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Dead Drop: October 27

<p>dead drop</p>

GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS: Intelligence insiders tell us that CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s extremely close relationship with President Donald Trump is a double-edged sword. Pompeo reportedly spends more time with the president than anyone other than Trump’s caddy. This access gives him plenty of opportunities to brief the Commander in Chief about the operations and analysis of his workforce. This is a good thing. But Agency officials tell us that Pompeo has also become a trusted adviser to Trump on a wide range of policy matters, from tax reform to healthcare. CIA Directors venturing into policy advisory roles (especially domestic policy) is uncharted territory – and, at least some Agency watchers think, it is not a positive development. “Whether the Director has ever been asked about a policy issue or other topic by the President is not something we comment on,” Dean Boyd, the director of the CIA Office of Public Affairs, emailed.

SAY WHAT? CIA Director Pompeo made lots of news late last week in a public appearance – saying things like: the CIA is going to be “a much more vicious agency” in doing its job…and joking that he doesn’t want to talk about what might happen if Kim Jong-un “should disappear” – for fear of being blamed for it. Then, in response to a question, he appeared to take a shot at former intelligence officials saying, “There are an awful lot of former CIA talking heads on TV,” adding that their obligation to remain quiet about their work “far extends beyond the day you turn in your badge.” IC alumni we talked to are scratching their heads about what sparked that comment. While there are quite a few intelligence veterans interviewed on TV (including several members of The Cipher Brief network of experts) – we haven’t identified any who were inappropriately sharing classified information – but quite a few who have been critical of Pompeo’s boss.

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