Thread by @JasonLeopold

NEW from @a_cormier_ & me: CIA Docs Say Staff Committed Sex Crimes Involving Children. They Weren’t Prosecuted

Declassified CIA IG reports show a pattern of abuse & a repeated decision by federal prosecutors not to hold agency personnel accountable #FOIA
buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonl…

I have spent a decade, literally, collecting hundreds of IG reports from the CIA via #FOIA. I've filed 13 requests and sued the agency 3 times since 2012. When @a_cormier_ & I started to review these docs earlier this year we spotted a disturbing pattern
buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonl…

Only one of the individuals cited in these documents was charged with a crime. In that case, as in the only previously known case of a CIA staffer being charged with child sexual crimes, the employee was also under investigation for mishandling classified material.

That marks a striking deviation from how sex crimes involving children have been handled at other federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

The alleged crimes laid bare in these heavily redacted CIA documents are very disturbing.

The CIA would not answer detailed questions nor would a spokesperson for the Easten District of Virginia where many of the criminal referrals were sent.

Among the info that has been hidden in the docs are the names of the accused employees and contractors and details about their jobs at the CIA. The agency cites privacy reasons, national security, and a federal law that exempts the CIA from disclosing details about its operations

Of the 10 workers who the inspector general found had committed sexual crimes involving children, 5 were fired or resigned. Four others were referred to a personnel board or the Office of Security,

The outcome of one case is unknown.

All of these docs were classified and it took many, many years to pry loose so that's why some cases are so dated. Without #FOIA this never would have seen the light of day

Thx to FOIA attys @_LightLaw & @jloevy for working to pry these docs loose on behalf of @BuzzFeedNews & me

Thirteen #FOIA requests and 3 lawsuits. This is painstaking and tedious work getting these records declassified. Please support our FOIA work by becoming a member
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