June 11, 2018
CIA Ethics Education: Background and Perspectives
Baseline Approaches to Ethics Education CIA officer Paul Ericson, in his essay, The Need for Ethical
In the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), there are two
Norms, advocates for an established set of ethical norms or
distinct categories of ethics education: One applies to all
code of conduct:
government agencies and the other to the conduct of
activities in the intelligence community specifically.
Although many of us have discussed the ethics of
our profession, little has been done organizationally
The Ethics in Government Act (EIGA) (P.L. 95-521),
to capture these thoughts. Rather than possibly
enacted in 1978, established financial disclosure
hamstringing future options by formalizing Agency
guidelines and restrictions on outside earned income for
dos and don'ts, we seem to prefer risking a
employees of all government agencies. The EIGA also
repetition of behaviors which have jeopardized our
established the Office of Government Ethics (OGE)
organizational standing and credibility in the past.
whose mission is to provide overall leadership and
We can ill afford to allow this trade-off to continue.
oversight of the executive branch ethics program
designed to prevent and resolve conflicts of interest.
Others are skeptical of introducing training on morality into
OGE oversees government departments and agencies
what is often viewed as the inherently amoral environment
including the CIA. Its focus is generally on records
of covert action or clandestine foreign intelligence. As
administration and training related to potential conflicts-
former Director of Central Intelligence William Webster
of-interest, outside employment, interpersonal
once put it, "In the United States, we obey the laws of the
relationships, and gifts. The CIA’s ethics program,
United States. Abroad we uphold the national security
mandated through the EIGA, includes ethics orientation
interests of the United States."
for new employees and mandatory annual ethics
refresher training for the entire workforce. The most
This viewpoint conforms to the realist perspective of
recent OGE assessment of the CIA’s ethics program was
international relations, which holds a state’s interests to be
completed in November 2017. OGE does not have
the preeminent driver of foreign policy, as a frame of
jurisdiction over the CIA’s intelligence activities.
reference for individual conduct. Subscribers to the realist
perspective do not so much ignore personal morality as
CIA officers also receive extensive ethics training
believe that it is not particularly relevant to relations
specific to intelligence, which includes case studies of
between states. In the international context, the national
ethically challenging operational scenarios, to prepare
interests of the United States provide a moral imperative of
them for the operational side of their jobs. This training
their own, they argue.
includes familiarization with the legal authorities for the
conduct of intelligence activities, principally Executive
The realists, or those skeptical of introducing personal
Order 12333, The Intelligence Community, as amended,
morality into training on ethics and into the practice of
and CIA’s AR 2-2, Law and Policy Governing the
intelligence, have also observed that an evolution of legal
Conduct of Intelligence Activities. However, while these
standards—such as those governing the treatment of
baseline references spell out dos and don’ts from a legal
detained combatants engaged in terrorism—while still short
standpoint, there is little mention of ethics per se.
of a comprehensive approach to ethical considerations, has
Section 2.1, of E.O. 12333, for example, merely requires
resulted in a demonstrable improvement in ethical behavior.
intelligence collection be done in a manner that is
They cite the Detainee Treatment Act (2005), the landmark
“respectful of the principles upon which the United
Supreme Court decision Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006), and
States was founded.”
Executive Order 13491 (2009), Ensuring Lawful
Interrogations as examples of policy that has come to
Perspectives on Intelligence Ethics
define improved standards for the ethical treatment of
Some former employees and others with experience at the
detainees.
agency have been critical of CIA’s ethics program as
focusing too much on legal compliance in a reactive, ad hoc
Yet critics of realism and the legalistic approach to the
manner that falls short of a comprehensive approach to
practice of intelligence maintain that this approach
ethics education at the CIA. Legalism, or “an ethical
contributes to an ends justify the means mentality that
attitude that holds moral conduct to be a matter of rule
leaves intelligence professionals susceptible to making
following” characterizes the ethical culture of the
regrettable decisions in the midst of morally ambiguous
intelligence community, these critics have noted.
situations. They also counter that the post 9/11 conflict with
terrorism is distinguished in part by its adversaries:
Arguing that CIA’s formal ethics program falls short of a
collections of individuals, rather than a state, who are
more comprehensive approach to ethics education, former
organized and motivated by violent extremist ideologies.
https://crsreports.congress.gov
CIA Ethics Education: Background and Perspectives
Personal morality, rather than any realist norm of interstate
personnel with the use of enhanced interrogation
relations, remains relevant in their opinion.
techniques.
