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Calder Walton Profile
Calder Walton

@calder_walton

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Sanctioned by Russia as “subversive” | Best-selling author, SPIES | @Harvard @Kennedy_School | PhD: Cambridge, former Barrister | My views

Cambridge, MA, Blighty, or ✈️
Joined July 2016
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
4 months
🚨 UK Readers! Last summer, after the release of #SPIES , I found myself officially sanctioned by the Russian government. This is the book that Putin DOES NOT want you to read. Today, the paperback edition hits the shelves in the UK. Order here:
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
4 months
"The West - the US and its allies - are determined to push back. But senior officials worry the West has not taken the challenge from China seriously enough and has fallen behind in intelligence terms, leaving the West more vulnerable to Beijing's spying, and both sides at risk
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
The West is in a new cold war with Russia and China That's clear if you look at the activities of their intelligence services I've set out my views— some of the conclusions of my book #SPIES — below @ForeignAffairs
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
Spy balloons, TikTok… Relax, it’s much worse than you think. My thoughts ⁦ @ForeignPolicy ⁩ “China Has Been Waging a Decades-Long, All-Out Spy War on the United States” 👇
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
*** BOOK LAUNCH: Monday, June 5, 4pm EST*** After six years of research, on three continents, and multiple languages, I'm excited to launch my book: "SPIES. The Epic Intelligence War between East and West" The launch will be online, is open to the public, but you need to
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 month
After last week’s Russian-West prisoner exchange, former Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, grimly warned those going West: “Let the traitors now frantically pick up new names and actively disguise themselves under the witness protection program.” Easy to dismiss such
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 months
Grateful to all my readers— over a year after publication, my book #SPIES is holding strong in sales Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West #Amazon
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
5 years
With news that Trump had a “very good” meeting with Lavrov in the Oval Office, re-upping my old piece ⁦ @politico ⁩ about the long history of the Kremlin planting bugs in sensitive parts of US government ⁦ @AshaRangappa_
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
KEEP CALM & READ ON If you want to know about true life Russian spies, pick up a copy of my new book below (also on audiobook) Some of the book's highlights in film below 👇
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
5 years
@michaeldweiss And— purely theoretically of course— being an asset of, or being blackmailed by, a hostile foreign power, would not necessarily rise to the level of conspiracy under criminal law. So it’s possible to be an foreign asset but for it not to be treason or a conspiracy.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
4 months
Greatly looking forward to talking at #ChalkeValley history festival on Friday June 28 about my book #SPIES ! Looking forward to seeing some old friends, and meeting new ones there. Please come & join. Tickets are available here
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
If you’re seeing #Oppenheimer this weekend—it’s a masterpiece— check out these documents from MI5’s dossier on Oppenheimer First, an FBI liaison report, describing the infamous approach by Chevalier (depicted in the film) Thread 1/
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
NEWS for #SPIES : book website! I wanted #SPIES to be interactive, so have built an accompanying website, including: · Original docs · Video & audio (with bugged conversations) · Espionage cases · Essays & the lengthy bibliography Hope you enjoy!
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
3 years
We need to send in the Irish Fishermen to sort this out with Putin
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
“The ground in Italy is fertile for yet a greater swing toward Moscow.” Interesting article below. (I examined in @TXNatSecReview the long history and origins of such disinformation campaigns & what can be done to defeat them.)
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
6 years
@NatashaBertrand I’m picturing Christopher Steele sitting back tonight thinking, “told you”.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
7 months
“Every leader kills people” Tucker responds when asked about his interview with Putin and the death of Nalavny There we have it. The MAGA alt right normalisation of eliminating political dissidents
@mmfa
Media Matters
7 months
Q: In your interview with Putin, you didn’t talk about freedom of speech in Russia, you did not talk about Navalny, about assassinations Tucker Carlson: Leadership requires killing people
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
Not a cult.
@oneunderscore__
Tim Onion
2 years
I mean this sincerely: There is absolutely no scenario where Trump's diehard base abandons him. "It doesn't matter if he have delivered nuclear secrets to the Saudis on a platter next to a cheeseburger... Trump did nothing wrong."
