A female spy-in-training is suing the CIA, accusing the agency of pressuring her not to report an alleged sexual assault on her that took place on the steps of the agency’s headquarters in Virginia last year.
The woman, an unnamed 35-year-old CIA Clandestine Service Trainee, claims her attacker, a fellow cadet, snuck up behind her on the stairs at CIA Langley headquarters in July 2022 and assaulted her.
The man “wrapped a scarf tightly around her neck, began strangling her with it, made obscenities, and tried to forcefully kiss her on the mouth,” the suit, which was first reported by Politico, alleges.
The woman, who is hearing impaired, then “struggled, told her attacker to ‘stop,’ fought him off, and ran away.”
“He immediately tried unsuccessfully to wrap the scarf around the Plaintiff’s neck again, followed the Plaintiff to his office, and forcibly grabbed and kissed her.
Hours after the attack, his assailant twice texted the married intern to ask, ‘Are you okay?’” the complaint alleges.
The alleged sexual assault took place in a stairwell at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, last year. Corbis via Getty Images
Before the attack, the man had sent the woman several abusive instant messages while at work, according to the suit.
When the woman tried to report the assault to law enforcement, the agency tried to stop her, her lawyer said.
“The CIA repeatedly and improperly sought to prevent him from filing a criminal complaint — to the point of criminal witness tampering — and also ordered him to make false statements to law enforcement,” according to the lawsuit.
The female attacker was convicted of assault and battery in a Virginia court in August.AP
Less than a month after the attack, the CIA Security Office deemed that the female assailant had “committed no crime” and that she “posed no threat of further physical harm,” the suit said.
“I still don’t feel safe in that building. I had to devise my own safety plan. This is done informally. Therefore, I do not want to destroy the kindness of others who have ensured my safety up to this point,” the woman told the agency.
After reporting the incident to local law enforcement, the suit alleges that the CIA improperly shared the woman’s workplace instant messages with the attacker’s criminal defense team, in an attempt to portray her as having an extramarital affair with a fellow intern.
The agency also refused to allow local law enforcement to serve an order of protection against the woman’s alleged attacker at its headquarters, according to legal documents.
The attacker was convicted in August of assault and battery and sentenced to three days in jail and six months of probation.
The lawsuit calls the decision “the first conviction for workplace sexual violence at the Agency.”
The victim also claimed that the CIA threatened him with “consequences” if he discussed his attack with a congressional oversight committee after receiving whistleblower protection status and that his performance review was downgraded after he appeared before the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year.
The lawsuit names the agency, CIA Director William Burns, and other officials as defendants and seeks compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial.
“While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, the CIA protects the privacy of our officers and acts in accordance with the law,” an agency spokesman said in a statement.
“More broadly, the CIA continues to take concerns about our handling of allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment very seriously, and we have taken important steps in this regard,” the statement continued.
“We are focused on instilling a culture of duty to all officers to act, and making sure they know they are encouraged to report any incident of sexual assault to law enforcement authorities. We have also strengthened our response, including making significant organizational reforms and bringing in experienced external experts to lead our sexual assault and prevention efforts. We remain committed to ensuring the safe and respectful workplace environment that every one of our employees deserves.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
