FC: CIA's "Covert Comic" publishes book of hideously bad poetry

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Background on the "covert comic":
http://www.nydailynews.com/1999-01-17/news_and_views/daily_dish/a-16719.asp

Online version of book, apparently complete:
http://www.covertcomic.com/CCSchool.htm

---

For Immediate Release
Contact: John Alejandro King

http://www.covertcomic.com/contact.htm

        Controversial CIA Officer Publishes Book Of Poetry

        Agency Calls Material "Tasteless"

Washington DC, May 24, 2001 – A controversial CIA officer has
published a book of poetry, to the apparent consternation of CIA
officials. The book, called 'School of Assassins,' appears on the web
site of controversial CIA officer John Alejandro King, also known as
'The Covert Comic' (URL: www.covertcomic.com). The book pokes fun at
the CIA, the FBI, and conspiracy theories while claiming to donate
profits to Amnesty International and food banks to help the poor.

Selections in 'School of Assassins' include such titles as '99
Intelligence Documents' (a CIA version of '99 Bottles of Beer,' about
the sale of classified documents to foreign spy agencies by CIA
employees), 'Cointelpro' (a poem about illegal CIA and FBI 'dirty
tricks' against US citizens in the 1960's and '70's) and 'Guatemala
City Shooting,' in which King may or may not have confessed to
committing a crime against humanity.

Other poems include 'Date with Stalin,' 'Rape and Hip-Hop,' and the
title work 'School of Assassins,' a poem about the infamous School of
the Americas, where Latin American military and security officials
receive classified training from US Government intelligence agencies.

A CIA official contacted by journalists acknowledged that The Covert
Comic web site is the work of a real CIA employee. The same official
denied reports that the employee has been targeted for retaliation by
the CIA for publishing the site. Agency officials have previously
characterized writing in The Covert Comic web site as "tasteless."

Agency officials had no comment regarding King’s claim - believed
to be a joke - that he assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

The Covert Comic, a.k.a. John Alejandro King, is a CIA officer living
in the Washington DC area. He has been written about in the Washington
Post, London Daily Mail and New York Daily News. A well-known
Washington DC 'security consultant' recently sold Hollywood a
treatment for a film about The Covert Comic's life (not surprisingly,
The Covert Comic didn't get any money for it). The Covert Comic's
hobbies include writing and publishing jokes and prose on his web site
(www.covertcomic.com), and getting in trouble with the Government. To
date The Covert Comic and his friends have spent a lot of money in
legal fees to keep him from getting fired by the CIA. If a miracle
happens and someone actually buys some of The Covert Comic's writing,
a huge portion (maybe even all) of the proceeds will be donated to
charity (whichever damn charity you want). For more information
contact John Alejandro King at http://www.covertcomic.com/contact.htm.

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