Former Gitmo prosecutor Michael Lebowitz takes us inside the nuclear plot that never was.

Mike Lebowitz is one of America’s few war-crimes prosecutors with front-line counterterrorism experience. A former senior attorney at the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, he spent nearly a decade prosecuting cases at Guantanamo Bay, including the 9/11, USS Cole, and top Al Qaeda commander trials. A US Army combat veteran and former Pathfinder unit paratrooper officer, Lebowitz also served as a senior legal advisor to US Army Cyber Command. He has been featured or quoted by the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Associated Press, and the Atlantic. He lives in Washington, DC.

Second Wave by Michael Lebowitz

In 2003, US intelligence uncovered evidence that al Qaeda had acquired nuclear materials, plotting to smuggle them into American ports. The “Second Wave” threat triggered one of the most urgent and secretive manhunts in US history.

With the cinematic intensity of Zero Dark Thirty and the investigative depth of The Looming Tower, Michael Lebowitz captures post-9/11 chaos and drama: agents risking everything to prevent another catastrophe, families torn apart, and the ethical fault lines still dividing US intelligence.

Readers meet Pakistani-American industrialist Saifullah Paracha, whose import- export business concealed ties to al Qaeda; Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, architect of 9/11; Majid Khan, a Baltimore gas-station clerk turned jihadist who mapped US targets; an FBI interrogator who broke suspects faster than any waterboard; and an Orthodox Jewish garment importer whose betrayal helped avert disaster. On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Lebowitz’s account reveals a global pursuit that tested America’s moral limits and asks: Are we as prepared today as we were then?

Follow Michael Isikoff | https://x.com/isikoff 

Follow Karen Greenberg on Twitter | https://x.com/KarenGreenberg3

Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter | https://x.com/SpyTalker 

Subscribe to SpyTalk on Substack | https://www.spytalk.co/ 

Former Obama speechwriter Tommy Vietor talks about energizing Dems on vital US foreign policy issues.

Tommy Vietor | https://x.com/TVietor08 | https://crooked.com/podcast-series/pod-save-the-world/

Follow Michael Isikoff on Twitter | https://x.com/isikoff       

Follow Karen Greenberg on Twitter | https://x.com/KarenGreenberg3    

Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter | https://x.com/SpyTalker    

Follow SpyTalk on Twitter | https://x.com/talk_spy    

Subscribe to SpyTalk on Substack | https://www.spytalk.co/

Cuba intervention expert Peter Kornbluh joins SpyTalk to discuss Trump’s pressure campaign.

Peter Kornbluh | National Security Archive 

Peter Kornbluh, Senior Analyst, has worked at the Archive since April 1986. He currently directs the Archive's Cuba and Chile Documentation Projects. He was co-director of the Iran-Contra documentation project and director of the Archive's project on U.S. policy toward Nicaragua. From 1990-1999, he taught at Columbia University as an adjunct assistant professor of international and public affairs.

Cuba: Declassified Records on the Brothers to the Rescue Shootdown | National Security Archive

Check out National Security Archive on Facebook and Bluesky

https://www.facebook.com/NSArchive 

https://bsky.app/profile/nsarchive.bsky.social 

Follow Michael Isikoff on Twitter |https://x.com/isikoff     

Follow Karen Greenberg on Twitter | https://x.com/KarenGreenberg3   

Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter | https://x.com/SpyTalker   

Follow SpyTalk on Twitter | https://x.com/talk_spy   

Subscribe to SpyTalk on Substack | https://www.spytalk.co/ 

Ex-CIA operative Jerry Watson and journalist Bob Drogin tell the disastrous story of Curveball and its relevance to today’s war against Iran.

The US invaded Iraq after the based on bogus intel. Much of that intel was fabricated by Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi an Iraqi defector codenamed "Curveball."

