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Whiskey in the Senate vault
The off-books meeting
In early 2022, David Grusch was in Washington for a UAP conference when he was summoned to an off-books meeting inside the Senate intelligence committee's SCIF, the vault where classified information can be discussed. A dozen or so senior staff were there, including staff for Marco Rubio and Mark Warner. For hours the room went through the history of the legacy program while Grusch sat in the back as a fly on the wall.
Whiskey in the vault
Near the end, the briefers pointed at him and named a couple of individuals he knew. Those people had wanted to kill him. A very senior staffer went to his office, came back with whiskey, and everyone started drinking in the SCIF, because they were afraid.
The warning message
The plan had been considered and then kiboshed, and he knows how it was stopped. This was only weeks after a message reached him that people could touch him and his wife and knew where they were. Other people got that message the same day, so it was coordinated geographically, and he has never learned what line he crossed.
What makes a SCIF hard to eavesdrop on?
A SCIF is built to intelligence community construction standards, with reinforced walls, shielded doors, and controls on every opening. Phones and other electronics are normally left outside because they can record or transmit. Sound masking and acoustic insulation keep conversations from carrying through walls or ducts. The construction standards are set out in Intelligence Community Directive 705.
How does the Senate oversee intelligence agencies?
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was created in 1976, after the Church Committee exposed abuses by the CIA, FBI, and NSA. Its members and cleared staff receive classified briefings in secure spaces on Capitol Hill. Staff hold security clearances, which lets them read material that most members of Congress cannot. The House created its own permanent intelligence committee the following year.
How can intelligence whistleblowers reach Congress?
The Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998 set up a path for employees and contractors to bring urgent concerns to an inspector general and then to the congressional intelligence committees. A 2012 presidential directive, Presidential Policy Directive 19, barred retaliation against intelligence community employees who report through proper channels. The 1998 act applies only to matters the law defines as urgent concerns.
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