Summary
Overview
Dax Shepard and Monica Padman interview Christopher Whitcomb, a former FBI Hostage Rescue Team member and author investigating the Idaho college murders case. Whitcomb shares his extraordinary FBI career, from being present at Ruby Ridge and Waco to working counterterrorism operations. The conversation then focuses on his latest book examining the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, where Whitcomb raises serious questions about the investigation, evidence, and Brian Koberger's guilty plea despite significant inconsistencies in the case.
Christopher Whitcomb's Unusual Path to the FBI
Christopher Whitcomb grew up in a small New Hampshire town where bizarre events seemed to follow him, from witnessing a murder connected to Kennedy assassination testimony to knowing someone who tried to overthrow the Chilean government. After working as a speechwriter on Capitol Hill, his wife secretly applied to the FBI on his behalf while he was recovering from being knocked out in a boxing match. This unexpected turn led him to an extraordinary FBI career that would take him to some of America's most significant crisis situations.
- Whitcomb grew up in Franconia, New Hampshire, a small town of 200 people where his father ran a ski area
- A man who worked for his dad killed the number two guy in the FBI two weeks before he was set to testify that Lee Harvey Oswald didn't kill Kennedy alone
- His wife filled out an FBI application for him while he was recovering from being knocked out in a boxing match
- He was a newspaper reporter, high school English teacher, and Capitol Hill speechwriter before joining the FBI
" Guy that worked for my dad shot and killed the number two guy in the FBI two weeks before he was going to testify that Lee Harvey Oswald didn't kill Kennedy alone. "
" I used to get in the passenger seat of the GTO drive from Capitol Hill to the White House before they turned Pennsylvania Avenue into a walkway. We drive up to the gate to the Oval Office, turn left, go through the gate, drive right up front and go in to see Ronald Reagan at 24. "
Becoming an FBI Sniper and the Hostage Rescue Team
After joining the FBI, Whitcomb was assigned to bank robberies in Missouri where he pulled his gun on his very first day—highly unusual for FBI agents. Seeking more action, he joined the elite Hostage Rescue Team, a civilian counterpart to Delta Force and SEAL Team 6 created because military units couldn't be used domestically due to the Posse Comitatus law. The team operated in extreme secrecy, with members carrying beepers that could deploy them anywhere in the world within hours, and Whitcomb became a Marine-trained sniper despite never serving in the military.
- Whitcomb pulled his gun on his very first day as an FBI agent, which is extremely unusual
- The FBI Hostage Rescue Team was created as a civilian counterterrorism force because the Posse Comitatus law prevented using military units domestically
- Team members were gone 250-300 days per year, either training or deployed on missions
- Whitcomb became a Marine Scout Sniper by training despite never serving in the military
" You create a human entity that is not subject to many of the same stresses that other people are. Because if you're going to fly to Yemen and you're going to wrap into a window at four o'clock in the morning, hit the windows with a slap charge and go in and kill the good guys and save the bad guys, it's a different skill set. "
" Charlie was there, too. We were saying he was in fight or fight mode. "
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