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
@MichaelMann Looking forward to LA Takedown 3 (Niche 👆)
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
@RichPreston @DukeLaw @BBCNews One cannot have executive privilege when one is no longer… executive.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
@RoryCormac @Baron_Douro My memory of Odinga’s MI5 file is that he was busily meeting Czech StB officers and taking Bloc money. @jamesrbrennantz ?
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
@martinpatience And depends where in the US. Boston— not good. Where I am at the moment, Atlanta, very very good!
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
@RadioFreeTom Selling to highest bidder, I imagine.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
@MichaelMann When will it each the screens?
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
5 years
Why did Trump try to stop the #RussiaInvestigation (firing Comey, reportedly trying to fire Mueller) if there was nothing there? If it transpires there was no collusion between Trump and Russia, what explains Trump’s actions? Maybe we are looking at compromise, not collusion
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
Some thoughts below on the #leakeddocuments After 9/11, US government moved from "need to know" to "need to share" These leaks show it's time to move back to greater restrictions US government has failed to learn lessons of #Snowden leaks a decade ago
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
@Turkewitz Doesn’t look like Jones’s lawyer expressly asserted in his email that the documents were privileged. “Please disregard” surely carries no legal weight.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
It means a lot to hear from intelligence professionals that one’s research is meaningful That’s why I was humbled to receive this advance praise for my book #Spies from ⁦ @BelferCenter ⁩ colleague, Paul Kolbe 👇
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
#OTD 78 year ago, 7 May 1945 Eisenhower, Supreme Commander in Europe, cables: "The mission of this Allied Force was fulfilled at 0241, local time, May 7th, 1945." Victory in Europe achieved. Reading it today still sends shivers down the spine...
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
3 years
As I finish writing my book SPIES, I'm finding history doesn't just rhyme, it often screams. British intelligence report on Ukraine and Russia. Not February 2022, but February 1922:
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
3 months
@Chris_D_Steele I believe that, as a convicted felon, there are now legal restrictions on— perhaps making it impossible?— for Trump to travel to the UK anyway. Beggars belief that this man will be @GOP nominee
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
@john_sipher @alexzfinley Don’t even get me started on “Pavel Kolbe”
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
COVER REVEAL I'm thrilled to share the cover for my new book: "SPIES. The Epic Intelligence War between East and West", on sale in June 2023 It's available for pre-order now @simonschuster
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
@JoshMeyerDC @USATODAY As long as they are still just attacking websites, that seems better than alternatives
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
5 years
@fmkaplan @MaxBoot Trump said he wants the whole report out; the White House states that it needs to see report on basis of executive privilege. Easy— all you need to do, @realDonaldTrump , is waive executive privilege, then the report can be disclosed. Why not? After all, it exonerates you
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
@michaeldweiss Honestly— isn’t this just exactly how we thought it was going to go?
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
7 years
Warning from history for #Trump : why accessing raw intelligence is a bad idea @20committee @LouiseMensch
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
“Everyone in the [Russian] Ministry of Defense and in the government as a whole is already tired of this war and would like to stop it,” the source said." Discontent in the Russian MoD will be a goldmine for Western services... Check out this great piece below by @michaeldweiss
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
3 years
We don’t know whether US intelligence reports about Russian “false flags” (deceptions) are accurate. We do know, however, that Russia has a long history of false flags as pretext for military intervention. My thoughts in ⁦ @ForeignPolicy ⁩ here 👇
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
💥 CFP! 💥 Please join ⁦ @SocIntelHist ⁩ for our annual conference, to be held in Calgary, July 20-23, 2023 Paper/ panel proposals below Spread the word
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
Putin makes much of his KGB past— but scratch the surface, his career wasn’t what he claims Moreover, Russia’s intelligence services are far less professional & successful than they claim— they are criminals My take ⁦ @thetimes ⁩ 👇
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
For the next three weeks, as we approach publication of #SPIES , I will be posting the three most remarkable documents I found while researching it The first: a British intelligence report about Russia and Ukraine from February 1922, exactly one hundred years before Putin's war
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
@spectatorindex Peacemaker would be better
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
7 years
@RNicholasBurns So at this point, Trump hides behind Putin saying he didn’t do it; and Kremlin hides behind VP Pence denials. Nice circularity there.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 months
@justinbaragona Margaret Thatcher, who I thought MAGA world loved, would like a word...
