Anonymous CIA Official Dies Violently

What has this noble experiment of a supposed self-governed people come to? A little less than a year ago a member of our secret police, the FBI, fatally gunned down a witness in the extremely high profile Boston bombing case in a fusillade of bullets after hours of questioning. Completely predictably it was recently announced that the killer will not be punished for shooting Ibragim Todashev to death in his own apartment. Not only will the FBI agent enjoy immunity from prosecution, but he (assuming it’s a man) apparently will also enjoy immunity from identification. We have never even been told the killer’s name, and our wonderful Fourth Estate seems to be perfectly okay with that. I have yet to see the first peep of protest about the blatant government secrecy, much less about the extrajudicial execution.

More recently, Capitol Police officers and Secret Service agents gunned down a woman driving a car in Washington, DC, with her 1-year-old daughter in the car with her. She was killed with one shot to the head, three to the back, and one to the arm. None of the shooters has been identified, but they have all been on leave for their actions since October 3 of last year when the shooting occurred.

Now they’ve ratcheted up the secrecy another notch. This time it’s the victim himself, one of the members of their own clandestine community, who will apparently not be identified. The headline was “CIA Official Dies in Apparent Suicide,” with the sub-headline of “Death did not take place at CIA headquarters.” The writer was Bill Gertz on a web site known as The Washington Free Beacon.

We have seen and reported upon this sort of muted and delayed reporting upon the suspicious death of a person with intelligence connections before. First, back in 2000, it was John Millis, the staff director of the House Intelligence Committee, who they said shot himself to death in a motel room in Fairfax. Then there was Gus Weiss in 2003, security adviser to several presidents, who reportedly jumped to his death from a balcony of the Watergate apartments where he lived.

The reporting on the Millis death was so strange and spook-like itself that it prompted us to write an article called “Reading between the Washington Lines,” which we reproduce below. This new death report is so similar that we have decided to give it the same sort of treatment:

Reading between the Washington Lines II

CIA Official Dies in Apparent Suicide

Death did not take place at CIA headquarters

Washington Free Beacon, April 4, 2014, 11:46 pm, Bill Gertz

A senior CIA official has died in an apparent suicide this week from injuries sustained after jumping off a building in northern Virginia, according to sources close to the CIA.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE BASIC JOURNALISTIC QUESTIONS? WHO WAS IT? WHERE DID IT HAPPEN? WHEN, EXACTLY, DID IT HAPPEN? DID THE POLICE RULE THAT IT WAS A SUICIDE? IF SO, ON WHAT BASIS DID THEY DO SO?

CIA spokesman Christopher White confirmed the death and said the incident did not take place at CIA headquarters in McLean, Va.

WELL, AT LEAST WE’VE RULED OUT ONE PLACE WHEN IT COMES TO THE “WHERE.” SO THE CIA SPOKESMAN CONFIRMED THE DEATH, BUT HOW DID THE REPORTER LEARN OF IT, HOW IS IT THAT HE IS THE ONLY REPORTER WHO SEEMS TO HAVE LEARNED OF IT, WHY THE DELAYED REPORTING, AND WHY THE SECRECY ABOUT THE PERSON’S IDENTITY?

“We can confirm that there was an individual fatally injured at a facility where agency work is done,” White told the Washington Free Beacon. “He was rushed to a local area hospital where he subsequently died. Due to privacy reasons and out of respect for the family, we are not releasing additional information at this time.”

THEY’RE GETTING WARMER WITH RESPECT TO THE “WHERE,” BUT BECAUSE THEY HAVE SAID THAT IT WAS “AT A FACILITY WHERE AGENCY WORK IS DONE” MEANS THAT THEY WILL NEVER VOLUNTEER WHERE IT HAPPENED BECAUSE THEY WILL NEVER TELL US WHERE ANY SUCH FACILITY IS. WHO KNOWS? IT COULD BE THE GANNETT BUILDING OR SOME OTHER MEDIA WORKPLACE, MAYBE EVEN THE REPORTER’S OWN HANGOUT.

THE “PRIVACY CONCERNS” AND THE “RESPECT FOR THE FAMILY” ARE, OF COURSE, PURE HOKUM. MIGHT THIS PERSON NOT HAVE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES WHO WOULD WANT TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS AT A FUNERAL? HOW COULD THEY DO THAT IN THE ABSENCE OF A PUBLIC DEATH ANNOUNCEMENT? THEY ALSO USED THIS “RESPECT FOR THE FAMILY” GAMBIT TO TRY TO SHAME US AWAY FROM THE VINCE FOSTER CASE, TOO, PROMPTING ME TO WRITE THE FOLLOWING POEM:

SOLICITUDE

DON’T YOU THINK THAT THE FAMILY HAS SUFFERED ENOUGH?

