# What's the SD on the duo arrested in DC yesterday? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 8, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493 "2022-04-08T00:25:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/21 "2022-04-08T05:50:46Z")
I imagine they would try to impersonate a SWAT team at some point and use that to break into a persons house and steal intel. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/22 "2022-04-08T05:54:46Z")
As to who’s behind them, NY Times says “One of the men told several people that he had connections to Pakistan’s main intelligence agency, prosecutors said in federal court on Thursday.” And another couple of weird details: “The residents said that Mr. Taherzadeh and Mr. Ali had placed various pieces of surveillance equipment around the building and told residents that they had access to their cellphones and personal information, according to the affidavit. It was not clear why they told this to residents.” “One witness told investigators of being recruited by Mr. Taherzadeh and Mr. Ali to be a Homeland Security employee and serve on a task force. As part of the recruitment process, the men shot the witness with an Airsoft rifle “to evaluate their pain tolerance and reaction,” Mr. Elias [an F.B.I. special agent] wrote in the affidavit” The whole article is here, but maybe behind a paywall > **[2 Men Posing as Federal Agents Duped Secret Service, U.S. Says](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/07/us/impersonators-secret-service.html)** > > Members of the Secret Service were placed on leave after receiving gifts, including rent-free apartments, from the men, an affidavit said. One claimed ties to Pakistani intelligence, prosecutors said. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/23 "2022-04-08T07:00:11Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I doubt if people with Middle-Eastern sounding names would be involved with MAGA or white supremacists. By that logic, you’d also think [this guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Tarrio) wouldn’t be the leader of a MAGA group, right? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/24 "2022-04-08T07:23:24Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > As to who’s behind them, NY Times says > “One of the men told several people that he had connections to Pakistan’s main intelligence agency, prosecutors said in federal court on Thursday.” That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true: or indeed that the names given are genuine. Even if it’s some extension of whatever’s going on between Iran and Pakistan, the politics of the area are murky, to say the least. There’s an ongoing insurgency against both of them in a border area, for example, though why and whether that would want, or have the resources, to do something like this may be unlikely. Reads like an odd blend of sophistication and stupidity ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/25 "2022-04-08T07:45:28Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true: or indeed that the names given are genuine. > . . . . > Reads like an odd blend of sophistication and stupidity True, it’s hard to take anything that those two say at face value ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/26 "2022-04-08T12:16:38Z")
> [@arles](#): > > I am more concerned with the idiot Secret Service agents. How can they possibly believe that taking a free apartment/penthouse worth up to $50,000 a year is a good idea? What does this say about the hiring practices of the agents? This aspect of it makes even less sense than the rest (and makes the Secret Service agents seem even dumber). If the point is to bribe secret service agents why pretend to be a DHS agent. A DHS agent with millions of dollars in gifts to throw is waaay more of a red flag than a private citizen. I mean they are on the same pay scale as you FFS, something very sketchy is obviously going on if they have that kind of cash to flash around. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/27 "2022-04-08T12:45:35Z")
When you walk around in almost any kind of uniform it’s legitimately surprising how many people don’t ever question it. Working in and around government buildings I’ve experienced and witnessed a shocking lack of security in places you would expect to be thick with it. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/28 "2022-04-08T12:56:32Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Only under enhanced interrogation will we ever find out what the plot really was and how it was supposed to be executed. Given the seriousness of all of this, I find that perfectly acceptable. Once we glean as much information as possible from them, what’s left of their minds or even their survival becomes irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/29 "2022-04-08T12:57:23Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > That would sound like ordinary run-of-the-mill espionage. But then what was the point with all the weapons and shit they had? They were working in the USA. They wanted to try and fit in? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/30 "2022-04-08T12:57:45Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > When you walk around in almost any kind of uniform it’s legitimately surprising how many people don’t ever question it. [Some things never change](https://dbpedia.org/page/Wilhelm_Voigt) (Links to The Captain of Köpenick) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/31 "2022-04-08T13:14:16Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Yeah though typically by the barrel chested hero solving the clues and catching them at the last minute. You mean Scooby-Doo? > [@gkster](#): > > And another couple of weird details: > “The residents said that Mr. Taherzadeh and Mr. Ali had placed various pieces of surveillance equipment around the building and told residents that they had access to their cellphones and personal information, according to the affidavit. It was not clear why they told this to residents.” It’s always a good idea in covert ops to tell extra people unnecessary details; I mean that’s _always_ good for operational security. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/32 "2022-04-08T13:19:20Z")
Heh, just wanted to pop in and say I live about 3 blocks away from there. While the arrests were going down, it was blowing up on the Nextdoor app. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/33 "2022-04-08T13:23:57Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > When you walk around in almost any kind of uniform it’s legitimately surprising how many people don’t ever question it. That goes for most illegal activities, but absolutely not bribing federal agents in this way. Random rich dude being generous as he loves the cops so much, is dubious. A federal agent who inexplicitly has millions of dollars of gifts to give away is far more obviously bad. I mean even if you are fed who is not averse to a bit of baksheesh you wouldn’t want anything to do with someone being so blatant. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/34 "2022-04-08T13:26:22Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > That would sound like ordinary run-of-the-mill espionage. But then what was the point with all the weapons and shit they had? In the absence of other evidence I would assume it is run of the mill espionage, just the foreign agents in question were just incredibly crap at their job, and learnt everything they know about spycraft from an airport Tom Clancy paperback on the flight over. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/35 "2022-04-08T14:10:54Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > It’s always a good idea in covert ops to tell extra people unnecessary details; I mean that’s _always_ good for operational security. Yeah my feeling is there is a intelligence officer somewhere in Karachi or Tehran facepalming and cursing while saying “They did what!?!” over and over. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/36 "2022-04-08T14:23:24Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > When you walk around in almost any kind of uniform it’s legitimately surprising how many people don’t ever question it. Working in and around government buildings I’ve experienced and witnessed a shocking lack of security in places you would expect to be thick with it. Yeah. The old trope was a clipboard… I imagine gov’t blogs are similar to other facilities. The apparent and actual security measures are uneven. Hopefully based on threat/benefit analysis. But at least occasionally reflecting “show,” lack of actual analysis, and inconsistency. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/37 "2022-04-08T14:25:33Z")
Possible there’s a bit of 4d chess going on, “Let them find the spies you _want_ them to find.” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/38 "2022-04-08T14:41:44Z")
> [@arles](#): > > What does this say about the hiring practices of the agents? **Marvin Boggs:** I remember the Secret Service being tougher. **Victoria:** Me too. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/39 "2022-04-08T15:03:56Z")
That reminds me of an Alfred Hitchcock film, where the camera shows a man strangling a woman in an apartment. The camera then backs out the door, down the hall, down the stairs, then out into the street, where people are walking by, unaware of what’s happening. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493/40 "2022-04-08T17:28:00Z")
Frenzy, I believe. Secret Service has some housecleaning to do. There should be agents watching agents and other agents watching them. As I recall, there were agents who supported DJT’s Big Lie and thankfully were not assigned to the current presidential detail. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-sd-on-the-duo-arrested-in-dc-yesterday/962493.md?page=3)