Each week, we bring our readers tidbits of gossip from the world of national security and intelligence. The Dead Drop is a source of fun and intriguing news you may have missed.
YOUR LOYAL CIVIL SERVANTS: According to ForeignPolicy.Com, Mari Stull, a recently-hired political appointee at the State Department, has got some of the striped-pants at Foggy Bottom in a knot. If FP is to be believed, Stull “has reviewed the social media pages of State Department staffers for signs of ideological deviation.” According to FP’s sources, Stull is making lists, trying to find out who is naughty and nice – from the Administration’s point of view. Stull works for the assistant secretary of state for international organizational affairs and, as such, has a world of bureaucrats to keep an eye on. Appointed to her post just two months ago, Stull was reportedly a former food and beverage lobbyist and a wine blogger who wrote under the name “Vino Vixen.” (Completely unrelated, but when you think about it – that sounds like a pretty good title for a Stormy Daniels movie.) FP’s shots at Stull have not gone unnoticed among Team Trump. Breitbart.com last week railed about “career State Department staff” who are leaking “to friends in the press and House Democrats” in order to undermine Stull. Breitbart’s take is that the “deep state” is “weaponizing leaks” against her.
HAS MAD DOG LOST HIS BITE? NBC News reported Monday that Defense Secretary James Mattis has lost his clout with the White House. The network reported that presidential decisions like withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal or ordering a pause in U.S./South Korean military exercises have finalized without anyone telling (let alone consulting) Mattis. John Bolton reportedly is the big dog in the national security sphere these days while Mattis, largely out of sight at the Pentagon, has been out of mind for the President. White House officials (on background) say that it is not that the president is mad at Mad Dog – it is just that he is not a key advisor. Named NSC and DOD spokespeople describe the allegations of Mattis being in the dog house as “pure silliness” and “ludicrous.”
MATTIS HASN’T LOST HIS SENSE OF HUMOR: Whether or not Mattis has taken a back seat to Bolton on matters of national security, he still maintains a clear eye on keeping things in perspective. The Military Times reports that while addressing the graduates at National Defense University earlier this month, the Secretary “became noticeably bothered by a scratchy throat.” Eventually an official brought him a bottle of water to address the problem. Mattis took a swig and opined: “If this was vodka, it'd be a lot better speech.” The remark elicited laughter and applause. Proving that he can be politically correct, or in current parlance, perhaps, “woke” Mattis added: “But I’m not supposed to glamorize alcohol anymore,” he added. “So you young folks, you ignore what I just said.”
IN-Q-TELL ME MORE: Every month or so, another news organization seems to discover the CIA’s non-profit technology development accelerator, In-Q-Tel. The latest is Real Clear Life (part of the family of sites that started with Real Clear Politics.) In-Q-Tel has been around for almost 20 years and yet news outfits often cover the revelation that the place exists with a kind of “gee whiz” attitude. Real Clear Life reports that many of the companies In-Q-Tel invests in “do work you would expect a spy agency to have a keen interest (in),” while a few do work they find “downright creepy.” Both are true, by the way.
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff :
- SEAL for NCTC: Last Friday, President Trump announced his intention to nominate retired Navy Vice Admiral Joe Maguire to be Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Maguire, who post retirement, has been president and CEO of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. He served on active duty for 36 years and commanded at every level of the Navy Special Warfare Command. Sounds like an ideal fit for NCTC, eh? Well, yes and no. Some intelligence professionals we talked with noted that, unlike the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center (CTC) the outfit Maguire will lead if confirmed by the Senate (NCTC) is an analytic (non-operational) organization. It integrates information collected with U.S. and allied intelligence services and makes sure the information reaches the right hands in national, state and local government. The one thing it doesn’t do is kick down doors – and a seasoned SEAL like Maguire might find that a bit disappointing.
- NGA Vet for INR: The White House also announced the president’s intention to nominate Ellen McCarthy, the former COO of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, to become the assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR). INR is the intelligence arm of Foggy Bottom and one of the constituent members of the Intelligence Community. McCarthy is currently a member of the board on the National Security Institute at the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School. She is a former president of INSA, the Intelligence and National Security Alliance.
- Not a Fan: Just posted on the New York Times website is a very, very long profile of former CIA Director John Brennan. The piece will run in the newspaper’s Sunday magazine on July 1. Since you may have plans for the weekend, we’ll boil it down for you. The feature seems to focus on a couple things. One: what Brennan thinks of President Trump. As anyone who reads his tweets on the subject knows, he is not high on the man he refers to only as “Mr. Trump” because he thinks the title “president” is undeserved. The other takeaway is what Brennan eats and drinks when out for meals in public. The writer seemed obsessed with peppering the article with menu choices. Perhaps he was getting paid by the word.
- Geriatric Jail: Three weeks ago, the Dead Drop shared with you reports that Commanders of the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay at the behest of the White House were asking Congress for $69 million to fund a wheelchair-accessible “hospice care cellblock” to house their aging crop of captured terrorists. Now McClatchy tells us that Congress has just said: No. There are only 40 inmates left at GITMO and Congress has balked at the hefty price. It might be cheaper to buy each of them a condo in a Miami high rise.
ON THE PUBLISHER’S NIGHTSTAND: Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly recommends Creating Business Magic: How the Power of Magic Can Inspire, Innovate, and Revolutionize Your Business . The concept is interesting because the authors include David Morey, Eugene Burger and former Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin, who the Dead Drop hears has earned the nickname ‘Merlin’ for his actual real – no kidding – ability to perform magic. Anyone who has the mad skills to rise to that level of leadership at Langley, and can make items disappear before your eyes should definitely be sharing that intel with the business community. Now if he could only work some magic on the federal acquisition system….
A ‘NEW’ PUBLICATION REVIEW BOARD: Many Dead Drop readers are intimately familiar with the CIA’s publication review board (PRB) and all of the requirements that go with it when former secret holders want to write tales or tell-alls. We hear that soon, Cipher Brief Level I members will be able to cast eyes on a new review board that takes a look at what’s credible and cable worthy in the book, TV and movie world in the form of a new book club.
If you’ve got something on your nightstand or in your briefcase worth bragging about, drop us a note. And here’s a weekend tip for you: you might bump into us at this weekend’s release of Sicario: Day of the Soldado. If you see it too and care to pen a review, drop us a cable at TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
