john mclaughlin

Bob Mueller was one of the most honorable and patriotic men I ever knew. I once asked him “What made you who you are?”. Without hesitating a second, he said: “the United States Marine Corps.”

@peterbakernyt As Trump the pedo war mongering draft dodger sends Americans into harms way let’s remind what Muller was doing during Vietnam and what Trump was doing (bowling)

Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it.

RETWEET if you stand with the Obamas against Trump’s racist attacks!

NPR asked me this week to discuss the case of Rick Ames, a CIA officer who spied for the Soviet Union and who passed away in prison on January 6 at the age of 84. The five minute interview and transcript are here. My discussion merely scratches the surface of the case. For those interested in going further or digging deeply into counterintelligence -- the so-called "wilderness of mirrors" -- the definitive account is a book by the two heroic women officers who cracked the case, Sandy Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeuille: Circle of Treason: A CIA Account of Traitor Aldrich Ames and the Men he Betrayed (Naval Institute Press, 2013). bit.ly/4pzNeqP

The circumstances are vastly different, but I haven’t heard anyone note yet that the US-UK overthrow of Iran’s leftist government was motivated not just by Cold War concerns but also by wanting to regain control of oil companies nationalized by Iran’s new ruler. It all worked out for awhile, but in the longer term — not so much. It underlines the importance of figuring out what happens next. cia.gov/readingroom/do…

@BenSasse Ben, Very sorry to hear. Best of luck as you battle this. Recalling good conversations and many tough issues joined. We can all hope and pray fervently for your recovery.

Friends- This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die. Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do. I’m blessed with amazing siblings and half-a-dozen buddies that are genuinely brothers. As one of them put it, “Sure, you’re on the clock, but we’re all on the clock.” Death is a wicked thief, and the bastard pursues us all. Still, I’ve got less time than I’d prefer. This is hard for someone wired to work and build, but harder still as a husband and a dad. I can’t begin to describe how great my people are. During the past year, as we’d temporarily stepped back from public life and built new family rhythms, Melissa and I have grown even closer — and that on top of three decades of the best friend a man could ever have. Seven months ago, Corrie was commissioned into the Air Force and she’s off at instrument and multi-engine rounds of flight school. Last week, Alex kicked butt graduating from college a semester early even while teaching gen chem, organic, and physics (she’s a freak). This summer, 14-year-old Breck started learning to drive. (Okay, we’ve been driving off-book for six years — but now we’ve got paper to make it street-legal.) I couldn’t be more grateful to constantly get to bear-hug this motley crew of sinners and saints. There’s not a good time to tell your peeps you’re now marching to the beat of a faster drummer — but the season of advent isn’t the worst. As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what’s to come. Not an abstract hope in fanciful human goodness; not hope in vague hallmark-sappy spirituality; not a bootstrapped hope in our own strength (what foolishness is the evaporating-muscle I once prided myself in). Nope — often we lazily say “hope” when what we mean is “optimism.” To be clear, optimism is great, and it’s absolutely necessary, but it’s insufficient. It’s not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you’re not going to walk them down the aisle. Nor telling your mom and pops they’re gonna bury their son. A well-lived life demands more reality — stiffer stuff. That’s why, during advent, even while still walking in darkness, we shout our hope — often properly with a gravelly voice soldiering through tears. Such is the calling of the pilgrim. Those who know ourselves to need a Physician should dang well look forward to enduring beauty and eventual fulfillment. That is, we hope in a real Deliverer — a rescuing God, born at a real time, in a real place. But the eternal city — with foundations and without cancer — is not yet. Remembering Isaiah’s prophecies of what’s to come doesn’t dull the pain of current sufferings. But it does put it in eternity’s perspective: “When we've been there 10,000 years…We've no less days to sing God's praise.” I’ll have more to say. I’m not going down without a fight. One sub-part of God’s grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more. Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We’re zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I’ve pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape. But for now, as our family faces the reality of treatments, but more importantly as we celebrate Christmas, we wish you peace: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned….For to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9). With great gratitude, and with gravelly-but-hopeful voices, Ben — and the Sasses

During my time in government and during many visits to the White House, the symbolism was always about reverence, respect, and decorum, even during times of sharp political differences. nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna2…

2026 will mark the 25th iteration of the International Staff Ride! Join us on a trip down memory lane: merrillcenter.sais-jhu.edu/staff-rides-ov… Share your favorite memories in the comments and tag us on your own photos! Donate today to our 2025 fundraiser: secure.jhu.edu/form/Strategic…

New episode alert! Sanjana Polapragada talks with Robert Miller, national security startup advisor and author of Startup Statesmanship, and Emma Bates, CEO and founder of Cachai, on how founders can break into the government innovation ecosystem. linktr.ee/saisstrategypo…

This deserves everyone’s attention. Ultimately, still the most dangerous thing in the world. washingtonpost.com/opinions/inter…

washingtonpost.com/national-secur… National Security Agency chief ousted after far-right activist urged his removal

Shameful. Just shameful.

Sources here: understandingwar.org/backgrounder/u…

Please share this fact sheet about Ukraine with anyone who needs it

Don't forget to support the SAIS Merrill Center with your end-of-year donation – there are only a few hours left! Learn more about our work in this note from SAIS Alumna and Professor of Practice Mara Karlin: conta.cc/4iKBfVk

@JoyceCarolOates Steve is also a very good magician – – began his career at the Disneyland Magic Shop!

highly recommend if you haven't yet seen it, perfect antidote for election aftermath, the two-part documentary on the life & career of Steve Martin (Apple-TV). what is missing: Steve's involvement with bluegrass in recent years. so sorry there isn't footage of Steve with his Steep Canyon Rangers, truly wonderful bluegrass musicians. Part I is more varied & informative than Part II, much of the latter with Steve's friends Jerry Seinfeld & Martin Short. in the 1970s Steve Martin cultivated a sort of meta-stand-up comedy with much brilliantly executed physical comedy in the mode of Charlie Chaplin. he learned to dance, & his dancing ("Happy Feet") is dazzlingly hilarious. newer, most recent success is "Only Murders in the Building" (Hulu)--yet another career.

We need every anchor & journalist to be like Lawrence O’Donnell. Take the time & watch this. This is how it’s done. Thank you, @Lawrence.

We are not prepared as a society to understand and deal with the new constellation of global threats emerging in the wake of the Ukraine war and the tightening alliances among countries that challenge our preeminence and our conception of global order. thecipherbrief.com/column_article…