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| Jessica Aber (Getty) |
The former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Virginia on Saturday was found dead at her residence in Alexandria, VA, just outside of Washington, D.C. Authorities have not stated a cause of death for Jessica Aber, 43, but her history of prosecuting bad actors from Russia, in our view, is enough to consider her death suspicious. The New York Post, under the headline "Jessica Aber, US attorney found dead at 43, was in charge of high-profile cases targeting CIA leaks, Russian fraud," reports:
The former US Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia who was
found dead Saturday morning had been in charge of some of the biggest
cases targeting leaks in the CIA and Russian nationals carrying out
fraud in America. Two of her cases involved Ukraine, including one centered on allegations of war crimes related to a Russian attack on an American living in Ukraine.
Officials are investigating Jessica D.Aber’s cause of death after
the 43-year-old was discovered unresponsive at her home by Alexandria
Police Department officers just before 9:20 a.m. Saturday morning.
Prior to her resignation in January as President Trump took office,
the Biden-nominated attorney saw one of her biggest wins in court when ex-CIA analyst Asif Rahman, 34, pleaded guilty to leaking top- secret documents about Israel’s plan to strike Iran last year.
Aber had slammed Rahman’s actions as a “violation of his oath, his
responsibility, and the law,” as she said the leak “placed lives at
risk, undermined U.S. foreign relations, and compromised our ability to
collect vital intelligence in the future.”
Aber led the case against Eleview International Inc., a
Virginia-based company whose two senior executives were accused of
running “three different schemes to illegally transship sensitive
American technology to Russia,” according to the Department of Justice. Aber was involved in the
DOJ’s unprecedented indictment against four Russian soldiers who
allegedly committed war crimes against an American living in Ukraine.
Executives Oleg Nayandin, 54, and Vitaliy Borisenko, 39, were accused
in November of illegally shipping out more than $6 million worth of
goods, including telecommunications equipment, to Russia through ports
in Turkey, Finland and Kazakhstan as a means to bypass US sanctions
against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
The case came just two months after Aber secured indictments against two Russian nationals accused of fraud and money laundering.
Sergey Ivanov and Timur Shakhmametov, who had a $10-million reward
for their arrests, were allegedly behind one the largest money
laundering operations online that “catered to major cybercrime
marketplaces and ransomware groups, and to prolific hackers responsible
for some of the largest data breaches targeting critical U.S. financial
infrastructure,” according to the Secret Service.
Along with taking on the fraud and leak cases, Aber was a central figure in the DOJ’s unprecedented indictment against four Russia-affiliated military personnel who allegedly committed war crimes against an American living in Ukraine.
The victim was kidnapped from his home in the Kherson region and savagely beaten, tortured and subjected to a mock execution, according to the DOJ.
Attorney General Merrick Garland
said these were the first charges brought under a
little-known 1996 federal law that allows the US to prosecute people who
commit war crimes against Americans abroad.
“As the world has witnessed the horrors of Russia’s brutal invasion
of Ukraine, so has the United States Department of Justice,” Garland
told a news conference.
The victim, who was not identified, was kidnapped from his home in
the village of Mylove in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine in April
2022 and held captive by the Russians for 10 days, according to a
9-page indictment unsealed in Virginia federal court and reviewed by The
Post.
During his ordeal, the American was stripped naked and photographed,
pummeled with fists, kicked and smashed with the butt of a gun.
He was also allegedly forced to endure interrogations and a simulated
execution, in which a gun was put to the back of his head, then moved
slightly and fired, with the bullet whizzing just past his head,
according to the indictment.
The detainee was repeatedly threatened with death, and even asked for his last words.
One of his captors also threatened to rape the American and “touched
him in a sexual manner” by kissing him on the cheek and rubbing his ear.
“Again and again, he believed he was going to die,” Garland said.
The American, who had lived in Ukraine since 2021, was not fighting
in the war against Russia and was a protected person under the Geneva
Convention of 1949, the indictment stated.
The defendants were identified as commanding officers Suren
Seiranovich Mkrtchyan, 45, and Dmitry Budnik, and two lower-level
soldiers identified in the indictment only by their the first names,
Valerii and Nazar.
All four Russians were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit
war crimes and three counts of war crimes--unlawful confinement of a
protected person, torture and inhuman treatment.
Prosecutors said the suspects were either members of the Russian army or military units of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, a region in eastern Ukraine that Russia illegally annexed.
