RTTue, 23 Jul 2019 17:31 UTC
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A new US bill would make it illegal to reveal the identity of a covert agent, even after their retirement or death, if it becomes law. Former CIA officer, and whistleblower, John Kiriakou told RT that
it will protect wrongdoers.The 2020 Intelligence Authorization bill passed the US House of Representatives last week, and will become law once agreed upon by the House and Senate. Aside from funding the US' intelligence agencies for the forthcoming year, a provision in the act would dramatically expand a 1982 law that
makes it a criminal offense to disclose the identities of covert officers.Whereas the 1982 law protected agents who had served abroad in the preceding five years, the new provision
would apply to anyone working in a classified position with the agencies, even after their retirement or death. The provision's language was crafted by the CIA, who claim it necessary to protect agents from foreign adversaries.
"The only reason the CIA wants this thing on the books is to protect those CIA officers who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity," Kiriakou told RT's
Watching the Hawks. As the existing law was not used to prosecute the CIA leadership who leaked the identities of their officers before (like former director David Petraeus, who
divulged classified information to his extramarital girlfriend), Kiriakou said that it will more likely be used to
protect headquarters-based officials "who were instrumental in creating and implementing the torture program, the illegal rendition program, and the secret prison program, nothing more."Fast forward to 14:50 for the Kiriakou interview:
The law, Kiriakou continued, would prevent congressional oversight of CIA figures like current director Gina Haspel, who prior to heading the agency worked undercover for three decades, running a secret prison abroad, and heading the CIA's office at Guantanamo Bay.
"With this new law it would be illegal for us to even have this conversation.
We wouldn't even be able to talk about Gina Haspel," he said.
A host of activist groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Coalition Against Censorship, have come out against the bill in recent days.
In a letter to congressional leaders, 29 organizations urged lawmakers to remove the CIA's provision, arguing it will impede oversight, "weaken accountability, hinder public access to information and create a major chilling effect on journalists and public interest organizations."Speaking to RT, Kiriakou went on to blast the "deep state" Democrats who authored the bill, and accused the agency of turning supposed overseers into "cheerleaders."
Comment: More on this issue from
Yahoo 11/7/2019: Who is a 'covert agent'? CIA bid to expand the category raises alarm for civil liberties groups
The agency's letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee justifying the request, which was obtained by the New York Times, read in part: "Particularly with the lengths organizations such as WikiLeaks are willing to go to obtain and release sensitive national security information, as well as incidents related to past Agency programs, such as the RDI [retention, detention and interrogation] investigation, the original congressional reasoning mentioned above for a narrow definition of 'covert agent' no longer remains valid."
The CIA's intention in asking for the expanded protections was to offer the agency more power to prosecute actors like WikiLeaks who have exposed the names and operations of CIA officers at home and abroad, according to one congressional staffer.
Steven Aftergood, the director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists told Yahoo News there might be a good reason for the change, but those reasons are not clear.
"In principle, I think there is room to consider tailored steps to increase protections for 'covert agents' in light of the many developments — the Internet, social media, wholesale leaks, cyber operations, etc.," he wrote in an email to Yahoo News. "But CIA has not articulated a clear public argument in favor of the latest amendment."
Intelligence Committee, Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he was "not yet convinced" that the additional protections are necessary, and said there was a potential it could be "employed to avoid accountability."
Comment: More on this issue from Yahoo 11/7/2019: Who is a 'covert agent'? CIA bid to expand the category raises alarm for civil liberties groups