Pentagon allegedly plans covert spy network inside U.S. firms to monitor China
Anonymous insiders say the Pentagon is creating a deep-cover intelligence program that would place American operatives inside private companies to gather data on China, a claim the department denies.
According to six unnamed insiders, the Pentagon is developing a secretive non-official cover officer program that would station U.S. spies inside private-sector firms to monitor China and other adversaries. The effort is reportedly headed by Tom Rakusan, a former CIA officer who retired in 2021 and later worked for a private-equity firm co-founded by Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg before returning to the Pentagon as a senior adviser.
Sources say personal grudges and a perceived turf war with the CIA motivate the leaks, with former CIA officials warning the plan could undermine their agency. The Pentagon’s deputy press secretary Jacob Bliss dismissed the story as either badly misinformed or deliberately fabricated. The department has not provided a comment beyond the denial, and the existence of the program remains unverified.
Why it matters
If true, the program could expose U.S. intelligence methods and heighten tensions with China.
How the sides frame it
LOW AGREEMENTCenter coverage reports the Pentagon’s secret program as a factual component of the U.S. economic-war strategy against China, while right-leaning coverage frames the story as an alleged, possibly fabricated spy network motivated by personal grudges and inter-agency rivalry.
CENTER
Centrist coverage presents the Pentagon’s initiative as a disclosed secret effort to use covert agents in private firms as part of a broader economic-war strategy against China.
RIGHT
Right-leaning coverage treats the story as an unverified allegation of a covert spy network, emphasizing insider leaks, personal grudges, and a disputed motive.
The right emphasises
- The plan is an "alleged" covert spy network inside private-sector firms to monitor China.
- Leaks are said to be driven by "personal grudges" and a perceived "turf war" with the CIA.
- The Pentagon’s deputy press secretary dismissed the story as "badly misinformed" or fabricated.
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