Council on Intelligence Issues (CII)

May 2018: CII Letter to SSCI on Haspel Nomination [Read Here]

CII’s View of Interrogation Report: “CIA Officers and the American Public Deserve More” [Read Here] or link to The Washington Times article 

To view highlights of CII’s June 24 panel Intelligence Operations in a Digital Age as well as Charles Duelfer’s commentary on topics raised during the panel discussion posted on July 12 (Quandaries: Deep Fakes and Cyber Conflict), see CII Panel Highlights and Commentary 

Whistleblowers in the Intelligence Community:  Basic Information You Should Know by Anthony J. Cipparone for CII

Whistleblower is a term used to identify those public service employees and contractor employees who lawfully report fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement to those in a position to investigate and review such activity. Whistleblowers in the US Intelligence Community (IC) are those employees and contractor-employees who work in any of the 17 federal executive agencies that constitute the IC. Intelligence Community Whistleblowers play an important role in ensuring that intelligence programs and operations are accountable and conducted in accordance with federal law and regulations. Read more.

Intelligence Community

 CIA
The World Factbook prepared regularly by CIA has long provided basic intelligence on the history, people, government, economy, military, and more about foreign nations and the world.  The current compilation contains information on 266 world entities.

Statement From Former National Security Officials Regarding the Removal of Security Clearances

In a recent statement 15 senior former senior intelligence officials expressed their strong opposition to actual or threatened removal of security clearances from former government officials. All of us believe it is critical to protect classified information from unauthorized disclosure. But we believe equally strongly that former government officials have the right to express their unclassified views on what they see as critical national security issues without fear of being punished for doing so. Our signatures below do not necessarily mean that we concur with the opinions expressed by former CIA Director Brennan or the way in which he expressed them. What they do represent, however, is our firm belief that the country will be weakened if there is a political litmus test applied before seasoned experts are allowed to share their views.    See signatories.

Articles, guidance, and other information to help intelligence officers identify, better appreciate, and deal with complex legal and other challenges arising out of their employment.

Justice Department Regulations for Representation of Government Officials by Department of Justice or Private Counsel

See regulations about serving process and obtaining access to CIA material (CIA Regulations)

For in-depth legal analysis of “How National Security Can Trump Individual Rights” (Read Here)

To view a compilation of laws relating to intelligence, see the ODNI’s Intelligence Community Legal Reference Book

Security Clearance Process: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, prepared by Congressional Research Service

An Open Letter to the American People about the Importance of Protecting IC Whistleblowers: We are former national security officials who proudly served in a wide array of roles throughout the U.S. Government. We are writing about the Intelligence Community whistleblower’s lawful disclosure, which was recently made public. While the identity of the whistleblower is not publicly known, we do know that he or she is an employee of the U.S. Government. As such, he or she has by law the right—and indeed the responsibility—to make known, through appropriate channels, indications of serious wrongdoing. That is precisely what this whistleblower did; and we applaud the whistleblower not only for living up to that responsibility but also for using precisely the channels made available by federal law for raising such concerns.

A responsible whistleblower makes all Americans safer by ensuring that serious wrongdoing can be investigated and addressed, thus advancing the cause of national security to which we have devoted our careers. What’s more, being a responsible whistleblower means that, by law, one is protected from certain egregious forms of retaliation. Whatever one’s view of the matters discussed in the whistleblower’s complaint, all Americans should be united in demanding that all branches of our government and all outlets of our media protect this whistleblower and his or her identity. Simply put, he or she has done what our law demands; now he or she deserves our protection.

https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-latest-reports-say-about-whistleblower-complaint

http://www.lawfareblog.com/unpacking-intelligence-community-whistleblower-complaint