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In this episode of Understandable Insights, Sue and Eric highlight the national security issues of intelligence community downsizing, state equity in critical chips, and the return of Ukraine’s abducted children. Along the way, they explore whether proposed changes to the ODNI threaten its value, the risks inherent in aligning industrial policy and market forces, and why the return of Ukraine’s children must be a non-negotiable in any endgame.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Understandable Insights

01:28 Metaphysical Question: Law and Order

03:25 ODNI 2.0 Downsizing

05:14 Background on ODNI

17:20 US Government's Stake in Intel

27:09 Treasury's Miscellaneous Fund and Transparency Concerns

31:06 Human Trafficking and Ukraine's Children

40:14 US National Security and Human Trafficking

49:08 Federal Workforce

53:11 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

About the show:

Understandable Insights: Information to Intelligence with Sue Gordon is the national security podcast that provides you an elemental understanding of the world as it is, not how you prefer it to be.

Each week, Eric Koepp — a former Marine, father, and entrepreneur — sits down with the Honorable Sue Gordon, the nation’s former top career intelligence officer. Together, they break down the headlines shaping our world and ask what they really mean for citizens, leaders, and institutions.

From armed conflict to emerging tech, foreign interference to the resilience of democracy — this is where raw information becomes real intelligence. Unfiltered. Candid. Unapologetically clear.

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