Cybersecurity & Defense - WestExec Advisors

Nick Rasmussen quoted in The Atlantic article, “It’s Time to Listen to the Doomsday Planners”

"Doomsday planners can’t conjure up every possible future calamity. But their warnings can prompt the government to react quickly, to adapt to ambiguity, and to treat uncertainty as a feature of good social science, not an excuse to avoid prudent precautions. Nicholas Rasmussen, who participated in national-security continuity planning as a senior counterterrorism adviser to George W. Bush and Obama, told me that, at the moment, the U.S. government doesn’t 'really have a plan for a scenario where we are down [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-06-05T14:02:16-04:00May 29, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Lisa Monaco featured on MSNBC’s The Beat With Ari Melber, “See The Chilling Virus Warnings Trump Ignored – Before Pandemic Outbreak”

"We put together an exercise for the incoming national security team. I said that we needed to add a pandemic scenario to the exercise because I was so concerned and thought it would be a certainty that the next administration would deal with some type of public health crisis..." Watch the full report here: Full Report

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-05-29T13:22:27-04:00May 27, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Bridge Colby quoted in POLITCO article, “Trump Seizes a New Cudgel to Bash China: Taiwan”

"Some of the moves have been fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, which has 'clarified' the competition with China in the public sphere, said Elbridge Colby, a former deputy assistant secretary of Defense. 'Covid has made it clear that we are in a situation of competition … to the American people,' he said..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-05-29T13:03:46-04:00May 21, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Lisa Monaco quoted in PBS Newshour article, “Obama Team Left Pandemic Playbook for Trump Administration, Officials Confirm”

“'We absolutely did leave a plan. It was called a playbook,' said Lisa Monaco, former homeland security adviser to President Obama. The goal, she said, was to share the lessons learned during the Ebola and Zika outbreaks..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-05-29T12:57:36-04:00May 15, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Lisa Monaco interviewed on CNN’s New Day

"Former Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco responds to Sen. Mitch McConnell's claims that former President Obama left the Trump administration unprepared for a pandemic..." Watch the full interview here: Full Interview

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-05-15T10:24:12-04:00May 12, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Bridge Colby writes with A. Wess Mitchell in the Wall Street Journal: “Containing China Will Be Complicated”

"The Covid-19 pandemic has convinced many that the U.S. must fundamentally change its policy toward China. Shifting course is necessary, but it won’t be achieved with a few policy tweaks. That’s because the pandemic’s political and economic effects are bringing about a more assertive Chinese grand strategy. "Beijing has steered China’s rise with relative ease since the mid-1990s. Enabled by the West’s open arms, China has grown its economy, armed itself and expanded its influence around the world without significant interference [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-05-12T10:26:28-04:00May 7, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense, Geopolitical Perspectives|

Lisa Monaco interviewed on CNN’s The Daily DC podcast, “Obama Official: Pandemic Wasn’t Unforeseen”

"President Trump says the Obama Administration didn't prepare his team for coronavirus. But CNN National Security Analyst and former Obama Homeland Security Adviser joins CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash to go inside the pandemic prep session during the Presidential transition and discuss the Trump response so far..." Listen to the full episode here: Full Episode

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-05-15T10:20:12-04:00May 6, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Lisa Monaco interviewed on CNN’s Newsroom

"I'm worried that the rhetoric on both sides is very divorced from the reality. That distracts all of us from what we need to be doing, which is mounting a coordinated global fight against this virus. "The reality is that the intelligence community has been very clear that there is no evidence that this was man made; they have concurred with the scientific assessments. There is also no direct evidence that this was a naturally occurring pathogen being studied in a [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-05-12T14:20:30-04:00May 5, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Nicholas Rasmussen writes with Margaret Taylor in Lawfare: “Eleven Questions for Director of National Intelligence Nominee Rep. John Ratcliffe”

"Amid questions about the ability of the House and the Senate to function in regular order during a pandemic, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will hold an open hearing on May 5 at 9:30 a.m. to consider the president’s nomination of Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas to serve as director of national intelligence. The hearing will be held in person, not remotely. "The revival of this controversial nomination—which had been announced and then withdrawn last summer—is certain to raise [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-05-12T14:18:46-04:00May 4, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Lisa Monaco co-hosts Stay Tuned with Preet podcast, “The New Threat Matrix”

"In this episode, Lisa and Ken [Wainstein] do a deep dive on the national security implications of the coronavirus pandemic and break down the issues the U.S. would confront in the event of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s death or incapacitation..." Listen to the full episode here: Full Episode

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-05-12T14:24:17-04:00May 4, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|