BLANKET COVERAGE: Turns out the turbulence at the Department of Homeland Security isn’t just contained to the border or even in the briefing room. A new Wall Street Journal report describes the internal drama swirling around DHS Secretary Kristi Noem including the firing of a Coast Guard pilot after a blanket she’d used on a flight was left behind during a last-minute aircraft swap. The pilot was later reinstated - presumably after cooler heads, and warmer bedding, prevailed. The episode is just one thread in a broader portrait of a department roiled by personnel shake-ups, high-octane media tactics, and an unusually tight circle of political loyalists steering operations from the top. Critics inside and outside DHS say the approach has sidelined experienced staff and complicated everything from disaster relief to day-to-day management. Well, maybe Noem’s blanket story will take some of the heat off of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s run of bad news of late.
EL PASO’S AIRSPACE GONE BALLOON-BUSTIN’: On Wednesday, the skies over El Paso were briefly clouded by a federal turf war when the FAA suddenly declared a 10-day shutdown of airspace around El Paso International Airport - only to lift it just hours later. The move created some understandable bewilderment about who was actually in charge (FAA, DHS/CBP, or DOD). And sources seem to think that the shutdown, ostensibly tied to Mexican cartel drone incursions, may have actually sprouted from inter-agency confusion over anti-drone tech testing. You see, the Pentagon had loaned a high-energy laser to Customs and Border Protection, which allegedly fired on what turned out to be a shiny party balloon, (not generally deemed a threat). The misfire grounded flights (including medevacs), sparking finger-pointing, and leaving officials scrambling to explain what was happening and why. We doubt those who were affected by the shutdown were all that amused.
(CHEAP) SHOTS FIRED: The tense hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday focusing mostly on DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files saw Attorney General Pam Bondi getting feisty with many of those questioning her. Bondi deployed a somewhat known tactic on the mean streets of Washington - deflect, deflect, deflect. She tried it out as members asked questions she didn’t wanna answer - lecturing them instead over the ‘crime waves’ that she implied were sweeping their own cities. It was a head-scratching performance to say the least. Case in point: Bondi called out Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove’s California district by name, pointing to Culver City as if it were Al Capone’s Chicago. The problem? Culver City’s is a relative garden spot – with media single-family homes going for $1.5 million and reportedly zero murders last year. Bondi’s (mis)characterization of the city’s actual crime rate was fodder for social media, where one person posted that the biggest crime in Culver was the price of quinoa at Erewhon. (If you know Erewhon, you know.) Another quipped that the biggest crime was that the Trader Joe’s was overcrowded. Maybe Bondi needs to get out more.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING: The Economic Times of India reports that security researchers have uncovered a sophisticated cyber espionage campaign that breached over 70 government entities across 37 countries, with attackers displaying timing that would make any Hollywood heist crew jealous. The hackers, believed to be aligned with Beijing - didn't just break in - they choreographed their intrusions like a ballet. The targets: rare earth mineral ministries, critical infrastructure agencies, and government networks handling sensitive economic data. One South American nation was compromised the day after the U.S. captured Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro. According to reports, the Czech Republic's networks got hit right after their president met with the Dalai Lama. Word is that many of the victims didn't even know they'd been compromised until researchers came knocking.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? NO? GOOD: Denmark's intelligence service is apparently so concerned about foreign eavesdropping that they've told government officials and police to ditch their AirPods and go old school. The Danish Security and Intelligence Service issued warnings to stop using Bluetooth devices on phones, tablets, laptops, and similar devices “until further notice.” The Bluetooth blackout comes amid tensions over the Trump administration’s fixation on Greenland. Apparently, Copenhagen is worried that unnamed foreign intelligence services might be vacuuming up conversations from Bluetooth-enabled devices. The order actually was issued a couple of weeks ago – and the implications were celebrated in publications like “RT” – the publication formerly known as “Russia Today.”
MAYBE HE SHOULD HAVE USED BLUETOOTH: An unidentified 54-year-old Greek Air Force colonel reportedly has been arrested for allegedly spying for China. Authorities say they discovered he possessed what they are describing as a "special machine with software" designed specifically to photograph and transmit classified documents. Euro News cites Greek media as saying that the officer confessed after his arrest and says the case against him began “about two months ago when the CIA informed Greece's National Intelligence Service that a member of the Greek Armed Forces was leaking sensitive information concerning NATO issues to China.”
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