The Family That Mined the Pentagon’s Data for Profit

Most drivers heading up to Alta Ski Area from Salt Lake City pay no attention to the nondescript turnoff from Utah State Route 210 that goes to the left about five miles before the slopes. A plain white cargo van peeling off the main road and a black gate on the side of the road may make some drivers curious. At the end of a winding lane there is a concrete structure about the size of a two-story house surrounded by motion sensors and hidden cameras. One of the most secure private storage facilities in the world can be found behind the loading door, where a tunnel leads to a series of vaults.

In order to protect against floods, earthquakes, fires, and even a nearby nuclear blast, Perpetual Storage opened in 1968. Physical assets were not much better by the late 1970s. It was the business of storing corporate records that kept the salaries of its armed guards constant. According to The Washington Post in 1979 Patrick Lynch said the master file for one customer was worth fifteen million dollars.

The fine art and bullion of the vault were not of interest to the man when he approached it. He was looking for something. He wasn't concerned about his intentions as he was looking for records from General Electric. GE was working on an advanced engine that would power the new F-16 fighter plane. He asked Lynch for access to the vault so that he could take pictures of the records. Lynch recalled that Posey had sold records of the F-16 to other countries.

Lynch told WIRED in a recent phone interview that clients spell out who can do what with their records. The forms made no mention of the person. Lynch reported the interloper to the FBI after he was turned down. Posey tried to get information about the US Navy's F-5 fighter from an engineer from its manufacturer, but he was unsuccessful.

He considered himself to be both anentrepreneur and apatriot. He sold unclassified technical information to companies that wanted to bid on Pentagon contracts to repair military aircraft or manufacture spare parts. The would-be contractors were happy to get rid of the tedious work of obtaining technical manuals. He was helping the US military find the lowest bidder by helping them.

As it turned out, there was an easier way to obtain valuable technical data than going through the executives of storage vaults, and Posey would make a huge amount of money over the next several decades. It involved a high-minded, fast-evolving, and relatively new law called the Freedom of Information Act, and it would bring millions of dollars in easy money. It would turn them into key players in the fight to keep information from the public. Along the way, he became involved in global politics, earned a spell in prison, and watched his son appear in federal court on charges of conspiracy and theft of government property for actions related to the operations of Newport Aeronautical.

The fight for government transparency started as a business opportunity for the Posey's. President Harry Truman signed an executive order in 1947 that gave the executive branch power to investigate and fire federal employees who were deemed disloyal to the country. The FBI kept the results of those investigations under wraps. The US government and the Pentagon had a lot of information in the 1950's. The design of a bow and arrow was not made public during the Red Scare. The amount of peanut butter eaten by American soldiers was a secret. There were unconfirmed shark attacks on sailors.

John Moss, a newly elected congressman from California, was appointed to the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee in 1953. Moss was appalled to discover that not even he, a member of the committee with statutory jurisdiction over the Post Office, could get information about 2,800 postal workers who had been fired.

After Truman left office, the Pentagon became even more secretive, and in 1955, the defense secretary ordered that any information to be released to the public had to make a "constructive contribution" to national security. Journalists and newspaper editors went into an uproar after raising growing alarm against government secrecy. The creation of a Special Subcommittee on Government Information was spearheaded by Moss, a Democrat, and they found common cause with him. The bill that would eventually become the Freedom of Information Act was pushed for by Moss as chair of that new subcommittee.

Moss told the House that the system of government is based on the participation of the governed and that it is essential that it also grow in knowledge and understanding. If the American public is to be adequately equipped to fulfill the ever more demanding role of responsible citizenship, we need to remove every barrier to information about government activities. Donald Rumsfeld was a congressman from Illinois.

The federal government had been fighting them for a decade. The Freedom of Information bill was sent to the desk of the President by press and public pressure in 1966. The law took effect in 1967. For the first time, members of the American public have the right to inspect information held by their government, with few exceptions, and to file a lawsuit if they are denied access to information.

