Daily Caller
CIA Agents Posing As State Department Officials Outnumbered Real Ones, JFK Doc Shows
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Emily Kopp
Several foreign embassies housed more Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents posing as genuine State Department officials between 1950 to 1960, according to a document found in the more than 63,000 pages relating to former President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, released to the public by the Trump administration Tuesday evening.
CIA mission chiefs under diplomatic cover sometimes wielded more influence than the ambassadors, even advocating policies in conflict with official U.S. diplomacy, according to a June 10, 1961, memo. Kennedy was warned by historian Arthur Schlessinger Jr. in the document that CIA agents posing as State Department officials — so-called “Controlled American Sources” (CAS) — risked delegitimizing U.S. diplomacy.
“The effect is to further CIA encroachment on the traditional functions of State,” he wrote.
The CIA mission chief often exerted more power than the top diplomats, sometimes to conflicting ends, he said.
“On the day of President Kennedy’s inauguration, 47 percent of the political offices serving in United States Embassies were CAS,” the memo reads. “Sometimes the CIA mission chief had been in the country longer, has more money at his disposal, wields more influence (and is abler) than the Ambassador. Often he has direct access to the Prime Minister. Sometimes (as during a critical period [unreadable]) he pursues a different policy from that of the Ambassador. And he generally well known locally as the CIA representative.” (RELATED: Trump Administration Releases JFK Assassination Files)
Schlessinger’s 1961 memo to the president about the CIA — in which he advocated for a reorganization of the agency — had been of interest to historians and independent researchers as a Rosetta stone for understanding hostility between the former president and the nation’s foreign intelligence gathering services.
One section of the memo, however, spanning roughly 1.5 pages, remained redacted and was only revealed Tuesday night. The section described the CIA’s widespread use of diplomatic cover and its risks. Diplomatic cover was less expensive than other methods, quicker, and more attractive for agents, the memo states.
It’s unclear why the information has been concealed from the public for decades.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard praised the release of some 2,182 files related to the Kennedy presidency Tuesday and signaled that more documents could be released upon being released from court seal.
“President Trump is ushering in a new era of maximum transparency,” she said in a statement.
Schlessinger listed the number of CIA agents or “CAS personnel” populating embassies abroad.
“In the American embassy in Vienna, out of 20 persons listed in the October 1960 Foreign Service List as being in the Political Section, 16 are CAS personnel; of the 31 officers listed as engaging in political activities, over half are CAS,” he wrote. “Of the 13 officers listed in the political section of our embassy in Chile, 11 are CAS.”
Schlessinger expressed concern about the CIA’s dominance in the U.S. Embassy in Paris.
“In the Paris embassy today, there are 123 CIA people. CIA [in Paris] has long since begun to move into areas of political reporting typically occupied by State. The CIA men doing overt internal political reporting outnumber those in the Embassy’s political section by 18-2. CIA has even sought to monopolize contact with certain French political personalities, among them the President of the National Assembly,” he said.
The memo makes apparent reference to rumored CIA backing of the April 1961 Algiers putsch, in which generals unsuccessfully attempted a coup d’etat in French Algeria. French President Charles de Gaulle was moving Algeria toward self-determination and away from French control, which the generals opposed.
“CIA occupies the top floor of the Paris embassy, a fact well known locally; and on the night of the Generals’ [unreadable] in Algeria, passersby noted with amusement that the top floor was ablaze with lights,” he wrote. “I am informed that Ambassador Gavin was able to secure entrance that night to the CIA offices only with difficulty.”
Jefferson Morley, vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation and a longtime advocate for declassification, had identified this redaction section of the memo as among his top priorities ahead of the new release.
Schlessinger suggested a review of policies instituted around Jan. 19, 1961 — the day before Kennedy’s inauguration. The historian had warned Kennedy about so-called “controlled American sources” becoming a permanent feature of the foreign service, while also advocating for the “steady reduction” of CIA agents at U.S. embassies.
“Before State loses control of more and more of its presumed overseas personnel, and before CAS becomes permanently integrated into the Foreign Service, it would seem important (a) to secure every ambassador the firm control over the local CAS station nominally promised in the [unreadable] Directive of January 19, 1961, and (b) to review the current CAS direction with an eye to a steady reduction of CAS personnel,” he wrote.
The degree to which diplomatic cover for CIA agents remains a threat to the State Department’s independence and legitimacy also remains unclear. A New York Times story on March 6 about the shuttering of some foreign embassies noted that the prospect of further cuts had “generated some anxiety within the Central Intelligence Agency.”
“The vast majority of undercover American intelligence officers work out of embassies and consulates, posing as diplomats, and the closure of diplomatic posts would reduce the C.I.A.’s options for where to position its spies,” the paper reported.
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Hudson Crozier
People damaging Teslas in anger toward their owners and Elon Musk aren’t picking up on the fact that the vehicles have multiple cameras capable of catching them in the act.
At least nine perpetrators have been caught on video keying, writing graffiti or otherwise defacing Tesla vehicles in parking lots across the U.S. in the month of March alone. Most have led to an arrest or warrant based partly on the footage, which Tesla’s “Sentry Mode” automatically films from the side of the unattended vehicle when it detects human activity nearby.
“Smile, you’re on camera,” Tesla warned in a March 20 X post about its Sentry Mode feature. Musk’s company has been working to upgrade Sentry Mode so that the vehicles will soon blast music at full volume when vandals attack it. The camera system, however, has not stopped an increasing number of vandals from singling out Tesla owners, usually in protest of Musk’s work in the Trump administration for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
One incident happened on March 29, the same day leftists coordinated protests around the country for a “Global Day of Action” against Musk. That Saturday also saw alleged instances of violence at protests. The demonstrations stemmed from an online call to action by groups such as the Disruption Project, which encourages activists to foment “uprisings,” find a “target’s” home address and other confrontational tactics.
