A female spy-in-training is suing the CIA, accusing the agency of pressuring her to not report an alleged Sexual Assault against her that took place in a stairwell of the agency’s Virginia headquarters last year. 

The woman, an unnamed 35-year-old CIA Clandestine Service Trainee, claims her assailant, a fellow cadet, snuck up behind her in a stairwell at the CIA’s Langley headquarters in July 2022 and attacked her.  

The man “wrapped a scarf tightly around her neck, began strangling her with it, made lewd remarks, and tried to kiss her forcibly on her mouth,” the lawsuit, first reported by Politico, alleges. 

The woman, who is hearing-impaired, then “struggled, told her assailant to ‘stop,’ fought him off, and ran.” 

“He immediately tried unsuccessfully to wrap the scarf around Plaintiff’s neck again, followed Plaintiff to her office, and grabbed and forcibly kissed her.

Hours after the attack, her assailant twice texted the married trainee to ask, ‘You good?’” the complaint claims. 

Before the attack, the man had sent the woman several vulgar instant messages while at work, according to the suit. 

When the woman attempted to report the attack to law enforcement, the agency tried to stop her, her lawyers argue.

“CIA repeatedly and improperly sought to dissuade her from lodging a criminal complaint — to the point of criminal witness tampering — and also ordered her to make false statements to law enforcement,” according to the lawsuit.

Less than a month after the assault, CIA’s Office of Security deemed that the woman’s attacker “committed no crime” and that he “posed no threat of further physical harm,” the suit states.

“I still do not feel safe in the building. I have had to devise my own safety plan. This was done informally. As such, I do not want to wear out the kindness of others who have ensured my safety up to this point,” the woman told the agency.  

After reporting the incident to local law enforcement, the suit claims that the CIA improperly shared the woman’s workplace instant messages with the attacker’s criminal defense team, in an attempt to portray her as having an extramarital affair with the fellow trainee. 

The agency also refused to allow local law enforcement to serve a protective order against the woman’s alleged attacker at its headquarters, according to the legal document. 

The attacker was convicted in August of assault and battery and sentenced to three days in jail and six months of probation. 

The lawsuit calls the ruling the “first-ever conviction for workplace sexual violence at the Agency.”

The victim also claims that the CIA threatened her with “consequences” if she discussed her attack with congressional oversight committees after receiving whistleblower protection status and that her  performance reviews were downgraded after she appeared before the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year. 

The lawsuit names the agency, CIA Director William Burns, and other officials as defendants and seeks compensatory damages in amount to be determined at trial. 

“While we are not able to comment on ongoing litigation, CIA protects the privacy of our officers and acts in accordance with the law,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement. 

“More broadly, CIA continues to take concerns about our handling of employee allegations of sexual assault and harassment extremely seriously, and we have already taken significant steps in this regard,” the statement continued.

“We are focused on instilling in all officers a culture of duty to act, and ensuring they know they are encouraged to report any incidents of sexual assault to law enforcement authorities.  We have also strengthened our response, including making significant organizational reforms and bringing on an experienced outside expert to lead our sexual assault and prevention efforts. We remain strongly committed to ensuring the safe, respectful workplace environment that each of our officers deserves.”