On This Day — “Ich bin ein Berliner” (June 26 1963)

Posted on June 26, 2018 by L

“Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was ‘civis romanus sum’. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’ … All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!'”

U.S. President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin — June 26 1963

Kennedy’s ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ speech was watched by West Berliners

The speech is considered one of Kennedy’s best, both a notable moment of the Cold War and a high point of the New Frontier. It was a great morale boost for West Berliners, who lived in an enclave deep inside East Germany and feared a possible East German occupation. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — The First NSA Defection : William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell (June 25 1960)

Posted on June 25, 2018 by L

“The United States Government is as unscrupulous as it has accused the Soviet Government of being. Our main dissatisfaction concerned some of the practices the United States uses in gathering intelligence information … deliberately violating the airspace of other nations … intercepting and deciphering the secret communications of its own allies … Perhaps United States hostility towards Communism arises out of a feeling of insecurity engendered by Communist achievements in science, culture and industry.”

William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell — The first NSA whistleblowers

NSA defectors William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell at the Moscow press conference announcing their defection, July 1, 1960.

The National Security Agency faced a terrible crisis in the summer of 1960 when two cryptologists disappeared on vacation. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Parody — NSA : “Every Post You Make”

Posted on June 24, 2018 by L

“The way things are supposed to work is that we’re supposed to know virtually everything about what they [the government] do: that’s why they’re called public servants. They’re supposed to know virtually nothing about what we do: that’s why we’re called private individuals.”

Glenn Greenwald

“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.”

Edward Snowden

“The NSA is correct, 1984 is now.” ― Michael Gurnow, The Edward Snowden Affair: Exposing the Politics and Media Behind the NSA Scandal

In 2011, the National Security Agency wanted to ban the sale of T-shirts and mugs that parody the Agency as “the only part of government that actually listens.” Eventually, the NSA was forced to admit that such parody merchandise does not violate any laws. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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United States — The “Intelligence Identities Protection Act” (June 23 1982)

Posted on June 23, 2018 by L

“The legislation ultimately will harm, not help, our national security interests (…)  If left to stand, it will curtail legitimate journalistic scrutiny of a particularly important and sensitive area of government, creating the possibility that wrongdoing or wrong-headedness could flourish in that area, unchecked by public awareness.”

Sen. Joseph R. Biden (D) of Delaware — Member of the US Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence (April 6, 1982)

June 23 1982 — President Reagan tells a good Irish joke before signing the IIPA at the CIA Headquarters

On June 23 1982, President Reagan visited the CIA Headquarters for the signing of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Havana Syndrome & Microwave Weapons: Q&A with Professor James Lin [UPDATE 3]

Posted on June 22, 2018 by L

“Whether or not a microwave weapon was the culprit, this stealth technique may be a weapon of the future. I would not be surprised if some military establishment around the world invests or has already been engaged in such a program.”

Professor James Lin — UIC

“My gut is that this has been going on for a while. The NSA has revealed to me in an unclassified setting that a foreign power has used a microwave weapon against people.”

Mark Zaid — Washington DC attorney with a practice focus on national security law

Professor James Lin

In October 2017, I suggested than a microwave weapon — and not sonic attacks — may be the cause of the “Havana syndrome”. Professor James Lin just published a paper on the possibility that the Havana syndrome might indeed be explained by a secret microwave weapon. Professor Lin has kindly agreed to review the known facts about this case and compare them to our current knowledge of ‘microwave weapons’.

Update (June 22 2018) — Mark Zaid, a US lawyer who specializes in national security cases, has been hired by eight of the victims. Zaid believes that these US diplomats have been injured by microwave weapons. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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CIA VAULT 7 Leak — Suspect Identified, Charged for Child Porn [UPDATE]

Posted on June 21, 2018 by L

“This case has been dragging since August 2017. The government should be required to indict so Mr. Schulte has the opportunity to defend himself. Otherwise he is just languishing.”

Sabrina P. Shroff of the federal public defender’s office

“From a statistical point of view, there is no reason to assume that the files were leaked by a ‘millennial’. To the contrary, one would expect the person to be a very disappointed mid-career officer. In my opinion, the US Intel Community has already identified the person(s) responsible for the leak of the VAULT-7 files. And Michael Hayden knows that. Otherwise, his comments would make no sense whatsoever.”

