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
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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…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
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.
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
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…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
Ukraine was once again unable to intercept a single incoming Russian missile overnight. Ukrainian officials blame another delayed shipment of Patriot interceptors.
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
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-…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
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…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
Russia launched covert influence campaign to undermine US candidates supportive of Ukraine, lawmakers say
politico.com/news/2026/10/21…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
Anthropic will be very surprised to learn that the US government can’t direct a private company to make or not make particular decisions.
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
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.
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
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.
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
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…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
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
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
According to security officials, pro-Russian and far-right social media accounts linked to previous disinformation campaigns have spread violent videos in an attempt to sow more chaos ft.trib.al/t4nxjpO
ALT A protester wrapped in a French national flag stands in front of Lyon's tourism office set on fire during a demonstration in Lyon, southeastern France. Text on image reads: EU probes pro-Kremlin disinformation around French riots (Credit: Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images)
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
"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.
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
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:
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
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.
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
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.
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
"One senior Ukrainian official and two Ukrainian military officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, say Hegseth is holding up supplies of Patriot missiles, which Ukraine relies on to intercept ballistic missiles." kyivindependent.com/its-sign…
