent a week running scenarios called the "Cyber Mercenaries project" on how a U.S. election interference campaign could be made by Russian cyber actors, which was later reported to Donald Trump Jr in 2016.^[11]

On August 3, 2016, Zamel participated in a high-level meeting with Donald Trump Jr., Erik Prince, Stephen Miller and George Nader. This was followed by a post inauguration meeting in December 2016 with George Nader, Steve Bannon former vice president of Cambridge Analytica,^[12] and Jared Kushner^[13][14]

After the 2016 Trump election win, Zamel's company Psy Group formed a partnership with Cambridge Analytica to jointly bid for contracts with the American Government.^[15] In December 2016, George Nader used WhiteKnight, based in the Philippines, to purchase a presentation demonstrating the impact of social media campaigns on Donald Trump's electoral victory.^[13]

Zamel had first met Nader at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2016.^[4] In November 2016 George Nader paid Zamel $2M for undisclosed reasons.^[16][4] Prince then lied about it to congress.^[17]

The meeting with Trump was later scrutinised by Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation and subsequent investigations into his links to Trump officials, which continued after the Mueller investigation finished.^[13][18] Zamel's meetings with Saudi officials was also scrutinised by Mueller.^[19]

In February 2019, federal agents detained Zamel at a Washington airport and he appeared before a grand jury to give evidence to Robert Mueller about his links to George Nader.^[13][20][3] Zamel bragged to Nader that he had conducted a secret campaign which had been influential in Trump's victory, a characterisation which Zamel's lawyer has disputed.^[4][11] Zamel also had contact with Michael Flynn.^[21]

On April 5, 2019, the Senate Intelligence Committee sends letter to Walter Soriano the owner of USG Security Limited based in Britain for his communication with Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Psy-Group, Wikistrat, and Black Cube, Orbis Business Intelligence (a firm co-founded by Christopher Steele). Soriano has links to Oleg Deripaska.^[22]

Zamel's firms have completed work for Oleg V. Deripaska and Dmitry Rybolovlev.^[13]

Zamel has been represented by Marc Mukasey, who specialises in reputation protection.^[23] Mukasey, a former law partner of Rudy Giuliani, also had President Donald Trump as a client as well as Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, and the Trump Foundation in response to the civil lawsuit filed by the New York State Attorney General's Office.^[24] as well as Eddie Gallagher a soldier accused of committing war crimes.^[25]

Beliefs

Zamel believes Bitcoin is a “truth machine protected by a fortress of misconceptions.” ^[26]

Zamel believes in information operations as an underutilized tool for countering extremist ideologies. He believes “dictators are beating the West when it comes to sophisticated information operations.” ^[27] Has advocated for “exploiting the frequent protest movements in Iran and the ever-present disgust with the regime through covert on-the-ground and digital support”.^[28]

See also

• Psy-Group
• Mueller Report
• Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2018)
• Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2019)

References

1. Joel Zamel Private Investment Group, retrieved 2020-01-21
2. Sommer, Allison Kaplan (2018-05-21). "Who Is Joel Zamel, the Australian-Israeli Linked to Mueller's Trump Probe?". Haaretz. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
3. Rosemary Bolger, Leesha McKenny (22 May 2018). "The Australian caught up in Mueller's US election probe". SBS News. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
4. Farrow, Adam EntousRonan (2019-02-18). "Private Mossad for Hire". www.newyorker.com. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
5. Rawnsley, Erin Banco|Adam (2019-02-12). "Swiss Mystery Company Is at the Heart of a Mueller Puzzle". Retrieved 2019-06-04.
6. Garnaut, John (2005-08-12). "A multimillionaire's house fit for a parterre garden". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
7. . www.outcomesaustralia.com.au. Archived from the original on 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
8. "CELA 8 BIOGRAPHIES" (PDF). celanetwork.org. 2011.
9. Liebkind, Joe (October 17, 2019). "The Crucial Role of Powerbrokers in International Affairs". International Policy Digest. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
10. Stedman, Scott; Hulvalchik, Alex; DeNault, Bobby; Levai, Eric; Gonzales Jr., Xavier; Cobb, Adrienne; Coleman, Jess (October 22, 2019). "Israeli private intelligence firm claimed recruitment of Khashoggi prior to murder (Financial Structure Section)". Forensic News. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
11. Banco, Erin (2019-01-16). "Rick Gates Tells Mueller About Trump Team's Dealings With Israeli Intelligence Firm". Retrieved 2019-06-04.
12. Illing, Sean (2017-10-16). "Cambridge Analytica, the shady data firm that might be a key Trump-Russia link, explained". Vox. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
13. Mazzetti, Mark; Bergman, Ronen; Kirkpatrick, David D. (2018-05-19). "Trump Jr. and Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win Election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
14. Danner, Chas (2018-05-20). "Beyond Russia: Understanding the New Trump Campaign Collusion Story". Intelligencer. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
15. Tau, Byron; Ballhaus, Rebecca (2018-05-23). "Israeli Intelligence Company Formed Venture With Trump Campaign Firm Cambridge Analytica". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
16. "QAnon is an Attack on Democracy and Must Be Eliminated". Phil Davis. 20 January 2021.
17. Fmr. Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Gets Called Out For Apparently Lying, MSNBC, 12. March 2019
18. Kirkpatrick, David D. (2019-06-02). "The Most Powerful Arab Ruler Isn't M.B.S. It's M.B.Z." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
19. Mazzetti, Mark; Bergman, Ronen; Kirkpatrick, David D. (2018-11-11). "Saudis Close to Crown Prince Discussed Killing Other Enemies a Year Before Khashoggi's Death". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
20. "Mueller Asked About Money Flows to Israeli Social-Media Firm, Source Says". Bloomberg.com. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
21. Klippenstein, Ken (2018-06-04). "Inside Wikistrat, the Mysterious Intelligence Firm Now in Mueller's Sights". Retrieved 2019-06-04.
22. Jackman, Tom; Hsu, Spencer S. (April 5, 2019). "Appeals court in D.C. rules judges may not create exceptions to grand-jury secrecy rules". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 12, 2019. ^{[verification needed]}
23. "Marc L. Mukasey and Partners Announce Formation of Mukasey Frenchman & Sklaroff LLP, a Boutique Trial Law Firm". AP NEWS. 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
24. "One Of Donald Trump's New Attorneys Recently Left His Global Law Firm". BuzzFeed News. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
25. Philipps, Dave (2019-05-18). "Trump May Be Preparing Pardons for Servicemen Accused of War Crimes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
26. "Bitcoin's endgame: Why sovereign investment offers the final layer of legitimacy". October 2021.
27. "Information Operations are Critical to Defending Western Civilization". 2 August 2021.
28. "In Absence of Soft Warfare, National Security Policy Will Continue to Fail Against Global Threats – Analysis". 15 December 2021.