Sean Lyngaas

FBI investigating ‘suspicious’ cyber activities on critical surveillance network | CNN Politics The FBI identified a suspected cybersecurity breach on a sensitive network used to manage wiretaps and intelligence surveillance warrants, and officials working to determine the seriousness of the inc...

New and exclusive —> FBI investigating a suspected cybersecurity incident on a sensitive network the Bureau uses to manage wiretaps and intelligence surveillance warrants www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/p...

Exclusive: Minutes from disaster — how Qatar shot down two Iranian bombers in its first aerial combat operation | CNN Iranian bombers came within minutes of striking the largest military base housing US troops in the Middle East before Qatari planes shot them down, two sources briefed on the operation told CNN.

Iranian bombers were ‘two minutes’ from striking US air base before Qatari planes shot them down, @mostafasalemcnn.bsky.social reports: www.cnn.com/2026/03/04/m...

How many missiles do Iran and the US have? The war’s troubling munitions math | CNN Politics Four days into war with Iran, at least one of the United States’ Gulf allies is already running low on crucial interceptor munitions used to defend against Iranian missile and drone attacks, two sourc...

I talked with @cnn.com about why the most immediate concern is Gulf air defense interceptor inventory -- not US stockpiles. Even if Iranian attack intensity slows, America's Gulf partners have already fired air defense missiles at a faster rate than they can be built.

www.cnn.com/2026/03/04/p...

How many missiles do Iran and the US have? The war’s troubling munitions math | CNN Politics Four days into war with Iran, at least one of the United States’ Gulf allies is already running low on crucial interceptor munitions used to defend against Iranian missile and drone attacks, two sourc...

"Four days into war with Iran, at least one of the United States’ Gulf allies is already running low on crucial interceptor munitions used to defend against Iranian missile and drone attacks, two sources told CNN." www.cnn.com/2026/03/04/p...

Kash Patel gutted FBI counterintelligence team tasked with tracking Iranian threats days before US strikes, sources say | CNN Politics Just days before the United States launched a major military operation in Iran, FBI Director Kash Patel fired a dozen agents and staff members from a counterintelligence unit tasked with monitoring th...

“Just days before the United States launched a major military operation in Iran, FBI Director Kash Patel fired a dozen agents and staff members from a counterintelligence unit tasked with monitoring threats from Iran, according to two sources familiar with the matter.” www.cnn.com/2026/03/03/p...

CIA working to arm Kurdish forces to spark uprising in Iran, sources say | CNN Politics The CIA is working to arm Kurdish forces with the aim of fomenting a popular uprising in Iran and the Trump administration has been in active discussions with Iranian opposition groups and Kurdish lea...

NEW: The CIA has been working to arm Kurdish forces with the aim of fomenting a popular uprising in Iran, multiple people familiar with the plan told CNN.
www.cnn.com/2026/03/03/p...

ICE won’t be at polling places for midterms, Trump appointee tells state election officials | CNN Politics A Donald Trump appointee at the Department of Homeland Security told state election officials from around the country Wednesday that federal immigration agents won’t be deployed to polling places duri...

ICE won’t be at polling places for midterms, Trump appointee tells state election officials www.cnn.com/2026/02/25/p...

Across party lines and industry, the verdict is the same: CISA is in trouble One year into the second Trump administration, CISA faces a 33% loss in personnel and shuttered divisions. Experts warn of "decimated" capabilities and a leadership vacuum as the agency struggles to m...

The agency lost a third of its people in a year. Now industry and lawmakers on both sides say it's unprepared for a potential crisis. via @timstarks.bsky.social cyberscoop.com/cisa-personn...

New —> OpenAI uses the ChatGPT logs of a Chinese law enforcement official to trace a sprawling covert influence operation aimed at intimidating Chinese dissidents worldwide & denigrating the Japanese prime minister: www.cnn.com/2026/02/25/p...

Exclusive: US intelligence agencies tie Chinese explosive test to push for a completely new nuclear arsenal | CNN Politics US intelligence agencies believe that China is developing a new generation of nuclear weapons and has conducted at least one covert explosive test in recent years as part of a broader push to complete...

From my colleagues: A covert Chinese nuclear test is part of a push by Beijing to develop the world’s most advanced nuclear arsenal, US spy agencies believe www.cnn.com/2026/02/21/p...

CIA retracts intel reports that agency says failed to meet standards for political bias | CNN Politics CIA Director John Ratcliffe has ordered the retraction or “substantive revision” of 19 of the agency’s intelligence products after a review determined they failed to meet standards for analytic tradec...

CIA retracts intel reports that agency says failed to meet standards for political bias www.cnn.com/2026/02/20/p...

This woman spied for a Russian agent. Now she’s serving 15 years in a Ukrainian penal colony | CNN Hrystyna Garkavenko, the 19-year-old daughter of a priest, set up a cellphone camera in his church to livestream Ukrainian troop movements. She’s one of thousands accused of spying for Russia.

Ukrainian woman, now in her early 20s, tells CNN from prison why she started spying for an FSB agent: “I just wanted to talk to this person more. And just because I wanted to talk to him, I agreed to help him": www.cnn.com/2026/02/11/e...

