Buck Brief - CIA Drops a Cryptic Message To Cuba's Commies

Summary

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Podcast Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Episode: Buck Brief - CIA Drops a Cryptic Message To Cuba's Commies
Date: May 18, 2026
Host: Buck Sexton
Theme: Inside the Shadow War — COVID cover-ups, foreign espionage, and CIA diplomacy in Cuba

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Episode Overview

In this fast-paced "Buck Brief," Buck Sexton unpacks three major intelligence stories:

1. Explosive Senate testimony about the CIA suppressing the COVID-19 lab-leak theory,
2. Recent high-profile espionage cases involving Chinese and Iranian agents inside the US,
3. A surprising, cryptic message from the CIA to Cuba’s communist regime—and what it means for geopolitics in America's backyard.

Buck, with his trademark intelligence and urgency, leads listeners through intelligence failures, espionage threats, and a sharp turn in US-Cuba relations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. CIA and COVID-19: The Lab Leak Cover-up

• Senate Hearings Reveal Suppression (03:23)

  • Buck details the testimony of CIA whistleblower James Erdman III, labeling his account as “not incompetence but a coordinated cover up” regarding the suppression of the COVID lab-leak theory.

    “They had the analysis right in front of them, pointing right at the Wuhan lab...and they suppressed it. Why? Because the American narrative had to be natural origin or trust the science. The science, as Fauci said, even if it meant lying to the American people.” — Buck Sexton (03:35)

  • Senior intelligence community leaders, in coordination with officials including Dr. Fauci, allegedly buried analysis implicating the Wuhan lab—settling instead for a “natural origins” narrative.
  • Buck reflects on his time at the CIA, emphasizing the agency’s duty is to inform the executive branch—not to protect bureaucrats or reputations.

• Significance Beyond COVID (05:52)

  • The scandal is painted as more than a pandemic issue—it's about lack of accountability and institutional rot.

    “The politicization he talked about within the intelligence community is absolutely abhorrent... this hearing proves that the deep state with COVID didn’t answer to the president or Congress or you.” — Buck Sexton (04:45)

  • Buck laments no meaningful reforms or consequences for those responsible.

2. Chinese Espionage in Local U.S. Government

• Arrest of Arcadia, CA, Mayor Eileen Wang (07:51)
  • Buck scrutinizes the guilty plea of Eileen Wang, former mayor of Arcadia, CA, who acted as an illegal agent for China.

    “This wasn’t some low-level staffer. This is the mayor of a city... part of a major metro area.” — Buck Sexton (08:46)

  • Wang helped run a fake local news site pushing Chinese propaganda—denying Uyghur genocide and parroting CCP talking points—fed to her via WeChat by Chinese handlers.
  • Wang failed to register under FARA, violating federal law.
  • Buck highlights this as part of Beijing’s broader “united front work” strategy—embedding agents in local government and diaspora communities.
  • He notes the systemic vulnerability and lack of vetting, referencing “birth tourism,” loose border controls, and the targeting of school boards and city councils for influence.

    “Beijing is playing the long game while we argue about pronouns... Every American city, every school district, every state legislature... needs to wake up.” — Buck Sexton (11:04)

3. Iranian Espionage: Air Force Analyst Turns Traitor

• $200,000 FBI Reward Offered (11:33)
  • Buck references an ongoing manhunt for an Air Force analyst accused of leaking sensitive info to Iran, risking lives abroad.

    “Total treason, betrayal, espionage... you’re putting Americans at risk abroad to help the evil mullahs in Tehran.” — Buck Sexton (11:38)

  • He observes that self-radicalization is a recurring risk—even among non-traditional recruits.

4. The CIA’s Cryptic Signal to Cuba’s Communists

• Unusual Social Media Post Hints at Diplomatic Overture (13:00)
  • Buck analyzes a cryptic CIA X (Twitter) post: a photo of Director John Ratcliffe in Havana with top Cuban officials—including the head of Cuban intelligence and Raul Castro’s grandson.

