A Million-Dollar Lawsuit and the State of American Intelligence

Host Jim Lawler sits down with Jeff Stein, the founding editor-in-chief of Spy Talk and a veteran journalist who has covered the intelligence community for over 40 years — and who earlier this year beat back a $1 million defamation suit brought by a Trump administration official. Stein shares his visceral reaction to being served on his front porch on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and why he knew from the start his reporting would hold up.

He explains how the Trump administration has weaponized litigation against journalists, and warns that this creates a chilling effect on sources and reporters alike. He expresses concern regarding the “raw mass firings” of intelligence professionals who served under Democratic administrations — a radical departure from past practice — and the counterintelligence nightmare this creates.

He warns that the Iran war is a strategic disaster, that Trump “seems mesmerized by Netanyahu,” and that the decimation of CISA and the undermining of NATO are genuine threats. He closes with his view of the upcoming elections: “Trump is a national security threat, and the Democrats… that’s our only vehicle for getting rid of this national security threat.”

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Guest info: Jeff Stein is the founding editor-in-chief of Spy Talk, an independent Substack outlet and podcast covering U.S. intelligence, defense, and foreign policy. Before going independent, he wrote the Spy Talk column at Newsweek and earlier founded the CQ Homeland Security column at Congressional Quarterly. He is the author of three books, including A Murder in Wartime and Saddam’s Bomb Maker. From 1968 to 1969, he served as a case officer with the 525th MI Group in Vietnam, running a network of spies against communist forces and was awarded a Bronze Star.

Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 400 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.