WE’RE OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER: Back when John Brennan was CIA director and made a lot of minds of clandestine service officers explode by saying “We don’t steal secrets.” (His successor, Mike Pompeo went out of his way to insist the Agency DOES steal secrets.) Well, if Bob Woodward’s new book “Fear” is to be believed, President-elect Donald Trump doubled down on Brennan’s comments. According to the book, at a Trump Tower meeting in late 2016, DNI James Clapper told Trump about a U.S. intelligence source in Russia who was endangered and that the CIA planned to “exfiltrate” that person to another country. Woodward says Trump replied that “I don’t believe in human sources” adding “These are people who have sold their souls and sold out their country.” Worth noting – this particular person was said to have betrayed Russia at the behest of the United States. Trump’s comment reportedly came at the same meeting where he first learned about the now-infamous dossier and “pee tape.”
FEAR ITSELF: In case you are among the handful of Americans who haven’t gotten a copy of Woodward’s “Fear,” the Dead Drop got a copy and did a quick scan for you. Among the other intelligence and national security nuggets (not already exhaustively covered by the mainstream media or mentioned above) here are a couple other items of interest: CTPT: Woodward says the CIA has, for years, run a 3,000-man top secret covert army in Afghanistan called Counterterrorism Pursuit Teams. As previously reported in The Cipher Brief and elsewhere, controversial contractor Erik Prince wanted to privatize the war effort – an option that did not go far because of the optics of Prince and others making massive profits on the war. The President, according to Woodward, grew tired of listening to people like his National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster opine about the war – and demanded that he bring in “some enlisted guys, some real fighters” to tell him what was going on in Afghanistan. Following a lunch with three soldiers and an airman who had served in country, Trump summed up their views for Steve Bannon: “Unanimous. We’ve got to figure out how to get the f*#k out of there. Totally corrupt. The people are not worth fighting for . . . NATO does nothing. They’re a hindrance. Don’t let anybody tell you how great they are. It’s all bullshit.”
“Man change” – Woodward implies that the CIA was wrong in the early 2000’s when it resisted pressure to take out Saddam Hussein – and that during the Obama Presidency, CIA Director John Brennan concluded that the Saddam problem could have been taken care of with what he called “indirect assassination.” And as the North Korean problem grew – Brennan is said to have urged not “regime change” but “man change.”
RED READER: Most folks perusing the Woodward book might say that the overall impression is not good for President Trump. But some readers managed to find nuggets that appear supportive of the administration’s spin. Like who? Try Sputnik News, part of Vladimir Putin’s propaganda machine. In an item posted on Thursday, Sputnik cited passages from Fear which implied that in late 2016 then-CIA Director John Brennan supported the Steele dossier because it “lined up with his own analysis.”
WANNA GO UNDER/COVER? We hear The Cipher Brief is launching a new book club/eye on publishing in October. Dead Drop readers will get the scoop before everyone else on who the new Senior Editor will be along with the first books he/she will be reviewing.
IG BORES IN ON VINO VIXEN: Back in June, The Dead Drop told you about complaints about Mari Stull, a political appointee at the State Department who allegedly reviewed social media postings of State Department staffers for signs of “ideological deviation.” Foreign Policy has now expanded on their original reporting saying that the State Department’s Inspector General has widened its investigation into whether Stull and others are “carrying out political reprisals against career officials.” Stull is a former food lobbyist and wine blogger who wrote under the pseudonym “Vino Vixen.” Foreign Policy quotes anonymous officials as saying that Stull makes it her mission to track down leaks and the publication also quotes Republican members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee essentially saying the complaints about the Vino Vixen are just sour grapes.
SECURITY CLEARANCE UP IN SMOKE? Often when some responsible official does something inexplicable, the question is asked: what was he smoking? But in Elon Musk’s case – that question is mute. The billionaire appeared on a podcast with host Joe Rogan and lit up a doobie. Marijuana reportedly can make you forgetful – and so the CEO of Tesla may have forgotten that his other company, SpaceX, works for the U.S. government. Fox Business Network’s Charles Gasparino first reported that the U.S. Air Force is looking into the matter and Musk’s on-air toking could take a toll on SpaceX’s government contracts. Tesla’s stock plunged more than 6% on the day after Musk lit up. That may have been a very expensive hit, Elon.
