THE TANGLED WEB: For an excellent deep dive into the meaning and mechanics of Ukraine’s stunning deep strike into Russia that destroyed or damaged more than two score long range bombers – look no further than The Cipher Brief’s reporting right here. If you want to know more about how the “Spider Web” drone attack was perceived inside Russia – we recommend Russian Media Monitor Julia Davis’ clip of Putin pal talking heads Vladimir Solovyov and Margarita Simonyan kvetching on State TV. They grimly called the attack “a tragedy,” veered to praising Tucker Carlson for having recently praised Putin and promised that those responsible for the drone attack will eventually face a firing squad. They complained about failures of the Russian school system and grumbled about Russian army conscripts who are uploading videos of the damage from the strikes – and recommended they too be executed by firing squad. Ouch.
PERHAPS THEY DOTH PROTEST A BIT TOO MUCH: Recently, NBC News reported that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and her team are exploring ways to alter the President’s Daily Brief to make it work better for the man who’s title is on the cover. According to NBC, “One idea that’s been discussed is possibly creating a video version of the PDB that’s made to look and feel like a Fox News broadcast…” DNI Press Secretary Olivia Coleman called the report flat-out false, saying “In true fake news fashion, NBC is publishing yet another anonymously sourced false story.” White House spokesman Davis Ingle’s angle was even harsher calling the NBC story “libelous garbage from unnamed sources.” If you’re looking for good intel on the PDB from non-anonymous sources - check out The Cipher Brief’srecent conversation with Beth Sanner, the former Deputy Director of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, who oversaw the PDB during the first Trump administration.
THE FREEZE ON FREE SPEECH: Last week’s Dead Drop had an item about new Pentagon rules restricting defense correspondents access to parts of the building. As you might expect, members of what some call the “legacy media” were not too happy about the regs. But the disquiet extended to some normally pro-Trump press corps members – with pretty dramatic results. Brian Stelter of CNN reported that Gavrielle Cuccia, who was chief Pentagon correspondent for right leaning One America News, posted something on her personal Substack account saying she found the new rules “troubling.” Cuccia worked in the Trump White House in 2017 and 2018 and calls herself a “MAGA girl.” In her Substack post, she complained that after “Signalgate”, the doors to the Pentagon briefing room were locked and the door between journalist’s workspaces and those of senior DOD press officials are also locked. She then asked why Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was avoiding the press. Cuccia doesn’t need to worry about that anymore though because late last week, she says she was fired.
CHILD’S PLAY: Newly promoted Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson has taken some hits for never having held one of those – whaddya call em? Press conferences. But this is not entirely true. Stars and Stripes reports that she did conduct a press briefing during “Bring Your Child to Work Day.” Stripes says in 2023, (while out of government) Wilson said on One America News that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “should be arrested on sight for what he has done to the American taxpayer.” On the other hand, she lauded Russian President Vladimir Putin for his “encyclopedia knowledge of his people’s history” which she found “beyond impressive,” adding “especially when contrasted with the low-IQ lunatics working at the U.S. State Department.” Further cementing her relations with now government colleagues she posted on X in 2022, “The American intelligence apparatus is more evil than Vladimir Putin.” We think she outta hold a press conference to clear some of this up. Just sayin’.
HOME ALONE: Meanwhile, according to Politico, at least 12 officials from the Pentagon’s public affairs shop (which numbered just 32 people back in January) have bailed out of the place – many taking deferred resignation offers. Unlike the White House and State Department press shops which regularly engage on camera with the media, chief spokesperson Sean Parnell and his staff have largely been AWOL. Politico says Parnell, who had never served in the Pentagon before, has been busy taking “DOD 101” crash courses. We think he outta hold a press conference to share some of what he’s learned.
IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN(LAND): Everybody seems to be sending signals about this large chunk of frozen tundra. Politicoreported this week that the Pentagon was planning on moving Greenland. Well, moving it from the U.S. European Command’s area of responsibility to be put under the aegis of the U.S. Northern Command, that is. The move would symbolically saw the Arctic island off of Europe and attach it to the country that aspires to own it. In a separate piece, Politico also reported that the Danish embassy in Washington has engaged Mercury Public Affairs for. Help. That’s the firm where White House chief of staff Susie Wiles used to work. According to lobbying reports filed with the Justice Department, Politico reported that Mercury will provide Danish officials with “public opinion research, messaging development, reputation management, social media monitoring, positive storytelling and media relations.” President Trump has said that Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory governed by Denmark, is vital for U.S. security, and he hasn’t ruled out taking it by military force. Vice President JD Vance visited Greenland in March and accused Denmark of underinvesting in the island. In late April, King Frederik X of Denmark and Danish Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen traveled to Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, to proclaim their love for the island.
ONE FOR THE BOOKS: Random House announced this week they have agreed to publish a forthcoming book by former CIA Director Bill Burns. The working title is “Diplomat Spy: A Memoir of Espionage in Revolutionary Times.” ABC News reported that the publisher described the book as “a riveting firsthand account of dealing with the most difficult foreign adversaries in the most difficult crises, a candid look at the personal and professional pressures which come with espionage, and a reflection on the future of intelligence at a time of rapid technological change and relentless attacks on public institutions.” People magazine also quoted the publisher saying that In “Diplomat Spy”, the former CIA director “will bring the reader into the room where decisions are made, and into the often-shadowy world of espionage, to make the case that intelligence not only remains America’s first line of defense, but that it’s more important than ever.” No publication date was announced. Burns’ previous book, The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal, was very favorably reviewed in The Cipher Brief in 2019.
KEEPING IT REAL: Dawn Meyerriecks, former CIA Deputy Director of Science and Technology at CIA recently appeared on a Business Insider podcast rating 11 spy gadgets seen in fictional movies and on TV for realism. She covers everything from the shoe phone in “Get Smart” to artificial intelligence used in “Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning.” Pretty cool.
ALIEN INVASION: MOSCOW STYLE: The publication Bleeping Computer recently reported that a new law has been proposed in Russia that would require installing a tracking app for all foreign nationals in the Moscow region. State Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said the mechanism would use technology to reduce “the number of violations and crimes.” The proposal would require smart phones to provide geolocation information and report the users fingerprint and facial photograph. Diplomats reportedly would be exempt. The proposal hasn’t been fully adopted yet – but officials said that they hoped it would be implemented and, if successful, would be expanded to other parts of the country.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting / weird stuff we discovered:
BRUISING ENCOUNTER? PUT SOME ICE ON IT: The official X (formerly Twitter) account of U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) folks posted a notice on May 30th that read “Contact us if you were harmed by an alien.” And they provided a phone number. Our first thoughts of course went to “space aliens” like the kind that invaded the U.S. in the movies “Independence Day” and “War of the Worlds” – but then we noticed a photo that accompanied the ICE post with a caption that read “If you’re the victim of a crime linked to immigration, we’re here to HELP” so we are guessing that ICE is focusing on terrestrial aliens.
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