Thousands of stories have been broken over the years thanks to the Freedom of Information Act. The law opened the way for free-market economics.

The Freedom of Information Act was strengthened in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Many bureaucrats were going to great lengths to resist complying with the Freedom of Information Act, like the White House tried to do. If a requester sued and won, the agency that refused to fulfill the request would have to pay all of the legal costs.

The Freedom of Information Act was given a new lease on life thanks to those amendments. For a long time, agencies had to hand over anything that wasn't classified in a timely manner, and requesters were free to ask for anything they wanted.

Many of the democratic effects that Moss had in mind began to flourish. The Freedom of Information Act has allowed generations of journalists to break tens of thousands of stories and has allowed activists and communities to track everything from government-sanctioned pollution to disaster mismanagement. The law allowed for the expression of another American aspiration, free-market economics.

In the late 1970s, George Posey must have realized that filing paperwork with bureaucrats was a lot easier and less expensive than trying to get into an underground shelter. Margaret Kwoka, a law professor at Ohio State University, calls Newport Aeronautical Sales an example of a company that submits a stream of Freedom of Information Act requests, then treats the responses as merchandise to unload. Valuable data out of cheap Freedom of Information Act requests. The Security and Exchange Commission's financial filings and facility inspection reports from the Food and Drug Administration are some of the things that some reselling companies focus on. Most of the Poseys were from the military.

Some of the prime beneficiaries of the Freedom of Information Act have been these information reselling companies. Journalists made up just 8 percent of the 229,000 requests. There were almost one million requests in 2020. Commercial operators who resell or use data for profit now make most of the requests at some federal agencies. The fight over the erosion of the freedom of information in America has been fought in their territory.

George said in an email that the majority of the claims are false and misleading. He didn't respond before press time because he had the chance to specify which claims he was refuting. Newport Aeronautical's employees would not speak with WIRED. Interviews with former employees, investigative reports, and court records show a fairly thorough picture of the family business.

Newport Aeronautical had a large collection of drawings and manual for most of the US military's active aircraft. There were floor-to-ceiling shelves installed in a warehouse attached to Newport Aeronautical's office as the documents piled up. One customer said that the folks at Newport Aeronautical were masters of obtaining aircraft data, and that they were the best in the business for any needed manual.

The market for military technical documents is due to the fact that the Pentagon operates many of its aircraft for a long time. When components on those aircraft begin to fail, there are few options for repairing them. The National Defense Industrial Association is a trade organization of companies that support the US military.

In an effort to eliminate vendor lock and reduce costs, the Pentagon prefers to own the technical data for its equipment. It is not always possible for an aircraft to have a civilian counterpart. The cottage industry of companies that want to bid for government maintenance, repair, and overhaul contracts needs the most up-to-date blueprints and instructions. Newport Aeronautical was able to fill that need.

An aviation and nautical buff, Posey would often show up at Newport Aeronautical's small office straight from his yacht club in shorts, flip-flops, and Vuarnet sunglasses. The CEO still works hard according to another former employee. The fax machine at the office would spit out a lot of requests for technical data. There would be a part number for each order. If Newport Aeronautical had the documents, Barazin would take them to the customer. Someone would fill out a form with the part number and contact details and send it to the military base.

Newport Aeronautical would send a check to the government for the cost of copying the requested documents. Customers would be charged many times that. It would take a repair facility a month or two months to get the data, and they wouldn't be able to quote for the work. The model is a brilliant one.

Some of the customers weren't just mom-and-pop repair facilities. In the 1980s, it was claimed that half of Newport's business was legal. Foreign countries needed to maintain their US-made aircraft and a US company owned by a Pakistan arms dealer did the work. Durrani remembered visiting Newport Aeronautical's old office in Costa Mesa crammed with paperwork. He sold stuff to us in a hurry. The Israeli government purchases components from me. I knew that the parts were going to Iran because they were flying Phantom jets. Israel sent its technicians to fix their aircraft. He suspected that Posey knew what he was getting when he didn't know the identity of his customers.

