WE LOVE YOU, WE REALLY DO: Happy Valentine's Day to all our Dead Drop readers.
THE THREAT OF HEARING ABOUT THREATS: Every year in recent memory, the leadership of the U.S. intelligence community has trooped up to Capitol Hill to deliver to Congress an assessment of the threats facing the nation. The briefings, delivered to the oversight committees, traditionally happen in both open (unclassified) settings, and behind closed doors (for the really good stuff.) According to Politico, the IC leadership this year wanted to skip the public portion of the briefings – allegedly for fear of pissing off POTUS. Last year, following the unclassified briefings the President suggested that his IC leaders “go back to school” because they gave assessments that were not in line with his world view. Apparently, the stand-off about taking an open stand on the “worldwide threat” assessment has resulted in no testimony (open or closed) being scheduled at this time. Intelligence veterans we talked with are shaking their heads at the state of play. “The public hearings always had a valuable impact of forcing us to come up with language about what could be said in an unclassified setting about very real threats,” one IC veteran told us. The open hearings also had the benefit of insulating the IC from complaints that they had not sufficiently warned Congress. For example, shortly after 9/11, the CIA pointed out that in his February 7, 2001 Worldwide Threat testimony, Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet told Congress in open session: “Usama bin Ladin and his global network of lieutenants and associates remain the most immediate and serious threat. Since 1998, Bin Ladin has declared all US citizens legitimate targets of attack. As shown by the bombing of our Embassies in Africa in 1998 and his Millennium plots last year, he is capable of planning multiple attacks with little or no warning.”
DEEP STATE DOO DOO: Senator Lindsey Graham (R, SC) was on CBS News’ Face the Nation on February 9 and defended the White House decision to send Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman packing for his role in testifying before the House impeachment proceedings. “I think his reassignment was justified, I don’t think he could be effective at the NSC,” Graham said. “What have I learned in the last two years? CIA agents, Justice Department lawyers, FBI agents have a political agenda and they acted on it…as did Col. Vindman, who was not allowed to be asked questions about his connection to the alleged whistleblower.” The Senator’s Deep State allegations annoyed some intelligence alumni – including some who thought that a long-time member of the Senate Intelligence Committee would know better than to call CIA officers “CIA Agents.”
HOW ABOUT SPACE CADETS? It seems that the new U.S. Space Force is the gift that keeps on giving. Nary a week goes by that there isn’t some out-of-this-world news from the fledgling military service. The USSF’s second ranking general, Lt. Gen. David Thompson, told reporters last week that the outfit is still debating what to call their uniformed personnel. People in the Air Force are called “airmen,” and members of the Navy are called “sailors” or “seamen,” but the Space Force has decided one thing their troops won’t be called is “spacemen.”
STALKED IN SPACE: While we are off in the final frontier, we thought we’d mention that according to Space.com there are two Russian satellites that seem to be stalking a U.S. spy satellite. General John “Jay” Raymond, Space Force chief of space operations, told Time “We view this behavior as unusual and disturbing.” The Russian satellites have come close (by space standards) closing to within 100 miles of the US satellite.
SPOOKY PETE: In previous Dead Drops we told you about rumors floating around the political chattering classes that ex-Mayor Pete Buttigieg was once a CIA operative. That claim has been denied by Hizzoner’s staff but now the website TheGrayZone is back with an allegation that when Buttigieg was serving in Afghanistan he was in a unit that “worked with the spy agency.” Exactly why this would be a problem (if true) is unclear.
SECRET SERVICE GOING HOME TO TREASURY? The administration’s proposed 2021 budget calls for the Secret Service to be moved from the Department of Homeland Security back to its original home – the Treasury Department. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told Fox Business Network last week that there is bi-partisan support for the move. If Secret Service agents have to continue to shell out $650 a night for hotel accommodations at Mar-a-Lago, perhaps it is a good idea to tie them to the outfit that prints money.
PICKING UP A LITTLE SOMETHING AT THE CIA GIFT STORE: Back in December The Dead Drop mentioned an admiring Washington Post feature story on the CIA gift shop. The secret souvenir store is back in the news – this time not so favorably. AP says a plea hearing was scheduled for Kevin Tea, someone who worked at the store from 2016 to 2018 and is accused of defrauding the store out of more than $58,000 by directing refund changes on hundreds of transactions to his personal accounts. Tea pleaded not guilty to wire fraud charges.
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
ELEVATOR GOING DOWN? The Moscow Times reported that a Russian prankster put a massive portrait of Vladimir Putin in the elevator of a high-rise apartment building and installed a hidden camera to record people’s reactions. The lift riders were not amused. A typical reaction was a resident muttering to himself: “What the f***? They’ve gone f***ing insane.” The face of the gent who conducted the prank is clearly shown gluing the portrait to the elevator wall. No word on his health and welfare but we imagine Vlad would not be amused.
SALES ARE SMOKING HOT: If you are looking for a company with red hot sales, look no further than “Diba Parcham Khomein,” an Iranian firm operating near the ancestral home of the late Ayatollah Khomeini. The company produces U.S. and Israeli flags specifically for the locals to burn. There is reportedly high demand for the national banner of the “Great Satan” and Iranians are snapping up and lighting up the products as quickly as the company can turn them out.
SPEAKING OF KEEPING TOASTY: Want to stay warm without firing up Old Glory? The U.S. Army is doing research on what to do about soldiers with cold hands. As servicemen and women could tell you – putting your hands in your pockets is a no-no. Army scientists say that one way to keep warm is to exercise. Why didn’t we think of that? The scientists also looked at whether keeping your face warm would result in warmer hands and feet. Not much it seems. Wearing goggles and a balaclava help a bit, apparently, but Army Times says not to throw your mittens in the trash yet.
O CANADA WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE: Not everyone is worried about keeping warm. Our neighbors to the north, the Canadian Army, are reportedly considering issuing shorter skirts to women recruits to encourage more of them to sign up. The Canadian Armed Forces hope to increase the number of women in their ranks – aiming to move from the current 16 percent to 25 percent by 2026. It is unclear if shorter skirts will result in more women signing up – or more men.
DARK TIMES IN ESTONIA: From JJ Green’s Inside the SCIF Newsletter, Estonia’s Director General for Foreign Intelligence revealed the country’s latest intelligence report and it paints a grim picture of today’s world. “The world has not become a more secure place during these five years; if anything, the opposite is true. The main external threats to Estonia’s security remain the same. We are particularly threatened by neighbouring Russia, whose leadership is aggressively and actively opposed to the democratic world order,” said Mikk Marran. Get more on stories like this by signing up for Inside the SCIF.
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