AIR D&D: Looking for a country getaway? Have we got a deal for you. According to The Guardian, the government of Lithuania is putting up for sale, a steel barn outside of their capital Vilnius, that at one time, was reportedly a CIA “black site.” The facility is said to have ten rooms – although most, we suspect, do not offer views of the Lithuania countryside. The country may be trying to recoup some of the court-ordered $113,000 they reportedly paid Abu Zubaydah to compensate him for his uncomfortable stay at the site nearly two decades ago. It is unclear how Zubaydah will be able to spend that money since he is a long-term guest at Guantanamo Bay.
POLES APART: Looking for something a bit less rustic than a black site? How about a red strip club? While it is not yet known to be on sale – a Russian opposition group recently released photos and plans for what they say is Vladimir Putin’s secret billion-dollar mansion. The images released by Alexei Navalny’s “Anti-Corruption Foundation” (and as reported in the New York Post) includes a “hookah” lounge complete with a stripper pole.
CASH AND CARRIER: Or, if billion-dollar mansions are out of your price range – you might consider picking up a (very) used aircraft carrier. The hulk formerly known as USS Kitty Hawk is being towed from Bremerton, Washington to Brownsville, Texas after having been sold for one cent. Because the ship is too large to transit the Panama Canal – the tow needs to go completely around South America before reaching its final resting place in Texas – where it will be broken up for scrap.
MAY YOUR SCHEMES BE DUBLIN: Here is (another) weird one. There is a 46-year-old American businessman named Don Victor Cisternino, who is currently locked up in Croatia and fighting extradition to the U.S. According to Dublin Live, Cisternino is “begging” the Irish government to grant him asylum so he doesn’t have to return to the U.S. to face fraud charges. He also claims to be a former CIA operative, by the way. He is said to have been charged with swindling the U.S. government out of $7.2 million in COVID loans by falsely claiming to employ more than 400 people. He is accused of using the cash to build a $3.5 million mansion and to buy several luxury cars. (No word on whether the mansion has a stripper pole.) Cisternino says he is worried he will be “murdered like Jeffrey Epstein” if returned to the U.S. and says the Biden administration wants to silence him because (among other reasons) of his religious beliefs. This is confusing – since Cisternino claims to be “a traditional Catholic” (as is President Biden.)
INTERESTING POINT OF VIEW: Acclaimed writer, Steve Coll, who wrote two books on wars in Afghanistan (Ghost Wars and Directorate S) is reportedly working on a new book that will look at the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq “from Saddam Hussein’s point of view.” Since Hussein is not available to collaborate for the forthcoming Penguin book, Coll, who is also dean of the Columbia Journalism School, is said to be relying on many pages of records from Saddam’s regime and audio recordings (Lordy, there are tapes?)
IS THE CIA BEING MEAN TO CHINA? That is the allegation – and it comes from the unbiased source: the Tehran Times. The paper, which styles itself as “Iran’s Leading International Daily” says the CIA has been trying to “create chaos and havoc” across China. The paper says the Agency is trying to use propaganda to “exploit the Chinese internment of Muslims.” How dare they!
IF THEY DO SAY SO THEMSELVES: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence just announced the release of their National Counterintelligence Security Center’s “Evolution of Espionage” digital exhibit and modestly called it a “storytelling triumph.” The online exhibit grew out of a physical “Wall of Spies” located at an ODNI facility in Bethesda, MD. Since it is not feasible (or legal) for most of us to just drop by and read their wall – they built a digital version that is available to anyone. ODNI humbly calls it “a triumph for transparency.” You can check it out here.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
SILLY SOLDIER SATURDAY: The U.S. Army is reaching out to young potential recruits using “inspirational” quotes as part of a “#SoldierSaturday” campaign. Some people found this past week’s offering – well, less than inspirational. It quoted singer Lana Del Rey reportedly saying: “Being brave means knowing that when you fail, you don’t fail forever.” This sparked a flurry of responses – many expressing hopes that Russia or China don’t weaponize the quote. Rolling Stone even says that there is no proof that Del Rey ever actually uttered the failure quote although there is no doubt that the Army repeated it.
THE AGONY OF THE FEET: Well, maybe not for them. Military Times has a retrospective on a group of locals who fought alongside sailors and Marines in World War II defending a base in the Samoa Islands. The local residents were U.S. nationals and designated the 1st Samoan Battalion, Marine Corps Reserve. The unit was issued uniforms but elected to fight barefoot – no doubt saving lots of time not having to polish their boots.
TURTLE TRAFFICKING: Last week, the folks at Diplopundit uncovered an October Department of Justice press release that we had missed before. It seems a 25-year-old Chinese man, Kang Juntao, has been sentenced to 38 months in prison for running a ring of individuals in the U.S. who smuggled at least 1,500 protected turtles valued at more the $2,250,000 to Hong Kong. Kang reportedly ran his shell game from outside the U.S. but was arrested in Malaysia, extradited to New Jersey, and eventually faced trial and was convicted. According to DOJ: the turtles were “worth on average between $650 to $2,500 each in the Asian market. Female turtles with rare markings have been sold for as much as $20,000.” Who knew turtles could be more profitable than cryptocurrency? How did the Kang crew get the turtles out? DOJ says: “The turtles were inhumanely bound with duct tape and placed in socks so as not to alert customs authorities.”
DON’T LET ANYONE TELL YOU TO PUT A SOCK IN IT: Take your finest news tips and send them to us at TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
