Inside the FBI's Hunt for a Russian Mole | Wayne Barnes
7/11/20262 hr 25 min
We speak with retired FBI agent Wayne Barnes about his career in counterintelligence, from undercover work with the Black Panthers and a hidden Nixon assassination plot to debriefing Cold War defectors and recruiting Soviet intelligence officers. We also dig into his book A Traitor in the FBI, the hunt for a Russian mole inside the Bureau, and the tradecraft, deception, and lucky breaks that shaped the case.
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"Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio"
00:00 — Start
01:16 — Debriefing Cold War Defectors
02:28 — Wayne Barnes’ Origin Story
07:13 — Penn State, Villanova, and the Road to the FBI
14:08 — Early FBI Career Before Quantico
17:39 — The Undercover Black Panther Operation
26:38 — The Compton Vetting Test
29:52 — Bill Cosby, Backstopping, and the Cover Story
31:23 — George H.W. Bush and the UN Recognition Play
35:59 — The Hidden Nixon Assassination Plot
39:22 — Debriefing Defectors and the CIA-FBI Divide
42:49 — Ion Pacepa and the Romanian Intelligence Collapse
45:33 — Courtship: CIA and FBI Working Together
48:08 — Country Music, Cover Legends, and Recruiting Soviets
53:06 — The FBI Mole Hunt Begins
59:21 — The Mission: Get a Russian to Identify the Mole
01:04:25 — Robert Hanssen, Breach, and What the Movie Missed
01:07:03 — Setting the Stage at the Santa Monica Film Festival
01:11:17 — Hollywood Help, Polly Platt, and Backstopping Ivan
01:20:03 — Staging the First Visual Contact
01:25:43 — Who “Ivan” Was and Why He Mattered
01:28:58 — The Poolside Setup That Made Contact Possible
01:35:35 — Why Cold Pitches Don’t Work
01:42:24 — What Happened After Ivan Pointed Out the Photo
01:48:38 — Brian Kelley, False Leads, and Dead Drop Maps
01:52:52 — Why the Case Almost Disappeared
01:58:23 — Robert Redford, Three Days of the Condor, and Real-World Fallout
02:06:37 — What Spy Movies Get Wrong
02:09:01 — A Traitor in the FBI and Final Thoughts
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
[crowd cheering] Big transfer news today.
Wayne Barnes· Guest0:02
Who's moving?
Speaker 10:03
Me, to the couch, with Domino's best deal ever since they just added stuffed crust.
Wayne Barnes· Guest0:07
Any pizza, any toppings now with stuffed crust for 9.99.
Speaker 10:11
It's a longterm contract with no release clause.
Wayne Barnes· Guest0:14
Only 9.99? Yeah, that sounds like the move. I'm heading straight to- Dom- Mmm ...ino's.
Speaker 10:20
[fingers snapping] Prices higher for some locations. Excludes exhale and specialty pizzas. Select this offer from 6/15 through 7/26. Online only. Size availability varies by crust type. Max seven toppings, six with hand- and New York-style crust. Minimum purchase required for delivery. Prices, participation, delivery area, and charges may vary.
Speaker 30:34
[crowd cheering] [upbeat music] Roll out. Milo's Money Days are here, and we're making it rain for rewards members. For the first time ever, when you make a purchase of $200 or more through July 12th, you'll get up to $30 back in extra Milo's Money. Not a member yet? Join for free today, because members get more at Lowe's. Milo's Money award varies based on status. Members in gold get 30, silver get 20, and bronze get 10. Milo's Money valid for 30 days. Restrictions and more terms at lowes.com/milosmoneydays.
Jack Murphy· Host1:04
[upbeat music] Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Team House. My name is Jack Murphy, and our guest on tonight's show is Wayne Barnes. He is a retired career FBI agent, and he is the author of a new book called A Traitor in the FBI: The Hunt for a Russian Mole. Um, now I'll... I guess a, a little bit of a spoiler alert, this- [laughs] ... interview is going to dovetail