We have just ended Biden's first two years as president, and it's a great time to reflect back on the wild national security ride we’ve had. In fact, Chris Whipple has just done that by publishing his book, “The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden's White House,” a deeply reported book that contains many interviews with Biden's inner circle.Lawfare publisher David Priess spoke with Chris about the transition from Trump to Biden, Biden's decision to pull out of Afghanistan, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration's strategy of releasing intelligence before the invasion to try to both preempt the invasion and prepare European allies for what would come afterward, and much more.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Whipple, author of The Spymasters: How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future, discusses the role of CIA directors and the potential implications of their independence. Juan Zarate, former Treasury Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, talks about the bad guys' use of cryptocurrencies. They explore the danger of cryptocurrency as a channel for terror financing and the challenges of tracking terrorists. Other topics include the positives and negatives of the CIA's operations throughout history, the importance of good relationships between CIA directors and presidents, and the rise of cryptocurrencies and China's ban on crypto mining.