Dead Drop: April 7

SINGAPORE SLING: Maybe we were right all along.  In a Dead Drop on February 17 we predicted that  Deputy National Security Advisor K.T. McFarland was not long for her job – because she was passed over as acting #1 when Mike Flynn was fired.  Then a week later we reported that the White House put out word that her job was safe.  NOW —  CNN is reporting that McFarland has been offered the job of U.S. Ambassador to Singapore – OR – might get a job at the State Department.  The number of ambassadors nominated by the Trump administration can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

EMPTY EMBASSIES: Speaking of absent ambassadors, an article in Quartz last week estimated that more than half of the world’s population lives in countries where there currently is no U.S. ambassador.  There are 57 countries and territories with a combined population of 3.9 billion people with no U.S. ambassador at the moment.  The numbers would be worse – except for career (non-political) ambassadors who have been allowed to stay at their posts (for now.)  It is not just that the Trump administration has been unable to get ambassadors confirmed – it has only nominated five potential ambassadors.

HOME ALONE IN THE PENTAGON TOO: Secretary of Defense James Mattis is rambling around the Pentagon with hardly any company of other senior officials requiring Senate confirmation.  But it gets worse.  There are hundreds of “Schedule C” slots for political appointees in the Department of Defense – people who do not require Senate confirmation but are appointed by the administration.  Since so many confirmable positions remain unfilled – the underlying “Sked C’s” are also in limbo.  We’re told that lots of bright young men and women are applying for these jobs – but there is no one at the senior ranks in the Pentagon to make decisions on whom to hire.

FRIED RICE? Reports that former National Security Advisor Susan Rice was behind the unmasking of Trump transition figures caught up in surveillance intercepts were either a likely illustration of politically motivated abuse of the intelligence process – if you believe former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz – writing on FoxNews.Com, or simply an example of Rice doing her job and the Trump administration  “…misleading the American people on something that is common practice in the intelligence business,” if you believe former CIA (and FBI) analyst Phil Mudd on CNN.

ET TUTU MUDD?  Mudd doubled down on his criticism of the White House handling of the “unmasking issue” by criticizing spin from administration spokesman Sean Spicer on CNN: “…Sean Spicer knows about intelligence what I know about ballet.”

NOT MENTIONING ANY NAMES, JUST SAYIN’:  Former CIA Director John Brennan gave the “Dimbleby Lecture” on BBC-TV Wednesday night.  He spoke about globalism, American exceptionalism, terrorism, cyber security and the quality of our political leaders. On the latter, Brennan suggested the world might be a better place if, before being allowed to run for high public office, individuals be required to pass a test demonstrating that they understood how government works and pass another test for “truth telling and responsible and courteous discourse.”  The speech can be viewed here.

POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:

• We learned on Newsmax.com that Scott Uehlinger, a CIA alumnus who says he is a retired CIA Station Chief who “spent twelve years of his career abroad in the former Soviet Union” has started a podcast called “The Station Chief.”  We remember when Agency veterans were not allowed to utter the words “Station Chief.” Uehlinger also has an op-ed in The Hill which says the intel community was turned into a political weapon against President Trump.

NETWORK NEWS: Not a day goes by when members of The Cipher Brief Network aren’t making news.  Here are just a few examples from this week:

• Former CIA Deputy Director (and first class amateur magician) John McLaughlin is quoted in David Ignatius’ syndicated column about how misdirection, often used by magicians, is similar to the political techniques we are now seeing to distract the public from following the ball on the Russian election-meddling investigation.
• Former CIA and NSA Director General Mike Hayden, speaking at a Johns Hopkins SAIS event, was quoted by the Yonhap News Agency as saying that North Korea is likely to be capable of striking Seattle with a nuclear weapon during President Trump’s term.
• Former top CIA lawyer Robert Eatinger is quoted in Newsweek about why the CIA is increasingly worried about Chinese moles.

WHAT’S ON THEIR NIGHTSTAND? (Our contributors tell us about what they’re currently reading)

Michael Vigil, former Chief of International Operations, Drug Enforcement Administration:

“Ioan Grillo’s Gangster Warlords. Ioan is one of the few journalists who truly captures the violence, treachery, and global nature of the illegal drug trade”

SECURITY QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“Whether Xi succeeds in this quest to pack the ruling group may very well depend on his success in Mar-a-Lago. Why? If he can show everyone in Beijing that he tamed Trump, he will be seen as deserving of an indefinite tenure at the top of the ruling organization.

Many believe the Trump administration is particularly vulnerable to deals proposed by Xi, the master strategist, such as an utterly cynical Taiwan-for-North Korea trade or a North Korea-for-South China Sea arrangement. Even if Trump were amenable to a bargain of this sort—and there is no hard evidence that he is—it is hard to see how the Chinese leader could keep his end of the bargain.”

– Gordon Chang, Author, The Coming Collapse of China

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING:  Got any tips for your friendly neighborhood Dead Drop?  Shoot us a note at [email protected].