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Dead Drop

The Dead Drop logo: red on white background.

NOUN

  1. A location to secretly pass information without a face-to-face meeting.

Each week we hope to give our readers tidbits of gossip from the world of national security and intelligence. The Dead Drop is a source of fun or intriguing news you can’t get anywhere else.

Got a tip for us? Email us at  thedeaddrop@thecipherbrief.com  and share the scoop. We promise to protect our sources and methods.

Below is our recent intelligence collection:

Dead Drop: June 21 - 27

SHRIMP DIPLOMACY FOR GREENLAND? President Trump's push to acquire Greenland has been sold as a matter of Arctic security, rare earth minerals and countering Chinese influence – all of which makes sense for the U.S. presence that already exists there. But one Trump appointee recently added another benefit to the list: bringing back unlimited shrimp at Red Lobster. In the “we can’t make this up” category, Tom Dans, chairman of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, reportedly told The New Yorker that America could absorb Greenland's seafood exports, cut China out of the supply chain and restore [...] Read More

Dead Drop: June 14 - 20

A NEW REALITY SHOW AT ODNI? The leadership page of the ODNI website now officially reflects William J. Pulte as Acting Director. This, as CNN reports [...] More

Dead Drop: June 7 - 13

HOW INTELLIGENT WAS THAT? Just before President Trump yanked the Acting Director of National Intelligence gig from Mar-a-Lago member Bill Pulte this [...] More

Dead Drop Archive

Dead Drop: May 31 - June 6

A “SPECIAL (OPS)” OPENING PITCH — We have it on good authority that Saturday’s opening pitch at the Yankees vs. Red Sox game is being thrown by a [...] More

Dead Drop: May 24 - 30

GOLD RUSH: A man referred to as David Rush, a Senior Intelligence Service-level CIA officer with top secret/SCI clearance was arrested on May 19 [...] More

Dead Drop: May 17 - 23

THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS A REALLY AWKWARD CHOICE: The U.S. and Israel reportedly went into their war on Iran with a regime-change plan that could [...] More

Dead Drop: May 10 - 16

MANHOLE COVER STORY: A Russian cargo ship called the Ursa Major sank off the coast of Spain in December 2024 under circumstances that were, until [...] More

Dead Drop: May 3 - 9

WORLDWIDE SHADOW POLICE: Beijing's transnational harassment apparatus had a rough week in a variety of jurisdictions. A London jury convicted two men [...] More

Dead Drop: April 26 - May 2

SOFT PEDAL POWER: As President Trump gets ready to head to Beijing for a May 14-15 summit, the Wall Street Journal is recalling a warmer era. In [...] More

Dead Drop: April 19 - 25

WITCH WAY TO THE QUARTERDECK? Don’t you hate when things you say just keep coming back to haunt you? Well, the U.S. Navy has a new acting secretary, [...] More

Dead Drop: April 12 - 18

A NEW FOCUS FOR SEB? Sebastian Gorka is rumored to be making a quiet play for one of the most powerful counterterrorism jobs in Washington and it’s [...] More

Dead Drop: April 5 - 11

RUMOR HAS IT — According to an Axios report, President Trump was ready to fire Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard over her failure to [...] More

Dead Drop: March 29 - April 4

DIA - UNCONFIRMED – We’re hearing from the rumor mill that DIA Deputy Director Christine Bordine’s last day in that role was today (Wednesday) and [...] More

Dead Drop: March 22 - 28

YOUR PRIVACY TOOL IS WATCHING YOU: The whole point of a VPN (virtual private network) is to hide who you are and where you are. Turns out, that may [...] More

Dead Drop: March 15 - 21

THE BUZZ AT BARKSDALE: Earlier this month, a swarm of unidentified drones repeatedly buzzed Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, home to [...] More