THERE IS NOTHING CERTAIN EXCEPT DEATH AND TAXES: So said (allegedly), Ben Franklin. But you know who would agree with him? Americans who are held hostage by foreign evil-doers. For example, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich who was released from Russian custody in August was warmly welcomed home by President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the Internal Revenue Service, which reportedly billed him for taxes he failed to pay while in Putin’s prison. Fellow recently released prisoners Paul Whelan and Vladimir Kara-Murza were also hit with surprise tax bill according to an OPED in The Wall Street Journal by Senator Chris Coons of Delaware. This is not a new thing. Former Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian told NPR that after he was released following 544 days in Iranian custody – he received a bill for $6,000 in fees for unpaid taxes. Senator Coons has introduced legislation that would exempt hostages from tax liability and give IRS the authority to waive fines for late payment. Seriously, we need legislation for this? As Ben Franklin protégé Thomas Paine might say, this makes absolutely no Common Sense.
THESE UKRAINIANS ARE PATIENT: Our favorite clip of Russian State TV talking heads uncovered by Russia Media Monitor Julia Davis this week is one where a member of the Russian Duma, Yury Afonin, said he was pleased that Russia had invaded…umm…make that “launched a special military operation against” Ukraine because otherwise, he said the Ukrainians would have invaded Russian regions – something, according to him, they have been planning since 1918. Those guys in Kyiv must have a really long-term game plan. Lay low for a century or so and the Russians might not see them coming. (Some could argue they in fact didn’t see them coming in Kursk, just sayin.)
UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE: Four Russian aircraft including a TU-95 bomber entered the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on September 23rd and so some U.S. aircraft did what they normally do when things like that happen – and went up for a look-see. The commander of the North American Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, General Gregory Guillot released video of what happened next when a Russian SU-35 fighter buzzed a USAF F-16. Guillot said the maneuver “was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all – not what you see in a professional air force.” In other ADIZ news, earlier in September, a Russian IL-38 maritime surveillance aircraft was intercepted by an American F-16 that had been painted up to look like a Russian aircraft. The F-16 had been part of an aggressor squadron – intended to simulate enemy combatants for dissimilar training – but has recently been repurposed. Apparently, the U.S. Air Force hadn’t quite gotten around to repainting the jet before it was called on to intercept some genuine Russian planes. That probably REALLY confused the unprofessional Russian air force.
BOOK REPORT: Former CIA officer, I.S. Berry, whose novel The Peacock and the Sparrow was favorably reviewed in The Cipher Brief, revealed on LinkedIn that she has landed a deal with the publisher Atria for another spy thriller. Still skilled at keeping secrets, Berry did not reveal the book’s title -or expected publication date. Seems like she’s been trained to keep secrets or something.
DON’T FORGET THE FORGOTTEN WOMEN: Another book on the horizon (this one with a title and publication date) is The Queen’s Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence. The book comes out in February and is said to be about “the hidden female army of clerks, typists, telephonists, and secretaries who were the cornerstone of the British secret state across two world wars and beyond.” Among those featured in the book by Claire Hubbard-Hall is Kathleen Pettigrew who is believed to have been the inspiration of Ian Fleming’s “Miss Moneypenny” in the James Bond books. According to The Guardian, Pettigrew was once asked if she had been like Miss Money Penny to which she responded “I was Miss Moneypenny. But with more power.”
AUTO-MATED INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION: Forget Tik-Tok tinkering with collecting information on teens, the Biden administration is worried that Chinese-made automobiles sold in the United States could be mobile espionage platforms. The administration has proposed some new rules to put a brake on possible malign use of Vehicle Connectivity Systems – and Automated Driving Systems. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said that “Cars today have cameras, microphones, GPS tracking, and other technologies connected to the internet,” adding “It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how a foreign adversary with access to this information could pose a serious risk to both our national security and the privacy of U.S. citizens.” Carrying things to a worse-case scenario – Raimondo told reporters that “A foreign adversary could shut down or take control of all their vehicles operating in the United States, all at the same time, causing crashes, blocking roads, etc.”
SHRINKING VETS ON THE HILL: According to MilitaryTimes.com the number of candidates running for Congress this year is lower than the number in 2022. Two years ago, there were 196 candidates with military service (and 114 of them won.) This time around there are only 181 people running with military experience. When the votes are counted in November, it is quite likely that the number of veterans serving in Congress may drop to the lowest percentage since World War II. But that may be inevitable based on another surprising figure in the report. Currently, only about 6% of the U.S. population is - or has in the past - served in uniform.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
NO GUTS, NO GLORY: Apropos of the previous item about the shrinking number of military veterans winning election to Congress – we spotted this item about a debate between the two main candidates for a Senate seat in Virginia. The race is between sitting Senator Tim Kaine and his Republican challenger, retired Navy Captain Hung Cao. They were having a campaign debate Wednesday night and the topic of why the military is having trouble meeting recruiting quotas came up. Cao had previously blamed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies. In the debate he offered this observation: “When you’re using a, you know, drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want. What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them, and ask for seconds. Those are young men and women that are gonna win wars.” Apparently Cao thinks that description is a winner since his campaign posted a clip of it on X.
Do you have the guts to send a news tip to The Dead Drop? If so, rip off a note to use and send it to TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com If it is tasty, we’ll probably ask for seconds.
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