Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
268 Articles
Whistleblowing in Washington: Lessons Learned and Unlearned
A compelling first-hand account illustrates the institutional headwinds facing whistleblowers. To create the space they need to help increase accountability in government will…
New Spy Museum’s Torture Exhibit Glosses Over Depravity
If any visitor to the new International Spy Museum in Washington D.C. leaves the exhibit without a clear understanding that the CIA torture program was immoral, illegal, and counterproductive…
Expanding the Covert Agent Secrecy Law Threatens to Chill Reporting
Covert intelligence operatives on overseas postings face unique dangers: arrest, torture and possible execution. These dangers were embodied in the name of James Bond’s nemesis,…
Citizens to the UN: Investigate Our “Torture Chambers in the Sky”
On behalf of the North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture (NCCIT), a citizen-initiated truth panel, we just submitted a 35-page communication to 10 U.N. Special Rapporteurs…
Journalist Watchlist Raises Specter of Civil Rights-Era Secret Surveillance
Throughout his campaign and now his presidency, historians have drawn parallels between President Trump’s treatment of the news media and the Nixon White House’s efforts to…
Tom Lantos Commission: Enhancing U.S. Ability to Pursue Accountability for Atrocities
I had the honor of testifying last week before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission at a hearing devoted to “Pursuing Accountability for Atrocities.” My written testimony…
‘Flying Ginsu’ Missile Won’t Resolve U.S. Targeted Killing Controversy
Proponents of a new, modified Hellfire missile called the R9X tout it as a game-changer that can spare more civilian lives than traditional Hellfires. But the new technology can…
Intelligence, Ethics and Bureaucracy: The Duty to Warn Jamal Khashoggi
The Knight First Amendment Institute and the Committee to Protect Journalists have obtained "Duty to Warn" documents that shed new light on what a U.S. intelligence officer would…
Trump Endorses U.S. Citizen-Turned Libyan Warlord, Despite Video Evidence of Haftar’s Ordering War Crimes
"While American news networks were gripped by blanket coverage of the Mueller report on Friday, the White House released a statement describing a most unusual and supportive phone…
Is Trump a Russian Agent?: Explaining Terms of Art and Examining the Facts
Former member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service explains why CIA would never try to recruit someone with Donald Trump's profile, and what may also give the Kremlin pause…
Reflecting on the Civilian Casualty Executive Order: What Was Lost and What Can Now Be Gained
What information did the public just lose with Trump's decision, and what can Congress do beyond just restoring it? Civilian casualties in wartime reporting and minimization.
George H.W. Bush’s Persian Gulf War: Victory, With Tragedy
Most tributes on the passing of George H.W. Bush from across the American political spectrum have used some variation of the word “honorable” or “decent” to describe the…