Virtual Spy Chat with Chris Costa

Join us for an online discussion of the latest intelligence, national security, and terrorism issues in the news. Spy Museum Executive Director Chris Costa will lead the briefing. Costa, a former intelligence officer of 34 years with 25 of those in active duty in hot spots such as Panama, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, is also a past Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council. He will be joined by Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the U.S. Department of Justice.

In that capacity, Olsen leads the Justice Department’s mission to combat terrorism, espionage, cyber crime, and other threats to the national security. From 2011 to 2014, Olsen served as the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). Prior to leading NCTC, Olsen was the General Counsel for the National Security Agency. For 18 years, Olsen worked at the Department of Justice as a career attorney and in a number of leadership positions. He served as an Associate Deputy Attorney General for national security and was Special Counselor to the Attorney General. In 2006, Olsen helped establish the National Security Division and served as the first career Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

For over a decade, Olsen was a federal prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. He also served as Special Counsel to the Director of the FBI, supporting the Bureau’s post-9/11 transformation. Olsen began his public service career as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

Following their discussion of key issues, you’ll be able to ask questions via our online platform.