WHAT ABOUT THE SCULL AND CROSSBONES? The Washington Post reported recently that the U.S. Coast Guard had modified its stance on whether swastikas and nooses are definitely hate symbols – with new language in regulations saying only that they were “potentially divisive.” The acting commandant of the Coast Guard subsequently took to X to post a statement saying that “The claims that the U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses or other extremist imagery as prohibited symbols are categorically false.” When last we checked – the WaPo hadn’t backed off on its reporting.
I FOUGHT THE LAW AND THE LAW LOST: A post on NBCNEWS.COM cites six sources reporting that ” the senior military lawyer at U.S. Southern Command expressed concerns that planned U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats off Venezuela might amount to extra-judicial killings. According to the story – the JAG, Marine Colonel Paul Meagher, was subsequently overruled by more senior officials – including some at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell was quoted saying: “The War Department categorically denies that any Pentagon lawyers, including SOUTHCOM lawyers, with knowledge of these operations have raised concerns to any attorneys in the chain of command regarding the legality of the strikes…” NBC says they tried to contact the SOUTHCOM JAG but got no Meagher response.
LOOKING FOR EXTRA ESPIONAGE WORK? Britain’s MI5 is warning Members of Parliament and other senior officials that two women tied to China’s intelligence service have been reaching out to civil servants, politicians, thinktank staffers and others to solicit “non-public and insider insights.” According to The Guardian the women have been portraying themselves as headhunters and using LinkedIn to approach their targets. News like this is not new - similar tactics are regularly deployed against folks here in the U.S.. Folks at the National Counterintelligence & Security Center (NCSC) have been warning about it for years. Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly spoke a while back with the former NCSC director of the about how - espionage agents are also targeting tech entrepreneurs. You can listen to the State Secrets podcast here (and it wouldn’t hurt our feelings if you subscribed - wherever you get your podcasts).
The Dead Drop is now updating throughout the week. There's just too much good gossip in the national security world for a once-a-week drop.
THINGS ARE FINALLY GETTING DRAMATIC BETWEEN THE CIA AND FBI: Not the real ones (as far as we know) but in the made-for-TV versions. The Dead Drop reported back in March that a spinoff of the CBS series FBI was in the works about a street-smart CIA officer working with a by-the-book FBI agent in New York City. Sounds pretty plausible. Then, in June we told you that the show had been ordered “straight to series” (meaning no pilot would be shot) and that it would star Tom Ellis as the CIA operative – in time for the 2025-2026 season. Now, we hear that the show has been delayed until a mid-season premiere scheduled for February 23rd. We’re marking our calendars. Ellis will be joined by actor Nick Gehlfuss who will play the FBI agent and Natalee Linez will play a CIA analyst. The actor who was set to play the CIA’s New York Station Chief, Michael Michele is no longer attached to the project. Perhaps she (yes, Michael is a she) couldn’t pass her polygraph. (Just kidding.)
COMMON SENSE IN ADVERTISING: Russia’s Federal Security Service claims to have recently foiled a plot that the FSB says was hatched by “British and Ukrainian spies” to convince Russian pilots to steal a MiG-31 carrying a Kinzhal hypersonic missile. Sounds like a plausible idea, right? According to Reuters - which couldn’t independently verify Russia’s story - the FSB says Russian pilots were being offered $3 million for the hijacking but pointing out a significant downside. The Russians warned any pilots who might be contemplating a flight West to consider that the jet(s) could have been shot down over Romania, essentially characterizing the whole scenario as a “trick” that might get Russian defectors killed. Not to shoot holes in this whole idea - we’re not espionage experts or anything (though we do watch a lot of spy movies) but common sense tells us that welcoming those pilots and handing them a nice payout would make a much better future recruitment ad.
PARTIAL BLINDNESS IN THE FIVE EYES: Last week, when CNN reported that the UK had stopped sharing intelligence with the U.S. on the Caribbean because of unease about America’s war on speedboats, there was a variety of responses. Some experts lamented the damage done to the Five Eyes relationship while some administration supporters claimed either (a) it wasn’t true or (b) who needs intelligence from the Brits anyway? We were interested to see a story in The Economist that pointed out that Britain has been a player in the Caribbean for centuries and that just last year, their patrol vessel HMS Trent seized “£750m ($980m) of illegal drugs in the region.” That kinda blows a hole in the “Brits don’t have any intelligence we need” argument. But spies tell us that some British officials are worried that a surly U.S. administration may cut them off from some intelligence in other regions out of spite. C’mon. That would never happen.
WELL, AT LEAST THEY AREN’T GOING TO PAINT IT GOLD: The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) located adjacent to the White House West Wing has long inspired differing tastes. Some people view the massive 137-year-old building as a charming example of French Second Empire style architecture, others, like Mark Twain, called it the “ugliest building in America.” But in any case, it has been home to a lot of history. Once housing the State Department, Navy Department and War Department (back when the War Department meant the Army - and before there was a Defense Department – which some folks now call the War Department.) Most Washingtonians have gotten used to the look – but not all. President Trump told Laura Ingraham on Fox News that he’d like to rehab the place “cleaning, pointing, and painting” it white. The artist's image of the potential renovation (shown here) is quite stark. Had he been around to evaluate it, Mark Twain’s estimation of the building’s beauty might have sunk even lower. A group of preservationists went to federal court on Friday seeking to enjoin Trump from painting the town – or at least the EEOB part of it. If the urban renewal project goes forward – it is going to take a lot of paint. The EEOB is some 600,000+ square feet.
FLIGHT DELAY NEWS: No, we’re not talking about the problems caused by unpaid air traffic controllers not showing up to work during the government shut down. This one is about the release on Friday by Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, of records regarding the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan somewhere over the Pacific in 1937. Scientific American says the newly released documents include details regarding the search for Earhart, NSA records relating to her last known communications and even a 1960 letter from a woman who said that her mental telepathy showed that Earhart was still alive. In her release Gabbard said: “Delivering on President Trump’s promise, the release of the Amelia Earhart files will shine light on the disappearance of a beloved American aviator who has been at the center of public inquisition for decades.” She added that the release of the files demonstrates the administration’s transparency. We’re guessing this set of hidden files is not the one a lot of folks are buzzing about.GOT NEWS TO SHARE? DROP US A LINE @ thedeaddrop@thecipherbrief.com
AND CATCH UP ON EARLIER DROPS HERE.