WHY MUST YOU STIR UP THIS MESS?

HE WASN’T CONSTRUCTED OF VERY STRONG STUFF.

HE COULDN’T PUT UP WITH THE PRESS.

HE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN WHAT HE SEEMED TO BE.

HE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN VERY STABLE.

THAT HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN KILLED FOR HIS HONESTY

IS JUST A ROMANTIC FABLE.

WE’LL FIGHT FOR HIS RIGHT TO BE OFF IN THE HEAD.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WE OFFEND YOU?

IF YOU SHOULD TURN UP MYSTERIOUSLY DEAD,

THIS IS HOW WE WOULD DEFEND YOU.

MAYBE SOMEONE IN THE FAMILY COULD BE LIKE ERIC OLSON, THE SON OF FRANK OLSON, THE CIA MAN WHO THE CIA SAID JUMPED TO HIS DEATH FROM A BUILDING IN NEW YORK IN 1953. THE OLSON FAMILY HAS SINCE PRETTY WELL ESTABLISHED THAT A CONSCIENCE SMITTEN FRANK OLSON WAS MURDERED BY HIS EMPLOYERS.

A source close to the agency said the man who died was a middle manager and the incident occurred after the man jumped from the fifth floor of a building in Fairfax County.

WHY CAN’T THE AGENCY, ITSELF, TELL US THIS? WHAT, EXACTLY, IS A “SOURCE CLOSE TO THE AGENCY,” ANYWAY? ONE THING WE CAN SAY IS THAT, LIKE THE VICTIM, THE SOURCE IS ANONYMOUS. AT LEAST WE NOW KNOW THAT THE VICTIM WASN’T A WOMAN AND THAT IT WAS IN FAIRFAX COUNTY, BUT THAT “MIDDLE MANAGER” TAG SOUNDS LIKE IT’S THROWN IN TO SUGGEST THAT THIS WAS A PERSON OF LITTLE CONSEQUENCE.

Many agency employees are known to work under stressful conditions and high stress is considered a part of the profession, for the three general types of employees: Intelligence analysts and support personnel, technical services operators, and members of the clandestine services, the agency’s elite spying branch.

SHADES OF THE VINCE FOSTER CHARADE. GERTZ WANTS US TO BELIEVE THAT THE MAN KILLED HIMSELF ON ACCOUNT OF STRESS, BUT LOTS OF JOBS ARE STRESSFUL AND PEOPLE DON’T USUALLY KILL THEMSELVES ON ACCOUNT OF IT. AND WHEN THEY DO, WE ARE TOLD WHO THEY ARE.

MAY WE ASSUME BY A PROCESS OF ELIMINATION THAT SPOOK JOURNALISTS FALL UNDER THE “CLANDESTINE SERVICES” CATEGORY?

The CIA is known to operate or rent space in a number of semi-secret locations in the country, including at least one high-rise building in Tysons Corner.

REALLY? WHICH ONE IN TYSONS CORNER, THE BOOZ, ALLEN, HAMILTION BUILDING?

The agency also operates a number of top-secret facilities used by its clandestine service officers, including agency safe houses.

A VERY LARGE NUMBER, I GATHER.

No other details of the death could be learned.

THAT’S ALL THE AGENCY IS PUTTING OUT THROUGH ITS MOUTHPIECE, GERTZ.

The agency is currently engaged in a high profile dispute with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Sen. Diane Feinstein (D., Calif.), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has said the CIA has blocked efforts by the committee to investigate harsh interrogation of terrorists.

Committee staff members working at a CIA facility in Northern Virginia to investigate agency interrogation practices also have charged that the CIA covertly searched the agency’s computers that were being used in the investigation.

The agency subsequently reported that several Senate staff members had improperly and possibly illegally removed classified material from the CIA. The FBI was asked to investigate the mishandling of classified information in the case.

The agency is under pressure from Congress to declassify a 6,000-page report on agency interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, used to glean information from al Qaeda terrorists captured after the 2001 attacks on Washington and New York.

The agency also this week came under scrutiny from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence over the agency’s role in obscuring the facts surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.

Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morrell told the committee that agency analysts concluded that a protest took place in advance of the attack that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens.

Morrell testified that “subsequent information revealed this judgment to be incorrect.”

The CIA was operating a facility in Benghazi with a large number of agency personnel whose activities had not been made public.

Speculation about the CIA annex in Benghazi has focused on the agency’s role in supplying weapons to Libyan militias that in turn were shipping the arms to Islamist rebels in Syria.

