SpyTalk

Trump, Iran at fateful crossroads, top Middle East expert Jon Alterman says on the SpyTalk podcast. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Will the Iranian regime survive? Two prominent Iranian-American journalists, Jason Rezaian of the Washington Post and Hooman Majd of NBC News, say the regime may be losing its grip. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

CIA in Venezuela, Cuba and Beyond Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Christine Kuehn talks about her shocking discovery in “Family of Spies" Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tom Blanton talks about 40 years of unearthing CIA plots at the National Security Archive. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Top former national security official Josh Geltzer separates fake from real threats. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ace investigative reporter Carol Leonnig talks about her latest scoop and new book on Trump’s DoJ, “Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America's Justice Department” Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Investigative reporter Ron Kessler and retired former senior CIA officer John Sipher on the GOP plan to give Tulsi Gabbard control of neutralizing spies and terrorists. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Intelligence historians James Risen and Peter Kornbluh on Trump policies and Cold War excesses. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Veteran war reporter and Latin America expert Doug Farah throws cold water on Trump’s campaign against Nicholas Maduro. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

After spending years tracking Al Qaeda, former analyst Gina Bennett talks to SpyTalk about her storied career, her new spy novel and the rising threat of "politicized misogyny." Gina Bennett If Two of Them Are Dead Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ken Vogel talks about his new book, Devils’ Advocates: The Hidden Story of Rudy Giuliani, Hunter Biden, and the Washington Insiders on the Payrolls of Corrupt Foreign Interests. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former White House Situation Room Director Larry Pfeiffer Talks Fear and Facts with SpyTalk. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In a new book the CNN anchor unspools the inside story of a unique terrorism case. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The acclaimed spy thriller author and ex-CIA analyst talks about his new novel, “The Persians,” set in the clandestine war between Israel and Iran. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

John Ryan and his gripping tale of yet more Guantanamo secrets. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Two British journalists find fresh evidence implicating a key Saudi suspect who escaped U.S. justice. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Wall Street Journal reporters Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson talk about their new book “Swap” on the SpyTalk podcast. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

24 years after his father’s assassination, anti-Taliban leader Ahmad Massoud vows stepped up resistance to the Kabul regime. But Jon Lee Anderson of the New Yorker sees little path for success. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“King of Kings” author Scott Anderson describes how feckless US officials helped usher in the Iranian revolution. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

DNI ignored Jim Himes until he warned her on Section 702 Renewal. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

