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The Lincoln Project

Mickey Bergman: Bringing American Hostages Home

The Lincoln Project

The Lincoln Project

Society & Culture, Daily News, News, Politics

4.78.4K Ratings

🗓️ 13 August 2024

⏱️ 32 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Rick speaks with hostage negotiator Mickey Bergman on what it takes to bring wrongly-detained Americans home from Russia and other hostile actors. Follow Mickey Bergman on X @MickeyBergman and buy his book “In the Shadows: True Stories of High-Stakes Negotiations to Free Americans Captured Abroad” at fine bookstores everywhere. Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. Join the fight with Lincoln Project at www.lincolnproject.us and follow us on X at @ProjectLincoln. And please subscribe, rate and review this podcast, thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Your enemy is well trained, well equipped in battle heart.

0:05.6

There is not a liberal America and a conservative America,

0:09.6

there is the United States of America. Good night and good luck.

0:16.0

Hey folks, it's Rick Wilson and welcome back to the Lincoln Project Podcast.

0:20.0

I have a fascinating guest today.

0:22.0

Mickey Birdman has a job that very few people have in this world.

0:26.0

Mickey Birdman is the CEO of a company called Global Reach,

0:30.0

and he is an expert on getting hostages back from bad places overseas,

0:35.1

getting hostages out of dangerous situations

0:37.9

where they may have either been put or put themselves.

0:41.8

And so he's got a terrific new book called In the Shadows,

0:45.0

true stories of high states negotiations

0:47.4

to free Americans captured abroad.

0:50.1

So with that, Mickey, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for joining us today.

0:54.4

And I wanted to jump right in with the question that struck me right off the bat.

0:58.8

How did you get into this, this mission, this business? How did you become a person who specializes in rescuing

1:05.7

and retrieving hostages?

1:07.7

Well, thank you, Rick, and I'm glad to join you here.

1:11.5

So it's funny, it's about 18 years ago I got a random phone

1:15.4

call to my office from one Governor Bill Richardson and to Bill yeah it, he's this Mickey Bergman.

1:24.0

It's like, yeah, it's Governor Bill Richardson.

1:26.4

I need to pack your stuff and get yourself to Santa Fe.

...

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