Al-Rawi: Don't celebrate, UNC – Cambridge Analytica case 'paused'

ATTORNEY General Faris Al-Rawi has advised the United National Congress (UNC) not to celebrate over the "pausing" of the Cambridge Analytica investigation.

"In the discharge of my responsibilities as the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs in TT, I extend caution against any premature revelry at the pause in the criminal investigation into the matters involving and/or surrounding the Cambridge Analytica fiasco."

In a statement on Thursday night, Al-Rawi responded to a UNC media release dated May 6 titled UNC Vindicated in Cambridge Analytica Investigation. This followed the police weekly media briefing earlier that day at which DCP Jayson Forde said the police had closed the criminal investigation into Cambridge Analytica “pending the emergence of evidence to support the investigation.”

Al-Rawi added that the police reported the "effective pausing of the investigation" was largely due to the inability of law enforcement officers to interview data analyst and author Christopher Wylie, former director of research at Cambridge Analytica.

The UNC in its release said: “…this became a police investigation after the Minister of National Security, Stuart Young, and the Attorney General, Faris Al-Rawi, watched a Netflix movie and read a novel and placed their findings at the front of the national agenda.”

Al-Rawi also said Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar made statements which were carried on I95.5FM’s 7am news in which she accused Government of telling “lies upon lies upon lies” and that there were other matters including “E-mailgate,” in which “government members have told lies.” He noted that Cambridge Analytica is a now-defunct British political consulting firm which combined data mining, data brokerage and data analysis with strategic communication for the electoral process, and one of the activities the company engaged in was "microtargeting" voters.

He listed several points in the case, starting from March 2018, when multiple media houses around the world broke news of Cambridge Analytica's business practices. The New York Times and the London Observer reported on the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica data breach, in which the company used, for political purposes, personal information acquired about Facebook users.

"As the events surrounding Cambridge Analytica unravelled, TT was pinpointed by Wylie as the site of a data and communication mining test project in 2013 under the Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led government."

He then reported on meetings he attended with Wylie and Wylie's attorney.

"Mr Wylie indicated that he was prepared to give evidence in Parliament in Trinidad before the Joint Select Committee on National Security established to deal with the issue provided that his security could be guaranteed. (He) specifically confirmed the veracity of his testimony before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the UK and the US Senate Judiciary Committee, when he testified to illegal and devastatingly sinister actions allegedly carried out by the UNC Kamla Persad-Bissessar government."

He said Wylie reported he had received threats from people associated with the UNC and was afraid for his life and effectively went silent.

Al-Rawi reported Government took action on the Cambridge Analytica matter in April 2018, long before the Netflix documentary or the Wylie book Mindf-ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America were released (in January 2019 and October 2019 respectively).

"The TTPS has paused its investigation into Cambridge Analytica, as in order for criminal proceedings to be commenced in TT, evidence of a certain threshold is required to be secured before any prosecution may be commenced. Obviously, the present lack of availability of evidence from Mr Wylie has temporarily stymied the investigation."

He stressed that there is no statutory limitation period within which criminal proceedings are to be commenced, and in the civil arena, the Limitation of Certain Actions Act, Chap. 7:09, provides for the extension of limitation periods in certain circumstances.

"The Attorney General wishes to assure the public that the Government continues its effort in ensuring swift access to justice, especially during these novel and unprecedented times. The Commissioner of Police has reminded, and rightfully so, that this matter is subject to be re-opened should new information be brought to light."