BOUNTY-GATE: Last week, The Cipher Brief reached out to the CIA asking why the Agency had not published a single news release in 2020. That very day, the Agency put out a press release about their new recruiting video (that we discussed in our last edition.) Now, for the second week in a row, the Agency has issued another press release. (Man, The Cipher Brief must have some serious power.) This one, posted late Monday evening, carried a two paragraph statement from CIA Director Gina Haspel decrying leaks which “compromise and disrupt the critical interagency work to collect, assess, and ascribe culpability” to threats against coalition forces overseas." Haspel’s statement followed one put out earlier in the evening by DNI John Ratcliffe who was a bit more explicit about what he was talking about saying: “We are still investigating the alleged intelligence referenced in recent media reporting” about “U.S. and coalition force protection.” We won’t go through all the allegations and counterclaims here – but the short version is that The New York Times, Washington Post, and dozens of other news organizations say intelligence (perhaps going back to 2019) suggested that the Russians may be paying bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The president says the stories are “fake news.” And the White House press secretary says the president wasn’t “personally briefed” on it because there was no consensus within the IC on the details. The Wall Street Journal reports that the NSA differed from the CIA and other agencies on the reliability of the intelligence. Our sources tell us that if there had to be unanimity on intelligence reports before sharing them with the president – the PDB would be awfully thin. Hmm. Maybe that was the plan.
THE FRIDAY NEWS DUMP LIVES: Some “communications experts” have declared dead the time-(dis) honored Washington practice of dumping out bad news late on a Friday to minimize coverage. They say that the 24-hour-news-cycle now means that you can’t hide the dirty laundry the way you once could. One bit of evidence that the practice is still viable is the news you might have barely noticed a couple Fridays ago. Remember Captain Brett Crozier formerly of the USS Theodore Roosevelt? He was fired after the leak of a letter he wrote to most of his chain of command expressing concern for the health of his crew amid the coronavirus crisis. Then, the Acting Secretary Navy flew halfway around the world to visit the TR and say dumb stuff – and was subsequently forced to walk the plank himself. Word then came out that following a brief investigation the Chief of Naval Operations favored restoring Crozier to his command. But more senior officials called for a more in depth investigation. Which brings us to the afternoon of Friday June 19 when new Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite and CNO Mike Gilday came into the socially distanced Pentagon briefing room, released two TLDNR (Too Long, Did Not Read) reports and announced that Crozier would NOT be getting his command back and in fact would never command anything in the Navy again. Apparently, they were referring to stuff unrelated to his letter, administrative missteps that would never have come to light had he not written his shipboard SOS. News of the whole matter sank like a rock. So, bottom line: the Friday news dump is still alive – and Captain Crozier’s career is not.
DO THE DRAPES CONVEY? Looking to buy a getaway beach house? We’ve found one on the market and the owner is motivated. When the United States moved its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem it was stuck with a geographically undesirable home for its ambassador. Now the old place is up for sale. Five bedrooms, a pool/hot tub, a Mediterranean view, and a 1.2 acre lot. All for the low, low price of $87 million. There is another, less plush residence already available for the Ambassador in Jerusalem – but apparently it is considered substandard housing and the odds are the U.S. will take some of the proceeds from the Tel Aviv house flip and put it toward building a new place closer to the US Embassy in Jerusalem.
COLOR US (NOT) SHOCKED: Lots of government agencies have warned users to be very careful with the Chinese owned app TikTok. Outfits ranging from TSA to the Defense Department have banned the app from government devices. Here is another reason why that might be good advice. Privacy News Online reports that TikTok is copying the contents of users clipboards with every keystroke and could be sending whatever they collect back home to China.
TIMES NOT HIGH ON MY SPY: There is a new film streaming on Amazon Prime called “My Spy.” The concept is that a “burly, physically adept CIA field agent” is demoted and forced to hang out with a 9-year-old girl whose uncle is about to sell nuclear weapons plans to terrorist. Don’t you hate it when that happens in real life? The New York Times says “My Spy” meanders, uncertain of its audience and has too much violence and nasty language for the nine-year-old in your house. Oh, and not enough daring stuff to satisfy the adult spy flick fan.
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
FOR THE BIRDS: Air Force Times alerted its readers that the U.S. Air Force Academy is seeking name recommendations for its new falcon mascot. They posted a picture of a one-month-old gyrfalcon that has been tapped to replace the old bird who died last October at the age of 23. Check out a photo of the hatchling here. If the USAFA was going for a mascot that looked mean and nasty – we think they nailed it.
PATCHING THINGS UP WITH CHINA: Not to be outdone, some aviators aboard the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford were “counseled” recently for wearing an “inappropriate patch.” The patch reportedly had two images. One side had the carrier’s logo and the words “America’s Newest Carrier”. On the other side was the image of a bat and the words “China’s Newest Carrier.” Well, at least they didn’t call in “Kung Flew.”
HELP THE DEAD DROP OUT OF A ROUGH PATCH : Send you news tips to TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
