The silencers — 349 of them — were ordered by a little-known Navy intelligence office at the Pentagon known as the Directorate for Plans, Policy, Oversight and
Integration, according to charging documents. The directorate is
composed of fewer than 10 civilian employees, most of them retired
military personnel. Court records filed by prosecutors allege
that the Navy paid the auto mechanic — the brother of the directorate’s
boss — $1.6 million for the silencers, even though they cost only
$10,000 in parts and labor to manufacture.
Much of the documentation in the
investigation has been filed under seal on national security grounds.
According to the records that have been made public, the crux of the
case is whether the silencers were properly purchased for an authorized
secret mission or were assembled for a rogue operation.
A former senior Navy official familiar with
the investigation described directorate officials as “wanna-be
spook-cops.” Speaking on the condition of anonymity because the case is
still unfolding, he added, “I know it sounds goofy, but it was like they
were building their own mini law enforcement and intelligence agency.”
The directorate is a civilian-run office that is supposed to provide back-office support and oversight for Navy and Marine intelligence operations. But some of its activities have fallen into a gray area, crossing into more active involvement with secret missions, according to a former senior Defense Department official
familiar with the directorate’s work.
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