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
NSA being true to its name— No Such Agency At least as far as records at Jimmy Carter library are concerned 😟
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
Humbled to receive this advance praise for my book #SPIES from Fiona Hill, one of the foremost experts on Russia: “Calder Walton’s deeply researched and artfully crafted book offers a masterclass in 20th century and contemporary history. It is rich with trenchant analysis,
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
5 years
I just heard on the news that only 1,500 people in the US have actually been tested at CDC for the #coronavirus . Thought I had misheard and checked. It’s correct. It’s outrageous. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
8 months
@StephenKing At what point was the cheese on his cracker??
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
5 years
@MichaelSSmithII @AshaRangappa_ Yes. Quite. Intelligence practitioners and law enforcement officials dealing with national security never use the “s” word. “Spy” is the language of novels and Hollywood
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
In the early Cold War, many of the worst Western traitors were motivated by ideology— a faith in communism In the later Cold War, that was replaced by cash; Soviet ideology was bankrupt. Meanwhile, some of the best agents for the West were driven by — a faith in the West
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
Why did I think writing a new book about the Cold War and espionage was necessary? During the Trump-Russia saga, I was frequently approached by journalists to discuss how Russian meddling in the 2016 US election was “unprecedented”. But the fact was, it wasn’t unprecedented.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
3 years
SPIES is coming soon After a five-way auction, I'm thrilled to join @simonschuster & @LittleBrownUK for my next book about the hundred year intelligence war between East and West The history of Cold War intelligence offers a warning about what's already underway with China 👇
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
I just received a box of proof copies of my new book “SPIES” & I want to send you one! Reply to this video with what you think is the best true spy story of all time, and why, and I'll be selecting three winners to send this advanced copy of my book with some swag 😎 Good luck!
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
@PostOpinions Straight out of the Soviet playbook
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
4 years
@JoyAnnReid Yes— Biden pushes forward. Trump blows through, leaving America in his wake.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
@Dianabolsinger @Folly_and_Glory @AmyZegart Yes. But being unaware docs when you can… go to the websites Of the agencies and see them… is not sufficient today
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
With news today that Russia is claiming #Ukraine will launch a "false flag" provocation, I'm re-upping a previous piece I wrote about *Russia's* long history of false-flags
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
ICYMI - My book SPIES: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West officially hits US shelves today! #SPIES tells the riveting, secret story of the hundred-year intelligence war between Russia and the West with lessons for our new superpower conflict with China.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
7 years
UK-US intelligence #specialrelationship @LouiseMensch @20committee MI5 helped US to catch Russian cyberspies
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
So, that's a wrap for #SPIES ! Sent off galleys for US edition Weighing in on debate about whether trade publishers offer less scholarly weight than university presses: in my experience, absolutely not SPIES has over 700 notes, covering 68 pages (9 point font) in four languages
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
4 years
PM Johnson admitted to hospital over virus symptoms
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
7 years
@RWPUSA Yes, didn't the FBI already investigate Clinton and clear her?
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
6 years
Some personal news: I'm thrilled to announce that I will be general editor, with Christopher Andrew, of the multi-volume "Cambridge History of Intelligence & Espionage" to be published by @CambridgeUP @camUP_History #CHIE
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
👇
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
5 years
@Susan_Hennessey Oh Lordy. There are tapes.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
5 months
“We are currently only seeing the tip of the iceberg. One must assume that hundreds of spies are up to mischief in Germany.”