Intel Today — March 17 2017

FBI investigators believe that Joshua A. Schulte — 29-year-old former C.I.A. software engineer — stole the CIA ‘Vault 7’ files and passed them to WikiLeaks. However, they have no evidence to prove it at this point.

After the release of Vault 7, I suggested that the files were genuine. (The CIA would of course neither deny nor confirm.) I also stated that the documents were leaked — and not hacked as Trump said at the time. I thought that the insider was a CIA employee, and not a contractor. Finally, I believed that this person was rather young, despite the odds. (On average, IC whistleblowers tend to be mid-career officers.) I was right by all accounts.

UPDATE (June 19 2018) — According to the FBI, Joshua Adam Schulte allegedly stole classified information relating to National Security from the CIA and transmitted this information to Wikileaks. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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On This Day — The Central Intelligence Agency Act Is Signed (June 20 1949)

Posted on June 20, 2018 by L

“I think it has become necessary to take another look at the purpose and operations of our Central Intelligence Agency. At least, I would like to submit here the original reason why I thought it necessary to organize this Agency during my Administration, what I expected it to do and how it was to operate as an arm of the President. (…)

We have grown up as a nation, respected for our free institutions and for our ability to maintain a free and open society. There is something about the way the CIA has been functioning that is casting a shadow over our historic position and I feel that we need to correct it.”

Harry Truman (December 22, 1963)

On this day in 1949, President Truman signed the Central Intelligence Agency Act, permitting the CIA to use confidential fiscal and administrative procedures. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Lockerbie — The Eyewitness Evidence Against Megrahi : Exclusive Q&A with Pr Elizabeth Loftus

Posted on June 20, 2018 by L

“Al-Megrahi was released from prison in 2009 and sent back to Libya on compassionate grounds because of advancing cancer. Public outrage was sparked. Al-Megrahi lived with his cancer for a few years (…) One cannot help but wonder whether the outrage over his release might be tempered if those angry individuals were to seriously examine the suspicious eyewitness testimony that led to Al-Megrahi’s conviction in the first place. My examination has led me to seriously wonder: Is the Lockerbie bomber still out here?”

Professor Elizabeth F. Loftus — Memory (2013)

“There is no reasonable basis in the trial court’s judgment for its conclusion that the purchase of the items [clothes that were found in the wreckage of the plane] from Mary’s House [in Malta] took place on 7 December 1988.”

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission

Elizabeth F. Loftus is a Distinguished Professor of Social Ecology and Professor of Law and Cognitive Science at University of California, Irvine. Her research has demonstrated that people can be led to develop rich false memories for events that never happened.

These false memories look very much like true ones. Indeed, they can be confidently told, detailed, and expressed with emotion. Professor Loftus has kindly agreed to answer a few questions regarding her understanding of Tony Gauci’s testimony and statements. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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On This Day — Atomic Spies Rosenbergs Executed (June 19 1953)

Posted on June 19, 2018 by L

“It is not within my duty or my power to intervene in this matter.”

Winston Churchill

“If the English want a king, it is their business. If the Russians want communism, it is their business. If the Americans want our form of government, it is our business.”

“This death sentence is not surprising. It had to be.”

Julius Rosenberg

“Now that they are gone, you know, the truth it can be told. They were sacrificial lambs in the market place sold… They were never proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Bob Dylan — Nobel Prize 2016

A lithograph of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg made and signed by Pablo Piccaso in 1952.

On Friday June 19, 1953 at 8 pm, Julius Rosenberg was strapped into the electric chair and died after the first jolt. Ethel proved a bit harder to kill. Her heart was still beating after three shocks.  Two more needed to be applied to finally end her life. At that point, witnesses saw a puff of smoke escape from her skull. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Remembering Michael Hastings — (January 28 1980 – June 18 2013) [2018]

Posted on June 18, 2018 by L

“The CIA was also looking at infecting the vehicle control systems used by modern cars and trucks. The purpose of such control is not specified, but it would permit the CIA to engage in nearly undetectable assassinations.”

WikiLeaks — Vault 7

Journalist Michael Hastings (January 28, 1980 – June 18, 2013)

WikiLeaks’ revelations that the CIA was attempting to remotely hack vehicles have reignited a conspiracy theory: Did the Agency assassinate journalist Michael Hastings? Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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