WHO’S ON DECK? In a Dead Drop a few weeks ago, we promised you that just as we have done for the last two presidential election cycles – we’d keep you up to speed on speculation about who might fill what senior national security roles in 2025. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot more rumors about who might be in play for a possible Trump administration than Biden II. (Folks don’t speculate as much about musical chairs during a sitting administration – to avoid giving the impression that everyone isn’t doing a bang-up job and having the time of their lives.) Politico recently offered a rundown of possible players in a Trump redux scenario. Among those in the clubhouse are Rick Grenell, former ambassador to Germany and acting Director of National Intelligence in the Trump ’45 go round. Among those also frequently mentioned are former Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty who was U.S. ambassador to Japan in the last administration. In addition, there is Robert O’Brien, who was the fourth person to serve as national security advisor in the first Trump term – and who is mentioned as someone who might be in line for some new or possibly repeat role (there’s precedent for that, Brent Scowcroft was national security advisor twice – although in his case, it was for two different presidents (Ford and Bush ’41.) Another name floating around is that of Elbridge Colby, a former Defense Department official who spends a lot of time worrying about the threat of China.
REVERSE THE CURSE: Yet another name you hear bandied about for a senior role if there is a new Trump administration is Kash Patel who (like a lot of folks) had several roles in the previous version – ending up as chief of staff to the Acting Secretary of Defense. Patel has made several Dead Drop appearances. He was recently in the news again for promoting pills on Truth Social that were said to somehow ‘reverse” the impact of COVID and supposedly help those who take them “get healthy.” The “science” behind those pills (“vaccine shedding”) has been described by some experts as “delusional” – but nevertheless, based on the pill pushing alone, we’ll pencil Patel in as a Secretary of HHS candidate.
REALITY BITES: President Biden while on the campaign trail seemed to hint that his uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, a World War II Army aviator who went missing in May 1944 near New Guinea, might have been eaten by cannibals. Recently, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape tried to put a fork in that claim, saying that his country does not deserve to be labelled as such a place. The State Department and Papua New Guinea officials agreed that everyone should honor the “shared sacrifice” of those who fought in World War II – but there doesn’t seem to be anything to support the cannibal theory. Pentagon records say Second Lieutenant Finnegan’s plane went down in the ocean “and the aircraft’s nose hit the water hard.” Finnegan was a passenger on the flight. Two other service members also went missing while one other crew member was rescued.
REMEMBER WHEN A “USO” WAS A GOOD THING? No more, apparently. Tim Gallaudet, an oceanographer and retired Navy rear admiral was quoted on Fox News saying that “unidentified submerged objects” or USOs are “scientifically valid” and must be studied for national security reasons. Whatever they are – he says they “jeopardize U.S. maritime security.
NAILBITING VIDEO: The last Dead Drop included an item about the apparent attempted assassination of Vasily Prozorov, a Ukrainian military officer who defected to Russia several years ago. In testimony to the sturdiness of the Toyota Land Cruiser in which he was in – or to the ineffectiveness of (presumed) Ukrainian bombmakers (in this instance) Prozorov reportedly survived with relatively minor injuries. This week, the Russian FSB released video footage of what they said was a Ukrainian operative who sent the bomb to Russia “disguised as a manicure kit.” The Russians claim the kit went from Poland to Lithuania and finally to Moscow. Bombs in manicure kits? We’ll file that one away.
TAKING THE FIFTH: In the forthcoming book department, New York Times bestselling author Dan Hampton has landed a deal with Blackstone Publishing to write: “The Fifth Column: Spies, Liars, and Traitors Who Sold America’s Atomic Secrets and Betrayed Their Country.” The success of Oppenheimer may have helped make the sale. The publisher’s announcement says the book will unveil “the shocking history of betrayal during WWII” and expose “the Soviet espionage that altered the course of world history.” No word yet on when it will come out.
IT'S GREEK TO ME: Another book on the horizon is titled, “The American School of Spies” which is about an American team of archaeologists who worked for the OSS during World War II and were known as “the Greek desk.” The group was reportedly dispatched to Greece on a mission to prevent the Nazis from seizing or destroying precious antiquities. The book being published by Dutton, is being written by Stephan Talty who among other books, wrote one that became Tom Hanks’ 2013 motion picture “Captain Phillips.” The “Greek desk” has been the subject of a couple other books in the past, but perhaps with the touch of Talty they will get more recognition.
SHAMELESS (Self-promotion): A look at what’s happening behind-the-scenes at The Cipher Brief:
WHO’S COMING TO DINNER?: Apparently the hottest dinner ticket in Washington D.C. is The Cipher Brief HONORS Dinner happening Thursday, May 2. The Cipher Brief is honoring 5 individuals who have significantly contributed to the national security dialogue over the years. Honorees include: CIA Director William J. Burns, former PDDNI The Hon. Susan Gordon, Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova, veteran national security columnist Walter Pincus and Hollywood Executive Producer and Showrunner Howard Gordon (of ‘24’ and ‘Homeland’ fame). We’re told there will be a number of other VIPS in the crowd including: Former CIA and NSA Director General Michael Hayden (Ret.), former CIA Director and Allen & Company Chairman Emeritus The Hon. George Tenet, former PDDNI The Hon. Stephanie O’Sullivan and former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Dr. Michael Vickers. Oh, and about half of The Cipher Brief’s expert network.
A LITTLE ‘PRE-DINNER COFFEE’: Apparently, Cipher Brief COO Brad Christian, who was an Army Ranger and Green Beret (who also put his skills to work for the CIA) before turning media tycoon, spilled the beans to Black Rifle Coffee Company Founder Even Hafer for an upcoming episode of the Black Rifle Coffee podcast. The episode isn’t due to be released until Wednesday, May 1 but we hear it was a highly-caffeinated conversation.
HOW TO DESTROY A DEMOCRACY: One of the things Christian and Hafer reportedly talked about was the rapid spread of disinformation being pushed to the veteran community by Russia and yes, even China. That might explain why The Cipher Brief published a public service announcement recently on how to destroy Democracies without firing a shot. We suggest you grab a cup o’ joe and check it out.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
GET OUT OF JAIL FREE: We hear that a book is in the works to come out next year from Harper Publishing called “Monopoly X.” It is the story about how British and U.S. intelligence services used shipments of the Monopoly board games to smuggle escape information and gear to Allied servicemen being held at German POW camps during World War II. The author is board game expert Phil Orbanes who has written several previous books on Monopoly. He’s been working on “Monopoly X” for many years and now may finally be able to pass GO and collect more than $200.
GET INTO THE GULAG FREE: According to Ukrainian sources, folks in Russia have developed a computer game about the war in Ukraine called, “The Best in Hell.” Reportedly, the concept of the game is to have players search for “Ukrainian Nazis” in a largely destroyed Ukrainian city. Perhaps the game has been in development for some time since the avatar leader of the “good guys” appears to be Yevgeny Prigozhin. As you will recall, Team Putin helped the Wagner Group leader reach the next level last August.
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