CIA terminates whistleblower who prompted flood of sexual misconduct complaints

By JIM MUSTIAN and JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press

The CIA this week terminated a woman whose whistleblower account of being assaulted in a stairwell at the spy agency’s headquarters prompted a flood of colleagues to come forward with their own complaints of sexual misconduct. The woman’s attorney called the action a brazen retaliation. While the CIA said that accusation was “factually inaccurate,” it declined to explain why the 36-year-old did not make it through the agency’s clandestine officer training program and, unlike many of her classmates, was not offered another job. A CIA spokeswoman said the agency “does not tolerate sexual assault, sexual harassment or whistleblower retaliation.”