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 later this month. The Granite State, of course, is traditionally the site of the first Republican presidential primary each cycle. Could Hurd be thinking about running for president? Last year, he published a book, American Reboot: An Idealist’s Guide to Getting Big Things Done. That is another customary signal that a politician is thinking of throwing their hat in the ring. If Hurd joined the fray, he might come up against former CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whose own book with the obligatory inspirational title, Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love is scheduled to come out later this month. (The book reportedly tells of a heretofore secret trip Pompeo took to North Korea while CIA Director.) What other signs might people look for to see if either is planning a run? Let us know if you spot them searching their garages or basements for classified documents that they might have accidentally taken home when leaving government.
HIRE AN AMERICAN VET: Representative Jim Banks (R, IN) has announced that he is running for Senate. Banks is a Navy Reserve supply corps officer who took leave from a past gig in the Indiana State Senate for a tour of duty in Afghanistan. In making the announcement, BanksforSenate.com posted a nearly three-minute-long video which includes him pledging to keep critical race theory and anti-Americanism from being “pushed on our troops.” Politico reporter Dave Brown pointed out however, that some of the supposed American troops shown in the video are actually actors from Estonia that are included in stock video that’s available for purchase. Oops.
THE SVR DOESN’T FORGET: The Russian foreign intelligence service (SVR) announced last week that they unveiled a plaque to honor Morris and Lona Cohen. The American-born couple spied for the Soviet Union and reportedly were instrumental in passing atomic bomb secrets to Moscow in the 1940’s. At the time of Cohen’s death in 1995, Russian news reports said that "Thanks to Cohen, designers of the Soviet atomic bomb got piles of technical documentation straight from the secret laboratory in Los Alamos." The New York Times obituary for Cohen in 1995, said that he and his wife had been tipped off that they were about to be arrested and fled to Moscow via Mexico. Then, amazingly enough, they changed their names to Peter and Helen Kroger, emigrated to New Zealand and then moved to London where, in 1954, they started spying again. Eventually, they were arrested in 1961, and sentenced to 20 years in prison but were released in a prisoner exchange in 1969. The couple lived in Moscow after that, reportedly helping teach others how to live as “illegals.” You can read the Russian version of the plaque announcement on RIA Novosti (which Google translate can render into passable English.)
THE LATEST AND (NOT SO LATEST) REPORTS ON UFOS: The government’s office for investigating “UAPs” (the aerial phenomena previously known as UFOs) says they received hundreds of new reports of unidentifiable flying things in 2022. More than half of the reports the UAP watchers say, they say they can explain – but the others "appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities and require further analysis." A classified report, required by law, was submitted by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to Congress and an unclassified version was released to the public. One member of Congress, however, said that any doubt about the existence of UFOs was erased a long time ago. Congressman Tim Burchett (R, TN) says that there is an ongoing “huge cover-up” of potential alien life. How does he know? The Bible tells him so. He says the proof is contained in the Book of Ezekiel. Burchett said, “The first chapter of Ezekiel is pretty clear of a UFO sighting.” It mentions, he says, a vision of 'four living creatures,' each of which was winged and had four faces, 'a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle.' According to The Daily Mail, Burchett says he doesn’t trust the government and thinks the Feds have been hiding stuff since at least the 1940s. Burchett said it is the right of the American people to know if UFOs exist and if the Feds are hiding alien aircraft. “They can handle it,” he said. “I just feel like America is ready. We need to know and to stop with all of the shenanigans.” Burchett revealed that he knows all this because while he is “not a very good” Christian, he does read his Bible.
WHAT’S UP DOC(UMENTARY): We stumbled across a 51-minute long documentary just released on YouTube called “The Cat and Mouse Game of Cold War Espionage: CIA vs KGB.” It comes from an outfit called Real History – which, we admit, we had never heard of before. It apparently is part of the “History Hit network” – which is also news to us. It’s an online history channel that offers documentaries by subscription – but apparently posts some videos openly on YouTube and elsewhere. We’re guessing it’s British in origin, since their website refers to their “programmes” and we know how to take a clue.
I SHOT THE SERIF: Politico reporter John Hudson says that Secretary of State Tony Blinken has sent a cable throughout his department telling his people that going forward, they must use 14-point Calibri font - not Times New Roman - for all documents submitted to the Executive Secretariat. The loss of Times New Roman has gotten some people clutching their togas but apparently there is a reason behind the change beyond style or whim. Fonts with serifs (like Times New Roman) are said to be harder for people with visual disabilities to read as compared with the non-serif type types.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
RACKING UP MORE RIBBONS: If you’re a soldier who is a little embarrassed that you don’t sport of chest full of ribbons on your dress uniform – there may soon be a way to help address the problem. The Army is considering awarding soldiers “Army Recruiting Ribbons” to those who “successfully refer applicants to recruiters.” Given that the Army was about 15,000 troops shy of their FY 22 recruiting goal, bits of colored cloth may be a small price to pay to help fill the ranks. According to Army Times, no firm decision has been made on establishing the award and we have seen no indication that if a soldier refers multiple people, whether they get more stars.
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITIES BEEF ABOUT ISRAEL’S SPYING: Have you herd? The Times of Israel says that recently, the Palestinian Authority news outlet Al-Haya Al Jadida reported that Israel has recruited cows as spies. That’s right: cows. They cite some village elder saying, “on the neck of each cow, they (the Israelis) hang a medallion with a recording device on it and sometimes cameras.” We’re not sure, but we think this report is bull. There is a long list of animals the Israeli’s have been accused of turning into snitches. Ducks, sharks, pigeons and vultures, have all been cited by various Arab media in the past as being agents of the Mossad. The source for the most recent story said the cows are “recruited and trained for the mission.” We can see how they might be good at milking information from Israel’s enemies. No word on whether Israeli farmers get ribbons for talking one of their cows into enlisting.
WE’LL AWARD YOU A VIRTUAL RIBBON: If you send us a tip on items we can include in an upcoming edition of The Dead Drop. Imagine how proud you will be. Get moo-ving. Send your tips to: TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com
