Andrew and Jihi Bustamante discuss their espionage memoir, including how Andrew was unknowingly used as bait in a CIA mole hunt. The authors argue that this experience, while difficult, ultimately protected their First Amendment right to publish the book and speak about what happened.
This time on books that changed my life. Interestingly, what we get to talk about is the actual process for hunting a mole. A mole hunt inside CIA doesn't look like it looks in the movies, because you have to bait the mole into making a mistake so that the real spy hunters inside CIA can catch the mistake. We weren't spy hunters, which left us only one option. We had to become the bait. We baited the mole without realizing that we were being used as bait. And that's a big part of how we were able to get the book published. Because when you're used in that way, you retain a First Amendment right to talk about the turmoil, the position you were put in without your knowledge. It's crazy. Mm.
