Cleared Hot with Andy Stumpf · June 2026
How Intelligence Operations Get Funded - and the Epstein Question
Nic McKinley and former trafficking attorney and federal agent Ryan Dalton join Andy Stumpf to look past the spy-novel version of Jeffrey Epstein. The sober read: a financial broker who moved money and collected leverage - and a window into how intelligence operations actually get funded, why a broker turns useful then disposable, and what a trial would have forced into the open.
Watch on YouTubeHosted by Andy Stumpf
Key Takeaways
- Skip the spy-novel framing. The simpler read the episode argues: Epstein moved money for people who needed it moved and collected leverage doing it - and that access is what kept him protected.
- A look at how intelligence operations actually get funded, and why a broker in that position becomes useful first and disposable later.
- What a criminal trial would have forced into the open - and why a dead defendant solves that problem.
- The harder modern problem: in an era where anything can be faked and attention is steered on purpose, getting to the truth is its own job.
Intelligence & FundingInvestigationsEpsteinDeliverFund
From the episode
Nic McKinley went from Air Force pararescue to the CIA, then founded DeliverFund to fight trafficking with intelligence tools.
Skip the spy-novel version of Epstein. The simpler read: a guy who moved money for people who needed it moved, and collected leverage doing it.
That access is what kept him protected.
I went in skeptical. I'm still skeptical. The corruption underneath is harder to wave off.
Episode chapters · 2:52:50
00:00:00
Open and Epstein framing
00:10:55
Back to trafficking and investigations
00:20:06
Intelligence culture and secrecy
00:29:05
Building the case from files
00:55:44
Why this is bigger
01:34:58
Why the autopsy matters
01:45:22
Post-death signals and island footage
02:14:43
Reward pool and truth commission