Co-founder of The High Side. Author of Relentless Strike - The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command: https://nitter.cf/t.co/lEOTReZt55. RTs are not endorsements.
Washington, DC
Joined September 2010
- Tweets16.5K
- Following3.8K
- Followers7.3K
- Likes41.3K
Pinned Tweet
Burglaries, surveillance, state-actor-level phone hacking. Havana Syndrome victims returned home, only to be targeted in a campaign of intimidation that the FBI and CIA seemed to have little interest in solving. New from @JackMurphyRGR and me: thehighside.substack.com/p/l…
By me and @JackMurphyRGR
A coup in Sudan resulted in the loss of a close U.S. ally, most CIA assets in jail and a flood of Libyan gunmen into Khartoum. But the CIA still had a card to play: It flew one of its top non-official cover officers into Khartoum on a Libyan passport...
thehighside.substack.com/p/i…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
A coup in Sudan resulted in the loss of a close U.S. ally, most CIA assets in jail and a flood of Libyan gunmen into Khartoum. But the CIA still had a card to play: It flew one of its top non-official cover officers into Khartoum on a Libyan passport...
thehighside.substack.com/p/i…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
“Kushner told Zelensky that he should pause the strikes because he and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff were dedicating a lot of time, energy, and jet fuel to mediating with Moscow, one of the U.S. officials said. A 30-day pause on refineries would be a way for Ukraine to show gratitude, that U.S. official said.”
An almost comical thing to tell a nation fighting for its existence. Lay down your weapons because we are exhausted from taking a private jet.
wsj.com/world/ukraine-pauses…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia's dismissal has generated widespread anger and frustration at top level of the Army. A common refrain today from active and retired senior Army officers: "This is Bulls**t!" h/t @nancyayoussef nytimes.com/2026/10/29/us/he…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
Look: you should read this story, which—in addition to being a feat of reporting—adds a new chapter to our shared understanding of the history of CIA. Seriously.
@SeanDNaylor and I uncovered a CIA false flag operation that was run in Sudan.
@TheHighSideNews
thehighside.substack.com/p/i…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
😬
Sen. @tedcruz in March: "I don't believe that what is happening in Iran will be front and center in November. If it extends that long, we've done something wildly wrong... The president said at the beginning this is going to be a matter of several weeks."
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
@SeanDNaylor and I uncovered a CIA false flag operation that was run in Sudan.
@TheHighSideNews
thehighside.substack.com/p/i…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
A reporter just asked Trump about the removal of Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, but referred to him only as "Lt. Gen. Sylvia."
"She’s got problems," Trump said. "She’s gonna have big problems. We’re very much looking for leakers"
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
The terrorist bombing that wasn’t: The extraordinary story of the CIA’s false-flag operation to undercut Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s position in Sudan. Staged car bombs, fake documents, real success. Our latest, by @SeanDNaylor and @JackMurphyRGR thehighside.substack.com/p/i…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
Breaking news from me: Hegseth pushes out another Top General on the Joint Staff, this time the J-5 theatlantic.com/national-sec…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
After a long (unplanned) delay, we plan to publish Part 8 of our series "In The Kill Zone" later this week. While the article (about covert ops in Sudan) can be read as a stand-alone, why not get caught up on the series to prepare? VN heroics? Spying in Africa? It's got it all.
Looking for something in-depth to read this weekend? Try the 7-part (and counting!) "In The Kill Zone" series by me and @JackMurphyRGR about the life and times of SF & CIA legend Willie Merkerson. It's got everything: a DSC that many think should be a MoH; a combat jump that 1/4
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
Always great to receive recognition like this from other Substacks that have become paid subscribers. @SeanDNaylor and @JackMurphyRGR couldn't do the work we do without our paid subscribers. To become one, click on the link in our profile. Links to our best work on the IC follow.
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
Protecting potential sources that approach you after such a public message is a perennial concern; equally taxing is the vetting process necessary to weed out potential double agents, which the Cuban services are almost assuredly throwing at secure US channels en masse.
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
OLD SOVIET TANK
waiting on EOD to deal with a IED.
I'll update the date of the photo when I can look at the time stamp
🇨🇦 Canada · Battle group QRF from MSG · Task Force 3-09
📷 One of thousands of photos in the Project Athena archive. Have photos from Afghanistan? Add yours at projectathena.ca
🗺 View on the map → f.mtr.cool/j577atnk48
#ProjectAthena #Afghanistan #GWOT #ISAF
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
Important context here from Marc on one of THE overarching stories of our time in the intel world: the ability to do HUMINT in a world of “ubiquitous technical surveillance.” Some folks strongly believe nonofficial/commercial cover is the only way forward; others aren't so sure.
lots of media stories on a new pentagon intel entity that will involve non official cover operations. I have no idea about any of this (really), I'm long out of that secret world. I yap on tv and watch the redsox full time now. sorry, cant confirm or deny any of this, not going there. but of course I read the pieces with interest. and what I will say is that due to the current ubiquitous technical surveillance (UTS) environment, which appears to me to be biggest challenge to HUMINT I've ever seen over the last century, this is the right way to approach espionage. official cover out of overseas locations is far less effective. no one can deny that. so whatever the IC is planning to do, in whatever alphabet soup agency, and if it has proper congressional oversight (very big deal), the use of non official cover to defeat our adversaries is absolutely the way to go. that's all I got.
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
The GRU hacked into Jared Kushner's iPhone. Dutch military intelligence (MIVD) then recruited a GRU spy who gave them access to the hacked phone. What MIVD discovered was that Kushner had access to two bank accounts --one Azerbaijani, the other Israeli --where Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Emirati ruler Mohammed bin Zayed deposited money. It sounds like a slightly far-fetched episode of "Slow Horses," but it's real. And it proves just how eye-poppingly corrupt this administration was and continues to be as its "special envoy" decides the fate of tens of millions in Europe in the Middle East. Simply incredible reporting by Matthew Cole, drawn from his new book on Kushner. vanityfair.com/story/jared-k…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
Ukraine was once again unable to intercept a single incoming Russian missile overnight. Ukrainian officials blame another delayed shipment of Patriot interceptors.
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
Great to see our friend @zachsdorfman with the @washingtonpost's lead story today. Even better to read the hat-tip to The High Side (not our first from The Post), a reference to a story he co-authored for us with @JackMurphyRGR and @SeanDNaylor: thehighside.substack.com/p/t….
The Pentagon is thinking expansively about conducting “economic warfare,” particularly against China. Now, it’s mulling a new or expanded deep-cover spying capability as part of that mission.
NEW from me and @wstrobel:
washingtonpost.com/national-…
Sean D. Naylor retweeted
Quite a letter from White House to Politico.
The White House counsel's office warned Politico in a Monday letter that it had 48 hours to retract or correct recent stories revolving around COS Susie Wiles — or it would suffer unspecified consequences.
axios.com/2026/10/21/white-h…
