On This Day — First Modern Computer Delivered to German Aerospace Institute (May 12 1941) [2019]

“The danger of computers becoming like humans is not as great as the danger of humans becoming like computers.”

Konrad Zuse (June 22, 1910 – December 18, 1995) — Inventor of the world’s first programmable Turing-complete computer

Zuse Z3 replica on display at Deutsches Museum in Munich

May 12 2018 — The Z3 was the world’s first working programmable, fully automatic digital computer. In 1998, the Z3 was demonstrated to be, in principle, Turing-complete. The Z3 was the brainchild of Konrad Zuse, a German civil engineer, inventor and computer pioneer. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading

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Makeup Tips from Former CIA Chief of Disguise

“Jonna Mendez has fabricated disguises around the world, in the most hostile cities in the world. She is able to take a well-known figure and quickly disguise them to the level that they basically disappear and their colleagues would not be able to recognize them.”

Spy Museum

Jonna Mendez was recruited into the Central Intelligence Agency in Europe in 1966. For many years she lived under cover and served tours of duty in Europe, the Far East, and the Subcontinent, as well as at CIA Headquarters. She joined the Office of Technical Service in the 1970’s and within a few years she was back overseas as a Technical Operations Officer with a specialty in clandestine photography.

Jonna Mendez, former CIA Chief of Disguise, takes a look at spy scenes from a variety of television shows and movies and breaks down how accurate they really are. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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30 Years Ago — PT/35(b) Forgery Planted Among Lockerbie Evidence (May 12 1989)

“PT/35(b) was extremely, extremely dodgy. It was very, very suspicious. The way it suddenly appeared, embedded in a shirt collar, with the information on the page overwritten and changed, all police procedures were thrown out of the window.”

Rev. John Mosey

“Dr. Hayes seemed to have no real recollection independently of his notes of having found PT 35B.  The sequence of the PT numbering and the absence from the notes of a drawing of the circuit board are unusual features.  The pagination of the notes was described by Hayes as “an unfathomable mystery” , for which he did propose an explanation, but unfortunately one that does not work. The memorandum of the 15th of September 1989 is difficult to understand if the fragment was indeed found on the 12th of May 1989. PT/35B is an important piece of evidence on which the Crown rely and in respect of which it is for the Crown to satisfy the court as to its provenance.  I submit that the irregularities and peculiarities which attend this item are some which the court ought to have some hesitation in being satisfied as to the item’s provenance.”

Lockerbie trial, page 9624

PI 995 : The collar of a “SLALOM” shirt from which PT/35(b) was allegedly extracted

On May 12 1989, PT/35(b) was allegedly extracted from the collar of a “SLALOM” shirt labelled PI/995. PT/35(b) will become the key piece of evidence of the Lockerbie Case.

As Richard Marquise (the FBI Agent who led the US side of the investigation) himself said:  “Without PT/35(b), there would have been no indictment.”

Today, we know that PT/35(b) is a forgery. We also know that at least one witness was well aware that PT/35(b) could not have been part of the MST-13 timers delivered to Libya and that this witness deliberately withheld  this information from the court. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading

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One Year Ago — Lockerbie Case Review : Key Witness Tony Gauci Was Unreliable

“I personally hope that Tony [Gauci] is in a better place and that he is now at peace because he must have led a tortured life knowing that he had jailed an innocent man for money.”

George Thomson — Lockerbie Investigator

“The Lockerbie saga continues and, as with the assassination of John F Kennedy, conspiracy theories will run for ever. It’s unsurprising that the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission (SCCRC) has passed it through the first stage of their process, as Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s conviction is questionable to say the least.

As the SCCRC found on the last occasion when they considered this a decade ago, there are issues to investigate. Not least the evidence of Tony Gauci, a man who it’s since been disclosed received substantial sums of money for his testimony.”

Kenny MacAskill — Former Cabinet Secretary for Justice 2007−2014 (May 10 2018)

tony-gauci

Tony Gauci — Lord Fraser described the Maltese shopkeeper whose testimony was central in securing a conviction against Abdelbasset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, as “not quite the full shilling” and “an apple short of a picnic”.

May 11 2018 — Last week, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) announced that it will review the case of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only man ever convicted for the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The commission will examine the case to decide whether it would be appropriate to refer the matter for a fresh appeal.

In June 2007, the SCCRC published a summary of its findings indicating that there were six grounds upon which it had concluded that a miscarriage of justice might have occurred.

The new grounds for appeal include ­questions over the integrity of evidence ­produced by the Crown at the original trial, including the infamous circuit board fragment (PT/35b) and various clothes.

Many experts believe that the crucial testimony given by Maltese shopkeeper Tony Gauci was simply false and should have been ruled inadmissible.

