Selected press coverage and media appearances. Rod Schoonover’s work at the intersection of intelligence, ecology, and security has drawn coverage from major national and international outlets — most notably following the 2019 congressional testimony episode in which the White House blocked his written submission to the House Intelligence Committee.
2026
February 2026. Deny, Delay, Downplay: How Governments Hide Climate Change Intelligence — Feature essay in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Examines how governments suppress, delay, and distort their own ecological and climate security assessments.
2019: Congressional Testimony and Aftermath
In June 2019, Rod testified before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on the national security implications of climate change. The White House blocked his written submission from entering the congressional record — generating extensive coverage across major outlets. He resigned from the State Department the following month.
June 2019. White House blocked intelligence aide’s written testimony — Washington Post. And: New York Times coverage of the same.
June 2019. CNN coverage of the blocked testimony and its implications for U.S. climate intelligence.
June 2019. Full oral testimony on C-SPAN — National Security and Climate Change, House Intelligence Committee.
July 2019. State Department analyst resigns after White House blocks climate change testimony — Wall Street Journal.
July 2019. Opinion essay in the New York Times on the Trump administration’s suppression of climate science.
September 2019. Interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s The Lead, on the suppression of the National Intelligence Estimate on climate change.
September 2019. Interview on CBS News — former intelligence analyst says White House tried to delete basic science from climate report.
October 2019. Interview with The Nation on climate science, intelligence, and the national security establishment.
Additional Coverage & Appearances
For a full archive of speaking engagements, podcast appearances, and public lectures from 2016 to the present, see the Speaking & Media page.