How the CIA’s dirty tricks shape US elections — and you

In my new book, “Twilight of the Shadow Government: How Transparency Will Kill the Deep State,” I describe in detail how the Central Intelligence Agency manipulates the U.S. government and its military-industrial complex contract corporations. The CIA attempts to influence not only foreign government elections but U.S. elections as well — a deeply disturbing aspect of what I call the shadow government, aka the deep state.

This pattern dates to the administration of John F. Kennedy. During Kennedy’s presidency, the CIA conducted covert operations without his knowledge. Furious, JFK fired rogue CIA Director Allen Dulles, who held a deep grudge against him. It surprised no one in Congress when, after Kennedy’s assassination, Dulles was put in charge of the Warren Commission, which investigated the president's murder. Dulles handpicked and coached all CIA witnesses who testified before the committee.

The CIA is manipulating a presidential election, right in front of the American people — again.

The CIA also played a direct role in the rise of former President Bill Clinton. As governor of Arkansas, Clinton entered into a secret agreement with then-Vice President George H.W. Bush — another notorious CIA figure — to use the Mena, Arkansas, airport to run guns and drugs to and from the Nicaraguan Contras.

I was a CIA officer during that time. The CIA was under investigation for committing felonies behind Congress’ back (and, of course, behind the backs of the American people). I have no doubt that the CIA gave then-Gov. Clinton a CIA clearance, bringing him into direct contact with “the Company.”

Despite supposedly being political enemies, Bush and Clinton maintained a close relationship until Bush’s death in 2018. From my perspective, Clinton’s direct connection to the CIA helped him rise from relative obscurity to the presidency, making him yet another useful president for the CIA.

Decades of deception

George H.W. Bush had a decades-long affiliation with the CIA, which he tried to downplay by claiming he only worked with the agency during his brief tenure as director in the mid-1970s. In reality, Bush was a CIA officer as far back as 1953, when he partnered with CIA officer Thomas Devine to form Zapata Petroleum, working under commercial cover. Their oil wells were located just 40 miles from Cuba.

One of Bush’s tasks as director was to manage the fallout from the CIA’s Operation Mockingbird. During a news conference, Bush stated that the CIA would no longer recruit American journalists to be on the agency’s payroll. What many missed, however, was his follow-up comment: From now on, reporters and the news media could work with the CIA on a voluntary basis. The CIA has a unique way of turning “voluntary” into a requirement, establishing a quid pro quo with major media companies. This arrangement prevented outlets from publishing exposés on CIA activities while providing them with intelligence-derived information to manipulate public opinion.

When Bush became vice president in 1981, it essentially placed the CIA in the second-highest seat of the U.S. government. I am convinced that Bush was the agency’s mastermind behind the criminal Iran-Contra operation, once again manipulating a president to engage in illegal covert activities.

Under President Barack Obama, the CIA implemented a drone assassination program that targeted at least eight wedding parties, killing innocent civilians. The CIA convinced Obama to maintain a kill list of foreigners it considered dangerous, often based on unproven suspicions. In effect, Obama allowed the CIA to act as judge, jury, and executioner.

Obama arrested and jailed more intelligence whistleblowers than any previous president, using the outdated Espionage Act. The most notable of these was former CIA case officer John Kiriakou, a top performer in the CIA Counterterrorism Center, who was imprisoned on frivolous charges.

During the Obama administration, notorious CIA Director John Brennan made several covert trips to Ukraine to underwrite the 2014 coup, which resulted in the Russia-Ukraine war and the ensuing proxy war between the United States and Russia, bringing America to the brink of World War III.

Russian collusion and other hoaxes

While Donald Trump was president, the CIA launched a full-scale operation to remove him from office for daring to question the agency. Brennan initiated the Russia collusion hoax by leaking the “Steele dossier,” a complete fabrication based on false information from Russian intelligence officials. Brennan misled the press, claiming the dossier was CIA intelligence. I have provided an in-depth analysis of this CIA operation on YouTube (@kevinshipp1). This was the CIA’s attempt to stage a domestic coup and take down a sitting president. Although the plot failed, no CIA or FBI official faced accountability for their crimes.

After Joe Biden’s victory, evidence surfaced of Biden’s involvement in Ukraine following the 2014 CIA-orchestrated coup. This led to the discovery of Hunter Biden’s laptop, which contained salacious videos, along with evidence of sex, drugs, and guns. To protect Biden, 51 former intelligence officials, including 42 senior CIA officers, quickly signed a public statement claiming the laptop story was “Russian disinformation.” That was a lie. We must remember that the CIA’s core functions include lying, deception, and propaganda, especially when protecting its own existence.

We now know the CIA convinced Facebook and Twitter executives to promote Biden for president and censor posts supporting Trump. The cover for the operation? Posts and articles supporting Donald Trump were “Russian disinformation.” Russia is always the CIA’s boogeyman.

This brings us to the upcoming 2024 presidential election. I am an independent, and I am not endorsing either party. My goal is to remain objective and unbiased. The CIA is up to its dirty tricks again, attempting to sway public opinion in the direction of the agency's chosen candidate, Kamala Harris. All 42 of the aforementioned senior CIA officers (the most notorious being Mike Morrell, who attempted to sway the 2016 presidential election in Hillary Clinton’s favor) have issued a statement supporting Kamala Harris for president and attacking Trump. That’s along with 741 “national security leaders” who have endorsed Harris.

The CIA is manipulating a presidential election, right in front of the American people — again.