Courts in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., have been quietly ruling out sexual-abuse cases at the CIA for more than a year, providing glimpses of what many officials have described as a deep-rooted cultural problem at the spy agency.
Two cases resulted in assault convictions in Virginia. In September, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., sentenced a former CIA officer to 30 years in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting dozens of women.
Behind the scenes, other allegations continue to plague the notorious secret spy agency, including at least one allegation that led to the firing of an official, CNN has learned.
Recently, a series of female whistleblowers took to Capitol Hill to testify behind closed doors before congressional oversight committees about allegations of sexual assault and other harassment at the CIA.
Earlier this year, a more than 600-page report by the agency’s inspector general and a separate review by congressional investigators revealed serious flaws in the CIA’s handling of complaints.
In response to what some victims have called the CIA’s #MeToo moment, the agency launched a major reform effort last year. That includes creating an office dedicated to receiving allegations of sexual assault and harassment and hiring a law enforcement officer to help facilitate investigations — part of a broader effort to make it easier for CIA officers to report a crime without compromising it, including undercover.
In addition, the CIA conducted an internal investigation for the first time aimed at understanding the extent of its sexual harassment problem.
The previously unpublished results suggest the CIA may have a workplace sexual violence rate slightly higher than the national average — and much lower than the U.S. military, another major national security agency that has also faced problems. Sexual assault in their ranks.
According to results provided to CNN by multiple sources, including CIA Director Maura Burns, 28% of respondents said they experienced at least one sexually hostile work environment while working at the CIA, compared to 9% who indicated. At least one case has occurred in the past 12 months.
7% of respondents reported experiencing at least one unwanted sexual contact or assault during their agency career, with 1% reporting an experience in the past year.
This figure compares to 6.8% of military women who experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2023; Or less than 0.5% across the federal government in recent years.
The investigation prompted mixed reactions within the agency. To some officials, it was proof that the CIA, like the federal government in general, may have fewer problems today than in the past.
But several current CIA employees who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity — as well as victims and their advocates — said the investigation shows the agency still has work to do to change its “work hard, want more” culture. Fun” which has long inconsistently enforced prohibitions against gratuitous sexual conduct.
“I think the cultural part will be the most difficult and the most time-consuming part,” said a senior CIA official. Half of our workforce is women, so I wouldn’t exactly define it as a “good guys” network — but I think there’s an inequality in accountability and discipline for this kind of behavior.”
I have agents who come to me and say, “Why did this guy get away, why did he get away? It’s legitimate,” the agent said.
The CIA faces serious charges
Over the years, the survey suggests that the CIA may have had a comparable rate of workplace sexual violence National average – 5.6% of American women say they have experienced some form of sexual violence from a workplace-related perpetrator in their lifetime – because of important limitations, it is difficult to place too much faith in their results.
To begin with, the survey was voluntary and only a quarter of company employees responded. In general, participants in voluntary surveys have strong feelings about the issue in question, which can skew results from reality.
But experts say sexual assault and harassment have historically been underreported; Employees who respond to this type of survey don’t believe their anonymity will be respected, said Laura Palumbo, director of communications for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
The results also come domestically at a time when the CIA is facing particularly serious allegations.
A federal complaint obtained by CNN and three sources says a young female contractor said a senior officer came to her home with a gun and demanded sex, and then “threatened” her with a knife at the CIA compound. chapter. The employee was fired from the agency, according to two sources.
Another woman says she was “one of at least five people who were sexually assaulted” by an officer who until recently was stationed in Europe, according to multiple sources and an alleged victim’s letter to the U.S. ambassador there. Retrieved from CNN. According to one of the sources, there were no allegations of physical violence.
The victim is accused of knowingly infecting others with a sexually transmitted disease — a potential felony under Virginia law if the victim can be shown to have “intent to transmit the infection” — and is being investigated by the CIA.
At least some of the alleged assaults appear to have taken place in Virginia and were reported to state law enforcement officials, according to the letter and another source familiar with the matter. This person is working at CIA headquarters pending the results of the investigation.
Senior CIA officials, including Operations Director Maura Burns and Director Bill Burns — no relation — have publicly insisted they are taking the problem very seriously.
In cases of alleged assault, the agency also conducts its own internal threat assessment to determine whether the accused poses a danger to their colleagues. “The first thing we do is make sure the victim and the accuser are not in contact with each other,” Maura Burns said.
At that point, assuming a report is given to law enforcement officials, the CIA waits until criminal proceedings are concluded before taking further investigative steps. For example, this is the predicament in which an accused official from a European post – and his alleged victims – currently find themselves.
As long as one properly considers whether the accused poses a continuing danger to the victim or others, Palumbo says, this approach is essentially in line with nationally accepted best practices.
“Call the police”
Questions about implementing the new policies arose in a September 25 meeting with Taleeta Jackson and Maura Burns, head of the CIA’s newly created Office of Sexual Harassment/Harassment Prevention and Response. According to Burns, many employees asked questions, which left many unclear as to how to report a crime to law enforcement without violating rules governing the disclosure of classified information.
Officials acknowledged that people are understandably confused: Protecting your card is instilled in young agents from the moment they enter the agency. It exposed a clear place where managers mishandle reporting cases — and may discourage victims from reporting assault.
I immediately replied: “Call the police. The card issue, we’ve solved that, don’t worry about it,” Burns said. “There’s still some hesitancy and reservation about it, and that’s been clear to me in the questions we’ve received.”
Some victims say they are regularly prevented from reporting alleged assaults to law enforcement. A complaint filed in June by a self-identified assault victim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission seeking class-action status for victims from the agency alleges that the agency “improperly instructed victims to falsify their stories if they wanted to come forward.” Law enforcement officials or face disciplinary action for disclosing confidential information.
The Office of Insider Threat Assessments said, “I would be more than welcome to make a statement to local law enforcement on my own — which is inconsistent with coverage — with the clear caveat that under these circumstances I could disclose to a CIA member, my attacker’s CIA member, or myself and other victims of sexual assault, some of which were to the CIA. Belong,” the victim wrote.
“In short, both [a Unidade de Gestão de Ameaças] The Office of the General Counsel repeatedly instructed me and other victims to make false statements to law enforcement officials and informed us that if we contacted the CIA in any way, we would be guilty of mishandling classified information,” he wrote.
“We still have work to do”
Another challenge for the CIA is the same as in any workplace: how to protect victims and allow them a fair trial, while respecting the rights of the accused and defending themselves against serious charges. Some officials are quietly concerned that the reporting process could become “weaponized,” as many current officials do.
In at least one case — an alleged assault on the stairs at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia — that led to a wrongful conviction.
The agency plans to conduct its annual internal survey, which experts say is a best practice that will help make this type of survey more valuable over time.
For now, Burns said, “we see the survey as a kind of snapshot of people’s experiences and feelings.”
According to Burns, the agency’s next big bet is education — for managers about how to handle cases of assault and harassment, and for employees about the resources and rights available to them. Jackson, according to Burns, will travel overseas next year to standardize the training at the agency’s outposts around the world.
“More than three-quarters of survey respondents said the CIA is taking steps to prevent sexual harassment and assault,” a spokesperson highlighted. But Burns says the agency still has work to do.
“We’re not where we need to be, and I don’t need an investigation to tell me that,” Burns said.
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