ALL OF THE FOREGOING IS INTERESTING, BUT WHAT IT LIKELY MEANS IS THAT THIS PERSON’S DEATH HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SENATE’S INVESTIGATION OF THE CIA’S INTERROGATION TACTICS OR THE HOUSE’S INQUIRY ABOUT BENGHAZI. MAYBE IT’S RELATED TO THE DISAPPEARED MH-130 OR SOME NEW FALSE FLAG ATTACK THEY’RE PLANNING TO SPRING ON US?

Going back to that original “Between the Washington Lines” story, the first thing we notice is that the same reporter, Bill Gertz, wrote both articles in question. I think I see a pattern developing. Back then he was working for the “conservative” Washington Times, ostensibly owned and handsomely subsidized by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church, for some unknown reason. The newspaper has never paid its way from the first week of publication. Now Gertz is somehow gaining a livelihood from a website that has no apparent way of earning money. A day after Gertz broke the story in The Washington Free Beacon, The Washington Times picked it up, but it added nothing to it. It’s just Gertz’s story with his same byline. The New York Daily News at least put its own reporter’s name on the story, but all he did was to give us a trimmed down version of Gertz’s report.

The editor-in-chief of The Washington Free Beacon is the son-in-law of neocon William Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard, another “conservative” publication that has never paid its way and has therefore needed a sugar daddy to lend his name for ownership and money-losing purposes, Rupert Murdoch in this case. Yes, indeed, I do think I see a pattern developing. To complete the picture blending spook propaganda and reporting on odd spook deaths, do an Internet search for “Irving Kristol CIA” and see what comes pouring forth. Irving was William’s father and virtual godfather of the neoconservative movement. Maybe you should save that search until after you’ve finished this article. It’s all so interesting and educational that you might never get back to what you’re reading here.

Reading between the Washington Lines

Spy panel director who killed himself was under a probe

Washington Times, front page, June 28, 2000, Bill Gertz

The staff director of the House Intelligence Committee who killed himself June 4 was under investigation by the committee, which oversees the U.S. government's most sensitive secrets, The Washington Times has learned.

WATCH OUT WHEN THEY BEGIN A STORY WITH XYZ NEWS ORGAN "HAS LEARNED." IT USUALLY MEANS AN OFFICIAL STORY HAS BEEN PLANTED WITH THEM, THOUGH IT DECEPTIVELY CONJURES UP THE IMAGE OF AN AGGRESSIVE NEWSHOUND FERRETING OUT SECRETS.

John Millis, 47, a former CIA operations officer who had been placed on administrative leave by the committee, was found dead at the Breezeway Motel in Fairfax City, Va., Police Chief Doug Scott said. Police ruled he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

IS THE CHIEF TELLING US THAT MILLIS HAD BEEN PLACED ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AS THE PASSAGE IMPLIES, OR IS HE JUST TELLING US THAT HE WAS FOUND DEAD AT THIS CHEAP HOTEL? GIVEN THE AMBIGUITY HERE, IT IS PROBABLY THE LATTER, WHICH COULD WELL MEAN THAT THIS STORY IS BEING PLANTED BY THE KILLERS THEMSELVES. DOES THIS REMIND ANYONE OF THE EARLY STORIES FROM ANONYMOUS SOURCES ABOUT VINCE FOSTER'S "DEPRESSION?" AND BY THE WAY, WHEN DID THE POLICE MAKE THEIR SUICIDE RULING IN THIS NEW CASE?

As committee staff director, Mr. Millis had access to the U.S. intelligence community's most intimate secrets. He knew about all U.S. covert action operations, which require written presidential notifications.

HOLY ****!

He also was privy to the most sensitive information collected by CIA agents, electronic eavesdropping and photographic satellites.

TALK ABOUT THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH!

According to police, Mr. Millis had called a friend and said he was distraught over being placed on administrative leave with pay by committee Chairman Rep. Porter J. Goss, Florida Republican. Mr. Millis also said he was facing administrative and criminal penalties as possible outcomes of the investigation.

NO, DON'T WRITE A SUICIDE NOTE AND SIGN IT, LEAVING NO DOUBT AS TO WHY YOU PLAN TO LEAVE A WIDOW AND FIVE ORPHANS. CONVENIENTLY CALL A "FRIEND" WHO AMOUNTS TO NOTHING MORE THAN AN ANOTHER ANONYMOUS SOURCE. FOR ALL WE KNOW, HE OR SHE DOESN'T EVEN EXIST. IF THE PERSON DOES EXIST, GIVEN MILLIS'S OCCUPATION, THE CHANCES ARE THAT THIS PERSON IS, AS THE SAY, IN THE "COMMUNITY," WHICH MEANS THAT HE COULD WELL BE IN LEAGUE WITH THE KILLERS OR, AT THE VERY LEAST, HE OR SHE IS A PROFESSIONAL LIAR AND DECEIVER.

