John Sipher
- Director of Customer Success, CrossLead Inc. and Freelance Writer, Freelance
- Contributor, Great Power
Washington, D.C.
Former CIA Clandestine Service. @SpycraftEnt, #NAFO, Atlantic Council, Cipher Brief. Sometimes writes. Host of "Mission Implausible" podcast. Friend of dogs.
Articles by John Sipher
Lawfare Daily: Julia Curlee and John Sipher on John Ratcliffe’s Tenure as the Director of Central Intelligence
Senior Editor Michael Feinberg talks with Lawfare Public Service Fellow Julia Curlee and former CIA Case Officer John Sipher about John Ratcliffe’s tenure as the Director of Central Intelligence and cultural changes in the intelligence community writ large. To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.
The CIA Director Is a Failure
Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe attending a cabinet meeting at Camp David on July 31, 2026. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) ON SEPTEMBER 18, THE CIA turns 79. Whether it reaches 80 with its integrity intact depends largely on the man who leads it. In an administration of amateurs, talk-show hosts, and relatives, CIA Director John Ratcliffe stands out by not standing out. He does not sound unhinged and has no obvious grift.
Inside Trump’s American regime change
Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, Simon & Schuster, £28 Ghengis Khan. Adolf Hitler. Alexander the Great. President Donald Trump relished an assessment that compared him to such historical figures and framed him as the most powerful man ever to live. He made no moral distinctions between the persons mentioned, whether Julius Caesar or Joseph Stalin, and savoured seeing his name atop a pantheon of epoch-defining leaders.
I Worked for the C.I.A. for 28 Years. Bill Pulte Is a Dangerous Choice.
I Worked for the C.I.A. for 28 Years. Bill Pulte Is a Dangerous Choice. June 10, 2026, 5:02 a.m. ET Credit...Sophie Park for The New York Times Mr. Sipher worked for the Central Intelligence Agency’s clandestine service for 28 years. The law creating the job of director of national intelligence is not subtle about the requirements. It says that nominees for the position shall “have extensive national security expertise,” and it says so for a reason.
Tulsi Gabbard’s Office Shouldn’t Exist Original
(Photo illustration by The Bulwark / Photo: Getty) I HAVE SPENT MUCH OF THE TRUMP ERA warning against the cynical assault on the so-called “deep state” and the reckless effort to hollow out public institutions. However, there is one national security bureaucracy I would gladly see abolished, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). The ODNI was supposed to coordinate, clarify, and impose accountability on the intelligence community. It hasn’t.
Hail the Deep State – Are political leaders a match for the institutions?
In the lead-up to the American midterm elections, we are likely to hear the phrase, “Our institutions have failed us.” The phrase is usually followed by a demand for radical disruption, as if the only honest response to an imperfect system is to burn it down. Politicians know that anger and blame attract votes. But that fashionable diagnosis gets something basic wrong. In the United States, the deeper problem is usually not that our institutions are incapable of functioning.
The age of asymmetry – the weak have learned how to make the strong bleed
In a January 2026 interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, U.S. Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller offered a blunt description of world politics: “We live in a world... that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world.” Miller’s comment captures the governing fantasy of the Trump administration - that power is self-justifying, that size bestows wisdom, and that the strongest country can simply impose its will. Might makes right.
Trump Is Doing Structural Damage to American Intelligence Original
(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) PRESIDENTS HAVE ALWAYS DIFFERED in how they use intelligence. Some devour briefings, while others prefer to read and be left alone. That, by itself, is not new. What is new in the Trump era is something more consequential and dangerous—not mere indifference to intelligence, but a broader contempt for the institutions and professionals whose job is to tell presidents what they do not want to hear.
Moscow on the Potomac – How democracy can be defeated from within
As the 2026 political season unfolds, we should stop pretending that American politics is a purely domestic drama. Our divisions are homegrown, but they have not developed in isolation. The Kremlin has exploited them with considerable success, and Donald Trump has amplified that success by turning any serious discussion of Russian influence into a punch line about the “Russia hoax.” Russian interference was never just an espionage operation or a campaign scandal.
Birds of a Feather: Epstein, Trump, and Russian Intelligence
The latest document dump related to Jeffrey Epstein has sparked a new round of speculation that he may have had ties to the Kremlin, an idea now being amplified in headlines and political commentary.
Natural Born Killer
Since the Kremlin’s 2016 attack on our democracy, the American public has become familiar with terms unique to Russian intelligence culture—kompromat, disinformatsiya, active measures, and, of course, useful idiot, In his new book, Tradecraft, Tactics and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin’s Secret War, former CIA officer Sean Wiswesser places these techniques in context.
