“Intelligence” on The Daily Caller

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House began deliberating a spy swap with Moscow nearly a month ago, well ahead of the arrests of 10 Russians in the United States less than two weeks ago, a White House official said Friday. (more)

“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” said Captain Renault to Rick in Casablanca as a croupier hands him a pile of money. The police captain had the good sense to at least feign indignation when he found himself in an awkward situation involving illegal activity. Renault, of course, condoned the gambling by participating in it. (more)

She was lurking in the Ivy, ready to pounce. (more)

WASHINGTON — They had lived for more than a decade in American cities and suburbs from Seattle to New York, where they seemed to be ordinary couples working ordinary jobs, chatting to the neighbors about gardening and schools, apologizing for noisy teenagers. (more)

WASHINGTON – Twenty-five years after his arrest, the truth about for whom Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard was working is still in doubt. (more)

AUSTRALIAN security agencies use false passports issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs to allow covert operatives to function overseas, intelligence sources have admitted. (more)

The resignation of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Dennis Blair, is a symptom of a more serious problem within the Obama administration than the failures of the DNI. It’s a problem that won’t disappear with Blair’s departure. Fixing it requires more than appointing the right replacement. It requires a hard look at the DNI position itself and how President Obama and his White House oversee it. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon’s top intelligence official emerged as the leading choice Friday for what’s fast becoming known as one of the most thankless jobs in Washington — director of national intelligence. The position has a great title, but the office has just claimed its third victim. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — For months, National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair has been a dead man walking — and he knew it. So constant and vicious were the leaks from the White House and Congress of his imminent departure that he opened a recent speech on intelligence reform with a joke that his replacement would be Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb. (more)

NBC News has obtained a scathing report from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who says that most of the Defense Department’s safeguards were “unclear” or “inadequate” to identify the threat and prevent the mass shooting that killed 13 soldiers at Fort Hood in December. (more)

Home-run record holder Mark McGwire finally came clean on his steroid use in 1998, the year he broke the record. People were shocked; Sammy Sosa’s face turned white as a sheet when he heard. (more)

US spy agencies evaluate that Iran has accelerated its research into creating a nuclear weapon but has yet to restart its program in full, Reuters quoted US officials as saying on Wednesday. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama is standing by three of his top security officials following the attempted airline attack on Christmas Day. (more)