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A GOLD MEDAL SPORT: Remember those senior members of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s staff who were summarily fired for – well, it was never entirely clear why – but reports said they were suspected of leaking to the media. And remember the subsequent threats of prosecution? And then an investigation - led in part by the Secretary’s personal attorney (part-time Navy commander) Tim Parlatore – was launched to find out who did what. It seemed a little odd to fire people and THEN investigate what they did – but who are we to judge? Now comes word, via The Guardian, that there may need to be an investigation into [...] More

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State Secrets

CIA veteran Sheetal Patel helped stand up and then lead the spy agency’s Transnational and Technology Mission Center in 2022, at a time when there was no longer any denying that more outreach to the private sector and a better grasp of the technologies that were available had to become more of a focus if the Agency was to maintain its strategic advantage. Patel retired earlier this year after a 25-year career at the Agency and State Secrets Podcast host Suzanne Kelly caught up with her to find out how the Agency’s technology mission has evolved.

Cover Stories: Spies, Books & Entertainment

Former CIA Officer Rodney Faraon served in some pretty fascinating roles at CIA – including as a daily briefer to former director George Tenet and as Chief of the unit that dealt with Chinese and Taiwanese relations. Since retiring, he’s kept his analytic hat on as a Partner at Crumpton Global but he also took a turn toward Hollywood and did what many who have come from the Agency – have yet to do – launch a show for television. In this episode of the Cover Stories podcast, Rodney spills the secrets on how he adopted his CIA skills to help him survive in Hollywood.