The friend then dialed *69, the automatic call-back sequence, and was connected to the Breezeway Motel in Fairfax. The friend explained to the motel operator that Mr. Millis was threatening to commit suicide.

DOES THAT RING TRUE TO YOU? DIDN'T THINK SO. DO YOU THINK THE PUBLIC WILL EVER LEARN EVEN THE NAME OF THAT HOTEL OPERATOR?

Police were called and upon arriving found Mr. Millis dead in the bathroom.

WONDER WHAT THE HOTEL PERSONNEL WERE DOING ALL THIS TIME, KNOWING THAT THEY HAD A SUICIDAL GUY IN THEIR MIDST AND KNOWING THE PRECISE ROOM HE WAS IN? THEY WOULD AT LEAST HAVE HAD THEIR EARS PERKED UP FOR THE SOUND OF A GUN SHOT, ONE WOULD THINK.

Mr. Goss could not be reached for comment. The committee's staff and Mr. Goss' spokeswoman did not return several telephone calls seeking comment on the circumstances surrounding Mr. Millis' departure from the committee.

SO WHAT'S THE HASTE IN RUNNING THE STORY BEFORE IT HAS BEEN CHECKED OUT WITH THE PRINCIPALS INVOLVED IN IT? IT IS NOT CONNECTED TO ANY TIME-SENSITIVE EVENT LIKE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE POLICE'S SUICIDE CONCLUSION. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO RUN IT UNTIL GOSS AND HIS STAFF CAN BE REACHED. WITH CHARGES LIKE THESE IN HAND REPORTER GERTZ SHOULD HAVE HIED HIMSELF DOWN TO GOSS'S OFFICE, IF THAT'S WHAT IT TOOK, AND NOT LEFT UNTIL HE HAD SOME DEFINITIVE WORD ON THIS MATTER.

However, several U.S. government officials said Mr. Millis was fired and that the investigation was related to improper activities by him.

HERE WE GO AGAIN, MORE COMPLETELY ANONYMOUS SOURCES. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IS VERY LARGE, AND A NUMBER OF ITS EMPLOYEES THINK OF THEMSELVES AS OFFICIALS. BUT GERTZ COULD JUST BE MAKING THIS UP AND WE'D NEVER BE THE WISER.

Chief Scott said the investigation into his death was handled with extreme care in light of the case of White House Deputy Counsel Vincent W. Foster Jr., whose shooting death in 1993 was ruled a suicide. The investigation into Mr. Foster's death, however, left many unanswered questions and spawned conspiracy theories.

WELL THANK YOU, CHIEF SCOTT. ALL ALONG I WAS EXPECTING YOU TO TELL US THAT YOUR BOYS DID A SLOPPY JOB. SO NOW WOULD YOU PLEASE SHARE WITH US THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE THAT MAKES YOU SO COMPLETELY SURE THAT WE HAVE NO FOUL PLAY HERE.

Chief Scott said the detective who investigated Mr. Millis' death made sure there were no unanswered questions that might indicate a conspiracy, because of his CIA background and role as the committee staff director.

WE KNOW THAT JOHN ROLLA, ON HIS FIRST DEATH INVESTIGATION, WAS THE LEAD INVESTIGATOR IN THE FOSTER CASE. SO WHAT DID THIS ANONYMOUS DETECTIVE DO TO MAKE SURE THEIR WERE NO UNANSWERED QUESTIONS?

"Our detective knew that going in," Chief Scott said. "That's why he was very careful in processing the scene and checking for anything that might be suspicious."

NOW THAT'S A RELIEF. FOR A MINUTE THERE I THOUGHT WE MIGHT BE FACED WITH ANOTHER QUICK IN AND OUT WITH NO QUESTIONING OF THE NEIGHBORS LIKE THIS SAME FORCE DID WITH TOMMY BURKETT'S MURDER CALLED SUICIDE. SEE THE BURKETTS’ WEB SITE. GLAD TO KNOW THEY WERE THOROUGH THIS TIME. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BET DR. JAMES C. BEYER DID A REALLY CAREFUL JOB ON THE AUTOPSY, TOO?

After Mr. Millis was found dead, FBI agents and Capitol Police were sent to the motel to look for classified documents, but found none. Security officials, however, recovered classified documents from a safe in Mr. Millis' home.

