Politico reported that the House Intelligence Committee has started investigating claims the CIA mishandles sexual assault and harassment accusations.
At least three female CIA employees have approached the committee since January to tell them that the agency is discouraging women from making sexual misconduct complaints, according to one of the people, attorney Kevin Carroll, who represents the first employee who talked to the committee. He also said the CIA is making it difficult for alleged victims to speak to law enforcement.The allegations led committee chair Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and ranking member Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) to send a letter last week to CIA director Bill Burns to ask for the agency’s help looking into the issues, according to another of the four people, who was granted anonymity to discuss the private letter. Burns responded within 24 hours and pledged full cooperation, according to a senior CIA official.Carroll said his client has told him that as many as 54 women at the CIA over the past decade have said they were been victims of sexual assault or misconduct by colleagues, and that their cases were improperly handled. POLITICO could not independently verify that assertion.
A woman “alleged she was raped by a colleague at the CIA” in recent months. No one has punished the alleged suspect. A second woman claimed, “the same thing happened when she was sexually assaulted by a colleague at work.”
A third woman said officials ignored her complaints of “a male colleague who had allegedly physically assaulted her and tried to forcibly kiss her repeatedly.”
The woman didn’t complain once or to one person. She went to “numerous offices.” No one has punished the male:
She also said she was told by officials in the CIA’s security office that if she reported the incident to law enforcement, they would not protect her anymore from the alleged assailant. She said she was warned that moving forward with the allegation could end her career at the agency, according to Carroll and the complaint.He said the CIA also threatened the women who were going to Congress with adverse consequences if they spoke out.
Local law enforcement confirmed they’re investigating the woman’s case.
The CIA has denied the accusations with the usual vanilla statement. “We don’t tolerate this behavior.” “We take every complaint seriously.” Yada yada yada.
Well, Kevin Byrnes, a partner at the FH+H law, is also the Equal Employment Opportunity lawyer for the woman.
Byrnes said, “he represents several other CIA employees who are alleging they were sexually assaulted or harassed in the workplace:
He said the agency’s security division and EEO office discourages people from filing complaints by claiming it’s not in the best interests of the women or would trigger disclosure of classified information. The CIA also requires victims to file a complaint within 45 days.CIA employees go through the EEO process to vindicate their rights, according to Byrnes, as well as to secure changes in their working conditions and obtain payment for attorneys’ fees and compensation for pain and suffering.But the office “has been a mechanism for deflection and interference with … complaints,” he said.
A source at the CIA admitted the agency needs to fix the EEO process.
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