CIA DIRECTOR & INSTAGRAM: In a rare public appearance, CIA Director Gina Haspel told an audience at Auburn University this week that the Agency would be launching an Instagram account soon. It's definitely a public shift by the Agency to use more of the channels of communication that everyone else uses. CIA already has a Twitter account, with 2.58M followers. The Dead Drop can't help but wonder whether DCIA will use the new Instagram account the way her boss uses Twitter. Now THAT would be a headline.
TURNING THE TABLES ON THE MEDIA: Members of the media were in the hot seat this week for The Hayden Center's panel on Breaking News at the National Press Club this week. Cipher Brief CEO Suzanne Kelly, along with NBC's Andrea Mitchell, and both David Ignatius and Peter Finn from The Washington Post answered questions from former Acting CIA Director Michael Morell about the state of the media. You can watch it on C-Span here. Mike Hayden, who is recovering from a stroke suffered late last year, was there along with his wife Jeanine.
FOIA MARCH MADNESS UPDATE: A couple weeks ago we told you about how the folks at Muckrock.com created their own March Madness-like competition which pitted 64 government agencies in a contest to see which one would respond best to similar Freedom of Information Act requests. The NCAA’s March Madness is long over – but the FOIA version (unsurprisingly) moves at a slower pace. The Muckrock competition has narrowed down to 16 semi-finalists, however. There remain some tough battles ahead – including one which seems like an unfair fight – where the National Archives and Records Administration takes on Social Security. Seems like NARA should be a shoo-in for this kind of match up. Air Force is pitted against the Peace Corps in another FOIA death match. And, just like the college basketball version of March Madness – there is always some team that sneaks in that you have never heard of before. In the FOIA version – the Cinderella role goes to the “Institute of Museum and Library Services” AKA “IMLS.” There really is such an outfit – and they have a DOT GOV website address – so they must be legit.
“I CAN DO FOR YOUR IMAGE WHAT I DID FOR DHS” That is probably not part of the Pentagon job application by Department of Homeland Security official Jonathan Hoffman but CNN reports that the current top spokesman for DHS has been offered a similar job at the Department of Defense. Hoffman has been assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS under former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Hoffman didn’t seem to figure out how to make Nielsen beloved – or even keep her from being fired. But perhaps he will have better luck with Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan. CNN says that Hoffman has been picked to fill the Pentagon spokesman position that has been left vacant since Dana White left the job in January. It will be interesting to see if Hoffman (assuming he is confirmed for the job) maintains the same low-profile posture as formers have maintained. Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander (and TCB expert) Admiral James Stavridis wrote this week lamenting the fact that no senior Pentagon official has addressed the media on camera for over 300 days.
BILL BARR – SECRECY AGENT: Here is another thing we learned from Muckrock. It seems the current (and previous) Attorney General Bill Barr once worked in the CIA’s “Office of Legislative Council.” In that role, in 1976, Barr reportedly drafted letters advising Congressional leaders that CIA planned to resume destroying some records. The temporary no-shredding rule was put in following the Church Committee hearings. As we recall, Barr has been in the news for something else recently – but we can’t quite put our finger on it.
CONSIDERING THE SOURCE: The Russian news service Sputnik reports that Kim Dotcom alleges via Twitter that those pesky sexual assault charges that Julian Assange was ducking when he took refuse in the Ecuadorian embassy in London seven years ago were just the result of a CIA “spy op” to get Assange to the US. You get the impression that even Sputnik doesn’t believe the allegation since they refer to Dotcom and “notorious internet entrepreneur” – but placing the blame on the CIA was too hard for the Russian site to pass up.
MAKING A SPLASH AFTER LEAVING GOVERNMENT: We knew former CIA senior officers (and TCB expert) Dan Hoffman has been busy – as a Fox News talking head and newly appointed member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. But what we didn’t know was something reported in Washington Exec. Hoffman has also signed on as a senior adviser to the International Swimming League. To be honest – we did not know there WAS such a thing as an International Swimming League – but it is reportedly the first professional sports league for swimming. The ISL will begin operations this year with a series of U.S. and European-based competitions culminating with a “global championship” at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Before donning his trench coat, Hoffman reportedly swam competitively at Bates College and coached youth swim teams in the DC area.
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING: Got any tips for your friendly neighborhood Dead Drop? Sure, you do. Shoot us a note at TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com. We promise anonymity and that warm fuzzy feeling you get when some wry observation of yours ends up in print.
