Magic spys

The CIA hired America's most famous magician to write a manual on the arts of trickery, concealment and secret communication during the Cold War.
John Mulholland was paid $3,000 for tips on slipping a pill into the drink of the unsuspecting, tying shoelaces to give uncover signals and on the "surreptitious removal of objects." His guidance was part of a CIA effort, called MK-ULTRA, developed to counter Soviet mind-control and interrogation techniques. It involved dosing suspects with LSD, dropping depilatory powder into Fidel Castro's boots, or planting an explosive in his cigar.