More from our guests:

Bob Drogin | Los Angeles Times 

A CIA Officer Returns to Iraq and Uncovers Embarrassing Details of the Spy Agency’s WMD Debacle

Curveball

Jerry Watson | https://www.criticalanswers.net/ 

Follow Michael Isikoff on Twitter |https://x.com/isikoff     

Follow Karen Greenberg on Twitter | https://x.com/KarenGreenberg3   

Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter | https://x.com/SpyTalker   

Follow SpyTalk on Twitter | https://x.com/talk_spy   

Subscribe to SpyTalk on Substack | https://www.spytalk.co/ 

Former CIA Russia hand Sean Wiswesser assesses Putin’s grip on his security services amid rumors of coups. 

Sean Wiswesser is a Russian intelligence and espionage expert, retired CIA senior ops officer, and author.

His latest book, Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin's Secret War, is out now.

x.com/Wiswesser 

https://www.instagram.com/seanwiswesser/ 

http://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-wiswesser

Follow Michael Isikoff on Twitter

https://x.com/isikoff   

Follow Karen Greenberg on Twitter

https://x.com/KarenGreenberg3  

Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter:

https://x.com/SpyTalker  

Follow SpyTalk on Twitter:

https://x.com/talk_spy  

Subscribe to SpyTalk on Substack

https://www.spytalk.co/

Veteran journalist Jack Cheevers takes another look at President Kennedy’s ambivalent role in the overthrow and assassination of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem.

Check out Kennedy’ Coup by Jack Cheevers

Subscribe to SpyTalk on Substack https://www.spytalk.co/

Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter https://x.com/SpyTalker 

Follow Michael Isikoff on Twitter https://x.com/isikoff 

Follow Karen Greenberg on Twitter https://x.com/KarenGreenberg3 

Follow SpyTalk on Twitter https://x.com/talk_spy 

A former Pakistani ambassador to the US says the more Trump bashes Iran, the more it will dig in.

Husain Haqqani joins SpyTalk to discuss the state of diplomacy between Iran and the US.

Follow Michael Isikoff on Twitter https://twitter.com/isikoff 

Follow Karen Greenberg on Twitter https://x.com/KarenGreenberg3 

Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter https://twitter.com/SpyTalker 

Follow SpyTalk on Twitter https://twitter.com/talk_spy 

Subscribe to SpyTalk on Substack https://www.spytalk.co/ 

Former CIA Iran spy recruiter Mark Fowler says the “peace deal” is not the end of the war. He shares his analysis of the recent peace talks based on his understanding of how Iranians negotiate.

For more of Mark Fowler's analysis follow him on Substack | https://substack.com/@malfow5

Mark also writes espionage fiction | https://markafowler-author.com/

Michael Isikoff on Twitter | https://twitter.com/isikoff 

Karen Greenberg on Twitter | https://x.com/KarenGreenberg3 

Jeff Stein on Twitter | https://twitter.com/SpyTalker 

SpyTalk on Twitter | https://twitter.com/talk_spy

Former CENTCOM commander Gen. Joseph Votel says military leaders should refuse a Trump order to bomb Iran "back to the Stone Ages" 

Joseph Leonard Votel is a retired four-star general in the United States Army who was commander of United States Central Command from March 2016 to March 2019. Before that, he served as commander of the United States Special Operations Command.

Follow Michael Isikoff on Twitter | https://twitter.com/isikoff

Follow Karen Greenberg on Twitter | https://x.com/KarenGreenberg3

Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter | https://twitter.com/SpyTalker

Follow SpyTalk on Twitter | https://twitter.com/talk_spy

Trump and Netanyahu finger others for Iran war problems.  

SpyTalk speaks with Yossi Melman, an investigative journalist with The Jerusalem Post about issues USA and Israel have with the methods and objectives of the war.

More from Yossi Melman | Yossi Melman | The Jerusalem Post | www.yossimelman.com | (@yossi_melman)

Former CIA operative and Senior DOD Official Mick Mulroy Details Trump’s Bad Options on Iran.

https://www.loboinstitute.org/

Follow Michael Isikoff on Twitter: https://twitter.com/isikoff

Follow Karen Greenberg on Twitter: https://x.com/KarenGreenberg3

Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpyTalker

Follow SpyTalk on Twitter: https://twitter.com/talk_spy

Subscribe to SpyTalk on Substack https://www.spytalk.co/