CIA Files: True Stories of U.S Intelligence

Latest Episodes:

Episode 27: People know about Donald but wait until you hear about Melinda. Donald and Melinda Maclean the KGB Power couple of the Cambridge 5 Aug 14, 2023

Show notes

British aristocrat Donald Maclean, as a member of the Cambridge 5, worked his way to the top of the British Foreign Office while secretly working as KGB spy. His wife was in on it the whole time. How did an extremely wealthy and noticeable couple successfully spy for so long, and why? Learn about their backgrounds, deeds, and fates. This is the fourth episode to deal with the Cambridge 5. The other episodes are: Episode 7: Secret Agent Super Spy: Harold Kim Philby: The 1st in a series on the Cambridge 5, Episode 10: Kim Philby Part 2: I Really Must Be Going; The second episode on our series on the Cambridge 5, & Episode 11: Guy Burgess: I Gotta Be Me! This is the third episode in our series on the Cambridge 5. (First 2 are episodes 7 & 10)

Episode 26: The Life of CIA Director John Brennan: News: The American NCO/Pro-Putin podcaster, The Prankster tricking Russians into torching recruitment offices, A Chinese police station on US soil. Jun 22, 2023

Show notes

This is our third episode in a three part series on CIA Directors who shaped US policy towards the Soviet Union and now Russie. I give an overview of the life of John Brennan, a straight talking Irishman from New Jersey. The episode ends with anecdotes about a stateside former American sailor pretending to be in the Donbass while promoting pro-Kremlin propaganda, a Ukrainian operation to trick Russians into burning down their own recruitment stations, a hacker who steals from the FSB and gives to Ukraine and the FBIs prosecution of alleged Chinese agents on US soil. The agents allegedly have set up a covert police station and are harassing dissidents. *Correction: NAFO=North Atlantic Fella Association

Episode 25: The Life of CIA Director Robert Gates; News: The Imprisoned Accused Russian Spy Mad He Can't Pay His Bills, Wagner in Sudan Apr 17, 2023

Show notes

This is our second episode in a three part series on CIA Directors who shaped US policy towards the Soviet Union. I give an overview of the life of Robert Gates a proverbial and literal boyscout. We also give a brief news update about Wagner in Sudan and Armenia's frustration with Russia.

Episode 24: The Life of CIA Director William Casey and an Interview with Ukrainian Volunteer Medic Rebecca Maciorowski Mar 25, 2023

Show notes

From the OSS to CIA Director William Casey is the CIA Director who shaped America's Cold War policy and indirectly gave us GPS. Find out how. This is the first episode in a three part series on CIA Directors who influenced our present policy towards Russia. Though a sober man Casey was not without controversy.

At minute 19:00 there is an interview with Rebecca Maciorowski. She is an American nurse who is volunteering as a medic in Ukraine.

You may donate to her via paypal at bechendry@gmail.com, or at www.bymeacoffee.com/bekamaciorowski

Rebecca Maciorowski mentioned the need for the following items:

Gas Masks including theyse types-M50 Joint Services General Purpose Mask, Mestel Safety SGE 400/3 Gas Mask, Mestel Safety Multipurpose Filter 203 A2B2E2K2P3 RD Medical Equipment: Chest seals and vents, chest shears, IFAKs-Individual First Aid Kits, oxygen tanks, and oxygen compressors

This podcast was written and read by Brandon Givens

Announcement Sep 29, 2022

Show notes

We're taking a break from our weekly conversations to focus on our proper episodes. Look out for Frank Wisner, part 2 in two weeks. Then we're taking a short break to get things prepped for what we're generously calling Season 2 of CIA Files. Meanwhile, for international news, check out This Week Explained, which does a great job of covering current events around the globe.

And we're working hard on our upcoming show, Rise of Mammon, wherein we will discuss the rise of Christo-fascism and America's new Nationalist Christians, or Nat-Cs for short. You can follow us at these links:

https://www.instagram.com/riseofmammon/

https://www.facebook.com/riseofmammon

https://twitter.com/riseofmammon

Episode 23: Paul Bennewitz and "Aliens," the Story of a Government Psy-op. Sep 22, 2022

Show notes

Picture this: You're a high-ranking Air Force official overseeing research and development of new, top-secret aircraft. Your job is Operational Security, which is to say, keeping it secret.

Then one day, a civilian who's an expert on radio waves, as well as a bit of a photography buff, comes to you with a massive collection of pictures and data related to the top-secret aircraft you're supposed to be keeping secret. Not ideal, right? But then this civilian explains that he's pretty sure what he has is evidence of an alien invasion. So you look him in the eye and you tell him he's onto something. He's definitely discovered aliens zipping around your military base. Then the fun begins.

This is the story of Paul Bennewitz, a man subjected to what some might describe as a intimate, one-on-one psy-op. After stumbling upon government secrets, he is led into a crazy world involving a variety of aliens and rumors of a secret underground base where these aliens live and work.

And Brandon updates us on current events surrounding Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the CTSO.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/why-are-armenia-azerbaijan-fighting-again-why-does-it-matter-2022-09-13/

https://www.livescience.com/ukraine-ufo-uap-report

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2208.11215.pdf

https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/09/14/ufos-over-kyiv/

http://www.greatdreams.com/Falcon-Richard-Doty.htm

https://supernaturalmagazine.com/articles/the-strange-saga-of-paul-bennewitz-and-the-undergruond-alien-base-at-dulce

https://www.openminds.tv/william-moore-ufo-opportunist-agent-disinformation/29056

Mirage Men Documentary

Episode 22: Profile: Clifford Stoll, the First Master of Cybersecurity Sep 13, 2022

Show notes

In 1986, computers were still the domain of the wily nerd. They wouldn't become cool until the World Wide Web was invented. And even then, computers weren't really that much cooler until DSL connections came along.

