Victim who claims she was sexually assaulted at CIA headquarters sues spy agency accusing it of intimidation

The suit comes as the CIA continues to face scrutiny on Capitol Hill over its handling of sexual harassment and sexual assault cases. The CIA inspector general in May initiated a "special review" after a number of women told congressional intelligence committees that their allegations of sexual misconduct were "grossly mishandled."

The female officer told her assailant to "stop" and fled.

According to the suit, he had earlier sent her a series of "obscene workplace IMs."

Both were Clandestine Service trainees who were learning to recruit and handle CIA assets - spies. Their names have been publicly withheld in court proceedings as a result.

The suit lays out a series of alleged episodes in which the victim says the CIA discouraged her from reporting the attack and then retaliated against her for doing so.

"The threat to introduce IMs embarrassing to Plaintiff is what is known colloquially as 'slut shaming'-an effort to undermine a valid claim of sexual assault by alleging that the complainant's purported consensual sex with others mitigates her assailant's nonconsensual acts," the suit claims.

Later that month, the suit claims, the agency "ordered [the victim] not to discuss her assault with anyone and threatened her that doing so 'may violate federal law.'"

The victim eventually reported the assault to the FBI and Fairfax County, Virginia, police in December. The suit claims that CIA's counsel "unlawfully advised Plaintiff that she must not truthfully answer any of law enforcement's questions about purportedly classified matters without advance permission from the Agency" and "specifically ordered Plaintiff to protect the secret of her and her assailant's affiliation with the Agency."

In August, during a recess in the assailant's criminal trial, the suit alleges that a member of the agency's Office of Public Affairs (OPA) "pulled Plaintiff out of an ongoing training session, part of her regular employment duties at that time, to tell her that the Associated Press was in the process of deciding 'at the highest levels' whether to publish her name in relation to the criminal case against her assailant, an event that would effectively end her Agency career."

"OPA could not have been confused on this basic point," the suit alleges. "The unnecessary interruption of [the vicim's]'s intensive training with OPA's false statement caused her considerable distress before the AP confirmed the falsity of OPA's statement, and reassured [the victim]."

A representative for the AP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The suit also claims that the victim's performance reviews were downgraded based on her decision to appear before the House Intelligence Committee to discuss her assault. Her training supervisor also allegedly "chastised [the victim] verbally and in writing for allegedly interjecting her 'personal information' into the Agency's training environment."

The CIA insists it has a "laser sharp focus on ensuring [officers] have a safe and secure work environment."

In 2021, a CIA officer said the agency established an office to respond to sexual assault allegations and in May, hired Dr. Taleeta Jackson, a psychologist who previously oversaw a similar program for the Navy, to run the program.

According to the officer, Jackson is "developing a tailored training curriculum for Agency employees and is ensuring her office is fully resourced with trained officers to provide support to victims and respond to incidents of sexual assault within our Agency community."

The agency has also created a "Resolution Office," reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, that "will serve as the Agency's focal point for harassment, misconduct, and grievance resolution processes" and "ensure that specially trained officers are empowered to identify best options to resolve issues, with a focus on fairness, transparency, and timeliness," according to the officer.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify that the unnamed female CIA trainee is claiming that the attack in the stairwell was sexual assault.