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Dead Drop: July 1

Dead Drop: July 1

FOOD FIGHT AT THE AGENCY? The Dead Drop’s sources tell us that the contractor running the CIA cafeteria was recently changed.  The old vendor was SODEXO, an outfit that provides similar services for lots of government and non-government agencies around DC and beyond.  While SODEXO was rarely confused with the other CIA – the Culinary Institute of America – the new provider, according to our sources, is much worse. Some Agency eaters joke that the switch is a Russian plot to destroy the morale and health of CIA employees.  The Cipher Brief asked Agency spokesmen to explain the switch, but they declined.  Apparently, like the recipe for Colonel Sanders chicken– and the formula for Coke, who is cooking up what at the CIA must remain a secret. We haven’t even been able to come up with the name of the new vendor.  We’ll keep trying and will let you know when we are invited in for a taste test.

LESS THAN MEETS THE EYE: The Dead Drop hears that the semi-famous “28 pages” that were withheld from the 2002 Congressional Joint Inquiry looking into 9/11 are likely to be declassified and released – in the next few days. Dumping them out on the fringe of the 4th of July holiday might seem like an effort to minimize the impact of the pages – which reportedly address possible Saudi officials’ involvement in 9/11.  We hear the release will likely be accompanied by a written statement from the Director of National Intelligence.  But according to Dead Drop sources – the pages will be disappointing to many who think they contain a smoking gun.  While they may hint at some open questions for the FBI on pre-9/11 terror investigations – most of the issues are things subsequently investigated by the 9/11 Commission. Like the recently released House Benghazi report – expectations about the content may exceed reality.

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