Annie Jacobsen

get an understanding of how journalism in the national security world works, and also a great opportunity for me to say, I'm often standing on the shoulders of journalists before me who did an incredible job digging into something and being able to report what they knew. Often the books are 10, 20, 30 years old, and so much more has come to light since.

Mm-hmm. For that, I look directly to the historical record, right? Having written about Russian assassination campaigns and programs since the earliest days of the Cold War, right? Mm-hmm. who knocked on the door of the man he was assigned to kill. And by the way, this all comes from a book that Kolkoff wrote later, right? Because he defected to the United States.

Mm-hmm. For that, I look directly to the historical record, right? Having written about Russian assassination campaigns and programs since the earliest days of the Cold War, right? Mm-hmm. who knocked on the door of the man he was assigned to kill. And by the way, this all comes from a book that Kolkoff wrote later, right? Because he defected to the United States.

Mm-hmm. For that, I look directly to the historical record, right? Having written about Russian assassination campaigns and programs since the earliest days of the Cold War, right? Mm-hmm. who knocked on the door of the man he was assigned to kill. And by the way, this all comes from a book that Kolkoff wrote later, right? Because he defected to the United States.

He knocks on the door and the guy answers the door. And instead of killing him, he has like this moment of conscious of crisis or crisis of conscience and says like, I can't kill you, even though that's what I'm supposed to do.

He knocks on the door and the guy answers the door. And instead of killing him, he has like this moment of conscious of crisis or crisis of conscience and says like, I can't kill you, even though that's what I'm supposed to do.

He knocks on the door and the guy answers the door. And instead of killing him, he has like this moment of conscious of crisis or crisis of conscience and says like, I can't kill you, even though that's what I'm supposed to do.

And then sits down with the guy and together decides, okay, we're going to defect, you know, we're going to let the Western intelligence agencies know what we're doing here. And the CIA got involved. But Russian assassins were able to poison Kolkov with polonium. What happens to him is insane and it's a miracle he didn't die. But he doesn't.

And then sits down with the guy and together decides, okay, we're going to defect, you know, we're going to let the Western intelligence agencies know what we're doing here. And the CIA got involved. But Russian assassins were able to poison Kolkov with polonium. What happens to him is insane and it's a miracle he didn't die. But he doesn't.

And then sits down with the guy and together decides, okay, we're going to defect, you know, we're going to let the Western intelligence agencies know what we're doing here. And the CIA got involved. But Russian assassins were able to poison Kolkov with polonium. What happens to him is insane and it's a miracle he didn't die. But he doesn't.

And then he defects to the West and he writes these books. And he tells lots of incredible secrets about the Russian assassination programs and their poison labs. And they're really, really, really interesting. And so to answer that question, I mean, to my eye, of course, I don't know, but it certainly looks like Russia is acting in the same vein that it has always acted.

And then he defects to the West and he writes these books. And he tells lots of incredible secrets about the Russian assassination programs and their poison labs. And they're really, really, really interesting. And so to answer that question, I mean, to my eye, of course, I don't know, but it certainly looks like Russia is acting in the same vein that it has always acted.

And then he defects to the West and he writes these books. And he tells lots of incredible secrets about the Russian assassination programs and their poison labs. And they're really, really, really interesting. And so to answer that question, I mean, to my eye, of course, I don't know, but it certainly looks like Russia is acting in the same vein that it has always acted.

Taking care of dissidents that go against Mother Russia.

Taking care of dissidents that go against Mother Russia.

Taking care of dissidents that go against Mother Russia.

Mm-hmm. I mean, my feeling on that is always that there's a thread somewhere in declassified documentation about these programs of America working to maintain a semblance of democratic ideals, however surprising that may be, right? In other words, always trying to

Mm-hmm. I mean, my feeling on that is always that there's a thread somewhere in declassified documentation about these programs of America working to maintain a semblance of democratic ideals, however surprising that may be, right? In other words, always trying to

Mm-hmm. I mean, my feeling on that is always that there's a thread somewhere in declassified documentation about these programs of America working to maintain a semblance of democratic ideals, however surprising that may be, right? In other words, always trying to

I don't want to say fight fair because, you know, killing people isn't fair, but versus a certain ruthlessness, a real sinister totalitarian type ruthlessness, certainly from Soviet Russia. I'm far less familiar with modern day Russian assassination activities, although we certainly know on the record that they exist. Some people have done great reporting on that.