Acts of Violet(85)

Even the process of getting to talk to them was unconventional. After an exchange of formal emails, I was sent a package and instructed to go to a local park early in the morning on a specific day, and only open it then.

In hindsight, I’ll admit it was foolish risking my safety like that. But the whole time, Checkmate made it seem like they were the one putting themself on the line.

I went to the park. On my way there, I kept looking around to see if anyone was following me, but Finchley was pretty dead at that hour, and since it was a rainy morning, there were no cars in the lot at Cedar Creek Park. I made my way to a covered picnic area and opened the package.

Inside was a burner phone, a spare phone battery, and a slip of paper with a phone number written on it. I called the number. Someone picked up on the second ring. The voice was electronically disguised. It was Checkmate.

I thought long and hard about whether to air this … encounter, and I still don’t know what to make of it. You be the judge.

CHECKMATE: I appreciate you following the OPSEC I asked you to employ in protecting my identity and location.

CAMERON FRANK: OPSEC?

CHECKMATE: Operations security.

CAMERON FRANK: Is that an indication that you’re involved with the military or CIA or some other clandestine organization?

CHECKMATE: I was with a group instrumental in maintaining national security, though I cannot offer my title or the specifics of my responsibilities. Any tangible proof I could provide would inevitably be traced back to me and would put us both in danger.

CAMERON FRANK: Doesn’t having this conversation put you in danger?

CHECKMATE: It does, but lack of evidence offers plausible deniability for anything I am about to tell you. One can dismiss me as a geriatic loon spouting conspiracy theories. Information like this is easier to reveal when it’s less likely to be believed.

CAMERON FRANK: And now that we’re finally speaking, what would you like to reveal about Violet Volk?

CHECKMATE: We’ll get to Ms. Volk, but first I need to provide some contextual information.

How aware are you of collaborations between intelligence agencies and people in the entertainment arts?

CAMERON FRANK: Well, I know government agencies consult with Hollywood and even sponsor projects, like war movies made to ensure the military is perceived in a positive light. I wouldn’t be surprised if the CIA, FBI, or NSA get in on the act, too. Movies, TV, music … they’re all useful tools to spread propaganda.

CHECKMATE: Indeed, they are, and the CIA and Pentagon are involved in shaping and approving scripts to ensure favorable portrayals—they have offices dedicated to such purposes. Aside from that, are you familiar with any specific field missions involving the entertainment arts?

CAMERON FRANK:… I can’t think of any, other than the movie Argo. Didn’t that involve the CIA working with Hollywood to create a phony film production as a cover to rescue Americans out of the Middle East? I think it was Iran during the hostage crisis?

CHECKMATE: That’s correct. Though the adaptation of those events took liberties with the facts. The actual 1979 operation owed its conception and smooth implementation to the Canadian embassy’s involvement. This was downplayed in the 2012 film, which ironically—or perhaps predictably—also involved the CIA consulting on the project.

There are numerous other examples, particularly during the cultural cold war. US intelligence went to great lengths to incorporate the arts in its subversion of communism, from mounting art exhibits and large-scale concerts to using Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie as “goodwill jazz ambassadors.” Some celebrities discovered their role in propaganda operations but grudgingly went along with them, like the aforementioned jazz virtuosos. Others remained entirely unaware, like Nina Simone, whose 1961 tour of Nigeria was covertly sponsored by the CIA.

CAMERON FRANK: Wait, weren’t the Beatles and Rolling Stones part of some MK-Ultra experiments with LSD? Or is that an urban legend?

CAMERON FRANK [STUDIO]: For those unfamiar with Project MK-Ultra, it was a top-secret and illegal program of mind-control experiments developed and run by the CIA from 1953 to 1973.

CHECKMATE: There were programs MK-Ultra used to manipulate mass populations with drug use, which did involve the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Secret agents pushed LSD on members of both bands, for the purpose of popularizing and glamorizing psychedelic drugs. If memory serves, Mick Jagger was the surprising holdout on that one, and the last member of the Rolling Stones to try LSD.

But let’s move on to stage magic. After all, this is what you’re here for.

Have you heard of John Mulholland?

CAMERON FRANK: I have not.

CHECKMATE: He was a renowned stage magician, and at the height of the cold war, he created a manual for the CIA on misdirection, concealment, and stagecraft.

CAMERON FRANK [STUDIO]: True story. The text was supposed to be destroyed, but it was recovered, declassified, and published as The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception in 1973. A sampling of what it covers: creating hidden signals via hand gestures and patterns in shoelaces, concealment of individuals in secret compartments, and techniques on how to spike someone’s drink.

CHECKMATE: Mulholland’s sleight-of-hand expertise was useful to agents in the field, though he was not the only magician employed in surreptitious government projects. Most have maintained their anonymity, though a few eventually get named. There have been claims of Harry Houdini working with Scotland Yard to spy on Germany and Russia, which have not been fully substantiated. But Uri Geller is another story.