OPEN FOR BUSINESS (SORTA): If you are like us, you are being bombarded by every restaurant, store, and hotel chain that ever captured your email address with notes assuring you that they are taking every precaution in regards to COVID-19, are wiping down every surface hourly, telling their friendly staff to high-five from six feet away and are proceeding with “an abundance of caution.” Unlike many other parts of government, the Intelligence Community is not well-equipped to authorize “work from home.” We heard a rumor that in order to spread things out, the CIA is telling many of their headquarters staff to work one week and then spend the next week home. Interesting times.
STAY CALM, WE ARE CARRYING ON: Along those same lines of “don’t worry, we’ve got this” – we hear from CIA retirees that they received an email this week from their old employer reassuring them that the Agency “continues to execute on our critical mission while prioritizing the health and wellbeing of our employees.” The message was nice — but largely unnecessary according to one Agency alum with whom we spoke. However, some folks found it odd that the email opened with: “Under the leadership of D/CIA Haspel, DD/CIA Bishop and COO Makridis the Agency continues…” One person told us “I haven’t heard that level of self-praise since the last televised cabinet meeting.”
DON’T KNOW IF YOU’VE HEARD: It’s not just the IC, every institution, organization, and outfit big and small seems to have a piece of the coronavirus story and is struggling to communicate messages of caution and calm to their workforce. We could overfill The Dead Drop with lots of examples – good and bad. But for the moment we will pick just this one: The State Department has authorized “the departure from any diplomatic or consular post in the world of US personnel and family members who have been medically determined to be at higher risk of a poor outcome if exposed to COVID-19.” POOR OUTCOME? Apparently, that is diplo-speak for: dying.
VERY SPECIAL OPERATIONS AVIATION: Military Times recently published the first detailed account of the air mission that made the Bin Laden Abbottabad raid possible. It is also the story of CW5 Douglas Englen who is described as the most decorated aviator in the Army. The article is too long to summarize and do it justice. Read it. You will thank us later.
SECRET SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS: Carolyn Reams, the former director of CIA’s social media program dropped the cloak of secrecy and addressed a PR industry social media conference last week. She explained the challenges and successes of the Agency’s foray into the modern communications world. PRDaily.com reports that Reams said it took 11 months to get approval to launch CIA’s social media accounts – which began with a bang on June 6, 2014 with the message: “We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet.” Reams shared several useful tips on sneaking into the social media space like: “Don’t insert yourself into the conversation and appear desperate,” use recurring content or series to your advantage and “don’t overpromote yourself or your products and services.” Seemingly, the Agency is following that last bit of advice because we haven’t seen them re-tweet the PRDaily story about Reams’ remarks.
PLAME OUT? Well, not yet. The Dead Drop has previously briefed you on the efforts of former CIA clandestine service officer Valerie Plame to win a New Mexico congressional seat. It turns out that so far, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican, her background as a former CIA officer has held little appeal to local voters. Under the system used in New Mexico, the parties have a pre-primary nominating convention where delegates vote on who makes the cut to be on the June primary ballot. The convention met on March 7 and Plame came in fifth out of six candidates, falling far below the 20 percent threshold needed to guarantee a spot on the ballot. All is not lost for Plame, however. Aspiring candidates who can gather enough signatures on a petition can get their name on the ballot anyway. Some press accounts suggest that Plame’s performance has been disappointing given that she has raised over $1 million. One of her opponents who DID earn a place on the ballot at the party convention, on the other hand, did so after raising just $28,000.
SELL THE SIZZLE: Former members of the military and intelligence community often harness what they learned in government and try to employ it in the private sector. Sometimes they use the mystique of their past service to break into the publishing world. Enter former CIA officers Christina and Ryan Hillsberg who, according to our sources, have sold a book to publisher Putnam. The tome is to be called License to Parent, and is said to draw on Christina’s transition from being a single to being a mom in the CIA. It is said to offer guidelines for raising security-conscious kids using the “field-tested techniques” the Hillsbergs’ learned on the job. No word on a potential publication date.
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
DANGER IS MY BUSINESS: Fans of the animated TV show “American Dad” know that hero Stan Smith’s job is that of being a CIA officer. We’ve missed a few of the episodes of the show which has been around since 2005, (OK, all of them) but we are indebted to CBR.COM (formerly Comic Book Resources) for listing Stan’s ten most dangerous CIA missions. Some sound the list kind of tame, like: “Arranging a telethon” or “Infiltrating Occupy Wall Street.” Others reek of action – like “Assassinating the IHOP Bomber,” and “Stealing a Thai King’s Diamond-Encrusted Inhaler.”
METHOD ACTOR: Yet another small-time crook has discovered that pretending to be a “CIA Agent” is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. A New Castle, Indiana resident was arrested recently at a local convenience store where he is accused of quarreling with employees and refusing to leave. Cops arriving at the scene determined the man was “very clearly intoxicated” and carrying a loaded handgun. Robinson told the police he could carry it because “I’m CIA,” adding “I can have a gun.” Police say he also had nearly 12 grams of meth which he described as his “government prescriptions.”
NEWS THAT GOES VIRAL: Got any national security gossip the rest of us need to know? Out of an abundance of caution, send your tips to TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
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