Roberta was whisked off to Africa for their honeymoon by her groom. According to the Los Angeles Times, his mother said that he was approached by representatives of the South Africa government. The FBI set up electronic intercepts in order to find spies.

The Pentagon suspected that America's enemies and the Soviets were using the Freedom of Information Act to get their hands on unclassified data that could pose a risk to national security. According to a 1985 Department of Justice memo, the acquisition of US technology by the Soviets shortens their research and development cycle and reduces the risks associated with the design of new weapons. He filed a lawsuit against the Navy for violating the Freedom of Information Act when military bases began withholding such data. The case was resolved in 1984. If Newport Aeronautical limited resale to other qualified contractors, critical information would be released by the Pentagon. Newport Aeronautical was in the crosshairs of the government after the settlement.

The Comprehensive Anti-apartheid Act was passed by the US Congress in 1986 after international horror at South Africa. The government put a voice-activated bug in the Newport Aeronautical office and placed taps on the phones of the South African agent.

The veteran FBI agent in charge of that investigation, Robert Ibbotson, immediately began to cloak-and-dagger phone calls that could not be more different from the direct approach at Perpetual Storage.

A man named Mr. Brown called a number in South Africa and said he had a package for a buyer for the South African Air Force. A few days later, he got a call from the office of the naval attache at the South African embassy in Washington, DC, telling him to expect a letter.

A series of 17 groups of letters and numbers were read by Van Vuuring. The FBI used Van Vuuring's cipher as a reference. The sender uses the page number and entry from the top of the dictionary to find the word they want. The fourth word down on the left-hand side of page 58 is "big"

dictionary codes are hard to crack because they require the sender and recipient to have the same dictionary In order to find the right one, the right volume, and the right copyright date, you have to look through hundreds of dictionaries.

The weakest link is the cipher's strongest link. Posey needed help figuring out the code that he took down. He asked his wife if she knew where the number books were because they used to play with them. Ibbotson was listening to something. The books were in the gray wall unit of the house. It would take some time before Ibbotson got his hands on that dictionary.

The message wasciphered later and it said a big guy visit LA in August and want a meeting for business. The FBI was able to identify the "big guy" as Joe Botha, an executive with a sales firm. According to reports by the FBI, the "K List" was the document Botha was looking for.

The two of them met at the historic La Valencia hotel in San Diego, California. The hotel was staked out by Ibbotson and the FBI agents in advance of the meeting. They watched as Posey got out of his car and walked over to an FBI agent. The agent said that he wasn't Botha. The FBI didn't help locate Botha.

Botha delivered a shopping list of technical data and manuals for Newport Aeronautical. The power units for the C-130 transport aircraft and General Electric jet engines would be ordered by the South African. Technology, weapons, and information are on the US Munitions List and are only allowed to be exported to South Africa.

Posey wanted to deal with the military through intermediate companies. I can't deal with people on a surface. He told Botha that he had to stay underground so he wouldn't be scrutinized. When Botha asked what he meant by that, Posey replied, "You know, protection from scrutiny of the FBI."

It wasn't enough for that. The FBI was aware of it.

Ibbotson was listening when Posey told Roberta that the deal would make Newport Aeronautical $98,000, equivalent to about $260,000 today. Bush said that the two had worked together. The year before, he had received technical instructions for the F-4 and F-5 fighters.

In February 1987, a team of FBI agents followed Posey and Bush as they printed and packed the South African documents. Bush was going to go to South Africa through Argentina, where he was going to give some technical instructions to the Argentine Air Force.

The FBI listened in as the men packed the documents in the office. This isn't just a job. Bush told him that he was violating the export laws. He and Bush continued with their plan after he said "Fuck A".

