What if Russia revealed a spy in the U.S. government? Former CIA Director John Brennan’s alternative history

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Chuck Todd

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4.1 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 January 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For the last alternative history episode of the holiday season, Chuck talks with former CIA Director John Brennan about a forward-looking scenario: What if Russia announced that they have a senior U.S. official on their intelligence service’s payroll.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello from Washington. I'm Chuck Todd, and this is the Chuck Toddcast. Happy New Year and welcome to our last What If alternative history for this holiday season. So far we've covered the 2024 election. Donald Trump's alternative history in the world of football and how that could have derailed him from politics.
0:22.4	And then questions about George Washington's influence on American history.
0:25.7	What if he had served a third term?
0:28.5	Today we're going to look forward with a what if scenario about a possible future.
0:32.1	My guest today is John Brennan, former director of the CIA.
0:35.1	And we're going to talk about a scenario involving spies that he will tell you right away he
0:38.4	thinks is unlikely, even potentially absurd.
0:41.6	And I'll explain in a minute because the real possibility is much more terrifying.
0:45.9	We'll dig into that as well.
0:46.9	But first, I want to say thank you to everyone who wrote in with a what if scenario this year.
0:50.9	It was a lot of fun reading all of your alternative history butterfly effect ideas. We can't wait to do this again next year. With a lot of fun, reading all of your alternative history butterfly effect ideas.
0:55.1	We can't wait to do this again next year. I think this is our fifth straight year doing it,
0:58.4	and it's been a blast. I'm a consumer myself of alternative histories. So if you have a question
1:04.2	about politics or history, please email me at the chuck todcast at gmail.com. Don't forget
1:10.6	the the the thus. So with that, John Brennan, welcome to the Toddcast. gmail.com. Don't forget the the, the. So with that, John Brennan,
1:12.8	welcome to the Toddcast. Thank you so much, Chuck. Thanks for invitation. So the scenario I got
1:18.1	was not one that was made up. It was a source of mine in the world of intelligence. And other than
1:23.8	that, for obvious reasons, not going to say any more detail. But he was, this person was extraordinarily worried about a, admittedly a 1% scenario that if,
1:35.1	and this was if Trump did not win, that Putin would come out and say he had him or some other prominent Republican on his payroll,
1:48.0	whether it was true or not as a way to create more sort of division,
1:54.8	knowing that half the country might believe it, half the country wouldn't,
1:57.7	and it would just do what he's been helping to do for the last
	...

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