3 ms·

Maybe 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 dee

Maybe 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.

hmmokidk 4mo ago
[flagged]
- hnthrowaway0315 4mo ago
  The shadow world has its own rules and morals.
JumpCrisscross 4mo ago
It’s almost certainly grift. If it were official, the arrest would have been scrubbed.
- electroglyph 4mo ago
  sometimes i wonder if the left hand knows what the right is doing. it looks like we arrested our own spy in this case: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/25/american-journalist-unregistered-agent-china-00935518 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/25/american-journalist...
  - JumpCrisscross 4mo ago
    The CIA director requested the FBI intervene. This is almost certainly not a fuckup.
    - mmooss 4mo ago
      That's their post hoc, uncorroborated claim. It's easy to imagine many other possibilities; it could just be face saving. It could be Rush is taking the fall. etc.
    - esseph 4mo ago
      This could also be internal politics intentional designed to burn someone for pissing off the wrong people. That shit happens.
moralestapia 4mo ago
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.
- hnthrowaway0315 4mo ago
  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 $$? And with all the information the intelligence agencies control, it is almost trivial to make quick money in finance. Last but not the least, wouldn't banker be the perfect cover for spies? They wear nice suites, too.
  - esseph 4mo ago
    This also applies to tech now. Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, etc all have Global Security branches.
    - hnthrowaway0315 4mo ago
      Yep I wouldn't be surprised. I think Meta had seed $$ from some intelligence-backed VC, too?
  - vintermann 4mo ago
    From Rockefeller to Sheldon Adelson (only naming dead ones), oligarchs have had an extremely close relationship to the CIA, and although the CIA probably gets something out of it, I think it goes more the other way.
themafia 4mo ago
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.
- hnthrowaway0315 4mo ago
  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.
  - themafia 4mo ago
    > I think it really makes sense to consider ourselves to be just intelligent cattle That's too misanthropic for my tastes. > to turn natural resources into machinery, weapon, insights and other stuffs they need It's easy to live in our world and ignore the maintenance staff. > but once AI and robots keep up This is nowhere near happening. Your seeming rush into anticipatory compliance is exceedingly premature. > they can probably get rid of 90% of us. It's the same moronic death cult that's been active since the 1860s. They would like to believe this, more importantly they would like /you/ to believe this, but a sober examination of the facts shows it to be a mixture of bluster and folly designed to intimidate you into transferring your personal wealth into their profit.
paradoxyl 4mo ago
The cover of national security has allowed a certain type of organized crime to proliferate to the point it's breaking society.
- thrownthatway 4mo ago
  Son: dad, I’m thinking of getting in to organised crime Dad: Public or private sector?
webnrrd2k 4mo ago
There's a book that ties into this sort of thing - Gold Warriors [1]. It about how, post WWII, the US recovered a bunch of Gold looted from China and used it to set up an anti-communist slush fund. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/249237.Gold_Warriors https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/249237.Gold_Warriors
burnt-resistor 4mo ago
Sounds like using an official position to make money. A guy I used to know, a retired USAF Maj. pilot, acquired a bunch of racing cars, motorcycles, and a non-flyable MiG-21 through shady characters. More than likely individual people try to get away with doing shady shit on the side rather than it being a grand UFO conspiracy.

hmmokidk 4mo ago

[flagged]

hnthrowaway0315 4mo ago
The shadow world has its own rules and morals.

JumpCrisscross 4mo ago

It’s almost certainly grift. If it were official, the arrest would have been scrubbed.

electroglyph 4mo ago
sometimes i wonder if the left hand knows what the right is doing. it looks like we arrested our own spy in this case: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/25/american-journalist-unregistered-agent-china-00935518 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/25/american-journalist...
- JumpCrisscross 4mo ago
  The CIA director requested the FBI intervene. This is almost certainly not a fuckup.
  - mmooss 4mo ago
    That's their post hoc, uncorroborated claim. It's easy to imagine many other possibilities; it could just be face saving. It could be Rush is taking the fall. etc.
  - esseph 4mo ago
    This could also be internal politics intentional designed to burn someone for pissing off the wrong people. That shit happens.

moralestapia 4mo ago

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.

hnthrowaway0315 4mo ago
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 $$? And with all the information the intelligence agencies control, it is almost trivial to make quick money in finance. Last but not the least, wouldn't banker be the perfect cover for spies? They wear nice suites, too.
- esseph 4mo ago
  This also applies to tech now. Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, etc all have Global Security branches.
  - hnthrowaway0315 4mo ago
    Yep I wouldn't be surprised. I think Meta had seed $$ from some intelligence-backed VC, too?
- vintermann 4mo ago
  From Rockefeller to Sheldon Adelson (only naming dead ones), oligarchs have had an extremely close relationship to the CIA, and although the CIA probably gets something out of it, I think it goes more the other way.

themafia 4mo ago

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.

hnthrowaway0315 4mo ago
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.
- themafia 4mo ago
  > I think it really makes sense to consider ourselves to be just intelligent cattle That's too misanthropic for my tastes. > to turn natural resources into machinery, weapon, insights and other stuffs they need It's easy to live in our world and ignore the maintenance staff. > but once AI and robots keep up This is nowhere near happening. Your seeming rush into anticipatory compliance is exceedingly premature. > they can probably get rid of 90% of us. It's the same moronic death cult that's been active since the 1860s. They would like to believe this, more importantly they would like /you/ to believe this, but a sober examination of the facts shows it to be a mixture of bluster and folly designed to intimidate you into transferring your personal wealth into their profit.

paradoxyl 4mo ago

The cover of national security has allowed a certain type of organized crime to proliferate to the point it's breaking society.

thrownthatway 4mo ago
Son: dad, I’m thinking of getting in to organised crime Dad: Public or private sector?

webnrrd2k 4mo ago

There's a book that ties into this sort of thing - Gold Warriors [1]. It about how, post WWII, the US recovered a bunch of Gold looted from China and used it to set up an anti-communist slush fund. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/249237.Gold_Warriors https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/249237.Gold_Warriors

burnt-resistor 4mo ago

Sounds like using an official position to make money. A guy I used to know, a retired USAF Maj. pilot, acquired a bunch of racing cars, motorcycles, and a non-flyable MiG-21 through shady characters. More than likely individual people try to get away with doing shady shit on the side rather than it being a grand UFO conspiracy.