About this episode

Michael Lebowitz discusses a thwarted nuclear plot by al Qaeda and his experiences as a war-crimes prosecutor.

Former Gitmo prosecutor Michael Lebowitz takes us inside the nuclear plot that never was. Mike Lebowitz is one of America’s few war-crimes prosecutors with front-line counterterrorism experience. A former senior attorney at the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, he spent nearly a decade prosecuting cases at Guantanamo Bay, including the 9/11, USS Cole , and top Al Qaeda commander trials. A US Army combat veteran and former Pathfinder unit paratrooper officer, Lebowitz also served as a senior legal advisor to US Army Cyber Command. He has been featured or quoted by the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Associated Press, and the Atlantic . He lives in Washington, DC. Second Wave by Michael Lebowitz In 2003, US intelligence uncovered evidence that al Qaeda had acquired nuclear materials, plotting to smuggle them into American ports. The “Second Wave” threat triggered one of the most urgent and secretive manhunts in US history. With the cinematic intensity of Zero Dark Thirty and the investigative depth of The Looming Tower , Michael Lebowitz captures post-9/11 chaos and drama: agents risking everything to prevent another catastrophe, families torn apart…

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