Mark S. Zaid, Esq.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -
A former senior polygrapher for the Central Intelligence Agency filed a
lawsuit (pdf) today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asserting
that the Agency intentionally retaliated against him by abusing the security
clearance process. The premise for the retaliation was the exercising of
his First Amendment rights by publishing a critical book on the Agency's
polygraph program. John Sullivan, who during a 31 year career (1968-1999)
administered more polygraphs than anyone in the history of the Agency, spent
nearly three years battling with the CIA's Publication Review Board to finally
clear as unclassified his forthcoming book
Gatekeeper:
Memoirs of a CIA Polygraph Examiner
(Potomac Books, 2007).
While he was awaiting the completion of the lengthy review
process, Sullivan experienced retaliation by the CIA when it inappropriately and
intentionally revoked his security clearance based on exaggerated, distorted and
clearly false allegations. During a 2004 security examination Sullivan was
undertaking for employment with a defense contractor, he was directly questioned
by the CIA polygrapher about the contents of his book. At one interview session a CIA security officer stated "There
is something about your book that you're not telling us, and until you do I
can't help you." The CIA official
then smirked and accused Sullivan of lying.
Sullivan spent months trying to persuade the CIA that their
decision to deny him a security clearance was baseless. As a result of the CIA's
actions he lost out on several employment opportunities. Then suddenly, without
warning or even having a hearing, the decision was reversed. Given the
allegations and the experiences of experts in dealing with the CIA's security
clearance process, this was virtually an unprecedented development. The reversal
of an unfavorable CIA security clearance decision is extremely rare (likely
less than 10%) and most cases take 2-3 years until resolution.
"The CIA's treatment of John Sullivan, a former employee who
dared speak out, is indicative of a pattern and practice by the CIA of
unlawful and disgraceful retaliation through the abuse of the security clearance
process," said Mark S. Zaid, Esq., a Washington, D.C. attorney handling the case
and who frequently represents former/current U.S. Intelligence Officers. Zaid
added that the timing of the CIA's security actions against
Sullivan, especially in light of the questioning he received
concerning his book, is
very suspicious.
Sullivan's book Gatekeeper, as described by the
publisher, offers "a window to the often acrimonious and sometimes
alarming internal politics of the CIA: the turf wars over resources, personnel,
and mandate; the slow implementation of quality control; the aversion to
risk-taking; and the overzealous pursuit of disqualifying information." This was
not the first time the CIA's Polygraph Division was upset with Sullivan. He
is also the author of Of Spies and Lies: A CIA Lie Detector Remembers
Vietnam (University Press of
Kansas,
2002).
The CIA also recently demonstrated the disingenuous of its
classification process when it refused to review a voluntary submission
of Sullivan's lawsuit for classified information because his counsel had
not executed a non-disclosure/secrecy agreement that would
have mandated prior review. Instead, the Agency decided to risk
exposure of classified information, although none is in the Complaint, and
threaten to discipline Sullivan for violating his secrecy obligation. In a
letter sent to the CIA's Office of General Counsel on April 4, 2007, Mr.
Zaid criticized the Agency by noting that this "conduct discredits
any professionalism or credibility the Agency otherwise desires to display,
whether publicly or
privately."
