Press Releases

Washington, DC — Today, Representative Jim Himes (CT-04), Ranking Member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement:

“I am very concerned that the CIA shared identifying details about its officers on an unclassified system,” said Congressman Himes. “Those details are secret for a reason – because protecting the identities of CIA employees is critical to their safety and mission, a mission that helps keep Americans safe every day. From what I have learned, the CIA should not have transmitted these names in this fashion, nor should the White House have insisted on such a clearly irresponsible approach, one that could genuinely put people in danger. I am also deeply concerned by the backdrop of this request, which appears to be an interest in firing provisional employees en masse. In the case of CIA employees that would mean removing hundreds of officers who volunteered to serve their country and have passed through a highly selective process after undergoing extensive and expensive security checks and training. It is hard to overstate how short sighted such an approach would be.”