    “The CIA doesn’t usually post vacation snaps... This was a high-level surprise trip... America is ready to talk economics and security, but Cuba has to make fundamental changes.” — Buck Sexton (13:23)

  • The US message: Stop hosting Russia/China/Iran adversaries or face consequences.
  • Buck frames this as a tough, Trump-era “leverage diplomacy”—not a return to “Obama-era appeasement” but realpolitik with stakes for the embattled Cuban regime.

    “The CIA is letting them know... we’re watching, we’re planning stuff. The rules have changed.” — Buck Sexton (15:00)

  • He emphasizes the possibility of significant policy shifts if Cuba expels foreign spies and halts hostilities.

    “No more treating communist regimes like misunderstood neighbors. Not on Trump’s watch... the CIA is putting Cuban communists on notice. Pay attention. History is being made.” — Buck Sexton (15:32)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Suppressing the Lab-Leak Theory:

  “They had the analysis right in front of them, pointing right at the Wuhan lab... and they suppressed it.” (03:35)

• On Intelligence Community Accountability:

  “The deep state with COVID didn’t answer to the president or Congress or you. They had their own narrative and a lot of people suffered as a result of this.” (04:45)

• On Chinese Espionage Tactics:

  “Beijing is playing the long game while we argue about pronouns. Every American city… needs to wake up.” (11:04)

• On the CIA’s Message to Cuba:

  “America is ready to talk economics and security, but Cuba has to make fundamental changes.” (13:23)
  “No more treating communist regimes like misunderstood neighbors. Not on Trump’s watch.” (15:32)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:23 – CIA’s coordinated COVID-19 origins cover-up, Senate testimony
• 07:51 – Chinese espionage in Arcadia, CA: Mayor pleads guilty
• 11:33 – FBI manhunt for Iranian-linked Air Force analyst
• 13:00 – CIA posts cryptic signal from Havana: high-level Cuba talks
• 15:00 – What the CIA’s move means for U.S. policy in the Caribbean

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Tone and Takeaways

Buck maintains an urgent, no-nonsense tone, relaying a sense of both outrage and insider understanding. He sees these stories as emblematic of a broader struggle for American security and sovereignty, where institutional failures, foreign infiltration, and shifting diplomatic tactics are all in play.

Shields high.

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Transcript

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did the CIA collude with other government officials, including Fauci himself, to suppress the origins of COVID 19? Well, that came up during this week's Senate hearing. CIA whistleblower, this guy, James Erdman III, and he, on May 13, before Chairman Rand Paul's Homeland Security Committee, this guy was a 20 year agency guy and he said that senior analysts and intelligence community leaders deliberately downplayed, really buried actually the lab leak theory on COVID 19 origins. They had the analysis right in front of them, pointing right at the Wuhan lab. The gain of function, research, the whole nine yards, the whole thing. And they suppressed it. Why? Because the American narrative had to be natural origin or trust the science. The science, as Fauci said, even if it meant lying to the American people about it. Now, the biggest takeaway that I have for you on this is it wasn't just incompetence. It was a coordinated cover up. This guy, Erdman testified that intelligence community brass and the Biden administration buried the findings that a lab leak incident was the most likely cause. So they knew what was going on. They hid it. And millions of Americans, of course, as we know, locked down kids, kept out of school, all of this stuff. And we were told to listen to the very people who were lying to us about where this whole virus came from. Now remember, this isn't some rogue analyst. The politicization that he talked about within the intelligence community is absolutely abhorrent. And I was in the CIA, so I remember what it was like being inside that agency. And you're not supposed to protect bureaucrats or Fauci's reputation. You're supposed to tell the executive branch because obviously it's classified. You can't just tell the American public, but you're supposed to tell the executive branch the truth. So this hearing proves that the deep state with COVID didn't answer to the president or Congress or you. They had their own narrative and a lot of people suffered as a result of this. And this is, in a sense, bigger than Covid. This is about the institution itself and

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

this is about whether or not there

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

have been the necessary changes to the intelligence community so this kind of thing won't happen again. I can tell you there have not been those changes. No one has been held accountable. Fauci certainly wasn't held accountable. And Fauci himself pressured analysts in the agency because they had to bring the cdc, nih, niaid, all these different agencies together on this. Fauci himself pressured them to change the

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

assessment on this and think about what a difference it would have made in our perception of the health agencies that if they had had to tell us,

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

hey, this came from a Chinese lab

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

that got American funding to do research that we shouldn't have been doing in the first place. And now we're going to tell you all how to handle this.