Bush checked three white boxes and a blue suitcase at the Los Angeles International Airport before boarding his flight. He was taken into custody by the FBI and US Customs Service. The Newport Aeronautical office was raided by the FBI around the same time. The dictionary codebook that Posey used to communicate with Van Vuuring was among the items found by the FBI agents.

Robert was a Newport Aeronautical employee. He told the Los Angeles Times that it wasn't like they were hiding anything. It would be one thing if we shipped guns or missiles, but these are books.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Posey was the first person to be indicted under the anti-apartheid act. Bush was charged with conspiring to violate the Arms export control act. The South African naval attache was mentioned in the indictment and left the country in a hurry. When contacted in retirement in South Africa via email, he said he had never met the gentlemen. Bush cooperated with the FBI after pleading guilty to violating the arms export control act. He wanted to go to court.

According to his lawyer, the military has had a vendetta with his client going back to the 70s. Brian Hennigan, an assistant US attorney, said that Posey knew he needed government permission to export the manual. Hennigan said that the trial stuck with him over the years. Hennigan said he felt a sense of moral fervor. He said that Posey was trading in information with no thought or value placed on what would be done with it.

He argued that the documents he sold were unclassified and in the public domain, and that he used codes only because he was going to give him a kickback. He was found guilty of violating the Arms Export Control Act. When he was sentenced, he said he didn't mean to jeopardize national security or have the means to do so. A lot of things were said about me, which made me out to be a traitor against our country, which is contrary to my beliefs. I'm a patriotic person. I have served my nation. The man was fined $15,000 and sentenced to 10 years in prison with all but four months suspended. He couldn't sell information to foreigners for five years.

After four months at a medium-security prison in Michigan, Posey was able to return to his job at Newport Aeronautical. He was going to make a bunch of enemies. The company started receiving lawsuits from defense contractors in 1998. Newport Aeronautical was told to stop selling the company's data by a lawyer. Asking nicely wasn't going to work with him. In 2000, Newport Aeronautical was asked to stop advertising, reproducing, selling, or publishing any of its copyrighted materials. Under pain of $50,000 in damages the court issued an injunction. Newport Aeronautical seems to have entered into similar consent judgments with other companies.

Business was harder for Newport Aeronautical after 9/11. Rumsfeld was in charge of the most secretive Department of Defense in a generation as public sentiment allowed the George W. Bush administration to wage its war on terror. The Pentagon decided to tighten its rules on handing out critical data to companies if they could link requests to specific government contracts.

The new rule was either not heard of or tested its limits. The US Air Force Office of Special Investigations got in touch with the workers at the base. They said that Posey requested the entire technical manual for the C-130 aircraft. They said that Posey became upset when he was told about the Pentagon's new policy. In a sworn statement to the Office of Special Investigations, the administrator said that Mr. Posey tried to convince him that he had a legitimate reason for getting the data. He threatened to involve the DOD and take legal action because the base refused his request.

Newport Aeronautical had requested technical data in mass quantities from the base in the past, and it was in possession of documents that were classified secret, according to the employees.

The results of the investigation were made public. As part of the Iran-Contra affair, Arif Durrani was convicted of shipping Hawk missile parts to Iran. Amanullah Khan, who was later convicted of attempting to sell fighter aircraft parts to undercover federal agents he thought were Chinese arms dealers, was aided and abetted by Posey. The investigators said that Newport Aeronautical and Posey had been investigated by US Customs agents. There seem to have been no charges.

The Pentagon struck first despite the threat of a lawsuit. Special Investigations agents tried to sting Newport Aeronautical with a technical manual for the C-130 that was classified as secret. The price of the manual was quoted but the data was restricted according to the report. According to the report, he may have one of his workers sweet talk someone in order to get the documents. The sale was never completed and the inquiries did not go away.