Landmarks in U.S. Policy on the Ethical
Given the uncertainty of the operational circumstances in
Treatment of Detainees
which CIA officers may find themselves, the agency has
Detainee Treatment Act (2003). For the first time
had provisions for opting out of assignments. David Perry
prescribed the Army Field Manual for Human Intelligence
in Ethics of Spying, (Jan Goldman, ed.), refers to
Collector Operations (FM 22-2.3) standards for interrogation of
detainees in an armed conflict. Prohibits “cruel, inhuman or
CIA's standing policy that any employees having
degrading treatment or punishment.”
ethical concerns 'may report them in confidence to
the [CIA] Inspector General.'…There is further
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006). Supreme Court decision that
military commissions for Al Qa’ida detainees violated Common
indication that CIA has maintained a form of
Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.
'conscientious objector' status for its personnel
relative to certain morally problematic assignments.
Executive Order 13491 (2009). Established Common Article
3 of the Geneva Conventions as the “minimum baseline”
Principles of Professional Ethics
standard for the treatment of detainees in an armed conflict.
In 2014, former Director of National Intelligence, James
Prohibits interrogation techniques not authorized by FM 22-2.3
Clapper, contending with the question of what sort of
Some writers on the ethics of intelligence have suggested a
ethical guidelines should govern the intelligence
third approach: Applying the principles of the law of war to
community, introduced the Principles of Professional
sensitive intelligence activities, especially those that can
Ethics in the National Intelligence Strategy. These
have serious implications for U.S. foreign policy and
principles are broader than those some had envisioned for
relations between states. Law of war principles, they argue,
CIA officers alone, since they apply personal,
can provide a guide to individual conduct even in situations
organizational, and corporate standards of behavior to
short of war that may pose a threat to U.S. national security.
employees of all 17 component organizations of the
They include:
intelligence community in every intelligence discipline. The
principles include: (1) selfless dedication to United States
military necessity: the principle that allows for
security; (2) seeking the truth and obtaining, analyzing, and
engagement with an adversary only if it is an absolute
providing intelligence objectively; (3) defending the
military [intelligence in this case] necessity and does not
Constitution and complying with the laws of the United
violate the other principles of the law of war;
States; (4) demonstrating integrity; (5) protecting sources
and methods, remaining accountable and exercising proper
prevention of unnecessary suffering: the activity must
stewardship of resources; (6) improving performance,
not cause unnecessary suffering to anyone engaged by a
demonstrating innovation, and collaborating with
legitimate operation;
colleagues; and (7) encouraging diversity.
proportionality: the activity must be proportional to the
Relevant Statutes
legitimate threat it is targeting; and
Title 18, U.S. Code, Chapter 113C, §2340
distinction: the activity must be conducted so as to
Title 42, U.S. Code, Chapter 21D, §2000dd, §2000dd-2
discriminate or distinguish the target from the
surrounding civilian population.
Personal Standards of Conduct
Further Reading
In lieu of a definitive resolution of these competing
Paul G. Ericson, The Need for Ethical Norms, (Washington DC:
perspectives or an established set of ethical norms, many
CIA Center for the Study of Intelligence), posted May 8, 2007
agency employees have tried to navigate the challenging,
Arthur S. Hulnick and Matthew W. Mattausch, “Ethics and
unchartered situations in their work by observing personal
Morality in United States Secret Intelligence,” (Cambridge:
standards of conduct. In a study written before 9/11,
Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy), Spring 1989
interviews of CIA employees revealed common
Jan Goldman, ed., Ethics of Spying, (Lanham, MD, Scarecrow
perspectives on personal conduct, including: the importance
Press), 2006
of integrity, accountability, always speaking truth to power,
and conducting oneself in a manner that the American
Kent Pekel, Integrity, Ethics and the CIA: A Need For
people would support.
Improvement, (Washington DC: CIA Center for the Study of
Intelligence), 1998
Former FBI agent and interrogator, Ali Soufan, while
highly critical of the overall CIA interrogation program
after 9/11, also commended CIA interrogators he observed
who refused to support certain interrogation methods that
Michael E. DeVine, Analyst in Intelligence and National
were legal at the time. The declassified executive summary
Security
of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI)
study on CIA’s detention and interrogation program
IF10906
provides additional examples of unease among CIA
https://crsreports.congress.gov
CIA Ethics Education: Background and Perspectives
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10906 · VERSION 2 · NEW