Co-founder of The High Side. Author of Relentless Strike - The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command: https://xitter.cf/t.co/lEOTReZt55. RTs are not endorsements.

Washington, DC
Joined September 2010
Burglaries, surveillance, state-actor-level phone hacking. Havana Syndrome victims returned home, only to be targeted in a campaign of intimidation that the FBI and CIA seemed to have little interest in solving. New from @JackMurphyRGR and me: thehighside.substack.com/p/l…
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Protecting potential sources that approach you after such a public message is a perennial concern; equally taxing is the vetting process necessary to weed out potential double agents, which the Cuban services are almost assuredly throwing at secure US channels en masse.
To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba - now is the time. The disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few; seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA.
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OLD SOVIET TANK waiting on EOD to deal with a IED. I'll update the date of the photo when I can look at the time stamp 🇨🇦 Canada · Battle group QRF from MSG · Task Force 3-09 📷 One of thousands of photos in the Project Athena archive. Have photos from Afghanistan? Add yours at projectathena.ca 🗺 View on the map → f.mtr.cool/j577atnk48 #ProjectAthena #Afghanistan #GWOT #ISAF
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Important context here from Marc on one of THE overarching stories of our time in the intel world: the ability to do HUMINT in a world of “ubiquitous technical surveillance.” Some folks strongly believe nonofficial/commercial cover is the only way forward; others aren't so sure.
lots of media stories on a new pentagon intel entity that will involve non official cover operations. I have no idea about any of this (really), I'm long out of that secret world. I yap on tv and watch the redsox full time now. sorry, cant confirm or deny any of this, not going there. but of course I read the pieces with interest. and what I will say is that due to the current ubiquitous technical surveillance (UTS) environment, which appears to me to be biggest challenge to HUMINT I've ever seen over the last century, this is the right way to approach espionage. official cover out of overseas locations is far less effective. no one can deny that. so whatever the IC is planning to do, in whatever alphabet soup agency, and if it has proper congressional oversight (very big deal), the use of non official cover to defeat our adversaries is absolutely the way to go. that's all I got.
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The GRU hacked into Jared Kushner's iPhone. Dutch military intelligence (MIVD) then recruited a GRU spy who gave them access to the hacked phone. What MIVD discovered was that Kushner had access to two bank accounts --one Azerbaijani, the other Israeli --where Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Emirati ruler Mohammed bin Zayed deposited money. It sounds like a slightly far-fetched episode of "Slow Horses," but it's real. And it proves just how eye-poppingly corrupt this administration was and continues to be as its "special envoy" decides the fate of tens of millions in Europe in the Middle East. Simply incredible reporting by Matthew Cole, drawn from his new book on Kushner. vanityfair.com/story/jared-k…
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Ukraine was once again unable to intercept a single incoming Russian missile overnight. Ukrainian officials blame another delayed shipment of Patriot interceptors.
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Great to see our friend @zachsdorfman with the @washingtonpost's lead story today. Even better to read the hat-tip to The High Side (not our first from The Post), a reference to a story he co-authored for us with @JackMurphyRGR and @SeanDNaylor: thehighside.substack.com/p/t….
The Pentagon is thinking expansively about conducting “economic warfare,” particularly against China. Now, it’s mulling a new or expanded deep-cover spying capability as part of that mission. NEW from me and @wstrobel: washingtonpost.com/national-…
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Quite a letter from White House to Politico.
The White House counsel's office warned Politico in a Monday letter that it had 48 hours to retract or correct recent stories revolving around COS Susie Wiles — or it would suffer unspecified consequences. axios.com/2026/10/21/white-h…
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Russia launched covert influence campaign to undermine US candidates supportive of Ukraine, lawmakers say politico.com/news/2026/10/21…
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Anthropic will be very surprised to learn that the US government can’t direct a private company to make or not make particular decisions.
Replying to @lrozen
Rubio: “The important point is we cannot direct a private company as to the decisions they make or not make.  What I can tell you with certainty is the President of the United States nor anyone in our system ever requested that any changes to that system be made, and that’s what we said repeatedly.”
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Do we still have Alaska?
Putin-Witkoff talks end - they lasted over three hours.
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Trump and Musk spoke about Ukraine the day the Starlink/Starshield slowdown became public. SpaceX and WH held calls about how to message the decision after the fact. Hard to believe Trump doesn’t know answer.
❗️Reporter: Who gave the order to restrict Starlink’s operation in Ukraine? Trump: I was not involved. Reporter: Did Elon Musk give the order? Trump: I don’t know who did it, but I was not involved.
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Amazing.
Kudos to the camera man. He decided NOPE - ain’t letting him pull this shit. Not today. Not on my watch.
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I realize that Vance and Witkoff couldn’t care less about murdered Ukrainians and their stolen children, but they apparently believe that an authoritarian who loves to collect American hostages can be described as a “humanitarian” for eventually releasing them.
Q: Witkoff called Putin 'a humanitarian' for agreeing to release Stephen Hubbard. Do you agree with that? JD VANCE: I agree with Steve Witkoff saying something nice to a person who just released an American hostage.
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Canadian officers considering U.S.-based posts don’t believe they’ll be treated as equals, several of them told @isaacstanbecker. He reports on what this reluctance to serve may mean for the decades-long military partnership between the U.S. and Canada: theatlantic.com/national-sec…
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Happy Trafalgar Day! On this day in 1805 the greatest naval battle of the age of sail took place off the coast of Spain. #Nelson #RoyalNavy #FrenchNavy #SpanishNavy
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"A town got hit or whatever." Anhelina, a one-year-old, was killed in her stroller by a Russian Shahed yesterday in Kharkiv. Her mother, Inna Mariukhna, was also killed.
⚡️ "Some people in a town that got hit or whatever, but mostly soldiers die." Trump on Russian shelling of civilians in Ukraine.
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Hello. Goodbye. Goodnight. Sharon Weinberger (@weinbergersa) describes three microwave weapons programs: auditory effects, a burning sensation & a proposed lethal weapon. She explains what became public, and why she’s suing for the remaining records:
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Imagine if in 1943 FDR had decided that the US would stop helping Britain and instead would side with the Third Reich. That's a bit like what President Trump is now doing by cozying up to Russia as it tries to destroy Ukraine. Utterly shameful. A humiliating moment for the US.
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Russian military blogger says Ukrainian mid-range drone strikes on the main Russian supply route in occupied southern Ukraine have almost ceased because of the throttling of Starlink. No need to elaborate on what this new freedom of logistics for Russia means for the frontline.
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