THERE’S SOME WHACKY SH*T GOING ON AT NSA: It’s like leadership roulette at the National Security Agency (NSA), now with 100% more chaos. According to a social media post from Rep. Don Bacon (R, NE) the administration has now reversed course on its intention to name Joe Francescon the Deputy Director of the NSA. Word came out in August that Francescon, who was a defense and national security official in the first Trump administration, had been picked and blessed by DNI Tulsi Gabbard - with the president’s approval. The position does not require Senate confirmation, so it’s notable that many months later, Francescon had still not been officially named. Bacon, a retired USAF brigadier general, credits “whacky Laura Loomer” and infighting in the White House for derailing the appointment. Loomer agrees…well, about her getting credit, anyway. She says Francescon donated $500 to Rep. Jason Crow, (D, CO) in 2023 and insisted that should be reason enough to disqualify him from the position which has now been open for 8 months and counting. If we were talking about confirming a fifth grade class president, this might all seem fair game and who really cares, but for the grown ups in the room who remember that Loomer also claimed credit for getting the former director and deputy director fired, both of whom had deep-experience with the cyber threats facing the U.S. each and every day, this feels a bit, well, negligent. “We are at Cyber War everyday and the inability to get leaders in place is gross negligence” said Bacon. For those keeping score at home, let’s make sure we understand the teams here. The criticism of Loomer and her incredible lack of experience in national security is coming from a Republican member of Congress, so this clearly isn’t a political issue. It appears to be more of an intelligence issue. The only silver lining here is that Tim Kosiba is rumored to be taking Francescon's place and he happens to be awesome, according to our sources.
ALVIN, OUT — After announcing his impending early retirement in October, U.S. SOUTHCOM Commander Admiral Alvin Holsey officially retired today, handing the official reins to his deputy, Air Force Lieutenant General Evan Pettus, who will serve as acting commander. The rumor mill is already moving full steam ahead with several folks speculating that Lieutenant General Frank Donovan, vice commander of SOCOM, is President Donald Trump’s preferred pick to take the job — but we’re still waiting to see how the wind blows. In his farewell remarks, Holsey did not address why he’s stepping down two years earlier than expected, but Reuters cited five sources claiming Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed him out. The timing comes amid growing controversy over the strikes against alleged narcotrafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, and the intensifying pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
TANKERS FOR THE MELODIES: Surely, you saw the silent video posted by Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice showing U.S. Coast Guard personnel seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. But did you see the version put out by the Department of Homeland Security that included a sound track? It wasn’t the sounds of merchant sailors surrendering but instead was part of an L.L. Cool J song titled “Mama Said Knock You Out.” It’s unclear if DHS legally obtained the rights to the ditty or if it was obtained by musical piracy. The song goes back to 1990 and has recently been featured in TV car commercials with the line: “Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years.”
FONTS OF WISDOM? Loyal readers of The Dead Drop with excellent memories will remember in our January 20, 2023 edition, under the memorable headline: “I Shot the Serif,” we relayed word that then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent a cable throughout his department declaring that everyone should use Calibri font rather than Times New Roman for all documents headed to the Executive Secretariat. The reason given was that fonts like Times New Roman were harder for people with visual disabilities to read as compared to serif-less type types – like Calibri. Well, that was then. Blinken’s successor Marco Rubio has undone the order calling it a “radical” and ineffective nod to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs. According to a memo obtained by the New York Times Rubio said bringing back the serif would “restore decorum and professionalism to the department’s written work.” The Times (the New York, not New Roman Times) reports some heated rhetoric typed in the memo from Rubio saying that although the font switch “was not among the department’s most illegal, immoral, radical or wasteful instances of D.E.I.A.,” that “switching to Calibri achieved nothing except the degradation of the department’s official correspondence.”
READY, FIRE, AIM? There is a provision in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act requiring the Secretary of Defense (War) to explain to Congress the reasoning behind decisions to fire senior military Judge Advocate General officers. The provision would apply to future decisions and Defense One reports that the provision was inserted into the 3,000-plus-page bill by Senator Elizabeth Warren, (D, MA). Pete Hegseth’s disdain for military lawyers, who he calls “JAG-OFFS,” is well known – and one of his first acts on entering office was to can the top Army and Air Force JAGs (the Navy slot was already vacant.) While Warren’s provision may be intended to slow down the arbitrary axing of senior lawyers who push for following the law and stuff, the effort is unlikely to have much impact. Why? Because the required explanation that needs to be provided in the event that more JAGs are jettisoned – is likely to fall back on the tried (and sometimes true) phrase that there was simply a loss of confidence in an officer’s ability to lead.
U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY EARNS FIVE STARS FROM MOSCOW: The good news is that while the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 requires presidents to submit a National Security Strategy (NSS) to Congress every year, it does not require them to actually follow their own strategy. The newly released NSS document from the Trump White House received high praise – from Moscow – where Kremlin spokesmen proclaimed it as “largely consistent” with Russian government views. In Europe, the reception was considerably chillier in part because the national strategy warns that the continent faces “civilizational erasure” due to migration or some such. On the brighter side – not every potential land-grabbing competitor was likely happy with the report. The NSS says the U.S. aspires to “deter conflict” over Taiwan and the South China Sea. The document also endorses reviving the 19th century Monroe Doctrine in the Western Hemisphere with a new “Trump Corollary” that appears to say the U.S. should focus on its own backyard – and that backyard is south – not east or west - of Washington. Some of the experts we talked to are quite disappointed. Others are urging everyone not to hyperventilate, pointing out that what countries say and what they do are sometimes quite different. You don’t say.
CAMPUS LABS AND SECRET RECRUITMENTS - THE QUIET FRONTLINES: A recent warning from former Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) head David Vigneault, as reported by The Guardian, highlights that hostile powers, led by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), are no longer satisfied with stealing government secrets (if they ever were). According to the report, the PRC is also systematically infiltrating universities and private-sector R&D labs to plunder dual-use research (AI, materials science, robotics, etc.), siphoning innovations that can be repurposed for military or strategic use. In parallel: in a move that quietly underscores deep mistrust of major-power surveillance, Politico reports that the Netherlands government has disabled Google Analytics on job-listings for its intelligence services. The aim: to prevent aspirant spies’ data from being sucked into U.S. surveillance. A Dutch lawmaker was quoted saying that while China and Russia have long been viewed as an espionage risk, it is unacceptable to have any foreign government, allied or not, to have insight into Dutch intelligence recruitment candidates. There’s a clear convergence here: espionage increasingly is moving through civilian channels: labs, campuses, job-ads, and recruitment portals, in addition to old espionage sources and methods still being very much in play.
SOMEBODY’S WATCHING ME: The Daily Mail says that a veteran Russian cosmonaut has been bounced from an upcoming joint space mission with NASA. Oleg Artemyev was accused of “photographing classified documents and rocket equipment at a SpaceX facility in Hawthorne, California, and was accused of ‘smuggling’ the information out of the building on his phone in late November.” Because of the accusations, Artemyev has been replaced by another Russian cosmonaut who will take his place on the “SpaceX Crew-12” trip to the International Space Station in early 2026. Ya’ think people might be watching his every move?
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