Saving You Money For Life

Here is a fact about spies you won’t find in your average thriller: they worry about getting sued. Secrets are rare in Washington, and the CIA’s work since the invasion of Iraq has been in exceptionally high profile. CIA identities have become political footballs, as Karl Rove demonstrated by ‘outing’ the CIA employment of the wife of a former administration official who had been deemed an administration enemy.

CIA officers know from sorry experience that secrets, especially big ones, rarely stay secret forever. When unseemly details do come to light, it’s the agency that often takes the fall. When President Bush finally acknowledged an open secret by admitting the existence of an international network of secret CIA prisons where “high value” terror suspects were housed and interrogated, some officials at the agency began worrying about their futures. Concern among the operatives involved the methods used to extract information from prisoners – and the possibility that they might be sued by detainees.

To protect themselves, many CIA officers take out insurance policies, according to current and former intelligence officials – who of course, remain anonymous. For a $300 yearly premium, Wright & Co. (known around the agency as Wright Brothers) will cover legal fees for CIA employees sued in the line of duty.

Visit their web site, and you will learn that Wright and Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of SAMBA, the Special Agents Mutual Benefit Association. You will also find that their motto is “Providing Key Benefits for Federal Employees.” Upon attempting to learn a little more about the company through their web site, my phishing filter shut down the browser.

That’s really all I needed to know. However it’s also comforting to know that even overzealous patriotism has liability coverage available. Something like Lloyd’s of the Pentagon, I guess.

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.