The Steady State Sentinel

A former Army lieutenant colonel and Lincoln Project executive on why he's running for Congress, the "weight of leadership," and why the costs, chaos, and corruption of this administration are hitting home in Missouri.
Host John Sipher sits down with Fred Wellman, a West Point graduate, former Army Lieutenant Colonel, and current Democratic candidate for Missouri's 2nd Congressional District. Wellman shares his journey from growing up in Kirkwood, Missouri, to flying scout helicopters in Desert Storm, serving three tours in Iraq, and later running a veterans-focused business, working with the Lincoln Project, and now running for Congress.
He reflects on the "weight of leadership" — the lesson that leadership should be keenly felt— and how losing his first wife and unborn child in a car accident taught him the importance of empathetic leadership. He contrasts his approach with his opponent, 13-year incumbent Ann Wagner, who is known as "absent Anne" for refusing to hold town halls, who quadrupled her net worth while in office, and has never once broken with Trump. Wellman outlines his plans for “day one:” banning stock trading by members of Congress, turning back tariffs, restoring healthcare subsidies, and addressing the affordability crisis.
He also warns about the long-term damage of the administration's military purges, noting that these will have negative consequences for generations to come. "When you fire the women who are generals, when you pass over the black men and women who are generals, the message is sent, and this is gonna echo through the United States military for a generation to two generations." The Steady State endorses Wellman for embodying the values of national security professionals.
Guest info: Fred Wellman is a West Point graduate, former Army Lieutenant Colonel, and the Democratic candidate for Missouri's 2nd Congressional District. He flew scout helicopters in Desert Storm and served three tours in Iraq. He earned a master's degree from Harvard's Kennedy School and later founded a business serving veterans and military families. He served as Executive Director of the Lincoln Project and now hosts a podcast on democracy and politics. He is running to replace 13-year incumbent Ann Wagner.
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Veteran journalist Jeff Stein on the chilling effect of Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) suits, the purge of the intelligence community, and why he's "cautious" about the future.
Host Jim Lawler sits down with Jeff Stein, the founding editor-in-chief of Spy Talk and a veteran journalist who has covered the intelligence community for over 40 years — and who earlier this year beat back a $1 million defamation suit brought by a Trump administration official. Stein shares the visceral reaction to being served on his front porch on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and why he knew from the start his reporting would hold up.
He explains how the Trump administration has weaponized litigation against journalists, and warns that this creates a chilling effect on sources and reporters alike. He expresses concern regarding the "raw mass firings" of intelligence professionals who served under Democratic administrations — a radical departure from past practice — and the counterintelligence nightmare this creates.
He warns that the Iran war is a strategic disaster, that Trump "seems mesmerized by Netanyahu," and that the decimation of CISA and the undermining of NATO are genuine threats. He closes with his view of the upcoming elections: "Trump is a national security threat, and the Democrats... that's our only vehicle for getting rid of this national security threat."
Guest info: Jeff Stein is the founding editor-in-chief of Spy Talk, an independent Substack outlet and podcast covering U.S. intelligence, defense, and foreign policy. Before going independent, he wrote the Spy Talk column at Newsweek and earlier founded the CQ Homeland Security column at Congressional Quarterly. He is the author of three books, including A Murder in Wartime and Saddam's Bomb Maker. From 1968 to 1969, he served as a case officer with the 525th MI Group in Vietnam, running a network of spies against communist forces and was awarded a Bronze Star.
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Veteran journalist Jeff Stein on the chilling effect of SLAPP suits, the purge of the intelligence community, and why he's "cautious" about the future.
Host Jim Lawler sits down with Jeff Stein, the founding editor-in-chief of Spy Talk and a veteran journalist who has covered the intelligence community for over 40 years — and who earlier this year beat back a $1 million defamation suit brought by a Trump administration official. Stein shares the visceral reaction to being served on his front porch on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and why he knew from the start his reporting would hold up.
He explains how the Trump administration has weaponized litigation against journalists, and warns that this creates a chilling effect on sources and reporters alike, with CBS, ABC, and the BBC all either caving or fighting back.He expresses concern regarding the "raw mass firings" of intelligence professionals who served under Democratic administrations — a radical departure from past practice — and the counterintelligence nightmare this creates.
He warns that the Iran war is a strategic disaster, that Trump "seems mesmerized by Netanyahu," and that the decimation of CISA and the undermining of NATO are genuine threats. He closes with his view of the upcoming elections: "Trump is a national security threat, and the Democrats... that's our only vehicle for getting rid of this national security threat."
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A former U.S. Ambassador and Los Angeles Deputy Mayor on why local leaders are democracy's front line, how cities can resist authoritarianism, and what you can do to help.
Host Lauren Anderson sits down with Ambassador Nina Hachigian, founder and CEO of the Alliance for Local Leaders International, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting and connecting mayors and governors globally to solve shared challenges. Drawing from her recent Foreign Affairs article, "The Autocrats' Worst Enemy," Hachigian explains why mayors are the most trusted level of government (70% trust, held for decades) and how in autocracies around the world, they have served on the front lines to protect democratic freedoms.
She shares harrowing examples: the mayor of Gdańsk assassinated for his support of LGBTQ rights; the mayor of Caracas jailed for leading protests; and Istanbul's mayor thrown in jail and facing 2,000 years of sham charges. She discusses how the current US administration is using classic authoritarian tactics including weaponizing federal funding against states and cities that didn't support the president’s election.
She offers hope through local innovation (participatory budgeting) and civic engagement–volunteering, connecting and communicating with local representatives, and the simple act of getting to know your neighbors. Her message: "Mayors are the canaries in the coal mine," when assessing the health of our democracy. And local democracy is where renewal begins.
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A former CIA officer on China’s espionage successes, America’s IP losses, and the growing threat to the U.S. economy.
Host John Sipher sits down with his former CIA colleague Glenn Chafetz, now Director of the 2430 Group, a nonprofit focused on state-sponsored espionage against the economy. Chafetz explains how technology has transformed espionage — from the days of clandestine meetings in parking garages where “if you didn’t get caught red-handed, you didn’t get caught” to a world where "commercial surveillance far outstrips government surveillance" and the changes the technological expansion required of the CIA.
He describes China's coordinated, party-state, intentional, and purposeful effort to steal American intellectual property (IP) calling China’s intelligence service "the single most successful intelligence organization in the history of the planet." He argues that American companies are losing the IP war because their focus on quarterly profits prevents them from calculating the significant long-term cost of stolen technology and making needed investments in counterintelligence efforts that would protect their IP.
He warns that China's informal network of autocracies — Russia, Iran, North Korea — functions as a modern "Axis of Evil," and that the U.S. is destroying its own alliance network at the worst possible time. He closes with advice for companies: You have to become sufficiently expert in economic espionage, counter-espionage, counterintelligence, because if you don't, your competitors will.
Guest info: Glenn Chafetz is the Director of the 2430 Group, a nonprofit providing research and advice on state-sponsored espionage efforts against the US economy, and publisher of the tRed Report, the organization’s recurring intelligence/geopolitical brief . He served at the State Department and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency before spending much of his 30 year government career at the CIA which included three tours as Chief of Station.. He became the first person to oversee the Agency’s program of espionage tradecraft in the age of technological expansion.
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