CIA moonlights in corporate world

Looks like the CIA is letting its best and brightest moonlight for corporations in order to make ends meet. They say this policy helps retain their top agents who would otherwise end up leaving for greener pastures.

In the midst of two wars and the fight against Al Qaeda, the CIA is offering operatives a chance to peddle their expertise to private companies on the side — a policy that gives financial firms and hedge funds access to the nation’s top-level intelligence talent, POLITICO has learned.

In one case, these active-duty officers moonlighted at a hedge-fund consulting firm that wanted to tap their expertise in “deception detection,” the highly specialized art of telling when executives may be lying based on clues in a conversation.

The never-before-revealed policy comes to light as the CIA and other intelligence agencies are once again under fire for failing to “connect the dots,” this time in the Christmas Day bombing plot on Northwest Flight 253.

But sources familiar with the CIA’s moonlighting policy defend it as a vital tool to prevent brain-drain at Langley, which has seen an exodus of highly trained, badly needed intelligence officers to the private sector, where they can easily double or even triple their government salaries. The policy gives agents a chance to earn more while still staying on the government payroll.

Politico.com

I guess it’s not such a bad idea so long as they don’t let their Black-Ops teams hire themselves out to the highest bidder. But we all know that would never happen.



[edit on 1-2-2010 by FortAnthem]

reply to post by FortAnthem


And on top of that, it also enables the CIA to entrench themselves into the company and use the company clandestine to spy on it and other companies in the US and/or out of the US without warrants. This is a bad idea because sooner or later we will have CIA teams freelancing (which essentially they are doing now) all their expertise to the highest bidder. What ever happened to the "duty to country" that these men and women went into the job for. Capitalism or as I like to call it now Corporate Oligarchy (Corporatocracy). Where sliding, where sliding fast and when we hit the bottom everybody will see the curtain pulled and notice that this truly isn't democracy not anymore.

reply to post by hoghead cheese


You got that right, just another means for the CIA's "best and brightest" to become thoroughly fused within the corporate culture. While that may not seem too bad you have to wonder just how dedicated these agents are, if they're chasing the big money gigs in the private sector. If they pursue higher paychecks in the private sector how can we trust they're not availing themselves to some of the CIA's more clandestine and unsavory money making schemes.

And if this is going on in the midst of a "war on terror", who exactly is minding the store? "Sorry we missed last week's terror attack, Agent Smith, our best crytpo-analysis, was on a six-figure sabbatical at Goldman Sachs. But hey, we gave him a raise so maybe we'll catch the next one!"

Oh Mr Smith...

I'm trying to get ahead in business. Is it true what they say about hitting them in the kneecaps? How can I intercept his cell phone traffic? How do I plant kiddie porn on his computer.

Where do I wire payment?

Why work legit jobs on the side? It's easier for them to simply skim some off the top of the coke money.

2nd line, but said it all in the first.

reply to post by hoghead cheese


Good point. The CIA guys could use their position in the company to gather intel for the government without the company ever knowing.

They're double agents the company is paying to spy on itself.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


Unfortunately, in this day and age, it's hard to find anyone who's loyal to anything but the love of money.

It's a shame that patriotism and doing a job for the love of your country has gone the way of the dinosaur.

Originally posted by FortAnthem[/i

It's a shame that patriotism and doing a job for the love of your country has gone the way of the dinosaur.

Our brave men and women abroad are laboring for precisely these reasons.
Unfortunately the people who are trying to convince them of this need a swift jackboot upside the head.