Our National Security Advisory Board

Linda Weissgold was the CIA’s Deputy Director for Analysis from March 2020 to April 2023. In that role, she was responsible for the quality of all-source intelligence analysis at the CIA and for the professional development of the officers who produce it. During her 37-year career at CIA, Weissgold was part of the creation and delivery of intelligence analysis on a variety of complex issues and in multiple settings. Before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, she was an analyst and leader of analytic programmes focused on the Middle East. Immediately afterwards, she was among those that volunteered for counterterrorism assignments. The units she guided, including as the head of the CIA’s Office of Terrorism Analysis, generated insights that informed US policy and operations across multiple administrations and helped to identify Usama Bin Laden’s location and the rise of ISIS. For more than two years, she served as former President George W. Bush’s intelligence briefer. A skilled communicator experienced in the coverage of urgent and controversial issues, she is a proven teacher and champion of analytic tradecraft, integrity, and objectivity in intelligence analysis. She is widely recognised for her unwavering dedication to the CIA’s national security mission and its officers.