387: Phil Andrew – NY Times Reporter Kidnapped By Taliban, Hostage Negotiation
FBI Case File Review
Jerri Williams
4.7 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2026
⏱️ 70 minutes
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Summary
Retired agent Phil Andrew shares how his experience surviving one of the nation's first school shootings when he was a twenty-year-old college student impacted his FBI career as a hostage negotiator. Phil reviews a kidnapping case where he negotiated with a member of the terrorist organization behind the Mumbai attacks and a case where he attempted to broker the release of New York Times reporter David Rohde, who was being held captive for ransom by the Taliban in Afghanistan. These case reviews are examples of how Phil turned tragedy into purpose, dedicating his life to keeping communities safe. Phil served in the FBI for 21 years. He is currently a 2026 candidate for the United States Congress in Illinois's 9th Congressional District.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | New York Times reporter David Rhodes, who was going to interview a high-level warlord. |
| 0:05.5 | David, his interpreter, and the driver are taken by the Tahani Network. |
| 0:10.0 | So our first operational move is to get with the family. |
| 0:13.4 | And so we meet and are sitting with his wife. |
| 0:16.7 | I'm taking pen to paper to help her kind of put into her words what she might say and how she might |
| 0:23.3 | respond to a phone call. And then her phone rings. And it is actually her husband. It's David. He's making |
| 0:30.0 | the call that we were sort of talking about maybe might happen. And it happens right there as I'm |
| 0:35.4 | sitting next to her. |
| 0:47.3 | Welcome to episode 387 of FBI case file review with Jerry Williams. I'm a retired agent on a mission to show you who the FBI is and what the FBI does through my books, my blog, and my podcast case reviews |
| 0:56.9 | with former colleagues. Today, we get to speak to retired agent Phil Andrews, who served in the FBI for 21 years. |
| 1:06.5 | In this episode, Phil shares how his experience surviving one of the nation's first school shootings |
| 1:13.2 | when he was a 20-year-old college student impacted his FBI career as a hostage negotiator. |
| 1:20.6 | Phil reviews a kidnapping case where he negotiated with a member of the terrorist organization |
| 1:26.8 | behind the Mumbai India attacks and a case |
| 1:31.2 | where he attempted to broker the release of New York Times reporter David Rode, who is being |
| 1:37.7 | held captive for ransom by the Taliban in Afghanistan. These case reviews are examples of how Phil turned tragedy into purpose, |
| 1:47.9 | dedicating his life to keeping communities safe. Phil is currently a 2026 candidate for the United |
| 1:55.2 | States Congress in the Illinois 9th Congressional District. Phil was assigned to the FBI's Chicago Division, |
| 2:02.3 | where he worked counterterrorism, public corruption, and counterintelligence in an undercover capacity. |
| 2:08.7 | He also trained and served as a hostage negotiator, working crisis events all over the world. |
| 2:15.3 | Today he serves as a national leader in gun violence prevention and |
| 2:19.4 | community safety. He leads Pax Group LLC, a global crisis and conflict firm dedicated to helping |
... |
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