CIA Sues Former Employee For Allegedly Violating Secrecy Agreement With Published Book

The CIA has filed a lawsuit against one of its former employees for publishing a book, apparently without authorization from the Federal agency. The suit claims that the individual violated the secrecy agreement he had made with the government.

The Associated Press reports that the lawsuit seeks recovery of the book's proceeds and an injunction against further alleged violations of the former officer's secrecy obligations. Under the pseudonym "Ishmael Jones," the former CIA employee published the book titled The Human Factor: Inside the CIA's Dysfunctional Intelligence Center, which the agency claims he did without its official blessing.

In an email to the news provider, Jones said that his book does not reveal classified information, nor has he profited from its release.

"CIA censors attack this book because it exposes the CIA as a place to get rich, with billions of taxpayer dollars wasted or stolen in espionage programs that produce nothing," Jones wrote.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) said that it had destroyed 9,500 copies of a book written by a former Army intelligence officer, according to media reports. Pentagon officials allege that the first version of Anthony Shaffer's book Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan — and the Path to Victory threatened national security.

Shaffer's lawyer said that the Army Reserve had cleared the original manuscript, but the DOD later rescinded the approval. The department paid $47,000 to acquire copies of the first drafts, which were then burned.