Live with Phillips P. OBrien and John Sipher
Hi All, Here is the podcast section for my non Ukraine-Russia War Talk Podcasts and Video Chats. These will focus more on politics and war more widely, with a heavy slant on the US and Europe, and war and peace. Hi All, Here is the podcast section for my non Ukraine-Russia War Talk Podcasts and Video Chats. These will focus more on politics and war more widely, with a heavy slant on the US and Europe, and war and peace.
The Price of Spectacle in the Epstein Files
The phrase “release the Epstein files” has such rhetorical power because it promises moral clarity. It offers the public a cathartic moment, exposure, accountability, a sense that the powerful can’t hide behind the system. And in a political culture that increasingly treats outrage as both a pastime and a strategy, it can feel especially satisfying: like we’re sticking it to our opponents and shaking loose a network of predators. But the pleasure should instead signal a warning light.
Putin's Lies Hide Weakness
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Opinion: Why is Trump Behaving in Ways that Benefit Moscow?
4 hours ago ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — When Idalia Bisbal moved to this Pennsylvania city synonymous with America’s working class, she hoped for a cheaper, easier life than the one she was leaving behind in her hometown of New York City. About three years later, she is deeply disappointed. “It’s worse than ever,” the …
Why is Trump Behaving in Ways that Benefit Moscow?
Donald Trump’s critics have long accused him of harboring a peculiar affinity for Russia and its murderous leader, Vladimir Putin. They cite the still-unexplained contacts between his 2016 campaign and Russian operatives, as well as his deferential meetings with Putin during both his first and second terms. Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
A tempting mark-why is Trump behaving in ways that benefit Moscow?
Donald Trump’s critics have long accused him of harboring a peculiar affinity for Russia and its murderous leader, Vladimir Putin. They cite the still-unexplained contacts between his 2016 campaign and Russian operatives, as well as his deferential meetings with Putin during both his first and second terms. However, inside his administrations, Trump assembled a baffling mix of advisers and policies that lurched between confronting and accommodating the Kremlin.
Słabi, wystraszeni, zakompleksieni Rosjanie. Były agent CIA: umieją tylko kłamać i zabijać. "Mentalność zawodowych spiskowców" [OPINIA]
Przez setki lat rosyjskie państwo konsekwentnie domagało się uznania go za wielką potęgę, nawet jeśli nieustannie brakowało mu materialnych, politycznych i moralnych środków, aby utrzymać ten status. Ta sprzeczność — ambicja przewyższająca możliwości — stworzyła unikalny rosyjski styl prowadzenia polityki i wojny. Kiedy Rosja nie może wygrać poprzez produkcję, innowacje lub perswazję, wygrywa przez kłamstwa. Gdy nie może wzbudzić lojalności, wymusza posłuszeństwo.
Putin’s Lies Hide Weakness
For half a millennium, Russia has projected itself as a great power, but its history is less one of enduring strength than of perpetual weakness disguised as might. From Ivan the Terrible through the Soviet Union, Russia expanded at astonishing speed, seizing an empire that at its peak covered one-sixth of the globe. Yet this expansion concealed a reality: an autocracy propped up by repression, xenophobia, and fear, never by institutions of legitimacy or prosperity.
Putin’s Lies Hide Weakness
For half a millennium, Russia has projected itself as a great power, but its history is less one of enduring strength than of perpetual weakness disguised as might. From Ivan the Terrible through the Soviet Union, Russia expanded at astonishing speed, seizing an empire that at its peak covered one-sixth of the globe. Yet this expansion concealed a reality: an autocracy propped up by repression, xenophobia, and fear, never by institutions of legitimacy or prosperity.
Don’t Expect a Ukraine Peace Deal Anytime Soon
Following a whirlwind of diplomacy in Alaska and Washington, President Trump emerged from meetings with Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and European leaders proclaiming that a peace deal in Ukraine was within reach.
An Inside Look at Putin’s Brutal, Bloody Mercenaries from a War Crimes Expert
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An Inside Look at Putin’s Brutal, Bloody Mercenaries from a War Crimes Expert
If and when Vladimir Putin falls from power, scholars will examine several key events for signs of his regime’s decline. Chief among them will be the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. But the most serious challenge to his rule since 1999, beside the 2012 protests against the rigged election that returned him to the presidency, was the Wagner Group’s June 24, 2023, uprising and march on Moscow. It exposed deep vulnerabilities in Putin’s power structure and foreshadowed future threats from within.
