Dead Drop: April 28
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? When rent-an-Army outfit Wagner Group was given permission to recruit warm bodies from Russian prisons, who could imagine any bad outcomes? […] More
Dead Drop Archive
Dead Drop: April 21
STRIKE FOUR: We are beginning to get the sense that not everyone liked former CIA officer Bob Baer’s latest book The Fourth Man. First, there was a […] More
Dead Drop: April 14
THE KIRBY DERBY: There are a lot of folks who consider themselves fans of retired Navy Rear Admiral John Kirby’s communications skills. Whether during a couple […] More
Dead Drop: April 7
THE UN-REAL HOUSEWIVES OF THE 960TH ASSAULT AVIATION REGIMENT: A group of Ukrainian hacktivists and journalists recently pulled a fast one on the wife of the commander […] More
Dead Drop: March 31
WAIT, MAGAZINES HAVE MAGAZINES? We recently learned that The Economist has its own magazine – called “1843” named for the year The Economist was founded. (Technically, The Economist calls itself […] More
Dead Drop: March 24
BAER FACTS: The last time former CIA officer Robert Baer was mentioned in The Cipher Brief was when three former counterintelligence chiefs dismantled arguments he made in his […] More
Dead Drop: March 17
“LORDY, I HOPE THERE ARE TAPES”: That phrase, made in an entirely different context, was the first thought that came to mind when we heard […] More
Dead Drop: March 10
A LITTLE SONG, A LITTLE DANCE … a little Novichok down your pants. Remember Konstantin Kodryavtsev, the FSB operative who was duped into admitting to […] More
Dead Drop: March 3
MISSING MAN FORMATION: Last Friday, seven retired four-star officers (six generals and one admiral) posted a letter in Defense One calling on the US and its allies to […] More
Dead Drop: February 24
WAIT, WUT? At The Cipher Brief, our focus is on easy stuff — like national security and world peace – so we intentionally stay away from […] More
Dead Drop: February 17
MILLER TIME: If you have 37 minutes to spare – and a strong stomach, you might want to watch the full interview of former acting Secretary of Defense […] More
Dead Drop: February 10
BAER TRUTH? We’ve gotten a lot of responses to the opinion piece published in The Cipher Brief by three former CIA Counterintelligence Chiefs who weighed […] More
Dead Drop: February 3
GUTS OR NUTS? Late last week, NBC News got their hands on a memo sent by four-star Air Force General Mike Minihan to his subordinates telling them that his “gut” […] More
Dead Drop: January 27
YOU DON’T WRITE, YOU DON’T CALL… Last week, the Kremlin issued an oddly plaintive statement suggesting they kind of miss hearing from CIA Director Bill Burns. The […] More
Dead Drop: January 20
HIRE AN INTEL VET? Tea leaf readers noticed that former 3-term congressman and CIA clandestine service veteran Will Hurd, is scheduled to make some speeches in New Hampshire […] More
Dead Drop: January 13
CALL 1-800-I-QUIT: Ukrainian officials figured that a lot of the Russian soldiers they are facing across the frontlines would rather be somewhere – or anywhere […] More
Dead Drop: January 6
WE HAVE FOUND THE ENEMY: The new Republican controlled House of Representatives is eager to get to work and fix some things they consider broken […] More
Dead Drop: December 30
BAD TRADECRAFT: The crack crew at the UK’s Daily Mail.com have figured out what’s wrong with a number of social media platforms. Apparently, it’s U.S. […] More