In a 2009 piece titled “Lockerbie: J’accuse”, I explained why I came to regard Gauci’s testimony as complete nonsense. Let us read it again. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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Was PUTIN Name Redacted From Flynn FBI 302 Just Released? Almost Certainly! [UPDATE : The Mueller Report]

“Investigators have learned that Mr. Flynn and Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, took the lead in those efforts. Mr. Mueller’s team has emails that show Mr. Flynn saying he would work to kill the vote [on UN Resolution 2334].”

New York Times (December 1, 2017)

“Russia had reservations, primarily about the timing of the resolution, but the other countries did not agree with Russia’s position to continue the discussion.”

Alexander Dubrovin — Russia’s Deputy Ambassador to Israel (December 27 2016)

January 2 2019 — In January 2017, two FBI agents interviewed the then- US National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. On December 1 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI during that interview. On December 17 2018, at the request of Judge Emmet Sullivan, the Special Counsel’s Office released a redacted version of their report — known as a FBI 302 — regarding this event. I strongly believe that the word PUTIN was redacted in a key paragraph of that document.

UPDATE (May 11 2019) — According to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Report, multiple members of the Transition Team, as well as President-Elect Trump, communicated with foreign government officials to determine their views on the resolution and to rally support to delay the vote or defeat the resolution. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and now a senior White House adviser, led the effort. The Mueller’s report confirms most elements of our investigation. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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One Year Ago — Salisbury Incident : UK Media silenced by D-Notices Over Skripal Affair

“The issue surrounding the identify [sic] of a former MI6 informer Sergei Skripal is already widely available in the public domain. However, the identifies [sic] of intelligence agency personnel associated with Sergei Skripal are not yet widely available in the public domain.”

D-Notice issued on March 7 2018

May 10 2018 — If you think that “slapping a D-notice” on a story the establishment wants to hide from the public is the stuff of thrillers, spy stories and conspiracy theories, you are in for a shock.

Last month, the Defence and Security Media Advisory Committee (DSMA) has issued at least two D-Notices to request the complicity of the UK media over crucial pieces of information related to the Skripal Affair. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading

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Two Years Ago — FBI James Comey : “The Taller They Stand, The Harder They Fall”

“Were these investigations getting too close to home for the President? This does not seem to be a coincidence.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer

FBI director James Comey in Queenstown NZ (2017)

May 9 2017 — The White House has announced that FBI Director James Comey “has been terminated and removed from office”. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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The CIA Book of Honor — Star 79 : Johnny Micheal Spann

“IN HONOR OF THOSE MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY”

Memorial at the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia

“He [Johnny Micheal Spann] led one of our teams into Afghanistan, then under the sway of a dictatorship aligned with global murder.  There, he tracked the authors and allies of terror.  There, while fighting for the future of the American people, he fought to bring a better future to the Afghan people.  And it was there, one evening, that he said he would gladly risk his life if he could help make the world a safer place for his wife and children. As we know, those were much more than words. Our battle with terrorism will be long and difficult.  But those who have taken Mike from us cannot prevail.  And they will not.  Not while a single decent person—who not only loves liberty, but is ready to protect it—stands against them.”

Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet (May 31 2002)

May 10 2019 — Currently, there are 129 stars carved into the marble of the CIA Memorial Wall: 91 are unclassified. Who are those men and (11) women? When did they die? Why are they honoured by a star? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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On This Day — Enigma Machine Captured (May 9 1941) [2019]

“Also the coding machine was found here, plugged in and as though it was in actual use when abandoned. The general appearance of this machine being that of a type writer, the telegraphist pressed the keys and finding results peculiar sent it up the hatch. This W/T office seemed far less complicated than our own-sets were more compact and did not seem to have the usual excess of switches, plug holes, knobs, ‘tally’s’ etc on the outside.”

Lieutenant David Balme — Report on the U-110  boarding

The Wireless Telegraph area on board U Boat U-124 in March 1941, where the Enigma machine, similar to a typewriter, can be seen bottom left.

May 9 2019 — One of the outstanding intelligence breakthroughs of the World War II came on May 9 1941 with the capture of an intact Enigma machine. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading

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On This Day — USAF Bombs Chinese Embassy in Belgrade (May 7 1999)

“The attack was a mistake. Let me emphasise our investigation has determined that no one, and I repeat, no one knowingly targeted the Chinese Embassy. Speculation to the contrary is simply unfounded. No one at any stage in the process realised that our bombs were aimed at the Chinese Embassy.”

CIA Director George Tenet

“We are very dependent on databases and the accuracy of those databases. And clearly, we didn’t have accurate databases here. I find it embarrassing that we didn’t have in our databases the precise location of the Chinese Embassy. And that did contribute to this failure where we didn’t catch the mistake and possibly could have. We know that now and we’re going to have to prevent that in the future.”

Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre

On May 7, 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia (Operation Allied Force), five US Joint Direct Attack Munition guided bombs hit the People’s Republic of China embassy in the Belgrade district of New Belgrade, killing three Chinese journalists. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading

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