The American, who had lived in Ukraine since 2021, was not fighting
in the war against Russia and was a protected person under the Geneva
Convention of 1949, the indictment stated.
The defendants are not in custody and are unlikely to appear in the US to face the charges.
Garland, however, described the indictment as an “important step toward accountability for the Russian regime’s illegal war in Ukraine.”
The indictment was the culmination of a year-long investigation by
the DOJ’s war crimes team that was formed to look into reports of
atrocities committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Federal investigators traveled to Europe in August 2022 to interview
the victim, who had been evacuated from Ukraine after his release from
captivity.
The Post further reported: "Alexandria authorities said Saturday Aber’s cause and manner of death
would be determined by the medical examiner, but a family friend told NBC News police believe she succumbed to a longstanding medical issue." That sentence contains peculiarities that lead us to believe it would be premature to conclude Aber died of natural causes. One, the family friend said police believe Aber died from a longstanding medical issue. Two, the family friend does not say she shares that belief. Three, how would a family friend know what the police believe? All of that is odd enough that, in our view, it is too early to make a determination on cause of death -- especially when you consider the sensitive, international, and historic nature of Aber's work as U.S. attorney, plus the powerful individuals who might have considered her a threat.
Fox News broke the story about Aber's supposed medical issue, citing an unnamed individual, so readers might want to "consider the source" on that issue. Yahoo! News, which co-published the Fox report, described Aber's death as "unexpected."
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who could be tied to one or more of the cases Aber prosecuted, has a history of having critics poisoned -- if they don't "fly" out of an upper-floor window first.
U.S. President Donald Trump has so clearly aligned himself with Putin (and made violent threats against perceived enemies; see here and here) that he, or someone in his orbit, might consider a person who is a threat to Putin to also be a threat to Trump. Jessica Aber's status as a Joe Biden appointee could be enough to make Putin and Trump see her as an enemy.
Newsweek provides more details about Jessica Aber's death under the headline "Former US Attorney Jessica Aber Found Dead: What We Know":
Aber's death comes just two months after she resigned from her
position as one of the few women to lead the prestigious U.S. attorney's
office in Northern Virginia, a role to which she was nominated by
former President Joe Biden in 2021.
The
EDVA is considered one of the most significant federal prosecutor's
offices in the country, overseeing cases related to national security,
terrorism, and high-profile white-collar crime across a jurisdiction
that includes numerous defense and intelligence agencies.
What To Know
Aber served as U.S. Attorney from October 2021 until early 2025, when she stepped down to allow President Donald Trump to select a successor.
During
her tenure, she managed approximately 300 lawyers and staff across four
divisions in Alexandria, Richmond, Norfolk, and Newport News, serving more than six million residents, according to her U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) biography.
Before
she was appointed U.S. Attorney, Aber had worked in the EDVA since
2009, handling financial fraud, public corruption, violent crime, and
child exploitation cases. She was part of the prosecution team that
secured a conviction against former Virginia governor Robert F.
McDonnell on corruption charges in 2014, though the Supreme Court later overturned the conviction. Aber grew up in California and established her legal career in Virginia after graduating from the University of Richmond in 2003 and obtaining her law degree from William & Mary School of Law in 2006.
What People Are Saying
U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert wrote in a statement:
"We are heartbroken beyond words to learn of the passing of our friend
and former colleague, U.S. Attorney Jessica Aber. She was unmatched as a
leader, mentor, and prosecutor, and she is simply irreplaceable as a
human being. We remain in awe of how much she accomplished in her all
too brief time in this world."
Siebert added:
"Her professionalism, grace, and legal acumen set the standard. Though
we are devastated by this loss, each of us in the Eastern District of
Virginia will look to her example and endeavor to live up to that
standard. Jess was a proud Virginian from high school through college
and throughout her career. She loved EDVA and EDVA loved her back. We
remain committed to her life's work, a commitment to seeking justice, as
she would have wanted."
U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck: "Jess was
brilliant, but far more important was her sense for justice, her
humanity and her ability to change the world in a positive way even
during her brief time with us. My clerk family has lost its rock, and I
have lost a friend."
Former Acting U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh told the Washington Post: "Jess's life and legacy will forever be etched in the hearts of those who had the special privilege of working with her."
What Happens Next
The
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia will determine the
cause and manner of Aber's death as the Alexandria Police Department
continues its investigation. Meanwhile, colleagues and the legal
community are mourning the loss of someone widely regarded as a mentor
and dedicated public servant.
