Don't know anything about the specific guy, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were 3-letter involvement in higher ed at some level. But the broader answer t

Don't know anything about the specific guy, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were 3-letter involvement in higher ed at some level. But the broader answer to your point is to consider the stakes and possible outcomes of clandestine influence of US media and of the Duke math department. It would probably very often come in handy to get favorable coverage, spike stories, influence hiring, etc. at major outlets, and not so often to do the same in the Duke math department. It's the difference between believing that the CIA is the one who knocked my mailbox over last night and believing that they were involved in the JFK assassination. Before considering evidence, we can provide many plausible reasons that the CIA may have wanted to assassinate JFK and few that they wanted to knock over my mailbox.