“The biggest cover-up of my adult life”: Inside the CIA’s attempt to make Havana Syndrome disappear In 2024, The Insider and its investigative partners at 60 Minutes and Der Spiegel uncovered evidence showing that “Anomalous Health Incidents,” also known as Havana Syndrome, were likely the result of...

“The biggest cover-up of my adult life”: Inside the CIA’s attempt to make Havana Syndrome disappear

@michaeldweiss.bsky.social talks to a CIA whistleblower who says the spy agency set out to prove Anomalous Health Incidents weren’t real or caused by a foreign adversary. Neither is true, he says.

U.S. war with Iran looms. I spoke to
@alexplitsas.bsky.social about the military options the U.S. has in place for an attack on Iran, and what Iran is likely to do in retaliation, from missiles to militias: t.co/lEPZL1ZuJ9

Marco Solo Trump’s Secretary of State adopts positions he never believed, to advance the ones he does. Is it worth it?

New: I wrote a long critical essay about Marco Rubio -- the moral compromises he's made and the intellectual hypocrisies he hourly indulges to serve Donald Trump.
macspaunday.substack.com/p/marco-solo...

New: We translated 1988 KGB training manual on how to psychologically profile agents for recruitment cultivation using their biographies, physical appearances and handwriting. Pliable middle children, cheerful fatties, and why the KGB loves a midlife crisis: t.co/cwKTQotsGI

Went on @thebulwark.com's Shield of the Republic podcast to discuss Venezuela, Iran, Ukraine, and AHI. Much of the discussion focused on why Europe and Ukraine have a difficult time accepting that the US won't always be on side. open.substack.com/pub/macspaun...

Havana Syndrome: US Govt Bought Mystery Weapon Linked to Symptoms Michael Weiss on Havana Syndrome and recent CNN report.

Michael Weiss joins The Trump Report with Fergus Macphee to discuss anomalous health incidents (AHIs), better known as Havana Syndrome.: open.substack.com/pub/macspaun...

Inside Moscow's Compatriots Policy How the KGB instrumentalized the Soviet diaspora for intelligence work

New: We published another translated KGB training manual, this one about Moscow's use of 'compatriots' abroad. A highly relevant topic. Expertly introduced by my friend Dr. Kevin Riehle. You can subscribe to Foreign Office here: macspaunday.substack.com/p/moscows-co...

The Dog That Didn't Bark in the Maduro Op Cuban intelligence runs Venezuela's security apparatus. Where was it when the U.S. snatched the Venezuelan strongman?

Cuban intelligence has a reputation for being one of the most formidable in the Western Hem. Yet they were seemingly caught off guard by an elaborate and long-planned Maduro op, in spite of controlling Venezuela’s security. I have questions: open.substack.com/pub/macspaun...

What to make of the Mar-a-Lago meeting: open.substack.com/pub/macspaun...

Russia: Trump has ‘promised us Ukrainian territory’ | Ukraine: The Latest YouTube video by The Telegraph

@michaeldweiss.bsky.social Excellent interview with Michael Weiss regarding #Ukraine & Trump‘s dodgy negotiations with the Kremlin… youtu.be/QX1T0nmb6bU?...

I chatted with the great Maddie Hale at
Times Radio on the latest in U.S.-Ukraine talks, Europe's responsibility, and how Zelensky is performing a bit of tactical jujitsu on Trump's (and Putin's) demands of him. www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...

Michael Weiss on X: "Surely one can be anti-censorship without being under the "absolute control" of the Russian Presidential Administration, as Markus Fronhmaier is described as being in two separate documents obtained by @derspiegel. You just returned from Europe where you spent much of your time https://t.co/sa6Vva56u6" / X Surely one can be anti-censorship without being under the "absolute control" of the Russian Presidential Administration, as Markus Fronhmaier is described as being in two separate documents obtained by @derspiegel. You just returned from Europe where you spent much of your time https://t.co/sa6Vva56u6

The State Department is evidently going all in defending a meeting with a known Russian asset from a far-right party in Germany. Helluva look, even for this administration. x.com/michaeldweis...

Sarah Rogers, the State Department official who hectored Europeans about free speech, is seen here with a far-right German AfD deputy, Markus Frohnmaier, whom two Kremlin documents obtained by @spiegel.de described as "a parliamentarian under our absolute control."
spiegel.de/politik/ausl...

Moscow’s Ordinary People How the KGB Relied on Debunked Psychology for Recruiting Spies at the End of the Cold War

Link: macspaunday.substack.com/p/moscows-or...

New: Read the translated KGB training manual on how the Soviets categorized white Westerners they looked to recruit, according to four basic personality types. Some unintentionally hilarious stuff in here, all analyzed by Mike Miller, a recent retiree from the CIA and a cognitive psychologist.

Happy to have contributed to this week's @spiegel.de cover story. www.spiegel.de/ausland/wie-...

A wonderful post about Tom Stoppard!

Beyond reading R&G in high school in the 60's, I have had almost no conscious exposure to Stoppard.

I have been gob-smacked by two appreciations--this one and one by Greg Olear.

Twitter in the past 48 hours has been like watching a remedial version of SPECTRE convene a meeting in real time.

(S+) Wie sehr der Kanzler und Macron den USA bei den Ukraine-Verhandlungen misstrauen Hören Trumps Unterhändler vor allem auf Russland? Dem SPIEGEL liegt die Mitschrift einer Krisenschalte vor, die zeigt, wie tief das Misstrauen bei den Europäern sitzt – auch bei Kanzler Merz und Präsi...

New at @spiegel.de: We obtained the transcript of a conference call of top European leaders and Zelensky, warning of American dirty tricks to the end war. "We mustn't leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these guys." spiegel.de/politik/ukra...

Eng. derspiegel.substack.com/p/we-must-no...

Big story dropping tomorrow.

"The European Union will add three GRU officers from Russia’s military unit 29155 to its sanctions lists...The officers, all of whom specialize in cyber operations...were featured in The Insider’s investigation Hidden Bear: The GRU hackers of Russia’s most notorious kill squad." t.co/8vdZPrjzem

I talked to former Lithuanian Foreign Minister
@glandsbergis.bsky.social about the future of Europe without the United States, and what Europe should do to prepare for that contingency: t.co/srZWfxn7MJ

On Tom Stoppard The great playwright was great in another respect most artists aren't.

On Tom Stoppard: open.substack.com/pub/macspaun...

I wrote a whole essay on him!

The Poet of Social Distancing - The American Interest Why the work of A.E. Housman resonates in a time of enforced isolation.

Stoppard’s plays stuck with you long after you left the theatre, to the extent that you ended up stacking your shelves with all the source material. He made A.E. Housman interesting. www.the-american-interest.com/2020/06/14/t...

Dear Europe: If you read this and still think the United States is with you, you deserve everything you fear is coming your way. This is Russian-style corruption incorporated into the American system. www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Next week we will publish a newly translated KGB training manual on how the Soviets worked up psych profiles for recruiting prospective agents. Another piece of relevant Cold War history… open.substack.com/pub/macspaun...

Russia writing US policy. For discussion of the implications of this please listen to my conversation with Michael Weiss on Thinking Live:
snyder.substack.com/p/oligarchs-...

Polish cartoon depicting a press conference The spox, US flag at the side, says in Polish: “The peace talks were attended by Ushakov and Witkoff.” A reporter rises the hand and ask: “And from the American side?”

🍊👑♥️🇷🇺

Via @michaeldweiss.bsky.social

Polish cartoon

“The peace talks were attended by Ushakov and Witkoff.”

“And from the American side?”