Episode 33: Current and Future Threats to U.S. National Security

Join our host, Chris Bull, as he sits down with former FBI agents Michelle Taylor & Holden Triplett as they discuss contemporary threats to U.S. national security and the evolving challenges of future threats.

About the Guests

Michelle Carron Taylor spent 14 years as a special agent in the FBI investigating cyber, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and corruption matters. As a special agent, she also worked with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to provide security assessments and real-time threat monitoring of large-scale sporting events. While in the FBI, she also served as director for legislative affairs for the White House National Security Council and on the staff of the U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where she was responsible for homeland threat and cryptocurrency issues. In 2017, she was selected to join the U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel’s Office investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, where she held a leadership role in the obstruction of justice investigation. After leaving government, Michelle held a senior position at a research consultancy and advised global technology companies on policy challenges and brand communications strategies.

Holden Triplett spent nearly 15 years with the FBI and has extensive international and domestic risk intelligence and security experience. He also spent several years in overseas assignments, notably leading the FBI’s offices in Russia and China. Holden is conversant in Mandarin and Russian and has unique understanding of the objectives, capabilities, and methodologies of the Chinese and Russian intelligence services. During his time in Russia, Holden coordinated U.S. government security efforts of the Sochi Winter Olympics, including establishing a first-of-its-kind joint threat intelligence unit with the Russian security services. While in Beijing, he worked closely with the People’s Republic of China security services to plan for the joint security of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Upon his return to the United States, he served as the director for counterintelligence at the National Security Council at the White House. In his last government position, Holden was the FBI faculty chair at the National Intelligence University, where he taught courses in Counterintelligence, National Security Law and Intelligence, and Chinese Intelligence and Information Warfare.

Views expressed are personal and do not represent the views of GSSR or any other entity.