National Journal’s Bruce Stokes learned in the documents that, while he was the magazine’s international-economics correspondent, he was unknowingly the central character in an apparent Chinese espionage plot. Read the full story here.

A draft indictment against former NSA official Thomas Drake, which was never filed, shows that the government contemplated prosecuting him for a range of crimes, including conspiracy. But many of the most serious charges were dropped. Why? And what does it tell us about the Obama administration’s ongoing campaign to staunch leaks of classified information? […]

The Watchers is on sale today in paperback. You can pick up a copy in your favorite bookstore or online. It’s got a nifty new cover, as well as a new afterword on the Christmas Day bombing attempt. That event occurred as the hardcover was going to press, so we couldn’t work it in. I’m glad it’s in the new version, because it ties up the theme of the whole book very nicely.

Here are some links to bookstores selling the paperback:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books-A-Million

Borders

Powell’s

IndieBound

Penguin

I’ve long known that, on many important national security decisions, former president George W. Bush wasn’t in the driver’s seat. But I was shocked to discover that at one of the most critical points of his presidency, Bush wasn’t even in the car. Here’s my review of Bush’s shocking admission, in his new memoir, about […]

The Russian spies arrested last month and traded back to Moscow have mostly been introduced to the American public as a hot girl and a bunch of bumbling Borises and Natashas. But people who crossed paths with one of the recently deported spies, a Bostonian calling himself Donald Heathfield, suggest that he, at least, may […]

The relationship between a national security reporter and a confidential source is one of the most guarded and prized in Washington. Now, an audacious Web site is upending the way sensitive leaks find their way to daylight, and with it, the media’s influence over information. Is the Obama administration taking notice? Read my new piece […]

Or do they just help investigators find someone after he’s blown something up? In light of the failed attack on Times Square, I joined “Word of Mouth” on New Hampshire Public Radio to talk about the pros and cons of surveillance cameras. Do we need more? Or are they giving us a false sense of security?

Harold Koh made big news last night, laying out for the first time the administration’s position that drone strikes against terrorists and militants are legal. Here’s my first take for the Atlantic on the news and what it means for the administration.

The New York Times review is in today’s paper. Eric Lichtblau, no stranger to the opaque world of surveillance, gave it strong praise:

“it uses smart technical analysis and crisp writing to put the reader inside the room with the watchers and to help better understand the mind-set that gave rise to the modern surveillance state.”

“At its best ‘The Watchers’ provides an insightful glimpse into how Washington works and how ideas are marketed and sold in the back rooms of power, whether the product being peddled is widgets or a radical model for intelligence gathering.”

This week, I’ll have an online discussion at Slate with my friend and fellow intelligence author, Patrick Radden Keefe. We’ll be talking about The Watchers, my relationship with John Poindexter, the limits of surveillance, and the future of privacy.