A bombshell new congressional report is accusing the Central Intelligence Company (CIA) of severely mishandling incidents of sexual assault and harassment inside its personal ranks.
Republicans and Democrats on the Home of Representatives’ Everlasting Choose Committee on Intelligence have been investigating the CIA’s dealing with of such circumstances after a whistleblower got here ahead in January 2023 to say they’d been “bodily attacked and sexually assaulted at CIA headquarters” by a fellow officer, in keeping with the report.
“Over the course of the investigation, the Committee found that CIA didn’t deal with allegations of sexual assault and harassment inside its workforce within the skilled and uniform method that such delicate allegations warrant,” the report mentioned.
The Home Intelligence Committee, led by Chairman Mike Turner and Rating Member Jim Himes, proper, launched a report on the CIA’s dealing with of sexual assault and harassment. (Getty Pictures)
The committee spoke with greater than two dozen whistleblowers and reviewed over 4,000 pages handed over by the CIA, amongst different supplies, over the course of its probe.
Lawmakers discovered “confusion and dysfunction within the course of for reporting sexual assault and harassment” inside the CIA’s ranks and that victims “have been conscious of little to no accountability or punishment for the perpetrators of the assaults or harassment usually due to an insufficient investigatory course of,” the report mentioned.
Additionally they discovered that inadequate anonymity shields discouraged victims from coming ahead and that coordination with legislation enforcement on sexual assault and harassment claims was insufficient.
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Among the many reforms proposed by the committee can be a requirement for CIA Director William Burns to create uniform insurance policies and coaching for all elements of the company’s response to allegations of sexual assault and harassment. (Alex Wong/Getty Pictures)
Additional inside points found have been an absence of coaching for CIA personnel on tips on how to determine and report such circumstances and that the company’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Workplace didn’t have the sources nor potential to actively fulfill its function.
Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the highest committee Democrat, informed Fox Information Digital that the “vital” reforms have been put in place by Congress to assist the company enhance, however vowed the panel would keep watch over the progress.
“For greater than a yr, the Home Intelligence Committee has investigated the responsiveness of the Central Intelligence Company to personnel who’ve survived sexual assault and sexual harassment. We heard immediately from whistleblowers who courageously shared their tales so as to push for change and accountability,” the joint assertion mentioned. “Our Committee has put in place vital legislative reforms to handle failures, and we are going to proceed to watch progress to make sure there isn’t any slippage within the Company’s dedication to addressing sexual assault and harassment.”
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Reforms proposed by the committee embrace requiring the CIA director “to create uniform insurance policies and coaching for all elements of
CIA’s response to allegations of sex-related offenses and sexual harassment,” and codifying a course of for which assault and harassment claims inside the company will be reported.
Most of the provisions proposed by the committee ended up signed into legislation in late December as a part of fiscal yr 2024’s Nationwide Protection Authorization Act, in keeping with the report.
Fox Information Digital reached out to the CIA for remark.
