IN THIS WEEK'S EDITION: (Yet) another Russian leader who falls out with Putin, has a really bad week; Reports emerge about Iran's low-budget espionage program in Israel; One of the best (or at least funniest) spy shows is sneaking back into the fall lineup; and how does your hero's garden grow?
WERE HIS WINDOWS STUCK? Various media accounts say that former Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit was found dead on Monday just hours after Vladimir Putin fired him for no specific reason other than “lack of trust.” Official Russian sources said that Starovoit was found dead in a Moscow suburb and the “main theory is suicide.” Senior Russian officials dying unexpectedly is to be expected these days – but there are several aspects of this particular incident that make it stand out. To start with – the manner of death is unusual. More typically prominent Russians jump, fall (or perhaps are pushed) out windows in tall buildings. One Russian news site speculated that Starovoit may have died BEFORE he was fired…taking “you can’t fire me, I quit” to a whole new level. And then there was the location where the transportation minister’s body was found. A number of press accounts say that he apparently shot himself inside or near his Tesla. If true, maybe he was depressed at the rapidly declining resale value.
MARCO MY WORDS: The Washington Post reported this week that some unknown person “contacted at least five government officials, including three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor and a member of Congress” using an AI created voice pretending to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Post’s source on the allegation was a State Department cable that the paper had obtained. Apparently, the faux Rubio approaches were made over the Signal app – and included both voice messages and texts written in a style that mimicked that of the SECSTATE. Interestingly the online version of the Post story that we saw included a plea saying the paper wants to hear from people with knowledge of how the Trump administration reshaping government and encouraging individuals to contact their reporters “by email or Signal encrypted message.”
WHO YOU GONNA CALL? Keeping up with this week’s phone call theme – we recently spotted a Reuters story quoting Russian SVR chief Sergei Naryshkin as saying that in a recent phone call he had with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, the two “had agreed to call each other at any time.” Good to know the spy chiefs didn’t insist on only taking calls during normal business hours, Mondays through Fridays – except on holidays.
LOW BUDGET ESPIONAGE: The last couple editions of The Dead Drop have included items about how the Israelis used high tech methods to turn senior Iranian officials into targets at the start of the recent war. According to The Guardian, the Iranians also engaged in some deceptive operations – at a considerably less sophisticated scale. Court documents in Israel show that prior to the start of the war, Iran started sending anonymous text messages and Telegram links to people inside Israel offering small amounts of money for small tasks…and then once they got some takers – ratcheting up payment for increasingly dangerous activities going from handing out leaflets, to scribbling graffiti to gathering intelligence on the whereabouts of Israeli officials. Eventually some of their contractors were offered large sums ($150,000) for assassinating officials like Prime Minister Netanyahu, the head of the Shin Bet or the defense minister. None of those contracts were carried out.
CONSPIRACY THEORY ABOUT A CONSPIRACY THEORY: Super MAGA supporters are reportedly unhappy with the leadership of the Department of Justice and the FBI for announcing that (after long hinting otherwise) that Jeffrey Epstein killed himself – and that there is no client list of the late pedophile’s clients that could be released. Normally, this is a subject matter that would never make the cut for Dead Drop reportage. But among those expressing unhappiness at the turn of events was a former Fox News host who offered up with his own explanation on the “Tucker Carlson Network” for why in his view, Attorney General Pam Bondi “is covering up crimes, very serious crimes by their own description.” The only explanation Carlson says he can come up with is “that intel services are at the very center of this story, U.S. and Israeli” and he claimed (without evidence of course), that they are being protected. Guess if he doesn’t like the way things are turning out – the easiest thing to do is blame the CIA and Mossad, eh? Sounds a lot easier than real journalism.
HERD OF SLOW HORSES GROWING: The folks at Apple TV+ must be pretty confident that the viewing public will like Season 5 of their hit TV series Slow Horses which debuts in September, because they just renewed the program for Season 7. In fairness, a Season ain’t want it used to be. According to The Wrap, Season 7 will be just six episodes long. In any case – viewers seem to think that the show starring Gary Oldman as the flatulent MI-5 operative, Jackson Lamb, is a real gas.
HOW DOES YOUR (HERO’S) GARDEN GROW? Way back in the Stone Age – in January 2021, The Dead Drop had an item about how one of the last acts of the just departed Trump administration was an Executive Order establishing a “National Garden of American Heroes” creating a national park where an eclectic group of Americans would be immortalized in stone statues. Including Louis Armstrong, Sitting Bull, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Babe Ruth – the list was long and quirky. We said at the time it was very unlikely that the Garden would ever be built. That prediction did not age well. The Washington Post says that the 250-statue garden is back on the agenda now that Donald Trump is back in the White House – although it may not be finished until 2029. CNN reported that the first chunk of the (slightly bigger than life-sized) statues (perhaps 25- to 50 of them) may be completed by July 2026 in time for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the USA. It is not entirely clear where the statues will end up – but is it likely to be in South Dakota – not far from Mount Rushmore.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN: That phrase from aviation history came to mind on Tuesday when TSA ended the nearly 20-year policy of requiring fliers to remove their shoes when enduring screening at TSA checkpoints in the US. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, “We expect this change will drastically decrease passenger wait times at our TSA checkpoints, leading to a more pleasant and efficient passenger experience.” This policy has long been viewed as unpopular and a burden on travelers, with some travelers specifically choosing what shoes to be worn to the airport for ease of removal when being screened by the TSA. Goodbye to walking on cold linoleum in socks, hello to quicker TSA lines!
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