There were more restrictions on what information the DOD could give out after 9/11. The Air Force was sued by Newport Aeronautical for not complying with a number of Freedom of Information requests. The complaint said that vendor lock had cost the DOD and America's allies billions of dollars and that Newport Aeronautical had increased small business participation.

Potential competitors who relied on NAS for data could not bid on solicitations issued by the Air Force. Original equipment manufacturers were the only ones with data. The awards of overpriced noncompetitive contracts were caused by this.

The court granted the Air Force's motion to dismiss his lawsuit. Unclassified technical manuals with military or space applications could be held back by the government. Newport Aeronautical would have to look elsewhere for information because the universe of documents available through the Freedom of Information Act had shrunk once more.

Even before the Air Force suit was settled, Newport Aeronautical had begun to develop a new strategy for obtaining information that would move the company past the resales and into more shady territory. His son joined the company in 2009, known to the family as "Mac"

Mac and a colleague at Newport Aeronautical made document requests to a Florida woman named Melony Erice, who worked in sales for a number of private companies. She didn't work for the Pentagon. She succeeded in fulfilling Newport's requests. The company paid Erice more than half a million dollars for over 5,000 drawings. The company earned over $2 million from the manual and drawings. He bragged to his friends about Mac on Facebook. If you know what I'm talking about, he's our RayDonovan. Doesn't miss anything.

"My son wants to take over and expand what I have started." He's impressed me with his business management skills. He does know that money is coming in and money is going out, but he doesn't know the difference between the two planes. Dad is proud.

Where was the information coming from? She did not use her own Freedom of Information Act requests. Military investigators discovered email correspondence between Erice and a civilian employee of the US Navy in Philadelphia, who was using his access to military databases to illegally download files. He split the proceeds with Erice.

The trail of thousands of emails from Erice to accounts associated with Newport Aeronautical was followed by investigators. There was evidence that she wasn't Newport Aeronautical's only back channel. Mac is accused of buying more than 800 documents from a quality-control manager at a Florida contractor who had access to military data as part of his job. Thirty three years after federal agents raided his house while his wife and son watched, Mac was arrested.

Mac was charged with conspiracy to steal government property, bribe a federal public official, and receive stolen government property. He has appeared before the same US District Court many times because of the Covid-19 epidemic. Mac could face 10 years in prison like his father. George Posey, the CEO of Newport Aeronautical, was shown in the criminal complaint to have received an email from Erice, but he has not been charged.

Margaret Kwoka has been studying the evolution of the Freedom of Information Act. Representative Moss would be both delighted and horrified to see the results of his work. She said she was delighted that so many people had found uses for the law. It has created a lot of bureaucracy.

There are at least 125 countries with freedom of information laws. Since the success of Moss' crusade, the US legislation has been amended about every 10 years, but the changes have failed to prevent ever-lengthening delays and restrictions. There are ever-broader interpretations of exemptions that allow agencies to keep their deliberations secret. Most redactions or denials based on claimed exemptions from agencies go unquestioned because most people don't have the time or money to appeal.

Newport Aeronautical has been trying to hold the military to Moss' principles of radical transparency for a long time. Kwoka says they might be more exceptional than regular. Most data providers don't go to court. They are able to get what they want, and then they sell it.

Most of Newport Aeronautical's cases failed, but they set precedents that have since been cited in dozens of subsequent cases, including those brought by environmental, digital-privacy, and government-spending activists.

The family's lawsuits may have helped curb the government's tendency to keep information, but they aren't easy to find. Mac has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and receiving stolen government property, and George was the first person ever to be convicted of violating the US Comprehensive Anti- Apartheid Act.

A new family business may be in the works. Mac incorporated Back Bay Packaging at the same location as Newport Aeronautical. The nature of that business, like so much of what went on at Newport Aeronautical Sales, is a mystery.

I asked the agencies investigating the Poseys if they had any more information in their files that had not been made public. The US Air Force Office of Special Investigations suggested that I file a Freedom of Information Request. I haven't received a reply yet.

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