CODE OF SILENCE: Remember when the U.S. government banned the use of Russian Kaspersky anti-virus software by contractors for the Pentagon, NSA or GSA? Well, Bloomberg reports that the government of France is worried that their intelligence agencies use software created by Palantir Technologies Inc., a data-mining company that was backed by the CIA when it first was created. At a time when President Trump is calling the European Union a “foe” – it looks like everyone is suspicious of everyone else.
THE MOLAR OF THE STORY: Not satisfied with (metaphorically) getting into the heads of potential enemies – U.S. warfighters are now (literally) planning on getting inside the heads of their own troops. Defense One reports on the “Molar Mic” – technology developed by an outfit called Sonitus Technologies, which received its early funding from CIA’s investment arm In-Q-Tel. The idea behind the device is to attach a small transmitter receiver to the back teeth of an operative which allows that person to receive communications vibrating through their jaw and skull. The CIA and Pentagon have long been plagued by people claiming that the government is beaming messages to them through their teeth. Now, at least for select folks – that might actually be true.
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
- For Whom the Nell Trolls: Scottie Nell Hughes, a pro-Trump cable-news talking head has a new gig. Hughes gained attention with her frequent appearances on CNN supporting the President and for suing Fox Business Network for blacklisting her after she accused anchor Charles Payne of rape. Payne denied the allegation. Now Hughes has been hired by the Kremlin-backed “RT” network to anchor their 5 and 8 PM newscasts, according to the Daily Beast and Mediaite.
- Rough Commute: That Amazon streaming series “Tom Clancy’s: Jack Ryan” has been getting mixed reviews. As often happens, when a movie or TV show which relies heavily on scenes from some well-known area, the locals are quick to point out flaws and errors. Jack Ryan has been getting that treatment from D.C. area residents who note that the commute shown in the series that actor John Krasinki takes from Washington to CIA headquarters in Virginia is implausible. WUSA-TV in DC went so far to have a reporter try to replicate the arduous home-to-work routine which includes kayaking down the Potomac and hopping on a bicycle and meandering through Georgetown and then circumnavigating various iconic monuments before eventually pedaling up to the Agency HQ in Virginia. The WUSA reporter estimated that the trip would take over two hours. Here is some free spin for the program’s showrunners if they want to explain why Krasinski is shown all over the map on his way to work: tell folks he was running a surveillance detection route
- New Gig: Former senior CIA official and Cipher Brief expert, Mark Kelton, has been hired by DynCorp International as senior VP of national security solutions. He's also going to be appearing at The Cipher Brief's 2019 Threat Conference.
- Media Shop Swap: ODNI's Director of Public Affairs, Brian Hale will be moving over to become the Deputy Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Private Sector starting next Monday. We have to admit that we didn't even know his new shop existed, which might be part of the reason why they're tapping his services.... Good luck, Brian!
- Secret Agent? Man: In a segment that defies easy description, CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” had “un-informed correspondent” Bootsie go to the SpyScape museum and meet up with former CIA officer John Sipher and former CIA acting director Michael Morell. There are no words... Well worth the watch.
- Karma Chameleon Is A Bitch: There must be 50 ways to bring your Air Force career to a crashing halt: bring your fighter in with the landing gear up, shoot down your wingman, leave the missile launch codes on the Metro – but last week Colonel Mark Muth may have found the most embarrassing way ever to bring about early retirement. The 57-year-old Muth, who is assigned to the surgeon general’s office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, was arrested on September 5 for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after attempting to rush the stage at a Boy George concert. Air Force Times says the colonel “shoved venue security in a zealous effort to get to the stage.” It appears some alcohol might have been involved. Getting stoned at a Rolling Stones concert? Not unheard of. Going gaga for Lady Gaga? Plausible. But going bonkers at a Boy George show? Again, there are no words...
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING: Got any tips for your friendly neighborhood Dead Drop? Shoot us a note at TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
