END OF AN ERA: David Martin, the long, long, long-time CBS national security correspondent is – if not retiring – at least stepping back from his duties covering the Defense Department, State Department and Intelligence community. He has been the CBS Pentagon correspondent since 1983, and before that, covered the beat for Newsweek and Associated Press. He has reported not only for CBS Evening News but also 60 Minutes and a wide variety of platforms. Widely respected for his diligence and reporting chops – Martin has been on the beat so long – that none of the generals or admirals currently on the Joint Chiefs of Staff – were commissioned officers when Martin took up the beat that he is just now leaving.
OH, SO THAT’S WHY THEY GET SO MUCH GOOD INK: Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., when not running around explaining that all vaccine inoculations are bogus, has been revealing some other unusual conspiracy theories on the campaign trail. ABC News noted that among his recurring themes, is that major U.S. media are under the control of the CIA. Back in April, Kennedy said at a fundraiser that "The new head of NPR is a CIA agent." The person he was referring to, Katherine Maher, has denied the allegation and previously told people who heard that rumor: “I’m not any sort of agent. You can dislike me, but please don’t defame me.” A CIA spokesperson also denied Kennedy’s claim in a statement to ABC saying "Any notion that CIA is controlling American media is absolutely false. CIA Is an organization focused on providing foreign intelligence information to policymakers and protecting the United States from a range of overseas threats." Of course – if the CIA is running ABC – that denial might be suspect. RFK Jr. reportedly cites the blathering of a former CIA officer by the name of Kevin Shipp (The Dead Drop has told you about him before). Shipp is said to claim that “Pearl Harbor was a myth.” We are pretty sure Pearl Harbor was attacked and the head of NPR was not a CIA “agent,” but you know who was? RFK Jr.’s daughter-in-law, Amaryllis Fox, who was a CIA officer (not agent, Bobby) and is now reportedly running his campaign…and oddly she was interviewed this week – on NPR. Seriously, we couldn’t make this stuff up.
SPEAKING OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES: As we often do – last week, Donald Trump was interviewed on The All-In Podcast and explained to the interviewer that while he released a lot of documents relating to the JFK assassination while he was president – he did not release all of them because some unnamed people told him, “Sir, I think it needs a little more time.” Well, time may be almost up. Trump said that it was not the CIA that asked him to withhold the release of some documents, but he thinks “the CIA was probably behind it.” This is being read by some as Trump saying he thinks the CIA was behind the JFK assassination – but others are interpreting it to mean that he thinks the Agency was behind requesting that some documents not be released yet. In any case, if he is elected again – Trump says he will release the materials “early on.” He says he has “sort of an idea” of what is in the material and “we’re gonna have to learn from it.”
(SPY) LIFE OF THE PARTY: The U.S. is not the only country with intelligence-related conspiracy theories. According to CNN, a former member of Britain’s House of Commons claims that the U.K.’s domestic spy agency, MI5, “may” have issued a warning about a possible ‘Chinese agent’ for the purpose of distracting officials who were investigating allegations of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his colleagues’ involvement in what has become known as the “Partygate” scandal. In case you have forgotten – or didn’t follow it when it broke – Partygate involved Johnson and his associates attending parties during a time when Britons were under strict restrictions to keep their distance due to COVID restrictions. The MI5 warning in 2022, was revealed a day after Johnson apologized in the House of Commons for his partying ways. The warning concerned a woman who allegedly had ties to the Chinese Communist Party and who some thought might be trying to influence political activities in the UK. If the MI5 alert was an attempted distraction – it wasn’t a very effective one. Johnson resigned and parted ways from Downing Street about six months later.
ALL THE BUZZ: Who knew? Apparently, beekeeping is quite the rage for military veterans and first responders trying to find ways to manage stress. According to the Staten Island Advance, there is a program called “Hives for Heroes” with more than 6,500 members around the country. While the thought of messing around with a swarm of bees might at first seem stress inducing – apparently beekeeping actually helps those suffering from PTSD and similar conditions. Charlie McMaster, an official with Hives for Heroes, waxes eloquent about the harmonics of listening to the sound of bees.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
DISAPPEARING RAY? The New York Post recently reported that a “Top-secret US aquatic drone weapon” called the Manta Ray” was spotted on Google Maps recently and that satellite photos exposed the exotic vessel docked at the Port Hueneme naval base in California. The tabloid The U.S. Sun claimed the same day that the images of the weapon had been “completely scrubbed from the internet.” We are a little confused by the uncrewed sub scrub allegations – since the maker of the clandestine U-boat posted videos of it on YouTube two weeks ago. In fact, the defense contractor has very detailed descriptions of the Manta Ray posted on their website. You can even download wallpaper images of the vessel for your phone or laptop. So, what the big mystery is – is a mystery to us.
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