How porous is the CIA's interview process that they couldn't validate the guy's military discharge status?
The type of people Intelligence agencies need and use to accomplish their goals are also the type of people who tend to do these things.
FBI arrests CIA official with $40M in gold bars in his home
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Re: FBI arrests CIA official with $40M in gold bars in his home
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would make such a fantastic set of barbell plates.
Gold is pretty soft. You would have to cut it to 10 carat, so there’s be even more to go around!
Having to handle the plates with care and the damage they’d take regardless would add to the charm.
Re: FBI arrests CIA official with $40M in gold bars in his home
#53Maybe this is part of the shadow money. CIA has been working with business people since the beginning of Cold War and I wouldn't be surprised that they have deep roots in the financial world -- after all both Intelligence and Finance need globalization.
The cover of national security has allowed a certain type of organized crime to proliferate to the point it's breaking society.
Son: dad, I’m thinking of getting in to organised crime
Dad: Public or private sector?
Re: FBI arrests CIA official with $40M in gold bars in his home
#54Maybe this is part of the shadow money. CIA has been working with business people since the beginning of Cold War and I wouldn't be surprised that they have deep roots in the financial world -- after all both Intelligence and Finance need globalization.
I don't think it's connected to this specific event, but there's a lot of lore about the CIA moving gold in/out of Afghanistan, Iraq and others during war time.
I used to read a lot about Michele Sindona who was supposed to be connected to the Mafia and the intelligence community. His currency trading firm was one of the first to trade the Eurodollar contracts back in the 60s, IIRC.
I think intelligence and finance really go hand in hand. It makes so much sense -- you see, the intelligence community really hates the congress or whatever to snoop around its operations before approving the budget -- wouldn't it a lot easier to just earn your own $$? And with all the information the intelligence agencies control, it is almost trivial to make quick money in finance. Last but not the least, wouldn't banker be the perfect cover for spies? They wear nice suites, too.
Re: FBI arrests CIA official with $40M in gold bars in his home
#55CIA: Corruption Institute of America
Its nickname since the 1970s has been Criminals in Action, when they were smuggling heroin out of the Golden Triangle to fund covert actions during the Vietnam War.
Re: FBI arrests CIA official with $40M in gold bars in his home
#56Guy sounds like a dragon. What's the deal with the watches though?
I imagine watches are more liquid than gold bars
Re: FBI arrests CIA official with $40M in gold bars in his home
#57Maybe this is part of the shadow money. CIA has been working with business people since the beginning of Cold War and I wouldn't be surprised that they have deep roots in the financial world -- after all both Intelligence and Finance need globalization.
They want globalization to make their jobs easier. In no sense do they "need" it. Whether we want a world where the desires of intelligence and finance are blindly prioritized is an open question. For my part the answer is obviously no.
I think most ordinary people would say No, but most of us do not have a say in any important things. They put up the facade of voting while all the important stuffs are decided within the circles.
I think it really makes sense to consider ourselves to be just intelligent cattle -- they still tolerate us because they need us to turn natural resources into machinery, weapon, insights and other stuffs they need, but once AI and robots keep up, they can probably get rid of 90% of us.
Re: FBI arrests CIA official with $40M in gold bars in his home
#58A couple of weeks ago there was a story that the CIA raided the office of the director of the NSA and seized information regarding the CIA. Trump was in China at the time. About a week later the NSA director resigns. I waited for it to turn into a major story and get some kind of explanation, but silence. It seems like an extraordinary story and I don't understand why there isn't a hullabaloo. Did I hallucinate it? W…
There might be a mix up on the details.
The FBI raided the home of John Bolton who was a former National Security Advisor for the first Trump administration. (not directly part of the NSA and definitely not the director of the NSA). Bolton has become a vocal critic of Trump since he was fired in Sept 2019.
Trump's DOJ has a track record of prosecuting Trump's vocal critics. eg. Former FBI director James Comey and New York attorney general Letitia James
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosecution_of_John_Bolton
There has been no legal action taken against current NSA director General Joshua M. Rudd or his recent predecessor, William J. Hartman
Re: FBI arrests CIA official with $40M in gold bars in his home
#59[deleted]