Episode 969: Wayne Barnes on “A Traitor in the FBI”
From Newt's World by Gingrich 360
April 19, 2026 · 36 min
About this episode
Newt Gingrich interviews former FBI agent Wayne Barnes about his career and his book detailing the hunt for a Russian mole within the FBI.
Newt talks with former FBI counterintelligence special agent Wayne Barnes, whose 29-year career included working KGB espionage, running double agents, recruiting hostile intelligence officers, and debriefing Cold War defectors before becoming a private investigator, signature expert, and specialist in recovering stolen impressionist paintings. Barnes recounts his path from inner-city Philadelphia through Penn State and Villanova Law into the FBI, where high scores on a language aptitude test led to Romanian training in Monterey and a Washington Field Office posting focused on Eastern Bloc counterintelligence. Barnes’ book, “A Traitor in the FBI: The Hunt for a Russian Mole,” documents his investigation to uncover an internal FBI spy for the Russians, Robert Hanssen. After he wrote the book, it was a seven-year struggle to get it through FBI pre-publication review. An initial submission in 2016 was returned almost entirely redacted except for half a page, leading to multiple trips to Washington, wording changes, and securing permission from 32 named individuals before final clearance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
People in this episode
Host: Newt
Guest: Wayne Barnes
Topics covered
- FBI
- espionage
- counterintelligence
- Cold War
- intelligence
Keywords
- A Traitor in the FBI
- Robert Hanssen
- KGB espionage
- double agents
- Cold War defectors
- FBI pre-publication review
- Romanian training
- Washington Field Office
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: A Traitor in the FBI
Places: Philadelphia, Monterey, Eastern Bloc, Washington
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