This is an adapted excerpt from the Jan. 27 episode of “Inside with Jen Psaki.”
I can tell you from my time in government that there are very few U.S. intelligence operations as sensitive as those around negotiations involving Americans detained overseas. A very small group of people from the national security team and the closest advisers to the president are typically in the know. That’s it.
That’s for good reason. Any leak or reporting could prompt public pressure on those holding the Americans. It could make them ask for more or delay it altogether. Even the smallest misstep could cause those Americans to be held by their captors for months or years longer.
It could have been an incredibly costly mistake. One that could have prevented these Americans from coming home.
It’s why everyone in the know lets out a sigh of relief when the detained Americans are confirmed to be back in friendly territory.Now, with that in mind, consider this headline from The Wall Street Journal from October 2020: “Two Americans Held Hostage by Iran-Backed Forces in Yemen Freed in Trade.”
In that report, published on the morning of Oct. 14, a little-known National Security Council staffer named Kash Patel publicly confirmed that the two American captives and the remains of a third were exchanged for 200 Houthi fighters who were being held in Saudi Arabia.
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