‘I thought they were just going to execute me’: American held in Venezuela during Maduro’s last days tells all | CNN Politics James Luckey-Lange has been spending a lot of time looking at the names he carved on a bar of soap he smuggled out of a Venezuelan prison in his underwear.

James Luckey-Lange spent just over a month detained in Venezuela. He shared his story with @snlyngaas.bsky.social & me - including how he smuggled out a bar of soap with names of other inmates carved in it, in the hopes of finding their families

www.cnn.com/2026/02/14/p...

‘I thought they were just going to execute me’: American held in Venezuela during Maduro’s last days tells all | CNN Politics James Luckey-Lange has been spending a lot of time looking at the names he carved on a bar of soap he smuggled out of a Venezuelan prison in his underwear.

New —> ‘I thought they were just going to execute me’: American held in Venezuela during Maduro’s last days tells all www.cnn.com/2026/02/14/p...

Russian drone strike kills three Ukrainian toddlers and their father | CNN Three toddlers and their father were killed in a Russian drone strike in eastern Ukraine that also injured their pregnant mother, local emergency services said.

Russian drone strike kills three Ukrainian toddlers and their father, injures their pregnant mother: www.cnn.com/2026/02/11/e...

Russian drone strike kills three Ukrainian toddlers and their father | CNN Three toddlers and their father were killed in a Russian drone strike in eastern Ukraine that also injured their pregnant mother, local emergency services said.

Russian drone strike kills three Ukrainian toddlers and their father, injures their pregnant mother: www.cnn.com/2026/02/11/e...

"The recent Senate intelligence committee hearing showed Republicans urging the Trump administration to take a stance" on Section 702: www.cnn.com/2026/02/09/p...

Classified hearing erupted in frustration as officials refused to say whether Trump wants to renew powerful surveillance law | CNN Politics For two hours inside a classified Congressional hearing last week, Republican and Democrat Senators grew increasingly exasperated as officials from the FBI, the National Security Agency and other agen...

There was bipartisan frustration last week at a Senate intel hearing as reps from FBI, NSA, and ODNI would not say whether they endorsed the renewal of a crucial national security tool www.cnn.com/2026/02/09/p...

Election officials' growing suspicion of Trump admin's motives has triggered concerns among some federal officials that distrust of even routine FBI moves could hinder cooperation with states & give an opening for foreign adversaries: www.cnn.com/2026/02/06/p...

Kevin Skoglund, an expert in the cybersecurity of voting machines and other election equipment, told CNN that ODNI has not “given any meaningful details” on its findings.

Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard’s office obtained and tested voting machines in Puerto Rico | CNN Politics The Office of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard obtained voting machines from Puerto Rico and probed them for security vulnerabilities, the office said in a statement to CNN on Wednesday...

Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard’s office obtained and tested voting machines in Puerto Rico www.cnn.com/2026/02/04/p...

“If you convince people that the intelligence community is playing political games domestically, it’s bad,” said one former senior counterintelligence official. “I don’t think anyone wants a reprise of the kind of stuff the Church Committee uncovered.”

What does Tulsi Gabbard’s job as director of national intelligence have to do with elections? | CNN Politics After intense criticism from some election officials after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was present during an FBI search of an elections office in Georgia last week, Gabbard defende...

A fact-check: "What does Tulsi Gabbard’s job as director of national intelligence have to do with elections?"
www.cnn.com/2026/02/05/p...

Solidarity, Joe. Your talents as a reporter will find a new home. It is WaPo's loss.

Most of the Washington Post’s tech reporters were laid off today, including me. I have loved my time at the paper, which is where I wanted to work from age 15. I take some consolation in not being among the survivors who will have to work harder with less for fewer readers. On to better things.

New survey reveals how security researchers and journalists experience legal and criminal threats Over 100 security researchers and journalists answered our survey and told us how they experienced threats for doing their work. Here are some of the top takeaways.

ICYMI: Yesterday we published the results of a survey of 100+ security researchers and journalists asking about the legal and criminal threats they face for doing their jobs.

A very interesting takeaway: While legal & criminal threats are common, most of our respondents *did not* give in to them.

DNI Gabbard put Trump on the phone with FBI agents who searched Fulton County elections office, sources say | CNN Politics Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard put President Donald Trump on the phone with some of the FBI agents who conducted a controversial search of an elections office in Fulton County, Georgi...

Former senior FBI officials said they could think of “no precedent for the top US intelligence official interacting directly with FBI agents on a politically charged case like this.” www.cnn.com/2026/02/02/p...

DNI Gabbard put Trump on the phone with FBI agents who searched Fulton County elections office, sources say | CNN Politics Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard put President Donald Trump on the phone with some of the FBI agents who conducted a controversial search of an elections office in Fulton County, Georgi...

In a new letter to lawmakers, DNI Gabbard confirms her presence in Fulton County was “requested by the President” www.cnn.com/2026/02/02/p...

Tulsi Gabbard inserts herself into 2020 election fraud probe | CNN Politics Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has taken the extraordinary step of inserting herself into a federal probe of the 2020 election as she hunts for elusive evidence of voter fraud.

“Anticipation had built throughout the day Friday among election officials of both parties that someone from the Trump administration would explain what the administration was doing in Fulton County. No explanation came.” www.cnn.com/2026/01/31/p...