But Clifford Stoll, an unemployed astronomer, took an IT job at a university, where his superior nerdity would lead him to be the first IT person to discover and track down a computer hacker. That hacker was sniffing around private U.S. military and national defense databases, selling whatever information he could find to the KGB.

Also, this week, Josh, whom you may recognize as the voice of our quotes, joins us to contribute to the commentary. It's a fun, light-hearted episode this week.

https://www.wired.com/story/meet-the-mad-scientist-who-wrote-the-book-on-how-to-hunt-hackers/

Episode 20: CIA Files: Wherein Brandon helps us suss out the finer points of Russia's culture war shenanigans in America Aug 25, 2022

Show notes

Brandon walks us through some of the misunderstood, overblown, and under-reported aspects of Russia's long-term efforts to sow derision and division among Americans. How involved was Russia with the NRA? Has the Kremlin been stirring up secessionist movements? And what's up with those crazy Russian dashcam videos? We don't really talk about that last question, but we're still curious.

NRA Infiltrated

https://www.thedailybeast.com/kremlin-used-nra-to-help-trump-in-2016-says-senate-intelligence-committee?fbclid=IwAR0qMckztLmcsp7TzK0bmwVl5n3J_dSppQZwfsNp0mKd8ukEe7ykb8tHh74

https://www.npr.org/2019/09/27/764879242/nra-was-foreign-asset-to-russia-ahead-of-2016-new-senate-report-reveals

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/01/nra-russia-investigations-gun-lobby

Maria Butina

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Butina

https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-sioux-falls-maria-butina-us-news-russia-bc8e1858b424ca5d5d6119a53facfcdd

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erickson_(activist)

CALEXIT infiltrated

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article264043131.html

Texas too (Troll Factory)

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41853131

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62359884

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_J._Marinelli#Life_in_Russia

Elena Branson

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/russian-american-charged-with-acting-as-spy-in-u-s-1318658/

Republican asked for Russian Help

https://www.newsweek.com/russell-taub-2016-election-rhode-island-russia-intelligence-fec-trump-1681742

Russian Open support for succession movements

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/what-s-behind-russian-support-world-s-separatist-movements-n614196

Bots misinformation

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/russian-trolls-flood-twitter-after-parkland-shooting-n848471

Episode 19: CIA Files: Donald Trump's FBI Woes Aug 16, 2022

Show notes

On Monday, August 8th, the FBI conducted a search of Trump’s Mar A Lago mansion, seizing 11 boxes of documents. It was later disclosed that the boxes were classified material, including some labeled Top Secret, that the National Archives and the Department of Justice say Trump was not authorized to take with him after he left the White House.

In mid January, 2022, 15 boxes of presidential records were moved from Mar A Lago back to National Archives. Officials involved in the matter said Trump dragged his feet on the request for documents from his time in the White House, but eventually gave in. Mid-February, classified information was found in the documents retrieved from Mar A Lago. This raised concerns about what other classified material he might still have. It also raises the possibility that Trump broke federal law by bringing classified material to his Florida home.

Officials from the National Archive also noticed that there were a number of documents that should have been returned but were still missing. Around June, members of the DoJ and the FBI visited Mar A Lago to meet with Trump’s lawyers about the possibility that Trump still had classified material there. They issued a subpoena for more documents. Trump’s lawyers responded, saying any and all classified documents that Trump may have had were returned with the boxes turned over to the National Archives in January.

On Friday, August 5, a judge issues a search warrant for Trump’s Florida home, and the FBI exercises the warrant and searches Trump’s Mar A Lago mansion. Trump’s lawyers were apparently given about 45 minutes’ notice. It’s worth noting that the White House says it had no advanced knowledge about the raid, and the current FBI director, Chris Wray, was appointed by Trump.

The GOP and right-wing media immediately began crying foul. Trump supporters began protesting. Calls for violence against the FBI and other government organizations began flooding social media.

On Thursday, August 11, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that he initiated the request for the search warrant. That same Thursday, 42-year-old Navy veteran and Trump supporter Ricky Shiff attacked the FBI office in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was eventually killed by law enforcement.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ohio-shooting-fbi-standoff-shiffer-latest-b2144460.html

The Department of Homeland Security has issued a statement saying the threat of more violence is extremely high at the moment.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fbi-dhs-warn-us-law-enforcement-threats-after-trump-search-2022-08-14/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/11/garland-trump-mar-a-lago/

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/515700-trump-disclosed-secret-weapons-system-to-woodward-book/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/15/super-duper-missile-us-trump-military https://news.yahoo.com/trumps-mar-lago-security-nightmare-111008352.html

Episode 18: CIA Files: The Pentagon's Secret Keyboard Warriors Aug 09, 2022

Show notes

Sorry for the delay. We recorded this episode to release last week, but I (Topher) had a lot going on and neglected to edit and publish it on time. So here it is for this week. We hope you didn't miss us too much.

In this episode, we dive into the world of "signature reduction" -- which is made up of efforts to hide agents' true identities online in the world of social media and open-source intelligence. All of this is being produced by a massive network of military and private contractor efforts, which also include constructing fake digital personas for agents working under cover in the field. These secret keyboard warriors help produce fake credentials, like passports and drivers' licenses, and can even tap into official government databases to falsify records, enabling agents to pose as other people and to cross international borders without raising any eyebrows.

Sources

https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-inside-militarys-secret-undercover-army-1591881

https://opticsmanagement.com/what-is-signature-reduction-and-how-can-it-help-you-protect-your-privacy/

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/us-intelligence-is-more-privatized-than-ever-before/

https://www.salon.com/2007/06/01/intel_contractors/