About this event
Join our panel featuring former senior government officials who will discuss how the intelligence and policy processes work in real life and how policy decisions are informed by intelligence. The panelists will discuss their experience collecting and analyzing intelligence and providing that product to Presidents, Cabinet Members and other decision makers. The recent revelations of intelligence reporting regarding Russian bounty payments will be explored as an example of how the system works (and does not work).
Thursday, July 30, 2020
10 a.m. to 11 a.m. (Pacific Time)
1 p.m. to 2 p.m. (Eastern Time)
Panelists: Members of The Steady State
Ambassador Jeffrey Bleich: Chief legal officer at Cruise. He is the former U.S. Ambassador to Australia, currently the chair of Pacific Gas and Electric Company and of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Mr Bleich clerked for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist of the US Supreme Court, Judge Abner J. Mikva of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and Judge Howard M. Holtzmann of the Iran-US Claims Tribunal at The Hague.
Mr. Paul Kolbe: Director of the Intelligence Project at the Belfer Center, John F. Kennedy School, Harvard University. Mr. Kolbe served for 25 years in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations in a variety of foreign and domestic roles, including as Chief of Station, Chief/Central Eurasia Division, and Balkans Group Chief. His overseas assignments included operational and leadership roles in the former Soviet Union, the Balkans, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, and Central Europe. He was a member of the Senior Intelligence Service and is a recipient of the Intelligence Medal of Merit and the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal.
Mr. Steven Cash: Counsel with the Law Firm Day Pitney, LLP, representing individual and corporate clients in criminal, commercial litigation and national security matters. He was Chief Counsel and Staff Director (Minority) to the U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security, and Chief Counsel to Senator Dianne Feinstein. He has also served as Chief of Staff to the Director of Intelligence, Department of Energy; as Staff Director to the U.S. House of Representative's Select Committee on Homeland Security; and as a Professional Staff Member and Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Mr. Cash also served as an Intelligence Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency, first as an Assistant General Counsel and then, with the Directorate of Operations. Before joining federal service, Steven served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Rackets Bureau and Trial Division of the New York County District Attorney's Office in Manhattan.
Ms. Rena Epstein: Ms. Epstein is a retired CIA executive with more than 30 years of experience as an analyst, briefer and reviewer of intelligence products. She spent five years overseeing, producing and reviewing material for the Intelligence Community’s premiere intelligence product, the President’s Daily Briefing (PDB), including as Assistant Deputy Director for Strategic Planning, President’s Daily Briefing for the PDB in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and as former President George W. Bush’s daily PDB briefer. She has been a frequent speaker at intelligence training modules on writing and briefing senior policymakers.
Moderator: John Delikanakis, Partner, Snell & Wilmer
Join the DC College Democrats and The George Washington University College Democrats for a zoom discussion with Steady State, a group of National Security veterans from across the political spectrum who all believe that President Trump represents a danger to the United States.The discussion will focus on the national security implications of a range of policy issues including climate change, alliances, intelligence, Russia, and the state of democracy in the United States.Panelists include: Judith Cefkin, Former U.S. Ambassador Melvin Gamble, Former U.S. Intelligence Officer Margaret Henoch, Former U.S. Senior Intelligence Officer Dr. Susan Koch, Former White House National Security Staff David J. Kramer, Former U.S. Department of State OfficialPhoto Description: Navy to Red fade background with the text "DC College Democrats and the George Washington University College Democrats Present The National Security Implications of US Policies and Actions.
July 23 at 8 PM EDT
Featuring: Judith Cefkin, Former U.S. Ambassador; Melvin Gamble, Former U.S. Intelligence Officer; Margaret Henoch, Former U.S. Senior Intelligence Officer; Dr. Susan Koch, Former White House National Security Staff; David J. Kramer, Former U.S. Department of State Official