A veteran diplomat dissects Trump's failure to get Putin to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine. Former Ambassador Daniel Fried, who spent years dealing with Putin's Russia, says it's time for Trump to "stare down" the dictator. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former top unit lawyer Tom Brzozowski provides SpyTalk with exclusive details. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The secret deal that temporarily suspended the Cold War is revisited by Foreign Policy Executive Editor Dan Ephron and SpyTalk host Michael Isikoff Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former top NSA, CIA & ODNI official Larry Pfeiffer discusses Tulsi Gabbard’s attacks on CIA handling of Russia election report with hosts Jeff Stein and Michael Isikoff Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Special Agent Mike Feinberg tells how he was forced out in Kash Patel’s wholesale purge of FBI officials suspected of disloyalty to Trump. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Susan Miller, who captained 2016 election analysis, says there was ‘no coercion’ from CIA chief Brennan on Putin's interference—but was ‘pissed’ FBI insisted on Steele Dossier inclusion. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former senior CIA ops manager Luis Rueda talks about an imperiled spy agency with host Jeff Stein. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former National Intelligence Council chief Gregory Treverton tells SpyTalk’s Michael Isikoff he wonders why DNI Tulsi Gabbard still has her job - and why her agency should be “substantially” reduced in size. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former Obama adviser Ned Price discusses Trump‘s options on Iran with SpyTalk hosts Jeff Stein & Michael Isikoff. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Trump-MAGA infestation of spy agency poses national security threat, senior CIA ops veteran Luis Rueda tells SpyTalk host Jeff Stein. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sam Tanenhaus, author of new biography of William F. Buckley, Jr., joins Michael Isikoff discuss the conservative columnist's early role as a CIA spy and his longtime relationship with his one time agency boss, Watergate burglar Howard Hunt. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Gabbard’s meddling with intel disqualifies her, Sen. Mark Warner says on SpyTalk podcast with Michael Isikoff Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former top CIA exec Sue Miller talks all things espionage with Jeff Stein & Michael Isikoff Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“It’s not good” that ex-spooks are going public, former CIA officer Steve Cash tells the SpyTalk podcast, but “we’re terrified” by Trump. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Rep. Jim Himes, top Dem on the House Intel Committee, talks with Jeff & Mike about the Qatar grift and more bad things going on under Tulsi Gabbard. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Russia’s airliner sabotage ops are examined by science writer Jeff Wise and SpyTalk host Jeff Stein Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Trump’s shutdown of Russian war crimes investigations is the focus of former US Ambassador-at-large Stephen Rapp and SpyTalk host Michael Isikoff. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former CIA officer Frank Snepp shares a stunning spy story of the Vietnam War’s chaotic end with host Jeff Stein Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Doug Waller talks with Michael Isikoff about his new biography of CIA master spook Frank Wisner, quarterback of the 1953 Iran coup—and so much more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Pulitzer-winning intelligence historian Tim Weiner discusses the latest wacky—and disturbing—news from inside the Trump administration’s national security team with SpyTalk host Jeff Stein Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Host Michael Isikoff, JFK conspiracies-buster Fred Litwin, and national security analyst Peter Kornbluh dissect MAGA Rep. Anna Luna’s wacky hearing featuring Oliver Stone and other assassination plot zealots. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Luis Rueda, once the director of the CIA's Iraq Operations Group, reflects with Michael on the many mistakes the U.S. government made during the war in Iraq-- and the fatal consequences Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sue Miller not only headed CIA Counterintelligence, among other high positions during her 39-year career. She oversaw the agency's controversial assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election. And she thinks Trump’s pro-Russia moves should be an ongoing counterintelligence concern.  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The star player in Trump’s first impeachment tells Michael Isikoff there will no ceasefire in Ukraine and calls DC prosecutor a “henchman” for launching bogus probe of him and his brother. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former senior CIA operations official Glenn Corn talks with Jeff Stein about his recent trip to Ukraine and its prospects in a rapidly and radically changing diplomatic landscape Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former US NATO envoy and Army General Doug Lute discusses JD Vance insults of allies, administration abandonment of Ukraine to Russia with SpyTalk podcast host Michael Isikoff. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Veteran former senior CIA operations official Bill Murray talks with Jeff Stein about the challenges of countering aggressive Russian intelligence ops, from the Cold War to Trump II’s radical policy shifts toward Moscow. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former top FBI counterterrorism agent Chris O’Leary tells host Michael Isikoff how Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove was a diligent prosecutor of Jan. 6 rioters before he turned on his teammates at Trump's behest. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former Senior DHS Intelligence Counsel Spencer Reynolds talks with host Jeff Stein about the troubled past and uncertain future of the agency’s Intelligence & Analysis wing under President Trump. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ronald Deibert of Citizen Lab tells host Michael Isikoff how his research firm has uncovered the shocking abuse of commercial spyware by foreign governments and spy agencies around the world, resulting in a proliferation of "Watergate-like” scandals. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Himes, tells host Michael Isikoff there is "zero evidence" TikTok is providing data on Americans to Beijing, plus talks about the "really, really scary" Jan. 6 pardons and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former senior CIA official and situation room Director Larry Pfeiffer goes inside the White House situation room with SpyTalk host Jeff Stein. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former Jan. 6 committee chief counsel and federal prosecutor Timothy Heaphy talks with SpyTalk podcast co-host Michael Isikoff about the president-elect's false claims about the Capitol riot and the major role social media played in that and the 2017 Charlottesville rally by white supremacists. He also recommends the FBI loosen its rules that restrict its ability to investigate social media posts. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Top former FBI counterspy executive and NYC Terrorism Task Force honcho Lauren Anderson addresses the looming uncertainty over “Day One,” January 20, with SpyTalk host Jeff Stein Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Anti-Assad activist Mouaz Moustafa in Damascus tells Michael Isikoff how he got advance word about the rebel offensive that would topple the Assad regime—including the hidden hand that foreign intelligence agencies may have played in laying the groundwork—and how the regime’s secret files may shed new light on the relationship that DNI-designate Tulsi Gabbard had with the Assad regime. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Garret Graff, historian and journalist, explains why Trump's intention to install the fierce MAGA loyalist in charge of the U.S. government's premier law enforcement agency charged with thwarting terror attacks and protecting the nation's secrets endangers the bureau's mission for years to come. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

SpyTalk's Michael Isikoff talks to Chris Costa, former chief of counter-terrorism at the NSC and now executive director of the International Spy Museum, about the mounting threat of Russian hybrid warfare-- including acts of sabotage, arson, assassination and cyber intrusions-- and whether it is time to designate Putin's Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Costa also weighs in on President-elect Trump's pick of Tulsi Gabbard to be DNI and Sebastian Gorka as the new counter-terror chief at the NSC. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tim Weiner, the Pulitzer-winning author of groundbreaking histories of the CIA, FBI and more, discusses Trump’s troubling nominees for top national security jobs with SpyTalk host Jeff Stein. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

