With decades of experience as an executive and an analyst for different investigative bodies like the White House National Security Council, FBI, and CIA, Phil Mudd is a very useful asset when it comes to handling security matters. Best known as CNN’s analyst for counterterrorism, Mudd is also the president of Mudd Management, a company that specializes in analytic training and security consulting.
He has been part of the CIA since 1985 with his analytic focus on the Middle East and South Asia. However, with his post-intelligence career including security consulting, his expertise has taken him to several internationally recognized media platforms like Al-Jazeera, BBC, Fox, The New York Times, MSNBC, CBS, The Washington Post, and The Daily Beast, to mention a few. This has also earned him a good number of prestigious awards and commendations. They include the Director’s Award; the CIA’s Distinguished Intelligence Medal; George H.W. Bush Award for excellence in counterterrorism; and the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal.
After long years of service to the government, Mudd decided to turn towards media analysis so he would be able to air his views on security matters that affect international bodies and the world at large. Here is what you need to know about the life, family and career history of the CNN Counterterrorism Analyst.
Phil Mudd Biography
Born in the United States of America in 1962, Philip Mudd is an American citizen with Irish-Italian origins. He attended Villanova University where he graduated from in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) Degree in English Literature. He also attended the University of Virginia where he earned his Master of Arts (M.A) Degree in the same course of study.
Phil began working with the Central Intelligence Agency in 1985, two years after he obtained his MA degree. With the CIA, he worked as an analyst with his main focus in South Asia and the Middle East. From 1992 he moved to the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center and became the Deputy National Intelligence Officer for South Asia and the Near East. Between 1999 and 2001, Mudd was in charge of Iraq analysis at the CIA. While doing that, he moved to the White House where he worked as the Director for Gulf Affairs on White House National Security Council.
Mudd’s career took a new look after the September 11, 2001 attacks. He joined a diplomatic team on a short assignment to plan a new government for Afghanistan. He served as a CIA representative in the team. After his return in 2002, he rejoined the National Counterterrorism Center and became the second-in-charge of counterterrorism analysis. Mudd was promoted as Deputy Director of the NCTC in 2003 and served in that position until 2005 when the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Security Branch was established.
Phil Mudd moved from NSB’s inaugural Deputy Director to Senior Intelligence Adviser and he served in that position until March 2010 when he decided to take a final leave from public service. It was during his service at the CIA and FBI that he made several open contributions on terrorism and security matters affecting his country and the world at large. His comments were featured in both print and air broadcasts.
His Family Details
Mudd is a very public person following his career as a counterterrorism analyst, but he is very confidential with matters that involve his family. Hence information about his parents, including his father is not known.
It is also not clear if the American Analyst with mixed origin has a wife or if he is still single. All through his service years in government, he was not reported with any woman as his girlfriend or wife. The only time he spoke about a girlfriend and wife was in February 2018 when he posted a sarcastic tweet about himself and his girlfriend changing their safe word to ‘Richard Painter’ as their way of celebrating the charges brought forward by Robert Mueller.
Similar to this was his comment on March 10, 2018, when he ridiculed President Donald Trump by saying that while the president was having carnal knowledge of a Pornstar, his wife was sitting at home nursing their newly born son. Although that was not the first time he spoke against Trump and his administration, it was the last time he spoke about relationships.
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Other Facts to Know About the CNN Analyst
Phil Mudd is a Writer
Phil Mudd is not only a well-established counterterrorism analyst for CNN, but he is also an established writer with two books to his name. His first book is titled Takedown: Inside the Hunt for Al Qaeda, while the second is titled The HEAD Game: High Efficiency Analytic Decision-Making and the Art of Solving Complex Problems Quickly. While the first details how the September 11 attack changed his career, the second book talks about the difficulties involved in decision making when one is presented with an enormous amount of data. Mudd has also made his contributions in a good number of journals including the Journal of the US Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center; and The Washington Post.
Net Worth
With over 15 years of service in the CIA, Phil Mudd has recorded huge achievements for himself and that includes intellectually and financially. His net worth has not been revealed but his salary before his retirement is estimated at $60 thousand.
He Works As a Consultant
After retirement, the government serviceman in 2010, continued with his career but on a wider scale. He works with the National Counterterrorism Center’s advisory board. He also joined a non-partisan think tank known as the New America Foundation, based in Washington, D.C. Phil is also a fellow at the Homeland Security Policy Institute located at George Washington University.
