The man likely to be tapped as US spy chief by presumed US President-elect Joe Biden ran the CIA's Africa office before joining a private mercenary firm. He would be the first Black person to chair the CIA and the third Jewish person to do so.
Fox News first reported late last month that Darrell Blocker, a retired 28-year CIA veteran, had emerged as a leading candidate for CIA director in a future Biden administration. However, neither the Biden transition team nor Blocker has commented on that possibility, with Blocker noting only that Biden had come to him for advice, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), which noted his nickname is “the spy whisperer.”
Rise to CIA Inner Circle
Blocker converted to Judaism just three years ago, but has been associated with the Jewish community since his college years. The JTA reported he closely identified with what it called “the truth-telling spies,” Joshua and Caleb, who in the Book of Exodus were the only two of the 12 sent by Moses to scout the land of Canaan prior to the Hebrews' arrival to give an optimistic report about their chances of success if they settled there.
Blocker's father was in the US Air Force until Blocker was 11, when the family settled in Augusta, Georgia. Blocker studied at the University of Georgia, where he found Judaism could answer many of his questions that Christianity could not. After, he joined the Air Force himself, becoming an analyst for four years from 1987 to 1990 and being…
