Former CIA case officer Sean Wiswesser joins Jack Murphy to break down the hidden world of Russian espionage, from Cold War tradecraft and sleeper agents to sabotage operations unfolding across Europe today. Sean also shares stories from his own career handling Russian assets, offering a rare look at how intelligence work actually happens in denied areas.
This episode digs into why Russia still views the U.S. as its primary adversary, how corruption shapes the Kremlin’s security services, and what the West still gets wrong about Putin’s long-running shadow war.
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"Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio"
00:00 — Start
03:00 — Growing up working class and discovering Russia in the early ’90s
07:30 — Student travel mishaps and why Sean chose government service
12:00 — Joining CIA and the reality of denied-area tradecraft
18:00 — Why Russia still sees America as its main enemy
25:00 — The corruption and criminal side of Russian intelligence
32:00 — Russian assassinations, sabotage, and failed covert ops
40:20 — What CIA actually cleared Sean to reveal about handling assets
48:00 — Russian illegals, sleeper agents, and deep-cover operations
57:00 — Ukraine war: Russian intelligence failures and Putin’s blind spots
01:08:00 — Hybrid warfare in Europe: sabotage, cable cuts, and gray-zone ops
01:25:00 — Final thoughts: how the West should respond to Russia today
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