Former Senior CIA Officer Ed Bogan spent a decades-long career at CIA focused on the most urgent issues of our time ranging from counterterrorism to Russia in Ukraine.  In this episode of State Secrets, Bogan shares his journey from law school to joining the CIA and his experiences in counterterrorism and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.  He emphasizes the importance of addressing the underlying causes of terrorism and the need to counter Russian disinformation.  Bogan’s mission now – with a new 501c(3) – is focused on studying how leader’s use and misuse ‘states of emergency’ and the need for informed decision-making and action.

“Havana Syndrome” - reported by hundreds of U.S. officials, diplomats, CIA Officers, FBI Agents and White House staff - as well as some members of their families – is described as including severe headaches accompanied by loss of balance and often followed by cognitive issues. Some doctors have concluded that the likely source is a directed energy weapon that uses microwave or ultrasound waves to attack the brain and inner ear. In this episode, Cipher Brief Managing Editor Tom Nagorski talks with Christo Grozev, a journalist who served as a lead investigator on Havana Syndrome for a publication called The Insider and Insider Editor Michael Weiss as well as former senior CIA officer and Cipher Brief Expert Marc Polymeropoulos, who says that he himself was struck during a visit to Moscow. Grozev and Weiss also share the findings of their recent investigation conducted in cooperation with 60 Minutes and the German news magazine Der Spiegel that indicates who is behind Havana Syndrome, saying they have uncovered evidence that members of a special Russian military intelligence unit may be to blame. The revelations of their investigation have called into question findings by U.S. intelligence agencies that found – in their own investigations - that the “Anomalous Health Incidents” as they call them - are not the result of a coordinated effort by Russia or anyone else. Full reports of the government’s findings can be found online.  This podcast focuses on another side of this continuing story.