William J. Tucker

Regular Blogs of War contributor

Counterintelligence

Covert Contact Podcast: The Chinese Espionage Episodes

Your guide to 12 Covert Contact episodes focused on the counterintelligence challenges posed by China.

Covert Contact

Chinese Spies in US Law Enforcement - And Everywhere Else

The regular counterintelligence chat with William Tucker is a day late but full of new Chinese espionage activity in the NYPD, the EU, and beyond. We also touch on intelligence history and why literature from the Middle Ages or beyond is not only fascinating but still relevant.

Counterintelligence

The Threat of Fake Spies

William Tucker returns to discuss the incredible case of Garrison Courtney and Alpha-214. Posing as a CIA NOC Courtney was able to engineer a scheme that duped numerous beltway contractors, intelligence officials, former military officers and many others.

Counterintelligence

Election Threats and Disrupting Chinese Espionage

In this episode we discuss the recent report for Microsoft that details Russian, Chinese, and Iranian attacks on individuals and organizations tied to our presidential campaigns and the recent move to revoke the visas of more than 1,000 Chinese grad students and researchers

Counterintelligence

French Officer Busted Spying on NATO for GRU & Other Espionage Cases

William Tucker joins me to discuss two high profile cases this week, sloppy Chinese tradecraft, and why it always pays to visit the FBI before the FBI visits you.

Covert Contact

Texas A&M, NASA, and Chinese Espionage

William Tucker joins me to discuss the Zhengdong Cheng case, how Chinese espionage might be forced to evolve, global awareness of the scope of China’s spying, and how organizations can protect themselves if they haven’t started evaluating their own risk.

Covert Contact

Spying for Russia: The Peter Debbins Case

William Tucker joins me again to look into yesterday’s indictment of Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins, a former Green Beret alleged to have worked for Russian intelligence for over a decade.

William J. Tucker

Counterintelligence Chat: Alexei Navalny & Alexander Ma

William Tucker returns to look at the apparent poisoning of Alexei Navalny and yet another Chinese espionage case, this time involving Alexander Ma. It’s a classic case, with a Hawaii connection, and there’s likely more interesting details to come.

Covert Contact

A Pardon for Edward Snowden?

William Tucker returns to discuss the Edward Snowden case after President Trump made remarks on the case that sparked new speculation about a potential pardon.

Covert Contact

Washington Takes Aim at the Confucius Institute

Today’s decision to force the Confucius Institute to register as a foreign mission is the subject of my regular Thursday evening counterintelligence chat with Covert Contact regular William Tucker. We look at why it was necessary and where we, and China, might go from here.

Covert Contact

Chinese Spies and Russian Honey Traps

William J. Tucker returns for our regular Thursday evening counterintelligence chat. We start off by discussing the resource challenges in addressing Chinese espionage but quickly pivot to thoughts on Russian cases, honey traps, and more.

Covert Contact

Chinese Espionage in the United States

William Tucker is back to discuss the scale of Chinese espionage in the United States and some of the misconceptions that have hampered our response to the threat.

Covert Contact

The Jerry Chun Shing Lee Case

Jerry Chun Shing Lee, a former CIA case officer, is suspected by many to have compromised CIA activities in China but has only been charged with the less serious crime of unlawful retention of national defense information.

Covert Contact

Economic Espionage: No One Is Immune

William J. Tucker, a regular contributor on counterintelligence and security topics for Blogs of War and Covert Contact, joins me for a deep dive on economic espionage.

Covert Contact

Beyond Russia: Overlooked Counterintelligence Threats

Russian intelligence presents a significant challenge for the United States but it is far from the only threat. There are dozens of nations and non-state actors actively collecting against us at any given time.

Covert Contact

The Manchester Attack

Regular contributor William J. Tucker joined me to examine the Manchester Attack about 24 hours after it occurred.

Covert Contact

Counterintelligence in the Trump Era

William J. Tucker, regular contributor on counterintelligence topics for Blogs of War and Covert Contact, joins me to discuss the unprecedented challenge the Trump presidency poses to both U.S. counterintelligence and the intelligence community as whole.

Covert Contact

Russia, Trump, and Hillary: What a Debate

In episode 62 I look at what may have been the most bizarre presidential debate in U.S. history. Covert Contact regular William J. Tucker joins me later in the show to discuss the U.S. government’s formal acknowledgement that Russia is meddling in the U.S. election. You

Covert Contact

Putin’s Struggle for Relevancy and Power with William J. Tucker

Covert Contact regular William J. Tucker joins me for a quick look at Putin’s outlook and the challenges he faces despite domestic political wins, successful rounds of international meddling, and attempts to reshape Russia’s domestic security, military, and intelligence services. Putin appears to be working from a position

Covert Contact

Russian Hackers Run Wild on the DNC

Regular Blogs of War and Covert Contact contributor William J. Tucker joins me to discuss the apparent Russian state-sponsored hack of the DNC. We also spend quite a bit of time discussing the sorry state of security. We’re talking about cyber issues constantly but the intrusions, threats, and vulnerabilities

Covert Contact

Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin: Identity, Espionage, and Counterintelligence

Regular Blogs of War and Covert Contact contributor William J. Tucker joins me to discuss the Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin espionage case. While little is known about the case, and Edward Lin has yet to be convicted, all signs point to a very damaging affair. Lin was born in Taiwan,

Covert Contact

What Has Russia Gained in Syria?

Regular Blogs of War and Covert Contact contributor William J. Tucker joins me after a long break to discuss Russia’s intervention in Syria. Why are they there, what were their true motives, what have they gained, and where does this action fit in the context of Russia’s long-standing

Covert Contact

Russian Weakness with William J. Tucker

Episode 39 of Covert Contact explores our frequent inability to adequately understand Russia’s strengths and weaknesses. William J. Tucker joins me once again to look at the significant challenges weakening Russia, their ability to act within constraints that would hobble other nations, and how they might evolve and cope

Covert Contact

LZ Grace: A Place for Warriors to Heal

Lynnette Bukowski joins me to discuss LZ Grace Warriors Retreat [http://lz-grace.com/index.html]in the latest episode of the Covert Contact podcast. Lynnette, and many volunteers, have transformed a 38 acre farm in Virginia Beach into a place for members of the special operations community and first responders

Covert Contact

Covert Contact Wraps up 2015 with William J. Tucker

Regular contributor William J. Tucker joined me for the final episode of 2015. We discussed holiday terror alerts, Poland’s unusual raid of a NATO-linked counterintelligence center that it operated with Slovakia, the U.S. Army Europe counterintelligence division’s release of a mobile app for soliciting tips, and more.