Bennet, Warren, Colleagues Press Treasury and State to Explain Lifting of Sanctions on Three Enablers of Commercial Spyware Used Against Americans, Journalists, and Dissidents

Feb 18, 2026| Press Releases

Denver- Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, as well as Senators Andy Kim (D-N.J.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to send a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging them to brief Congress after the Trump Administration lifted sanctions on three enablers of the Intellexa Consortium (Intellexa), an entity known for developing, operating, and distributing commercial spyware used to target Americans as well as journalists, political figures, and human rights activists around the world. Intellexa is a web of entities that built and commercialized a suite of highly invasive spyware products, primarily marketed under the brand name "Predator."

"Intellexa affiliates have been subject to U.S. sanctions since 2024. According to a recent report, rather than ending their problematic activities, they are evading restrictions and 'selling digital weapons to the highest bidders.' Despite this record, you failed to act on a bipartisan briefing request from Senate committee staff and instead, on December 30, 2025, lifted sanctions on three of the seven individuals designated for facilitating Intellexa's threats to national security and civil liberties. Our briefing request is even more critical in light of this decision." wrote the senators.

"Foreign actors have deployed Predator spyware in an effort to covertly surveil U.S. government officials including members of Congress, journalists, and policy experts, and to repress people in other countries who speak out against threats to their freedom. On December 10, 2025, noting those reports, Senate committee staff submitted a bipartisan briefing request to the Departments of the Treasury and State to understand the Administration's efforts to counter Intellexa's attempts at U.S. sanctions evasion. Without providing a briefing or a justification to the committee, on December 30, 2025, the Department of Treasury removed three enablers of Intellexa from the U.S. sanctions list," concluded the senators.

The senators seek to determine whether the administration's justifications for these delistings are consistent with Congress's clear direction to combat the proliferation and misuse of foreign commercial spyware.

The senators urged the Departments of Treasury and State to brief the congressional committees of jurisdiction and outline any actions the Administration has taken to counter the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware against Americans and dissidents abroad, no later than February 27, 2026.

The text of the letter is available HERE and below.

Dear Secretary Bessent and Secretary Rubio:

We write to request a bipartisan briefing and express our deep concern regarding your recent decision to lift U.S. sanctions on enablers of the Intellexa Consortium (Intellexa), an entity known for developing, operating, and distributing commercial spyware used to target Americans as well as journalists, political dissidents, and human rights activists around the world. Intellexa affiliates have been subject to U.S. sanctions since 2024. According to a recent report, rather than ending their problematic activities, they are evading restrictions and "selling digital weapons to the highest bidders." Despite this record, you failed to act on a bipartisan briefing request from Senate committee staff and instead, on December 30, 2025, lifted sanctions on three of the seven individuals designated for facilitating Intellexa's threats to national security and civil liberties. Our briefing request is even more critical in light of this decision.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department's own assessment, Intellexa is "a complex international web of decentralized companies that built and commercialized a comprehensive suite of highly invasive spyware products, primarily marketed under the brand-name 'Predator.'" Foreign actors have deployed Predator spyware in an effort to covertly surveil U.S. government officials including members of Congress, journalists, and policy experts, and to repress people in other countries who speak out against threats to their freedom. In response to these significant counterintelligence and security risks, in March and September 2024, the United States sanctioned key individuals and entities associated with the consortium.

Intellexa has sought to evade these initial measures to continue its activities. On December 3, 2025, the Google Threat Intelligence Group published an analysis warning that Intellexa has "adapted, evaded restrictions, and continues selling digital weapons." On December 4, 2025, Amnesty International, Haaretz, and other organizations published results of a joint investigation indicating that "Intellexa's Predator spyware continues to be used to unlawfully surveil activists, journalists and human rights defenders around the world." On December 10, 2025, noting those reports, Senate committee staff submitted a bipartisan briefing request to the Departments of the Treasury and State to understand the Administration's efforts to counter Intellexa's attempts at U.S. sanctions evasion.

Without providing a briefing or a justification to the committee, on December 30, 2025, the Department of Treasury removed three enablers of Intellexa from the U.S. sanctions list. One now-delisted individual is a corporate offshoring specialist who had been identified as holding leadership roles at multiple Intellexa entities; another had been revealed as the true owner of the company holding distribution rights to Predator spyware; and a third had been identified as a top executive of the consortium.

We ask that the Departments of Treasury and State brief the congressional committees of jurisdiction, as previously requested, no later than February 27, 2026. We seek to ensure Congress understands the Administration's justifications for these delistings and whether they are consistent with Congress's clear direction, in legislation passed on a strong bipartisan basis in 2023, to combat the proliferation and misuse of foreign commercial spyware. We also request that briefers outline any actions the Administration has taken or plans to take to counter the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware against Americans and dissidents abroad.

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