Andrew Bustamante | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2017–present |
| Known for |
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| Spouse |
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| Children | 2 |
Andrew Bustamante is an American former CIA covert intelligence officer, entrepreneur, author, and media presenter. He is the founder of the training and consulting company EverydaySpy and co-author, with his spouse Jihi Bustamante, of the memoir Shadow Cell: An Insider Account of America's New Spy War (Little, Brown and Company, 2025). He appears as an investigator on the History Channel series Beyond Skinwalker Ranch and has been a guest on long-form interview programs including the Lex Fridman Podcast, Modern Wisdom, The Shawn Ryan Show, The Diary of a CEO, The Bialik Breakdown, and the PBD Podcast.
Bustamante is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. [1] [2]
Bustamante served as an officer in the United States Air Force, working in nuclear ICBM operations, before being recruited into the CIA's National Clandestine Service. He served seven years as a covert operations officer tasked with mission planning and coordination. [2]
Within the intelligence hub of WOLF (Bangkok), Andrew's official title was Staff Operations Officer (SUE), which he describes as a "desk jockey" or program manager. This role came after he completed but failed to receive certification from case officer training due to peers not trusting him. Specifically for the newly formed cell targeting FALCON (China), he served as the Case Manager, responsible for liaising with Langley, securing permissions and resources, providing operational guidance to the case officers, and managing the team's administrative and logistical needs. [3]
In 2017 Bustamante founded EverydaySpy, a commercial training and advisory platform that adapts intelligence tradecraft for business and individual skills development. The company distributes courses and programming through EverydaySpy.com and associated channels, and provides bespoke corporate training and consulting. [4] [5]
Bustamante hosts the EverydaySpy Podcast, produced with Jihi Bustamante, focused on applied espionage concepts, decision-making, and security awareness. [6]
Since 2023 Bustamante has appeared on the History Channel series Beyond Skinwalker Ranch as an investigator alongside journalist Paul Beban, with seasons airing in 2023, 2024, and 2025. [1] [7]
Bustamante's selected podcast appearances include:
Shadow Cell: An Insider Account of America's New Spy War recounts Andrew and Jihi Bustamante’s assignment as newlywed “tandem” CIA officers to reconstitute human-intelligence collection inside a U.S. rival code-named “Falcon” after the agency’s source network there was penetrated by a mole, with the couple selected as low-profile operatives who could both regenerate “clean” reporting and, by design, draw the traitor into the open. [3] The narrative describes a compartmented cell the authors built, explicitly modeled on decentralized terrorist structures, to withstand adversary counterintelligence while they targeted, developed, and ran assets and double agents under heavy surveillance and with engineered social cover. [3] Reported episodes include the couple's background and meeting, recruitment and handling sequences, surveillance-detection and exfiltration contingencies, and operations staged amid everyday settings, all presented with extensive redactions that mask countries, cities, and targets to preserve operational security. [15] [16]
Shadow Cell received consistent notice from trade reviewers. Publishers Weekly characterized the narrative as "hair-raising" and an "alluring crash-course on spycraft," adding that redactions leave readers "yearn[ing] for a less censored account" yet the book "pack[s] in plenty of suspense" with "the cliffhangers and paranoid atmosphere of a John le Carré novel". [15] Kirkus Reviews called it a "gripping espionage yarn" and a "fast-paced account" of a mole hunt constrained by CIA review. [16] Library Journal recommended the title as a "fast-paced, riveting look into clandestine life," positioning it for readers of contemporary spy narratives. [17] The Wall Street Journal reviewed the book in a comparative essay paired with Anonymous Male, noting it as a husband-and-wife CIA account of a spy hunt abroad. [18]
Commercially, the book debuted on the New York Times Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction list at number eight for the week ending September 28, 2025, [19] and entered Publishers Weeklys Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction bestsellers shortly after publication. [20] Prior to release, Publishers Weekly listed an announced first printing of 50,000 copies from Little, Brown and Company. [21]