LAW & DISORDER: Netflix has purchased eight episodes of a new TV series about a fledgling CIA lawyer who somehow gets tied up with a former Agency asset who threatens to expose her long-term relationship with Langley unless they get her out of some serious legal trouble. Noah Centineo is lined up to star. The series doesn’t have a name yet – although Deadline.com says a working title may be: “Graymail.” Adam Ciralsky is listed as an executive producer. If that name sounds familiar – Ciralsky was a young CIA lawyer who was allegedly fired over security concerns and later accused the Agency of anti-Semitism. His suit against the Agency was dropped and he later went into journalism.
SURPRISE: FACEBOOK IS NOT RUN BY THE CIA: A decade ago, The Onion created a satirical video that joked that Facebook was secretly run by the CIA. Since not everyone using the internet has a sense of humor, a TikTok user recently discovered the 2011 video, reposted it and asserted it as fact. Two weeks later, nearly a million people have heard the bogus claim on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. USA Today’s fact checkers however assure us that the assertion that Facebook is a CIA front – is false.
SURPRISE: THE CIA IS NOT RUN BY THE ONION: The CIA recently posted a recruitment video that has attracted a lot of attention – much of it mocking. Here at The Dead Drop we consider ourselves well “woke” – diversity and accessibility are essential to good government. But even we were surprised to see such a combination of touch-feely phrases strung together in the ad. In it, an unnamed 36-year-old CIA officer describes herself as a “intersectional cisgender millennial” who has been diagnosed with “generalized anxiety disorder.” She proudly states that she is a “…walking declaration, a woman whose inflection does not rise at the end of her sentences, suggesting that a question has been asked.” Near as we can tell, that last bit means that she is proud that she does not sound like a “Valley Girl.” But in this inclusive world – don’t Valley Girls deserve respect too? The ad has sparked a lot of online mockery, like this bit from comedian Blaire Erskine on why she loves working for the CIA. And Fox News’ Greg Gutfield spoofed the CIA ad by playing a video trailer for an imaginary “woke” James Bond movie. The real CIA ad has also inspired some mockable commentary, like a tweet from former CIA Director Mike Pompeo claiming that a female analyst once thanked him for valuing her work and not her “sexuality.” Some observers have defended the Agency by suggesting that if the ad doesn’t speak to you – perhaps that is because it wasn’t aimed at you. Seems to us, there are better ways to promote diversity such as Cipher Brief expert OPED in the Washington Examiner which talks about the indispensable contributions of a woman officer in the U.S. government’s counterterrorism fight. The person in the CIA recruitment video says she is “unapologetically me” and encourages you to be unapologetically you. OK, we unapologetically are the kind of person who thinks the ad is just a wee bit goofy and unnecessarily inspires jokes about a serious topic.
FEDERALIST FINDS FAULT: Conservative website TheFederalist.com is not happy that CIA Director Bill Burns apparently sent an internal memo to his staff expressing support for the result of the Chauvin trial in Minneapolis. The Federalist says they obtained a copy of the memo in which Burns called the verdict “one step forward.” They reached out to former acting DNI Ric Grenell who, in yet another demonstration of zero self-awareness, blasted Burns for “politicizing the U.S. intelligence community.” Grenell also demonstrated an amazing lack of understanding the IC he recently (briefly) led, saying that “Our CIA agents are not racist or intolerant.” As readers of The Cipher Brief, and anyone who has spent any time around the Agency should know, CIA’s employees are referred to as “officers” not “agents.”
BRILLIANT FLASH OF THE OBVIOUS: An assessment from intelligence analysts at the U.S. National Intelligence Council that was declassified and released this week predicts that if Islamic extremists regain power in Afghanistan, the Taliban “would roll back much” of the progress made by women. In other news, the NIC predicted that Afghans who stand out in the rain are likely to get wet.
OUT OF THIS WORLD CONTRACTING: The public (well, at least some of them) have long been fascinated about what secrets the government has been keeping about whether earth has been visited by space aliens. Are you among them? Well, you are not alone. How has the government kept this secret for so long? According to former Senator Harry Reid, the same way they do so much else: they contract out. Reid told The New Yorker recently that he believes the U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin might have had fragments of a UFO in their possession. No word on why – or where.
NEED A BOOK TO READ BUT DON’T QUITE HAVE TIME? Well, you might consider an very long article posted this past weekend on Yahoo News. The piece titled “How a brutal assault led a woman to one of the CIA’s most valuable Russian spies,” was written by Jenna McLaughlin and Sean Naylor. Right at the top of the story Yahoo helpfully tells you that it is a “45 minute read.” That may underestimate the effort needed. The piece is hard to summarize – but it is about a woman who took in a boarder who rented the basement in her Virginia home and later plead guilty to sexually assaulting her. The woman later found documents that said the renter had assets of more than $16 million – and appeared to be the son of a Russian who is now in prison in Moscow. Apparently, the dad was paid enormous sums for spying for the U.S. and his son, now living here, is allegedly a bad person. The perp was convicted, served time, was sued in civil court and his victim was paid damages. The story seems to imply that the CIA bears some responsibility – although we cannot quite figure out why. Perhaps if the story was just a little longer they might have been able to explain that.
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
GOOD POINT: The website Sandboxx recently examined the pointed question: in 2021, why are there still bayonets? The rifle-mounted blades were quite useful (and perhaps essential) in combat going back to the Revolutionary War and before. But are they necessary today? It depends on how you slice and dice the question. But for whatever reason, the spirit of the bayonet lives on.
DON’T YA HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS TO YOU? Who among us hasn’t gotten up in the middle of the night having to use the bathroom and found themselves a little disoriented? That is what happened to Navy Rear Admiral Erik Ross who was staying in a hotel in Tennessee while on temporary duty in 2019. Unfortunately, Ross had had a lot to drink before hitting the rack and instead of visiting the loo, he found himself in the hotel hallway, naked, without his room key. But he thought he was in the bathroom and, well, did what came naturally. Police took him into custody for a while but then released him and soon thereafter he hopped into his rental vehicle (we hope while not still impaired) and drove to the airport. Unsurprisingly, Ross is now retired.
OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER: We’re not sure if they still recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each school day – in fact, we are not sure if they still start school days. But we know that the pledge was a staple for many years. And so, it was especially cringeworthy to see former National Security Advisor and DIA chief Lieutenant General Mike Flynn get up at a political rally in South Carolina and urging the crowd to stand and join him in repeating those hallowed words – and then botch it. To make matters worse, before starting, Flynn told the gathered patriots: “I want you to hear, not just listen. I want you to hear every single word of the Pledge of Allegiance. That is our pledge to each other, that is our pledge to this country. It’s a Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America. So put your hand over your heart, take your hats off here. That’s an order. Place your hand over your heart…” Then he made it to the second sentence before screwing it up.
WE PLEDGE TO BE GRATEFUL: If you send your newsworthy tips to us at TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com. By doing so, you will help protect liberty and justice for all.