The CIA Director Didn’t Read His Own Report
THE FBI HAS LAUNCHED A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION into James Comey and John Brennan, respectively directors of the FBI and CIA, for an alleged criminality involved in the investigation of the 2026 Trump campaign’s links with the Russian government.
Trump Is Still Obsessed With the Hunter Biden Laptop Letter Original
ALONG WITH FIFTY OTHER FORMER senior intelligence officials, I signed a letter in October 2020 warning that Rudy Giuliani’s disclosure of a laptop allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden—just three weeks before the election—posed a potential risk of Russian interference in our electoral process. The laptop contained sexually explicit content, raising concerns about its timing and origins.
Putin’s Next Step
Vladimir Putin and his disinformation machine has long targeted Donald Trump. Following the now-infamous meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky in the Oval Office, and the Trump Administration’s radical policy shift away from supporting Ukraine, it is clear that Putin’s subversion efforts have met with alarming success. However, Putin knows there is more work to do.
Trump’s Whisper from Moscow: Coincidence or Destiny?
Following President Trump’s harangue against Ukrainian President Zelensky during their 28 February Oval Office meeting, Trump has cut off funding and military support to Ukraine. He appears determined to strike a deal with Putin, bypassing Europe and Ukraine.
Does Trump even have a plan for Ukraine?
During the Cold War, academics and analysts practiced Kremlinology, meticulously scrutinizing scant evidence to interpret Soviet politics. Observers dissected font choices in media reports and speculated on the significance of Politburo members' positions at official events. Early efforts to decipher Donald Trump’s plans to end the war in Ukraine mirrored this exercise.
US Allies Unsure What Secret Intelligence They Can Share With Trump
Geopolitics Europe In handing U.S. President Donald Trump a personal invitation from King Charles III to enjoy all the pomp and circumstance that his country has to offer, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is plainly trying to salvage what many British politicians have fondly imagined is a special relationship with the United States. It’s a clever move, but it also smacks of a desperate rearguard action.
Running Spies Is Not a Game for Amateurs Original
President-elect Donald Trump's promises to destroy what he calls the "deep state" predate his first term in the White House. The sentiment raises fears in the intelligence community that there will be purges of career professionals, and that intelligence designed to protect American lives will be twisted to fit Mr. Trump's personal interests.
Tim Walz’s China experience is a green flag, not a red one
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Tim Walz’s China experience is a green flag, not a red one Original
As the U.S. elections draw closer, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), the Democratic vice presidential nominee, has faced scrutiny over his longstanding ties to China. Republicans have attacked Walz on his connection to China and — in addition to questioning some of his claims about his China experience — challenged his views on America’s primary geopolitical challenger. China is not popular with the American public right now.
What Analysts Missed Before Russia’s Invasion
EXPERT OPINION — A recent report from Washington’s Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) is getting attention for calling out the failure of the professional analytic class in assessing the ability of Ukraine to weather the Russian invasion in 2022. At the time, U.S. intelligence developed evidence that Moscow would invade, but the predictions by Russian military experts subsequently botched what would happen next.
How Supreme Court immunity ruling could affect CIA - The Washington Post
Democracy Dies in Darkness The recent decision could turn the CIA into a political tool once again. Sorry, a summary is not available for this article at this time. Please try again later. By James Petrila and John Sipher July 25, 2024 at 7:30 a.m. EDT James Petrila, an adjunct professor at George Washington University School of Law, is a former lawyer with the National Security Agency and the CIA.
Target Moscow on Apple Podcasts
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Why Biden Must Send Ukraine the ATACMS It Needs - Now
The Biden administration’s assistance to Ukraine has been historic, providing over and numerous weapon systems since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. Not only has the United States helped to save Ukraine from a Russian takeover, it also has reinvigorated the NATO alliance and led a worldwide effort to defend against outright aggression by the Kremlin.
Why Putin’s Russia cannot accept its borders
By Glenn Chafetz, John Sipher, for UkraineAlert To understand Russia’s current obsession with Ukraine, it is important to recognize that Russia was never a state in the common usage of the term. Unlike the modern Turkish state that emerged from the Ottoman Empire, or Great Britain, which acquired and lost an empire, Russia never had an identity separate from empire.
CIA’s RUSSIA CHALLENGE on Apple Podcasts
Jeff talks with top former CIA Russia hand John Sipher about spy agency ops and Moscow’s leadership crisis.