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
4 years
@LindseyGrahamSC @harrisonjaime Releasing tax returns seems like an odd GOP platform.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
ICYMI: My new book “SPIES: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West” is now available for pre-order @simonschuster Secure your copy today:
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
The Kremlin’s Cold War #disinformation playbook relied on amplifying existing grievances and half-truths to undermine the US, and it’s a playbook they’ve successfully returned to today. Listen to the full episode on @StreamEvergreen :
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
@spy_historian Not sure. MI5 interviewed Philby in 1951– Helenus “Buster” Milmo was convinced he was a Soviet spy, but failed to elicit confession/ sufficient evidence Suspicions about MI5 and CIA about Philby continued after So I think fair to say there was search for “third man”
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
6 years
@jbarro @AlexParkerDC Presumably Trump will argue that this was a private matter, and was doing it to shield his literal affairs from unwanted publicity-- he was not thinking about election, but his family. Also, after the Access Hollywood tape, we have to ask whether this would have made difference
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
We must confront state-sponsored erosion of truth, facts, and science, head on— and treat it as the strategic threat it is to democracies. My latest article for ⁦ @TXNatSecReview ⁩ :
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
‼️Pre-order offer ‼️ Today to Friday, @BNBuzz is offering a 25% promotion on preorders with code PREORDER25 Use it to get your copy of #SPIES SNEAK PEAK of contents pages #SPIES features brilliant graphic designs by @noma_bar Check it out
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
MI5 then vetted Fuchs again when he returned to Britain after WW2 to work on British atomic research. Vetting him caused disagreement within MI5— those worried about him being a Soviet agent were later proved correct
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
Perfect 👇
@haveigotnews
Have I Got News For You
1 year
As support for Donald Trump among Republican voters surges to 53% despite multiple indictments, polling experts say he’s roughly three murders away from a landslide.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
6 years
@AlexParkerDC @jbarro Of course, Cohen may have a tape in which it is made clear that Trump know purpose of payment was to influence election. Presumably Cohen knows that he will have to adduce some evidence to support his headline-grabbing claim
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
3 years
Chief of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) 👇
@ChiefMI6
Richard Moore
3 years
This attack was long planned, unprovoked, cruel aggression. No amount of Russian disinformation will now disguise that fact from the international community.
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
6 years
@MaxBoot @PostOpinions I think you are right, Max. After over a year of trying to disprove it, so far as I can see, nothing significant in Steele dossier has been disproved. Some details (esp the salacious ones) are unverified. But not disproved. An impressive first draft intelligence report, I’d say
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
The film also depicts the Soviet atom spy, Klaus Fuchs Here are passages from his MI5 dossier MI5 vetted him in 1941 for work on the British bomb (TUBE ALLOYS) and then in 1943, when he joined the MANHATTAN Project. They had no reliable positive evidence to say he was
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
The Russian army will be 'annihilated' if it launches a nuclear attack, warns Josep Borrell | Euronews
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
4 years
@DevinCow @MiaFarrow @DevinNunes The fact that he says “likely you can get in easy” demolishes his subsequent claim that he was referring to take out restaurants #DangerouslyStupid
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
This is some remarkable Applied History from ⁦ @TheEconomist ⁩ “Vladimir Putin is dragging the world back to a bloodier time” ⁦ @shashj
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
8 months
Thrilled to see my book #SPIES among such esteemed company in Waterstones, Piccadilly 🫡📚 ⁦ @DrHelenFry ⁩ ⁦ @aroberts_andrew
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
@RoryCormac Straight Trump import
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
Not a cult.
@nytimes
The New York Times
2 years
Donald Trump appeared to more fully embrace QAnon on Saturday, playing a song at a rally in Ohio that prompted attendees to respond with a salute in reference to the cultlike conspiracy theory's theme song.
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Calder Walton
1 year
Second, report about British communist, George Eltenton, also depicted in the film These two incidents became central to Oppenheimer’s later persecution
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
7 months
Ladies and Gentlemen— the present day GOP 👇
@SkyNews
Sky News
7 months
"David Cameron needs to worry about his own country, and frankly he can kiss my a**" Republican Congresswoman, @RepMTG reacts to the UK Foreign Secretary likening those opposing the US national security bill to 'appeasers of Hitler' Latest ➡️ Sky 501
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
@paulmasonnews This would be a very bad move on the part of BBC Living in the US, where news is essentially opinion journalism, I always find it refreshing when I get back to the UK to watch @BBCNewsnight with its hard hitting questioning Now more than ever important to keep Newsnight going
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 year
BREAKING Putin's intelligence services were in late-stage planning of an assassination on US soil As I reveal in #SPIES , the target was a former CIA spy. The story's significance is not the target, but the murderous intentions of Putin's regime "The book is by Calder Walton, a
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
1 month
With news today of the Russia-West prisoner exchange— you can read more about the context of such swaps, during the Cold War, in my book #SPIES Available here
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@calder_walton
Calder Walton
2 years
"Sorry guvnor, I didn't realise I should not take NSA intercepts home" "A person familiar with the inventory of 15 boxes taken from Mar-a-Lago in January indicated that signals intelligence material was included in them."
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