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

It would have taken away a lot

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

of the gravitas, a lot of the trust us, we know what's best for you nonsense that they use to shut us all up and get us to double mask and do all the silliness and all the destructive craziness that we did. So, speaking of the intel community, a couple of other big stories, including we got a pro Iranian trader on the loose, we got a Chinese penetration agent. We'll get into this, but there's a. Our sponsor is Birch Gold.

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[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

a major metro area.

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

Between 2020 and 2022, Wang teamed up with her ex fiance and a convicted Chinese agent to run something called the U.S. news Center. This is a website that pretended to be a legitimate local news outlet for Chinese Americans. In reality it was a straight up propaganda mill. Chinese officials fed them content via WeChat and Wang edited and pushed it, denying the Uyghur genocide, whitewashing Beijing's human rights record, the whole CCP talking points playbook. She never registered as a foreign agent,

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

which the law requires.

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

Textbook united front work. Beijing's favorite way to infiltrate diaspora communities, local government and American institutions from the inside. Biggest takeaway from this Chinese Communist Party isn't just messing around with balloons and

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

TikTok, although those are big things.

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TikTok is a big problem. I still like TikTok, but I know

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

it can be used as a. I

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mean I enjoy it, but I it

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

can be used as a tool of propaganda against our interest by the Chinese, which it is.

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

But they're also embedding. The Chinese Communist Party is embedding assets

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

at the local level level.

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

Mayors, city council members, school boards because they know that's where the real influence starts. They target Chinese American communities with a

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

mix of ethnic pride and straight coercion.

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

And too many politicians look the other way because diversity, racism, accusations, etc. Shuts down. In fact, NBC News had a piece. They're worried about the rise in anti Asian bias after this Asian American betrayed her country on behalf of China.

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

I'm not worried about that.

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

I'm worried about China personally. You know, Wang got elected in 2022

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

and the feds say that the propaganda stopped after she took office. But the damage was of course already done at that point, legally and otherwise. Makes you wonder how many officials are on Beijing's payroll right now in this country. We have no idea. Of course our border's wide open too. Vetting is a joke. And you've got the birth tourism thing going on in California with all these rich Chinese all the time throwing money around to have kids here that are

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

going to come back here. They're going to join the CCP and

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

come back to America and say they're US citizens. It's a big problem, my friends. So China is the greatest long term threat to our republic. We know that it's not even close with Russia. China is by far the bigger problem.

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

From the Confucius Institutes to secret police

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

stations in New York to now a mayor in California.

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

Beijing is playing the long game where

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

we argue about pronouns. Every American city, every school district, every state legislature, everybody needs to wake up.

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Got of course enforce faro when it

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

comes to these kinds of things, especially countries like China. I mean this isn't, you know, someone doing something on behalf of Switzerland or the uk. Eileen Wang is just the one who got caught. There are others. By the way, there's also the story of a the FBI offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to a Air

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

Force analyst who was giving the Iranians

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

sensitive information, including the kind of information that could be used to target Americans abroad. Total treason, betrayal, espionage. From this female Air Force analyst who allegedly sold out her country in one of the worst ways. I mean you're putting Americans at risk abroad to help the evil mullahs in Tehran. But these people can become, they can self brainwash on behalf of Islamist jihadist regimes. I'm sure she converted to Islam.

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

She's a white woman.

[Intelligence Analyst / Political Commentator]

I'm sure she converted to Islam somewhere along the line and that's a part of this whole process. So that's another counterintelligent story that came out this week. We got something else on the intel front here in a second. Has to do with Cuba. But first, our sponsor, super short. How many brokers does it take to insure your business? Because if you're like most business owners, the answer is too many. So many policies applications when questions come

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