If You Want to Understand Russian Power, Listen to the People Who Leave It
Ideas May 22, 2023 10:33 AM EDT Sipher worked for the CIA’s clandestine service for 28 years. He is now a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a co-founder of Spycraft Entertainment. Understanding Putin’s Russia, like Russia of the Communist Commissars and the Tsars before that, has always been difficult for outsiders. The Kremlin invests substantial state resources to protect its monopoly on power, hide its intentions, and spread falsehoods.
'Bullying worked': Experts blast FBI after bombshell report reveals agents were 'afraid' to raid Mar-a-Lago
Legal experts are blasting the Federal Bureau of Investigation after a bombshell Washington Post exclusive report reveals some FBI agents were “afraid” to raid Mar-a-Lago and some wanted to simply shut down the criminal investigation, delaying for months the retrieval of classified documents that Donald Trump had unlawfully retained and refusal to return.
'Bullying worked': Experts blast FBI after bombshell report reveals agents were 'afraid' to raid Mar-a-Lago
Understand the importance of honest news ? So do we. The past year has been the most arduous of our lives. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to be catastrophic not only to our health - mental and physical - but also to the stability of millions of people. For all of us independent news organizations, it’s no exception. We’ve covered everything thrown at us this past year and will continue to do so with your support.
Threats, Lies, and Dirty Bombs
Power Vertical host Brian Whitmore speaks with Andrea Kendall-Taylor, director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, who served eight years as a senior intelligence officer in the U.S. government, John Sipher, a 28-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency’s National Clandestine Service and a Nonresident Senior Fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, and Jim Townsend, who served eight years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for...
Will Ukraine Turn Out Like Chechnya or Finland?
It is often assumed that strategies are chosen based on careful reflection and objective facts, but strategic culture—the lived and inherited experiences of decision-makers—is sometimes more influential. As we try to assess how Vladimir Putin will respond to Ukraine’s brave resistance, two Soviet/Russian military experiences may help us understand his next moves, and Ukraine’s likelihood of ultimate success.
Perspective | Invading Ukraine backfired on Putin once. Why is he threatening to do it again?
Comment on this story Comment Vladimir Putin is often portrayed in Western media as a master strategist and shrewd tactician. Russia’s recent threats to invade Ukraine and disrupt post-Cold War European security have been received in a similar vein. “Checkmate,” a CNN opinion piece last month proclaimed. “Putin has the West cornered.” The Russian president appears to have seized the initiative, controlling the crisis narrative and forcing NATO leaders to play by his rules.
Long before Havana Syndrome, U.S. reported microwaves beamed at an embassy
Russian demonstrators hold anti-American posters outside the U.S. Embassy in 2015. From the 1960s through the 1980s, the U.S. said the Soviet Union beamed microwave signals at the U.S. Embassy in an attempt to collect intelligence. In 1996, Michael Beck and a colleague at the National Security Agency were sent to a "hostile country" on a brief assignment. After being detained at the airport for about an hour, they were allowed to go, but knew they were being closely watched.
Same Data, Same Strategy: A New Look at How the Trump Campaign and Russian Intelligence Operated in 2016
The recent Biden administration sanctions on the Russian government are part of an ongoing effort to push back against the Kremlin’s malign influence campaign against the West. Although the White House actions are related to Russian attempts to interfere with the 2020 election, included in the announcement is a detail that has reinvigorated interest in the 2016 election and the Trump campaign’s potential connivance with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intelligence services.
Perspective | A 9/11 Commission-style report wouldn’t work for the Jan. 6 riot
When the Senate acquitted former president Donald Trump of inciting insurrection, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called for “an outside, independent 9/11-type Commission” to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Republican lawmakers also signaled support for an independent panel. “We need a 9/11 Commission to find out what happened and make sure it never happens again,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said at the time. On Wednesday, Rep.
The Lawfare Podcast: Explosions, Expulsions and Explanations of Russian Active Measures
Published by The Lawfare Institute in Cooperation With The Russian GRU Unit 29155 is in the news again. Czech authorities pin the blame on it for a series of explosions in 2014 that killed two people, and then they expelled an unusually high number of Russian diplomats, dramatically reducing Russia's diplomatic presence in Czechia and perhaps harming its intelligence efforts across Central Europe.
Piling up incriminating information about Trump's Russian connections
A protester dons a mask depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin during a demonstration outside Donald Trump's Washington hotel in October. In his book, Craig Unger makes a detailed case that Trump is a Kremlin asset.
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