Tesla’s press team did not respond to a request for comment.
One man allegedly caught on camera keying a Tesla SUV on March 24 apologized to the owner who confronted him in a parking lot in Pennsylvania, police and media reports said. The man faces charges of criminal mischief, harassment and disorderly conduct for allegedly carving a swastika onto the vehicle.
“I have nothing against your car, and I have nothing against you,” the suspect said while the owner filmed him in the parking lot. “Obviously, I have something against Elon Musk.” The man called his own behavior “misguided.”
The defendant’s lawyer told Fox News his “client is a proud father, long-time resident, and is currently undergoing cancer treatment” and that he would not comment publicly “pending the outcome of the case.”
One of the most aggressive acts caught by Sentry Mode was in the case of a man who drove an ATV-style vehicle into a Tesla on March 25. Texas police identified the man as Demarqeyun Marquize Cox, arrested him and said he allegedly gave two other nearby Teslas the same treatment while also writing “Elon” on them. The public defender office representing Cox did not respond to a voicemail from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Tesla cameras also caught three other people in Florida, Texas and Arizona keying and smearing bubble gum on the vehicles in March. The three suspects named by police do not have attorneys listed in county records available for contact.
Many of the vandalism cases since Trump’s return have reportedly caused thousands of dollars in damage for individual owners. For example, the bubble gum incident in Florida brought $2,623.66 in costs, while another keying incident in Minnesota brought $3,200.
Some reported attacks on Tesla vehicles and chargers have gotten the attention of federal law enforcement, including cases of alleged firebombing or shooting.
Two other suspected vandals in New York, one in Minnesota and one in Mississippi have reportedly avoided arrest for now — with one owner declining to press charges — but were all seen on the Teslas’ cameras scratching up the vehicles. Police identified the Mississippi suspect as an illegal migrant from Cuba.
One Tesla owner in North Dakota ridiculed a man who allegedly carved the letter “F” into his Cybertruck in a Costco parking lot — as seen on the Cybertruck’s camera. The defendant faces charges of criminal mischief, and county records say he is representing himself in court.
“I can’t believe this guy is potentially ruining his life to follow a political ideology,” the owner told WDAY News.
“If you’re going to vandalize these vehicles, you’re going to get caught,” the owner said.
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By David Blackmon
As recent studies project a big rise in power generation demand from the big datacenters that are proliferating around the United States, the big question continues to focus in on what forms of generation will rise to meet the new demand. Most datacenters have plans to initially interconnect into local power grids, but the sheer magnitude of their energy needs threatens to outstrip the ability of grid managers to expand supply fast enough.
This hunger for more affordable, 24/7 baseload capacity is leading to a variety of proposed solutions, including President Donald Trump’s new executive orders focused on reviving the nation’s coal industry, scheduled to be signed Tuesday afternoon. But efforts to restart the permitting of new coal-fired power plants in the US will require additional policy changes, efforts which will take time and could ultimately fail. In the meantime, datacenter developers find themselves having to delay construction and completion dates until firm power supply can be secured.
Datacenters specific to AI technology require ever-increasing power loads. For instance, a single AI query can consume nearly ten times the power of a traditional internet search, and projections suggest that U.S. data center electricity consumption could double or even triple by 2030, rising from about 4-5% of total U.S. electricity today to as much as 9-12%. Globally, data centers could see usage climb from around 536 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025 to over 1,000 TWh by 2030. In January, a report from the American Security Project estimated that datacenters could consume about 12% of all U.S. power supply.
Obviously, the situation calls for innovative solutions. A pair of big players in the natural gas industry, Liberty Energy and Range Resources, announced on April 8 plans to diversify into the power generation business with the development of a major new natural gas power plant to be located in the Pittsburgh area. Partnering with Imperial Land Corporation (ILC), Liberty and Range will locate the major power generation plant in the Fort Cherry Development District, a Class A industrial park being developed by ILC.
“The strategic collaboration between Liberty, ILC, and Range will focus on a dedicated power generation facility tailored to meet the energy demands of data centers, industrial facilities, and other high-energy-use businesses in Pennsylvania,” the companies said in a joint release.
Plans for this new natural gas power project follows closely on the heels of the March 22 announcement for plans to transform the largest coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania, the Homer City generating station, into a new gas-fired facility. The planned revitalized plant would house 7 natural gas turbines with a combined capacity of 4.5 GW, enough power 3 million homes.
Both the Homer City station and the Fort Cherry plant will use gas produced out of the Appalachia region’s massive Marcellus Shale formation, the most prolific gas basin in North America. But plans like these by gas companies to invest in their own products for power needs aren’t isolated to Pennsylvania.
In late January, big Permian Basin oil and gas producer Diamondback Energy told investors that it is seeking equity partners to develop a major gas-fired plan on its own acreage in the region. The facility would primarily supply electricity to data centers, which are expected to proliferate in Texas due to the AI boom, while also providing power for Diamondback’s own field operations. This dual-purpose approach could lower the company’s power costs and create a new revenue stream by selling excess electricity.
Prospects for expansion of gas generation in the U.S. received a big boost in January when GE Vernova announced plans for a $600 million expansion of its manufacturing capacity for gas turbines and other products in the U.S. GE Vernova is the main supplier of turbines for U.S. power generation needs. The company plans to build 37 gas power turbines in 2025, with a potential increase to over 70 by 2027, to meet rising energy demands.
The bottom line on these and other recent events is this: Natural gas is quickly becoming the power generation fuel of choice to feed the needs of the expanding datacenter industry through 2035, and potentially beyond. Given that reality, the smart thing to do for these and other companies in the natural gas business is to put down big bets on themselves.
David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.
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