The Exchange
The Exchange
CNBC
Inside Man: How Chinese Spies Used Lies, Romance and Betrayal to Target the Federal Reserve
21 minutes Posted Sep 30, 2026 at 2:07 pm.
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Show notes
One week after a friendly summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, CNBC details an aggressive plot by China to infiltrate one of the United States’ most important institutions: the Federal Reserve. This explosive documentary delves into the incredible saga of a Chinese spy's effort to obtain secrets from the inner confines of the US top bank. It's a tale of sex, money, deceit and betrayal that put some of the country’s vital economic and financial secrets at risk. With exclusive access to new documents, audio, photos and text messages, CNBC's Senior Washington Correspondent Eamon Javers uncovers the story of former Fed economist John Rogers and a Chinese spy posing as an economics student who he befriended in 2013. “Inside Man” is a spy story at the heart of the competition for global economic dominance, posing the question of whether Rogers was a spy himself or an unwitting dupe. Watch the full documentary, read the article and explore excerpts from Rogers’ text message history here: cnbc.com/insideman