National Security lawyer Mark Zaid discusses Trump's stunning selection as Florida congressman Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General and what it might mean for his plans to target "corrupt actors" in U.S. intelligence and national security agencies who crossed him in the Russia probe. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

New Yorker staff writer Charles Bethea joins Jeff Stein to discuss his startling reportage on thousands of Americans preparing for a civil war or other countrywide disasters. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Rep, Jamie Raskin tells SpyTalk why he wants DOJ to investigate whether Trump's son in law is serving as an unregistered agent of the Saudi government due to the $2 billion he's gotten from the Saudi wealth fund, as well as another newly discovered $87 million in "management fees." The feisty Maryland progressive also discusses his thoughts on the election and whether Trump is even eligible to serve as president under the 14th amendment. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Extremism tracker Clara Broekaert talks about political violence in the lead-up to the 2024 election and what conditions have made violent political rhetoric possible. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

As president, Trump was known for his "bromance" with North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un, holding two summits in Singapore and Hanoi and engaging in a "love letter" correspondence with him that he took with him to Mar-A-Lago after he left office. But before that, journalist Zach Dorfman reminds us, Trump came perilously close to unleashing a nuclear strike on the country--an attack that, then Secretary of Defense feared, would "incinerate a couple of million people." In a SpyTalk podcast, Dorfman also talks about how, under Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign on the country, the Pentagon and CIA updated ambitious-- and somewhat quixotic-- plans for regime change. Which Trump will guide U.S. policy should he return to the Oval Office: The peacenik who tried to engage Kim in diplomacy or the MAGA warrior who once threatened North Korea "with fire and fury" unlike the world has ever seen? As Dorfman points out, it's a pressing question given that, with North Korea's accelerated missile tests and a growing alliance with Vladimir Putin's Russia, including sending equipment and troops to Ukraine, some scholars believe the threat of a conflict on the Korean Peninsula is greater than it has been in years. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The filmed game’s organizer Janessa Goldbeck joins host Jeff Stein to discuss the jarring results of the all-too-real exercise. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former FBI analyst and Hezbollah expert Matt Levitt says an attack on Iranian intelligence facilities - rather than nuclear sites- may be coming. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Can a good spy become a good politician? I mean, not as an undercover agent—spy agencies are pretty good at that—but in an overt way, in, say, the messy US Congress. Or, put another way, can the skills that a CIA officer employs in clandestine operations—gregariousness, empathy and, let’s face it, a learned talent for manipulating people, be put to good use in a place like a deeply polarized Congress? This week I’m putting those questions to Abigail Spanberger, a former member of the CIA’s clandestine service, who in 2018 won a seat in Congress from Virginia as a Democrat, breaking, by the way, a nearly 40-year long Republican chokehold on a sprawling district in the near and far suburbs Washington, DC. Since then Spanberger has developed a strong reputation for working across the aisle with Republicans on bills that help constituents. And now she’s running for governor of Virginia with no primary opposition. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Top cyberwar expert and former Trump White House Homeland Security Advisor Thomas Bossert tells host Michel Isikoff that Israel’s deadly exploding pagers op was a “brilliant” tactic that Hezbollah's terrorists deserved. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sam Goodwin tells us about his harrowing ordeal as a prisoner in one of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's torture chambers. It is an extraordinary story of a young American from St. Louis who embarked on a personal adventure to visit every country in the planet only to be ensnared when he made it into Syria by Assad's security forces, who threw him into one of their most notorious prisons as a suspected CIA spy. His account, told in his new book called Saving Sam, the true story of an American's disappearance in Syria and his family's extraordinary fight to bring him home, is a reminder of the still ongoing atrocities in Syria's 13 year long civil war. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Over a period of roughly 14 years, according to the feds, Linda Sun rose through the ranks to become deputy chief of staff to Governor Hochul, before she was fired for unspecified reasons and became a target of federal investigators. But according to the DoJ, the 41-year-old was secretly using her position to advance Chinese political and business interests and steal relevant documents. In return, the feds say, Beijing’s spy service showered the couple with millions of dollars that afforded them lavish homes, a Ferrari Roma sports car, and—people had fun with this—special salted duck dishes prepared by a Chinese Embassy chef. In court on Tuesday the couple entered not guilty pleas to charges of acting as unregistered foreign agents. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

