EVER READY: According to the Russian news agency TASS, Sergey Naryshkin, the director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) says he is ready to meet with his new U.S. counterpart, CIA Director John Ratcliffe. That’s if - he stressed - Ratcliffe shows an interest in getting together. "We are always ready for talks," Naryshkin said. TASS asked if the SVR and CIA had remained in contact in recent years. "We have an official representative in Washington, while the Central Intelligence Agency has its official representative in Moscow," was the reply. Operators are standing by.
NOT THE KIND OF ENDORSEMENTS YOU WOULD WANT: Russian Media Monitor, Julia Davis, posted a clip of State TV talking head Vladimir Solovyov and friends speculating about the cabinet level confirmation process in the U.S. Solovyov asked an onset U.S. expert “But when will our boy be appointed to head the FBI?” (Speaking of Kash Patel.) Rubbing his hands, Solovyov added “we like him a lot.” His guest said “we like Hegseth a lot too. He’s great at throwing axes” (Referring to an incident on Fox News years ago.) With a grin, the TV host bantered, “I want to see Kash Patel turn the FBI into a museum of political repressions the very next day.” The contributor predicted that both Patel and Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi will be confirmed. “Kash will catch them, Bondi will prosecute them. Solovyov then asked “What about our girl?” (likely referring to DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard.) But the unidentified political prognosticator dampened the mood by saying that she may not get there (confirmed as DNI) and thus would get the ax.
OH, THE WEB THEY WEAVE, WHEN FIRST THEY PRACTICE TO DECEIVE: From time to time, The Dead Drop has been bringing you nuggets from the ongoing trial in the UK of a group of Bulgarians that was arrested for spying for Russia. In the latest installment, it was revealed that one of the accused - who admits to working for the Kremlin – we’ll call him ‘Dude1’ was also hiding from his live-in girlfriend of ten years and that he was having an affair with another alleged member of their spy ring. Now keep in mind that all of this apparently came to light when police arrested Dude1 while he was in bed with ‘the other spy’ in a flat that the other woman had rented and redecorated to live in with the Bulgarian spy. Lost yet? So are we but both of Dude1’s love interests have also been charged with – and are denying - spying. Among the things the group is accused of doing is clandestinely taking pictures around a U.S. military base in Stuttgart, Germany. Press accounts of the trial (which are a little convoluted) say that Dude1 explained some of his duplicitous activity to his girlfriend by claiming that he had brain cancer – which turns out not to be true. Shocker.
LIGHTS, CELLPHONE, ACTION: The producers spared no expense in the travel budget for the just-released spy movie ‘Inheritance.’ The flick, about a woman who learns that her father was once a spy and who suddenly finds herself at the center of an international conspiracy, was filmed in New York, South Korea, India and Egypt. What makes it unusual, however, is that it was shot on an iPhone 13. None of those fancy cameras, lights, boom microphones, etc. Writer-director Neil Burger says the idea came to him during the pandemic. ‘Inheritance’ opened in theaters last week. You can check out the trailer here. Our assessment? It looks great. So far, the movie is getting mixed reviews from pickier critics though - which only makes us wonder — how much better would it have been if they had shot it on an iPhone 16?
A BOOMING BUSINESS: According to the BBC, the genre of spy movies and tv shows is exploding across various streaming platforms. They cite ‘The Night Agent’ on Netflix (which we have talked about a lot before) and Apple TV+’s ‘Slow Horses’ – which we’ve mentioned even more. So, why are TV spies taking off? According to the BEEB…it might be a conspiracy – well, a belief in conspiracies anyway. They quote a 2024 survey in the UK which said that 45% of the British public “almost never” trust governments and a recent Pew Research Center study that says only 22% of U.S. adults trust the federal government to do the right thing almost always or most of the time. (Ouch.) One theory – if one were being cynical – would be that viewers may not trust their government but they feel right at home watching all that double dealing, backstabbing, underhanded stuff playout onscreen.
IN THE BLINKEN OF AN EYE: Eight days after wrapping up his gig as Secretary of State, word came out that Antony Blinken had landed a book deal. Crown, an imprint of Penguin Random House, says the book will off a “rare glimpse” into “challenging and often controversial” issues like the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza. No title or publication date has been announced yet – but give him a break, Blinken is probably still decompressing. According to publishing industry sources – the book was not auctioned off to the highest bidder but instead Crown landed the deal on a “pre-empt” – meaning they threw enough money at the project to earn an immediate yes from Blinken and his reps.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD (TO GAZA): In her efforts to explain the unexpected government freeze on some federal spending this week, new White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the step was necessary to stop what she characterized as crazy government giveaways. For example, she said DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) and the Office of Management and Budget “found that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza calling it a “preposterous waste of taxpayer money.” Preposterous is a good word…especially since no one seems to be able to substantiate the claim. Not one to back away from controversy, President Trump doubled down the next day saying: “we identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas,” And for the money shot, he also said “And you know what's happening to them? They've used them as a method of making bombs.” Hmmmm. Something here doesn’t add up. A former Biden administration USAID official, Jeremy Konyndyk, posted on social media that the government buys condoms for around a nickel a piece – so $50m would buy you one billion of them. Since there are only about 2.1 million residents of Gaza – we’re guessing the condom figure (if not invented) was certainly inflated. Still, why send money to Gaza for condoms in the first place? Konyndyk posted some context on social media as well, writing “Notwithstanding the absurdity of this particular claim, contraceptive access *is* an important health issue in crisis settings like Gaza. Unplanned pregnancies in a context of starvation and displacement can be hugely challenging and carry health risks.” Admittedly, that’s something we wouldn’t have considered.
WELL, THAT’S A WRAP FOR THIS WEEK’S EDITION OF THE DEAD DROP. IT WOULD BE EVEN BETTER NEXT WEEK IF YOU SENT SOME NEWS TIPS TO US AT: TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com
The intersection of technology, defense, space and intelligence is critical to future U.S. national security.Join The Cipher Brief on June 5th and 6th in Austin, Texas for the NatSecEDGE conference. Find out how to get an invitation to this invite-only event at natsecedge.com
Read more expert-driven national security insights, perspective and analysis in The Cipher Brief because National Security is Everyone’s Business.
