Inside the CIA, the White House & the Intelligence Purges | Julia Curlee

dee takos (0:00)

Hey, Jack.

Jack Murphy (0:01)

What's going on?

dee takos (0:03)

Guess who our new presenting sponsor is. Tell us about it.

Jack Murphy (0:07)

We've heard a lot over the last few years about whether it's possible to build things in America. Our presenting sponsor today, VAER Watches, is putting that question to the test.

VAER was founded in Venice, California in 2016 with a simple goal, to rebuild US watchmaking, while producing watches tough enough to withstand the toughest outdoor environments. Today, VAER is the largest independent watch assembler in America, assembling watches in California, Arizona, Rhode Island and Alabama, while also manufacturing its leather straps in Illinois and Florida. Every VAER watch is built for active use with a guaranteed waterproof warranty, scratch resistant, sapphire crystals and high quality materials and components throughout. That combination has helped VAER earn more than 10,000 five-star customer reviews, including thousands from people who rely on their watches every day and demanding professional environments. All of us here at The Team House have been wearing our VAER watches for a while now. And you can check mine out right here. This is the Meridian Diver Watch in Navy Blue.

It's very classy watch. And this is the actual rubber dive watch band if you wanted to take it in salt water. But it also comes with a normal silver band and a nylon band if you prefer that. And, Dee, what kind of watch are you wearing there?

dee takos (1:31)

I have the C4 Tactical Field Watch.

It's solar powered too. I'm loving it. And it's funny because I had this laying on my coffee table the other day, actually. My homie came in to watch football or whatever. And he's a watch guy. And he's like, oh, is that that VAER one?

I'm not even making this up. I'm not even bullshitting. I'm like, holy shit. Yeah, like they're going to be presenting sponsors for The Team House. And they sent us all a bunch of watches. Like, yo, I love this watch. And I literally sold the watch. I sent them the link, the Team House link. And I'm like, yo, buy a watch from this from this link. Because if you do buy a watch from that link, which is vaerwatches.com/theteamhouse, you when you purchase a watch, you get a free watch roll that you could fill up with three watches. So you could travel with your watches and stuff like that. It's really cool. It's leather.

And I was so excited when he was like, yo, is that that VAER watch? I see it all the time. I was like so amped that he came up with that.

Jack Murphy (2:30)

Yeah, it's nice. I really like the like nice big watch face.

dee takos (2:34)

You can find them at vaerwatches.com/theteamhouse. That's vaerwatches.com/theteamhouse.

And if you use our link, you'll get a free watch roll with $59 with your purchase. Also, VAER does offer a 20% discount for active duty military, veterans and law enforcement and first responders. So you could check that out at any time if you are any one of those. Yeah, I'm excited about this sponsorship. So I really hope people go and check out VAER.

Jack Murphy (3:02)

Yeah, absolutely.

Hey everyone, I'm Jack Murphy. This is The Team House. And we're here with tonight's guest, Julia Curlee. Julia served as an analyst first at the Defense Intelligence Agency. And then at the CIA, where she became a senior analyst. And went all the way up to the National Security Council level. She was the PDB, the Presidential Daily Briefer, to HR. McMaster and then Vice President Pence.

And then served through the Biden administration and into the early Trump administration, and the second Trump administration, where she was purged, essentially, after being targeted by Laura Loomer. So, we'll get into all of this sort of stuff. But, I mean, you had a really interesting and long career at the agency and even up at the White House. So, I really appreciate you joining us on the show, Julie.

Julia Curlee (3:59)

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Jack Murphy (4:02)

So, you grew up in Hawaii, right? Tell us a bit about that.

Julia Curlee (4:07)

I was a barefoot kid.

Yeah. So, my dad was in the 25th Infantry around Vietnam, and then he got out and he met my mom and for some reason never left paradise. Yeah. So, I was born and raised in Kailua, which is a little beach town right next to K Bay for the Marines. And I just ran around barefoot, enjoying all there is, with perfect weather and sunshine all year round. But those planes came over the horizon and I always wondered where they came from. And so, I don't know what it was. I was probably about the age seven, where I thought about, what is it to be a person that gets to travel the world? And then I was probably ambushed at some point by the movie The Hunt for Red October as often happens, which I must point out is the movie where the CIA analyst is the hero.