SPORTS BROS: The crack CIA social media team has been keeping an eye on World Cup soccer. The Agency tweeted out congrats to quarter finalists and posted fun stats from their World Factbook about the countries still in play. YOU may not have noticed – Vladimir Putin’s “RT” did – and they reported the flash news: “CIA tweets congratulations to Russia over World Cup performance.” Of course, that was before Croatia sent the host nation packing. On Monday, Russia’s U.S. embassy responded “Congratulations accepted. @CIA Please update you @Russia map and statistics” - and they attached a map of Russia which, unlike the CIA version, included Crimea.
M-E-K, K-E-Y, M.O. USA! Not everyone is feeling the love for the CIA, however. Among those with less than warm feelings is former Congressman Ron Paul. An article on the “Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity” website last week claimed that the CIA is planning a coup in Iran with the help of the Iranian People’s Mojahedin (MeK). The article claims that the Agency, along with neoconservatives, are embracing the MeK which was removed from the U.S. terrorism list during the Obama administration. Mincing no words, the article (and accompanying video)says the CIA is engaging in an “incredibly stupid plan.”
KING OF THE ROAD: We recently stumbled across a website called funker530.com which last week carried a story, photos and video of King Abdullah II of Jordan and his son, Crown Prince Hussein, conducting a very impressive live-fire CQB (close quarters battle) drill. It looks like one of those summer action movies – only more believable. Treat yourself and watch the video and stick around until about the two-minute mark when the King is shown firing from the roof of a moving vehicle with his leg braced in an open car door. This has the makings of a great international reality TV competition show. We’re looking forward to President Trump and Don Jr. running the same drill.
THE DEATH OF IRONY: The cyber world can be a scary place and we all must work together to defend against the evil-doers. So says Russian President Vladimir Putin. No, really. Associated Press quoted him saying: “Cyberthreats have reached such a scale that they could only be neutralized by combined efforts of the entire international community.” Next thing you know Putin is going to lecture us on the dangers of nerve agents.
DID THEY TELL THE PRESIDENT? Navy Secretary Richard Spenser presided over an unusual ceremony in Yokosuka, Japan this week during which a namesake was added to the damaged guided missile destroyer USS JOHN S. MCCAIN. Originally named just for the grandfather and father of Senator John S. McCain (both four-star admirals), Stars and Stripes says that Spenser officially declared that the ship will now honor all three McCains. The destroyer is undergoing repairs in a shipyard following last year’s deadly collision, while the Senator is at home in Arizona battling brain cancer. During the 2016 election Trump suggested that although the Senator is considered a war hero because he was shot down during the Vietnam War – Trump preferred aviators who were not shot down. McCain spent five and a half years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Trump did not serve on active duty, obtaining four draft exemption for college and one for bone spurs. As a result he did not get shot down, unless you count allegedly being turned down for a date by Princess Diana.
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
- Where to find “A Few Good Men”? The Marine Corps has denied that it is using dating apps to recruit. A story in Marine Corps Timessaid that users of the match-making site “Bumble” reported getting messages from someone calling herself “Kaitlin Robertson” who suggests hooking up with the USMC. A subsequent article in Stars and Stripes contained a Marine Corps denial that the service has anyone working for them by that name – and denied that it condones using dating apps to fill their manpower needs. Sounds like a non-denial denial to us. We suspect some clever recruiter – using an alias – was using Bumble to fill up the gunnery sergeant’s lonely heart club band.
- Rexit Exit: Margaret Peterlin, the former chief of staff for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, has got a new gig. She has just been hired as senior vice president for external and global affairs at AT&T. You might think that facilitating Tillerson’s 13-month-long rocky tenure at Foggy Bottom would not be a strong résumé builder, but at AT&T Peterlin replaces the guy who paid ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen $600,000 for strategic advice (a move the company’s CEO later described as “a big mistake”) —- so maybe she will bring the company some much needed caution.
- Ali G Whiz: You may have heard that Sasha Baron Cohen has a new show (perhaps called “Who is America?”) coming to Showtime. The hints (and they are just hints at the moment) are that the program may resemble his old “Da Ali G Show” – in which Cohen fooled various celebrities into doing interviews with his comic character. Promos for the new show (debuting this Sunday) reveal former Vice President Dick Cheney autographing a large plastic water bottle which Cohen describes as a “waterboard kit.” Cheney has a wry smile on his face – so it is unclear whether he is just being a good sport or what. Matt Drudge tweeted this week that “Both Republicans and Democrats” get caught in in the madness. Drudge says Cohen “finked” and assortment of well-known folks including “Cheney, Palin, Howard Dean, Alberto Gonzales, Bernie, Trent Lott, Patraeus (sic), Ted Koppel, and more…BEWARE!” Sarah Palin has owned up to being conned. DailyMail.com reports that she says she was tricked into sitting down for an interview by Cohen who pretended to be a wounded veteran. She is not happy about it and is now calling for Showtime and its parent company, CBS, to donate profits from the episode to a veteran’s charity.
- Ahead of their times: The folks at Muckrock.com, using FOIA, have pried loose some nearly 40-year-old documents from the CIA which show that shortly after the Office of Personnel Management was created, the Agency expressed concern that OPM might prove fertile ground for “domestic penetration attempts by opposition.” This was a couple generations before the notorious OPM hack – but it turns out the Agency’s concerns were well founded.
- Spy vs. Spy: Newsmax TV (not the first outfit we think of when it comes to documentaries) has a program scheduled for Saturday July 14th at 11 a.m. called “CIA VS KGB: Battleground Berlin.” According to the promotional material, in “CIA VS. KGB: Battleground Berlin,” you’ll see rare footage from behind the Iron Curtain and hear from former CIA and KGB agents who bare the hidden face of the Cold War and recall some of their most harrowing moments as spies.”
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING: Got any tips for your friendly neighborhood Dead Drop? Shoot us a note at TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
