Mike Ritland

They had their assets stuffing ballot boxes, using mafia muscle to shut down opposition meetings. We bought the media in the region. We worked with all the religious groups and the charities and The people involved in that operation, you know, publicly wrote in the memoirs that we would have lost that election if not for the CIA.

They had their assets stuffing ballot boxes, using mafia muscle to shut down opposition meetings. We bought the media in the region. We worked with all the religious groups and the charities and The people involved in that operation, you know, publicly wrote in the memoirs that we would have lost that election if not for the CIA.

They had their assets stuffing ballot boxes, using mafia muscle to shut down opposition meetings. We bought the media in the region. We worked with all the religious groups and the charities and The people involved in that operation, you know, publicly wrote in the memoirs that we would have lost that election if not for the CIA.

James Woolsey even defended that regime change operation on Fox News in 2017 when he was asked, you know, Russia's meddling in our elections. We don't meddle in foreign elections. And he, you know, said, well, you know, we used to do that sort of thing, you know, in Italy and in Greece. And He's referring to this event that I'm talking about.

James Woolsey even defended that regime change operation on Fox News in 2017 when he was asked, you know, Russia's meddling in our elections. We don't meddle in foreign elections. And he, you know, said, well, you know, we used to do that sort of thing, you know, in Italy and in Greece. And He's referring to this event that I'm talking about.

James Woolsey even defended that regime change operation on Fox News in 2017 when he was asked, you know, Russia's meddling in our elections. We don't meddle in foreign elections. And he, you know, said, well, you know, we used to do that sort of thing, you know, in Italy and in Greece. And He's referring to this event that I'm talking about.

And then she says, well, we don't do that anymore, though, right? And he goes, well, chuckle, chuckle, chuckle, only in the interest of democracy, you know, basically. But at that point, there was no authorized CIA covert action to do it. They were a spy agency. They were on the ground. They took the reins and run.

And then she says, well, we don't do that anymore, though, right? And he goes, well, chuckle, chuckle, chuckle, only in the interest of democracy, you know, basically. But at that point, there was no authorized CIA covert action to do it. They were a spy agency. They were on the ground. They took the reins and run.

And then she says, well, we don't do that anymore, though, right? And he goes, well, chuckle, chuckle, chuckle, only in the interest of democracy, you know, basically. But at that point, there was no authorized CIA covert action to do it. They were a spy agency. They were on the ground. They took the reins and run.

And ex post facto, George Kennan, 12 days later, says, hey, this thing was gangbusters, right? We just swung the entire course of the Italian election doing this. We need to do this everywhere. And in fact, we need to create the capacity to do this everywhere, even if we don't intend to use it. Because this was a real last-minute effort last time. We need this capacity in place.

And ex post facto, George Kennan, 12 days later, says, hey, this thing was gangbusters, right? We just swung the entire course of the Italian election doing this. We need to do this everywhere. And in fact, we need to create the capacity to do this everywhere, even if we don't intend to use it. Because this was a real last-minute effort last time. We need this capacity in place.

And ex post facto, George Kennan, 12 days later, says, hey, this thing was gangbusters, right? We just swung the entire course of the Italian election doing this. We need to do this everywhere. And in fact, we need to create the capacity to do this everywhere, even if we don't intend to use it. Because this was a real last-minute effort last time. We need this capacity in place.

Our assets in the organized labor, our assets in the judiciary, our assets in the media, our assets in the movies and culture – even if we don't intend to, just in case we ever need to. And he called this the inauguration of organized political warfare.

Our assets in the organized labor, our assets in the judiciary, our assets in the media, our assets in the movies and culture – even if we don't intend to, just in case we ever need to. And he called this the inauguration of organized political warfare.

Our assets in the organized labor, our assets in the judiciary, our assets in the media, our assets in the movies and culture – even if we don't intend to, just in case we ever need to. And he called this the inauguration of organized political warfare.

And something like 15 to 20 times in this memo, he presupposes that it's going to be parked at what he wanted to set up inside the State Department called the Bureau of Political Warfare.

And something like 15 to 20 times in this memo, he presupposes that it's going to be parked at what he wanted to set up inside the State Department called the Bureau of Political Warfare.

And something like 15 to 20 times in this memo, he presupposes that it's going to be parked at what he wanted to set up inside the State Department called the Bureau of Political Warfare.

and that it would be a formal – that what we now call CIA covert activity would simply be another office at the Harry S. Truman Building in Washington, D.C., in Foggy Bottom, not in Langley, Virginia, and it would be called the Bureau of Political Warfare. But he goes over the reason why we might not want to structure it that way.

and that it would be a formal – that what we now call CIA covert activity would simply be another office at the Harry S. Truman Building in Washington, D.C., in Foggy Bottom, not in Langley, Virginia, and it would be called the Bureau of Political Warfare. But he goes over the reason why we might not want to structure it that way.