SHADES OF JERRY PARKS OR DANNY CASALARO. MAYBE THEY WERE LOOKING FOR THE DOCUMENTS THAT INCRIMINATED THE KILLERS.

An FBI spokesman said the FBI was not investigating Mr. Millis for unauthorized disclosures.

THIS SENTENCE IS PUT IN TO PLANT THE IDEA THAT THAT'S WHAT MILLIS WAS GUILTY OF AND TO GIVE YOU THE IMPRESSION THAT GERTZ ACTUALLY DID SOME LEG WORK ON THIS STORY.

Mr. Goss said in a statement at the time of Mr. Millis' death that he was stunned by the loss.

THAT'S "FORMER" CIA AGENT GOSS, NOW HEAD FOX IN CHARGE OF POLICING THE HEN HOUSE ON OUR BEHALF. DON'T EXPECT THIS PERSON TO BE REAL STRONG IN THE TRUTH DEPARTMENT, EITHER.

"It seems that there are always more 'whys' than there are answers when a tragedy like this occurs," Mr. Goss said. "It also seems that words alone are insufficient to alleviate the enormous pain we feel. John will be greatly missed by members and staff alike."

SOUNDS FAMILIAR.

The statement made no mention that Mr. Millis was under investigation.

ALL THE MORE REASON TO GET A REAL PERSON ON RECORD BEFORE YOU RUN WITH IT.

CIA Director George J. Tenet said in a statement that "we in the intelligence community are shocked and saddened by this tragic loss. We worked closely with John for many years. He was a tenacious advocate for a strong national intelligence capability."

HOW CLOSELY THEY WORKED WE'LL NEVER KNOW.

Mr. Millis had publicly criticized former CIA Director John Deutch, calling him the worst director in the agency's history. During a speech at the Smithsonian Institution Feb. 15, Mr. Millis said Mr. Deutch inflicted "major damage" to the CIA's espionage branch.

SOUNDS LIKE THE SORT OF MAN WHO MIGHT HAVE HAD AN ENEMY OR TWO.

The criticism prompted some officials to speculate that Mr. Millis may have improperly disclosed information about an investigation of Mr. Deutch by the CIA's inspector general.

A TRULY FITTING END OF A LIKELY PLANTED STORY: A VAGUE REFERENCE TO ANONYMOUS SOURCES SPECULATING.

David Martin

June 28, 2000

Reflecting upon these two Gertz reports, the first thing that comes to mind is a question, “Where are the rest of the news media on these stories?” No, let’s rephrase that: “Where are all those publications that are not quite so transparently phony news media?” Why haven’t they followed up in any way, demanding answers and properly serving as the eyes and ears of the public? The question, I am afraid, tends to answer itself.

Noticing the change in the reporting from Foster to Millis to Weiss to “John Doe” we also see a very disturbing trend. They keep telling us less and less. Looking back on it, they’re probably kicking themselves now for even giving out the names of the previous high-level sufferers of premature death, including Admiral Jeremy Boorda, former CIA head William Colby, and State Department official John Kokal. If the trend continues, will they even tell us in the future when someone important has died, suspiciously or otherwise? Maybe the policy started back in 2005, or even earlier, and we just didn’t know about it. It was only in doing research for this article that we discovered Wayne Madsen’s report of another State Department “suicide” in 2005 in which the victim’s name was apparently never reported.

The growing shutdown of information is of a piece with the creeping garrison-state appearance of the nation’s capital and the increasingly managed nature of Presidential news conferences. In the former case, it began with the closing down of Pennsylvania Avenue in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing and then got many times worse all over town, or at least in the places where tourists visit, after 9/11.

In the latter case, we first noticed George W. Bush glancing down at a sheet in front of him before calling on the next member of the press corps for a scripted question. Gone were the days when reporters like the late Sarah McClendon would raise their hands, stand up, or even shout to be recognized. We wouldn’t want our President to be surprised by a question like, “Who was that senior CIA official who died from the fall from a building last week?” from someone he doesn’t know, would we? At least, George W. tried to conceal the fact that he was just going down a predetermined list of names of people to be called upon, but, characteristically, he did a rather poor job of it. No more. Now Barack Obama goes straight to the list without even looking out at the gathered scribes and reads from his paper, saying such things as, “Let me see; who’s next here?” as he does so.

Already, our children don’t even know that things don’t have to be this way or that they have ever been different. They don’t know that we at least used to put up a pretty good show of being a free country. Now our rulers have found that they can even dispense with that.

David Martin

April 10, 2014

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