John Sullivan, the former U.S. ambassador to Moscow under Presidents Trump and Biden, worries that the Ukraine war could go on for "decades" and offers some candid views on his dealings with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Washington Post investigative reporter Craig Whitlock, author of “The Afghanistan Papers,” is Jeff Stein’s guest on the sad anniversary of the chaotic retreat. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

SOMEWHERE IN THE REMOTE MOUNTAINS of Pakistan’s southwest province of Balochistan, a shadowy, 29-year-old veteran of the Afghan Army is believed to be holed up, keenly conscious that the U.S. government has placed a $10 million bounty on his head. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This week, we’re going to take a look at the shock and disorientation the children of spies face when they learn that one, or both, of their parents are not who they say they are. Jeff’s guest, Johanna McCloy, didn’t know she was the daughter of an American spy until she was 15 years old. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Pentagon’s stunning plea deal with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants was negotiated and announced without briefings for the families of victims of the terrorist attack–an apparent failure that drew a furious reaction Thursday from a leading 9/11 victims’ group. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Veteran CIA ops officer Jim Lawler talks about the tricks of the trade with host Jeff Stein. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Former DHS Intel Chief John Cohen on the Butler, Pa. fiasco with guest host Michael Isikoff. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“Mafia Spies” is based on a 2019 book by the same name by veteran investigative reporter Thomas Maier, with the subtitle, “The Inside Story of the CIA, Gangsters, JFK, and Castro.” Which in turn was based largely on declassified files relating to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The TV series includes dramatic recreations of critical moments in the plots, lively, insightful commentary with longstanding experts on Cuba, Castro and the Kennedys, as well as on-camera interviews with a few, still living relatives and associates of the key gangsters in the conspiracies, Johnny Rosselli and Sam Giancana. The series sheds new light on the grisly demise of Giancana and Rosselli before they were able to spill all the beans about the demonic—and sometimes comic failures—of the Castro assassination efforts. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Reuters reporter Aram Roston with Jeff Stein on the Proud Boys resurgence. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Frank Figliuzzi talks with Jeff Stein about the Bureau’s dizzying challenges. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Fat Leonard was “a maritime fixer who provided harbor protection, barges, cranes, food, fresh water, sewage collection, and anything else a nuclear powered aircraft carrier might need.” It’s absolutely astonishing how easily Leonard corrupted so many ranking Navy officers by providing them with prostitutes, booze, cash and airline tickets. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Middle East hand Jonathan Broder talks about the convoluted intelligence relationship between Jerusalem and Washington with host Jeff Stein. There are friendly nations, but no friendly intelligence services, goes an old saw in the spy business. What that means in practicality is that we have close intelligence relationships with our allies, but in many cases, we also spy on each other, not entirely trusting what they’re telling us.  In no place is this convoluted arrangement better exemplified than the security relationship between US and Israel, who have a long history of snooping on each other while closely working together on mutual targets, like Iran and its allied militias, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and now, Hamas in Gaza. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jason Leopold, a senior reporter with Bloomberg News, has literally been getting under the skin of government bureaucracies for decades. His weapon: The Freedom of Information Act, enacted by Congress in the mid-1960s because the feds, well, had an insidious propensity to bury embarrassing, or even illegal, acts under layers of official secrecy. Over the years the law has been strengthened—not that it’s stopped the government from continuing its bad behavior. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Last month’s spectacular terrorist attack on a concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow, which left 144 people dead, was quickly followed by startling news that US intelligence had warned the Russians about the impending assault. When the Kremlin said the warnings hadn’t been specific, moreover, US officials pushed back, saying, in effect, “Oh yes they were,” and added details to its rejoinder. Likewise, it turned out that back in January, US intelligence had warned Iran about an impending Islamic State terrorist attack at a gathering to honor its fallen Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani, who had been killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad.  The revelations that our spy services had actually warned two of our greatest mortal enemies astounded many people and triggered a lot of acidic commentary, confusion and the inevitable conspiracy theories on social media. Today’s guest, former CIA case officer and base chief Laura Thomas, who held a number of senior intelligence positions during her nearly 16 years of government service, says those actions followed a standard practice in American intelligence. It’s called “a duty to warn.” And she’s here to explain how that seemingly esoteric, even confounding, practice is not only a staple of the spy world—at least on the American side—but it has some espionage benefits as well. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

New SpyTalk Contributing Editor Mike Isikoff pokes holes in 60 Minutes’ blockbuster story. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jeff talks with Henry Schlesinger, author of "Honey Trapped: Sex, Betrayal, and Weaponized Love." Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jonna Mendez, former CIA chief of disguises, discusses her new book, “In True Face: A Woman's Life in the CIA, Unmasked.” Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy