Interview · moment 7 of 10
Interview: Michelle McPhee on the Tsarnaev Brothers and the FBI
from Thoughtless Animal · #42
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
11 minGuest
Author Michelle McPhee joins by phone to discuss her book Maximum Harm, detailing Tamerlan Tsarnaev's alleged informant relationship with the FBI, his uncle's marriage into a CIA family via Graham Fuller, his suspicious international travel, his link to a triple murder, and the strange circumstances of Ibragim Todashev's death during FBI interrogation.
- 26:59Tim assumes Michelle McPhee is not white based on her name, guesses she might be Arab or Syrian.
- 27:19The book examines the Tsarnaev brothers' potential prior relationship with the FBI.
- 27:36Ruslan Tsarnaev married Samantha Fuller, daughter of CIA official Graham Fuller, who helped craft strategy fighting the Mujahideen.
- 28:42Graham Fuller worked to create what became known as Islamic militant groups and Al Qaeda networks.
- 29:07Tamerlan Tsarnaev supposedly had connections as an informant for the feds and later became a terrorist.
- 30:56McPhee explains the FBI interviewed suspects about Tamerlan but claimed not to recognize him, despite Russian warnings two years prior.
- 31:53Tamerlan traveled overseas multiple times without a visa while on a watch list, joining militants in Russia and returning through customs with no passport.
- 32:43The CIA had been warned about Tamerlan's mother's cousin Magomed Kardasov; Tamerlan was wiretapping him in Chechnya before he was locked up.
- 33:30Tamerlan was so valuable as an informant he was implicated in a triple murder in Waltham, Massachusetts but was never questioned.
- 36:00Ibrahim Todashev, a Tsarnaev confidant, was killed during an FBI interrogation in unusual circumstances, raising questions about the agency's conduct.
Michelle McPheeGraham FullerTamerlan TsarnaevIbrahim TodashevOsama bin LadenBoston Marathon bombingRuslan TsarnaevMagomed KardasovSamantha FullerAlexander Litvinenko