IF THE BOSS CALLS, GET HIS OR HER NAME: On June 14th, the White House released a presidential memorandum laying out the order of succession within the CIA. On the face of it – it seemed like a routine document. We’re told it is an update of an earlier memo from the Obama administration in 2016 setting up the pecking order for who should step up, should the current CIA director go down for any reason. For the most part, the list is what you would expect…first up is the Deputy Director, then the COO, then the head of the clandestine part of the CIA – the Deputy Director for Operations. The 11th and 12th entries on the list (gosh, we hope things don’t get that desperate) are titles unfamiliar to us. The “Senior CIA Representative for the East Coast” and the “Senior CIA Representative for the West Coast.” But what is most interesting is some language buried at the bottom of the memo. “Notwithstanding the provisions of this memorandum, the President retains discretion, to the extent permitted by law, to depart from this memorandum in designating an acting D/CIA.” Given the president’s proclivity for naming “actings” – this may open the door for Acting D/CIA Kushner or something.
“IF THEY HAD ONLY LISTENED TO ME” The latest installment of that familiar theme comes from a retired Turkish intelligence officer, Mehmet Eymür, who has written a book called Decipher. According to Eymür, he heard about plans for the 9/11 attacks 40 days before they happened. The author says he was in the U.S. at the time and that he met with the CIA and shared his warning with them. According to Daily Sabah, Eymür met with the FBI and CIA after the attacks as well but nothing came of it. Here at The Cipher Brief we are a bit skeptical about Decipher. Why? Because Eymür has reportedly written three previous books about his time with Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) which apparently did not mention his 9/11 warning. We’re thinking that might have come up earlier, if true.
BOLTON OUT THE DOOR? Well, everyone knows that no news organization cares more about U.S. national security than the Russian outlet RT. So we were interested to see former CIA officer John Kiriakou quoted in that fine publication predicting that National Security Advisor John Bolton might soon be fired – and his axing might prevent a U.S. war with Iran. It is hard to go wrong predicting pending personnel changes in the Trump administration, but we question Kiriakou’s comments that he has been talking with “mid-level” national security officials in the administration who tell him that Bolton’s firing “is being talked about.” People are always talking about who is coming and going in every administration – but we doubt that knowledgeable administration officials are sharing scoop with convicted felon Kiriakou.
SPEAKING OF FELONIES: RT’s sister publication, Sputnik News, helpfully carried an opinion piece telling us that former CIA Director John Brennan’s “fingerprints are everywhere” and that he should be “scared of DOJ’s Russia-gate probe.” Gosh, who knows more about Russia-gate and has more of an interest in steering investigators and public opinion than Sputnik?
FIGHTING WORDS: Bitcoin millionaire and fugitive from justice John McAfee is laying down the law – to the U.S. government. According to CCN Markets (we never heard of it either – but apparently it stands for “Crypto Coin News”) McAfee took to Twitter to taunt the USG telling them to leave him alone or he will “f***ing bury them.” In various jurisdictions, McAfee is wanted on charges of money-laundering, racketeering and murder. He tweeted that he has “31+ terrabytes (sic) of incriminating data” which he will release to the press beginning with info on a “corrupt CIA agent and two Bahamian officials.”
COVERT AFFAIRS: The Federation of American Scientists’ Secrecy News reports that the CIA is trying to get Congress to expand the definition of “covert agents.” For some time, it has been illegal to reveal the identities of certain intelligence officers who are serving abroad or who have done so within the past five years. But the Agency is requesting language be included in the pending Intelligence Authorization bill that would expand the definition to include all “unacknowledged” intelligence personnel – even if they never leave the U.S.
STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT: During his lengthy and news making interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos, President Trump was briefly asked about recent reports about Navy pilots seeing unidentified flying objects. Stephanopoulos asked if the President had been briefed on that and what he made of the reports. “I think it’s probably—I want them to think whatever they think,” Slate.com quoted Trump as saying. “They do say, and I’ve seen, and I’ve read, and I’ve heard. And I did have one very brief meeting on it. But people are saying they’re seeing UFOs. Do I believe it? Not particular.”
A PRESS BRIEFING BUT NO QUESTIONS, PLEASE: The Pentagon dusted off its briefing podium on Thursday to announce that it would provide a statement on the shooting down of a U.S. drone by Iran. We know we should be thankful for a briefing at all after months of incommunicado, but no questions? We think that's called a 'press release'...
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
NO WONDER TRAFFIC IS SO BAD: WTOP News’ intrepid reporter J. J. Green launched the first of a three-part series this week called “City of Secrets.” The big takeaway is that Washington, DC is home to an estimated 10,000 spies. He is talking about the foreign kind – not U.S. government officials who are part of the intelligence community.
CLARK KENT, MAN OF SEAL: Military Times has revealed that DC Comics has a new take on Superman – and in a just-released version, Clark Kent is not disguised as a mild-mannered reporter at a major metropolitan daily – no, instead he is a seaman recruit undergoing Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training for the U.S. Navy.
BEST BOSSES: FedScoop and WorkScoop recently published a list of what they call the “Best Bosses in Federal IT.” They say the list was “sourced from community nominations and narrowed down through open voting.” We figure if these folks are really good at IT…they could probably figure out how to electronically stuff the ballot box, but there is no sign anyone did. Among the 55 winners were Sue Gordon, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Michael Brown and Dana Deasy of the Department of Defense, and Soraya Correa of the Department of Homeland Security.
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING: Got any tips for your friendly neighborhood Dead Drop? Shoot us a note at TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
