NGA TAKES SHARP TURN: The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) announced on December 26th that Navy Rear Admiral Robert Sharp has been selected to be the next director of the Agency. Sharp, who had recently been confirmed for promotion to Vice Admiral, is set to take over NGA from the present director, Robert Cardillo, in a ceremony in February. Sharp currently is director of the Office of Naval Intelligence. According to C4ISRNET, an NGA spokeswoman declined to comment about whether Cardillo is retiring or moving to another government assignment. To our ear, that sounds like he might be in consideration for another gig — otherwise — why not say he is moving on?
CIAOMF SAYS CIAO TO CHAIRMAN: The Dead Drop hears that John McLaughlin is stepping down as the chairman of the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation the organization which supports the well-being and educational needs of the children and spouses of fallen CIA officers. McLaughlin has led the foundation for over seven years According to their website, during the current school year the foundation is supporting 49 students and awarding scholarships totaling $1,154,400 more than double the dollar amount awarded when McLaughlin became chairman. McLaughlin’s successor will be long-time Washington hand Jeffrey Smith. A retired partner at Arnold Porter, Smith is a former CIA general counsel and served in senior positions in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill. One of the foundation’s first steps after McLaughlin informed them of his plans to step down was to select him as the honoree for their annual Richard M. Helms Award dinner this spring. Past recipients of the Helms award have included people like Presidents Bush (41 & 43), Judge William Webster, Leon Panetta, Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright, and Admiral William McRaven.
REVIEWING PRE-PUB REVIEW POLICY INCHES ALONG: In the June 24, 2016 Dead Drop we mentioned that the FY2017 Intelligence Authorization Act directed the DNI to “develop a uniform new policy that clearly sets forth what kinds of materials must be reviewed, with guidance for conducting and completing the review in a timely manner, and with a prompt and transparent appeal process.” How did that work out? Too soon to tell. The Federation of American Scientists “Secrecy News” blog recently reported they got a letter from ODNI FOIA head Sally Nicholson saying that a new policy is on the way but not yet completed. In their FY2017 guidance, Congress said that “all IC personnel must be made aware of pre-publication review requirements and that the review process must yield timely, reasoned, and impartial decisions that are subject to appeal.” Those fixes cannot come soon enough for some people. Former CIA officer Dan Harris recently wrote an open letter to President Trump and DNI Daniel Coats complaining that he submitted a 283-page spy novel manuscript to the Agency’s publication review board on June 27, 2017 and 17 months later he had heard back on only 37 of those pages. Troubling him further, Harris said that a lot of fictional material had been deleted from those pages – and that he had been told that the PRB’s decision was final and not subject to appeal. The Dead Drop will be sure to share the new policy, once its in play.
OTTERLY FASCINATING: Newly declassified documents about the CIA’s 1950’s and 60’s mind control program called MK Ultra reveal that some folks at the Agency spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to harness (literally and figuratively) the skills of otters to put them to work for U.S. intelligence. Some of the documents reported by Newsweek show that Agency handlers took a shine to the animals, as illustrated in one document: “Lutra, the otter, is a compact, powerful, intelligent animal capable of negotiating land, water, and obstacles with great facility. Lutra can survive in hostile environments such as under ice, in hot water, in raging seas, and even in urban environments. Capable of being easily trained and becomes devoted to humans which sometimes leads to its destruction. It can find its own food if necessary and can make long journeys routinely.”
DOG GONE: Other declassified CIA documents cited in Newsweek show that in the 1960s the CIA used brain surgery to create “six remote control dogs.” Allegedly the canines could be “made to run, turn and stop.” “Behavioral control was limited to distances of 100 to 200 yard, at most.” After that, apparently Fido had a mind of his own. You’ll never guess who is most outraged over these 50+ year-old experiments. Oh, you guessed. Yep, RT, Vladimir Putin’s house media have reported on the issue extensively. Kind of ironic that a country that today uses Novichok nerve agent on its defectors would be so upset – but irony is dead, or so they say.
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
- WHAT A CARD: A U.S. historian digging through German archives recently came up with an interesting discovery. It was an ID card issued in 1986 by East Germany’s feared Stasi secret police to a mid-level KGB officer then stations in Dresden. The name on the card: Vladimir Putin. Cards of this type were reportedly issued to KGB officers to give them access to Stasi offices. A German spokesman said there is “no evidence (Putin) worked for the Stasi.” Phew. For a moment we thought someone was suggesting something shady about him.
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING: Got any tips for your friendly neighborhood Dead Drop? Shoot us a note at TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
