Spy-tech firm hired by Rubio secured $2 million in U.S. contracts despite alleged Kremlin links
A spy-technology company hired by Senator Marco Rubio kept receiving U.S. government contracts for a decade, even after the DOJ charged its CEO with hiding Russian ownership.
Virginia-based Oxygen Forensics, a supplier of phone-hacking tools to U.S. defense, law-enforcement and national-security agencies, was hired by Senator Marco Rubio and has amassed roughly $2 million in government contracts since 2016. Records show that federal investigators raised alarms about the company's alleged Kremlin connections over a decade ago, but the Justice Department only filed charges last month against CEO Lee Reiber for attempting to hide Russian ownership.
The firm’s software was reportedly developed in Russia and sold to Russian intelligence services. Contracts were awarded under both the Trump and Biden administrations, including a $50,000 State Department award this summer, granted after concerns resurfaced and shortly before Reiber’s arrest. The case underscores persistent worries about foreign influence in U.S. procurement of surveillance technology.
Why it matters
It reveals how U.S. agencies may have procured surveillance tools linked to Russian control, raising national-security concerns.
In this story
