CIA probed over alleged mishandling of harassment cases: Politico

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Politico
22 Apr 2023 14:08
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At least three female CIA employees say the agency is discouraging women from making complaints about sexual misconduct.

The lobby of the CIA Headquarters Building in McLean, Virginia, August 14, 2008 (Reuters)

The US House Intelligence Committee is investigating the CIA’s alleged mishandling of sexual assault and harassment cases regarding its workforce, Politico reported.

The news website cited Attorney Kevin Carroll as saying that since January, at least three female CIA employees have approached the committee to claim that the agency is discouraging women from making complaints about sexual misconduct.

According to Carroll, the CIA is making it difficult for alleged victims to speak to law enforcement.

The attorney also revealed that his client has told him that as many as 54 women at the CIA over the past decade have said they have been victims of sexual assault or misconduct by colleagues and that their cases were improperly handled.

"This is the CIA’s Me Too moment," Carroll added, in a nod to the movement against sexual harassment, which began to spread virally as a hashtag on social media following the exposure of numerous sexual-abuse allegations against former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in October 2017.

Carroll noted that the investigation began in January when a female CIA employee approached the committee and indicated that the agency had ignored punishment for a male colleague who had allegedly physically assaulted her and tried to forcibly kiss her repeatedly.

She said she immediately reported the incident to multiple CIA headquarters but stressed that absolutely nothing had been done.

The woman also claimed that authorities at the CIA's security office warned her that if she reported the event to the police, they would no longer protect her from the alleged assailant.

Carroll said the woman was cautioned that pursuing the accusation might jeopardize her career at the CIA.

The attorney added that a second woman reported to committee officials in recent months that she was raped by a CIA coworker, pointing out that the agency failed to adequately punish the suspected culprit. A third woman also reported the same thing occurred to her after she was sexually assaulted at work by a coworker, Carroll said.

In the same context, Politico cited unnamed sources as saying that US House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner and ranking member Jim Himes earlier sent a letter to CIA Director William Burns to ask for the agency’s help looking into the issues.

A senior CIA official claimed that Burns responded within 24 hours and promised full cooperation, rejecting Carroll’s claims that the agency had tried to prevent the female CIA employees from speaking to Congress.

"This idea that there’s some threatening [of] officers who want to talk to HPSCI, that’s not true. We haven’t threatened or blocked anybody,” the official insisted, referring to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Over the past 15 years, several cases related to alleged sexual assault by CIA officers have provoked public uproar.

In 2021, ex-CIA officer Brian Jeffrey Raymond pled guilty to a number of federal charges, including sexual abuse. He was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting dozens of women he had met on dating apps over a 14-year period.

In 2009, two women said they were drugged and raped by Andrew Warren, the CIA’s former station chief in Algeria, who pled guilty to the assault and served five years in prison.