How the CIA Decides What’s Legal (with James Petrila)

About this episode

Jim Petrila discusses the legal framework surrounding America's intelligence agencies and the implications of recent expansions of executive power.

Former CIA and NSA attorney Jim Petrila explains the legal decisions about covert action, presidential power, and the legal guardrails surrounding America’s intelligence agencies. He argues that the Trump-era expansion of executive power, combined with the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling and the dismantling of institutional oversight, represents a fundamental threat to the rule of law.  Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod

People in this episode

Guest: Jim Petrila

Topics covered

• covert action
• presidential power
• executive power
• intelligence agencies
• rule of law

Keywords

• CIA
• NSA
• executive power
• intelligence
• rule of law
• covert action
• Supreme Court

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CIA, NSA, Supreme Court

More episodes of Mission Implausible

• Swinging at Curveball: When You Want It Bad, You Get It Bad (with Bob Drogin) · June 7, 2026 · 53 min
• How Everyone Else Sees America (with Gabriel Gatehouse) - ENCORE · May 31, 2026 · 42 min
• The Hawaiian Cult that raised Tulsi Gabbard (with Christine Gralow) - ENCORE · May 24, 2026 · 37 min
• Hunting Weapons of Mass Destruction (with Andy Weber) · May 17, 2026 · 42 min
• Crypto: The Trump Family Business (with Zach Everson) · May 3, 2026 · 48 min
• Serving in the Middle East, then Writing About It (with Ilana Berry) · April 26, 2026 · 42 min