Sources & Methods MAGA and 'The Mission' of the intelligence community
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Nov 24, 2025 Tim Weiner, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century, discusses the challenges facing the CIA in a technology-driven world. He highlights how data breaches complicate espionage and contrasts U.S. vulnerabilities with China's surveillance ambitions. Weiner also explains the shift in focus to countering Russian interference post-2017, the risks of political pressure on intelligence operations, and the crucial need for diversity in the CIA workforce to enhance effectiveness.
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Tradecraft Upended By Pervasive Technology
- Technology has inverted tradecraft: enemies can now identify our officers as easily as we identify theirs.
- Tim Weiner warns pervasive cameras, stolen biometric data, and AI make traditional covers far riskier.
OPM Breach Unmasked U.S. Officers
- Weiner recounts the OPM breach that exposed passports, fingerprints, and security forms for millions of federal workers.
- He explains adversaries combined that data with stolen retinal scans to unmask U.S. officers abroad.
CIA Pivoted Back To Russia After 2017
- After counterterrorism dominance, the CIA refocused on Russia under new leadership around 2017.
- That pivot enabled major successes like penetrating Kremlin planning on Ukraine, Weiner says.
