Porter Gossip

In the post below, we relate the strange tale of John Millis, the former CIA hand who, in the year 2000, functioned as the staff director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. That committee was headed by then-congressman Porter Goss (who recently resigned as DCI) . In June, 2000, Millis was found dead in a bathtub in a seedy Virginia motel; the circumstances recalled those surrounding the dubious "suicide" of Danny Casolaro. Police found a note but -- oddly -- never released or described it.

Reverend Moon's Insight on the News published a long article which hinted, but did not state, that Porter Goss bore some responsibility for the death of Millis. The article also implied that a sexual relationship between Millis (who was married) and another man contributed to the suicide -- if suicide it was.

Many now believe that Porter Goss had a deep connection to the prostitute ring run by spooked-up "businessman" Brent Wilkes. Although most comentators suspect that Goss had sampled the wares at these "hooker" parties, I have suggested that this old CIA hand may have masterminded the operation, in order to gain blackmail material. More than one person has suggested that both male and female prostitutes played a role. (See this Kos post: "It's the GAY hookers, stupid!")

We now learn, via Newsweek and Josh Marshall, that one person identified with the Wilkes operation -- a former CIA official previously known only by the colorful sobriquet "Nine Fingers" -- is actually Brant Bassett.

I'm struck by the similarity between Bassett's career and that of John Millis. Both had backgrounds in covert ops. Both joined Porter Goss' staff on Capitol Hill. Both helped direct the Intelligence Committee.

If Bassett gravitated toward the Wilkes "parties," then Millis probably did likewise. After his death, Millis' wife spoke obliquely of a homosexual entanglement. Did Wilkes faciliate that encounter? When Millis and Goss fell out, was the former threatened with exposure?

By the way, you may have noticed another scandal at work here. Congress is supposed to provide oversight of the intelligence community. How can they do so when the HPSCI is itself spookier than the Winchester Mystery House?

In other news...

Daniel Hopsicker uncovered a 1963 nightclub photograph (taken in Mexico City) which depicts Porter Goss alongside Barry Seal, William Seymour, Frank Sturgis, Felix Rodriguez and other Agency luminaries. That period of Goss' life remains shadowy; Hopsicker does his best to shine a little light on the scene.

Hayden is unpopular. Even Republicans have voiced opposition to the choice of Michael Hayden as DCI. But Democrats still have not publicized Hayden's pointed refusal to acknowledge a questioner who asked him if the NSA targeted Bush opponents.