Jim DiOrio was an FBI undercover operative, distinguished Special Agent, and interrogation expert. He’s also a West Point graduate and served overseas in the Army. Currently, he’s the CEO of J3 Global, an international crisis and security firm.
In this episode, Jim shares the intelligence failures surrounding some devastating events: September 11th, the Israel and Gaza war, and the Trump assassination attempt. Plus, he offers insight into the mindset of living a life of service, and why you must always be proactive instead of reactive.
Jim’s mindset of being of service started in childhood:
“I grew up in a service-oriented family. My dad was a Newark, New Jersey fireman at a critical time, in the mid 1960’s. He saw a lot. And I just always admired the way he went about his business. I didn’t realize until he was gone how busy he was and how many people he affected positively. And he would always say, ‘Positive affects positive.’ And that’s kind of the way we grew up as a family.”
How he lives every day with purpose:
“I look at it this way. Someday, my grandsons are going to walk to my casket. What do I want them to know about their ‘poppy’? How do I want that to look? And it goes back to – I think it was a Stephen Covey book – that talked about starting with the end in mind. For me, that drives my every day. There are a lot of distractions, and there are a lot of things that go on in this world. But, for me I start the day with purpose.”
Proactive vs reactive approach to gathering intelligence:
“I always looked at the proactive approach. What does tha t mean? Nurturing assets and nurturing informants. So, I know before something happens that it’s going to happen, or there’s a good chance and likelihood that it’s going to happen. CIA does it on one side of the world, and we (FBI) do it on the opposite side of the world. So, that’s how it kind of comes together. And many of the failures that I saw in the law enforcement world were just based on that indication of not being able to see things ahead of time.”
When he knew, on 9/11, that it was indeed a terrorist attack:
“At that point I can remember thinking to myself, going back to my Army experience, ‘We’re at war. We’re at war at this point.’ Because we watched (the plane) slam into that tower and from there it was just going to be a reactive process for us.”
The dichotomy that Jim witnessed in the immediate aftermath of 9/11:
“I saw two things: I saw the devastation of hatred that the world can bring upon us and at the same time I saw massive amounts of love from people who were willing to sacrifice their lives for other people at that point.”
The intelligence breakdown that led to October 7th in Israel:
“I think again it comes down to the competitiveness amongst different intel agencies. And sometimes there’s not a great job, not an efficient and effective way of analyzing information. Because even though you hear a lot of stories about how, ‘We had no idea. It’s an intel failure.’ … I have a hard time believing that there wasn’t information there that would have at least allowed us to help prevent some of those tragic deaths of these kids.”
Investigating is in Jim’s blood:
“I’ve always been tuned-in to investigations. I’ve always been blessed with that kind of intuition that allows me to go a step further and be a little more proactive. That came from my old man who was a Newark fireman who started the Newark arson squad during the riots in the late 60’s and just had a skill to make people tell him things they never wanted to tell him. And do it with a smile and a handshake, and I’ve carried on that tradition. I love to shake somebody’s hand after I put them in jail.”