Chatter: CIA, Congress, and the Art of Listening with Abigail Spanberger

David Priess, Abigail Spanberger
Thursday, January 5, 2023, 12:00 PM

David Priess chatted with Rep. Spanberger about her recent re-election to the House, the nature of "swing districts," working across the aisle and more.

Abigail Spanberger, who represents Virginia's 7th congressional district in the House of Representatives, is one of the few members of Congress to have served as an operations officer at the Central Intelligence Agency. She also worked in law enforcement as an officer of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Not typical experiences for a thrice-elected politician--but useful for the role she finds herself in now.

David Priess chatted with Rep. Spanberger about her recent re-election to the House, the nature of "swing districts," working across the aisle, her road to working at CIA, her experiences as a postal inspector and intelligence operations officer, what she sees as important national security issues right now, her advice for former colleagues considering a run elective office, and how listening skills she learned at CIA have helped her as a representative.

Chatter is a production of Lawfare and Goat Rodeo. This episode was produced by Cara Shillenn of Goat Rodeo. Podcast theme by David Priess, featuring music created using Groovepad. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.


David Priess is Global Head of Training and Education at Emergent Risk International and a Senior Fellow at the Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security. He served during the Clinton and Bush 43 administrations as a CIA officer and has written two books, including “The President’s Book of Secrets,” about the top-secret President’s Daily Brief.
Abigail Spanberger represents Virginia's 7th congressional district in the House of Representatives, is one of the few members of Congress to have served as an operations officer at the Central Intelligence Agency.
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