Virtual Spy Chat with Chris Costa

Join us for an online discussion of the latest intelligence, national security, and terrorism issues in the news. Spy Museum Executive Director Chris Costa will lead the briefing. Costa a former intelligence officer of 34 years with 25 of those in active duty in hot spots such as Panama, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq is also a past Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council. He will be joined by Alan E. Kohler, Jr., FBI Assistant Director, Counterintelligence Division.


Kohler was named assistant director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division in April 2020. Kohler had most recently served as the special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office's Counterintelligence Division. He joined the FBI as a special agent in 1996 and worked counterintelligence matters at the Washington Field Office. He also served on the Evidence Response Team and took part in the FBI’s response to the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. In 2003, he transferred to the Counterintelligence Division to manage Russian counterintelligence investigations and was promoted to unit chief in 2004. In 2006, Kohler transferred to the New York Field Office to supervise a counterintelligence squad and then later a squad working cyber national security and criminal matters. He served as an assistant legal attaché in London beginning in 2012, acting as the FBI’s liaison with British intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Kohler moved to the Norfolk Field Office in Virginia in 2016 as the assistant special agent in charge of the counterintelligence, counterterrorism, intelligence, and crisis management programs. He returned to FBI Headquarters in 2017 as the chief of the Eurasian Section, which manages the Bureau’s operations countering Russian intelligence threats. In 2018, he was promoted to deputy assistant director in the Counterintelligence Division and managed multiple portfolios. He was promoted to the special agent in charge of the Counterintelligence Division at the Washington Field Office in 2019. He is a recipient of the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the FBI Director’s Award for Outstanding Counterintelligence Investigation, and the Exceptional Achievement Medal from the Director of National Intelligence.

Following their discussion of key issues, you’ll be able to ask questions via our online platform.

Auto-generated closed captioning will be available for this program.