[118781] in Cypherpunks
Seattle couple sues CIA over promises of aid after spying
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Anonymous)
Thu Oct 7 21:42:30 1999
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 03:10:52 +0200 (CEST)
Message-Id: <199910080110.DAA32561@mail.replay.com>
From: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Reply-To: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
Posted at 06:47 a.m. PDT; Thursday, October 7, 1999
Seattle couple sues CIA over promises of aid after spying
by Mike Carter Seattle Times staff reporter
A couple who claimed they spied for the United States during the Cold War have sued the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in federal court, claiming it reneged on a promise to support them after they defected and were set up in secret lives in King County.
The man and woman are identified only as John and Jane Doe, out of fear of retaliation - even assassination - by the unnamed country they betrayed, according to the lawsuit filed yesterday in Seattle.
They have spent nearly two years trying to quietly resolve their dispute with the CIA, which they allege is defying their civil rights in the name of national security. The couple say the agency has refused to consider their claims, lied about their roles and blocked access to documents and individuals who could prove their case.
They are asking that the court order the agency to uphold its agreement with them and provide them with a fair and impartial forum to resolve their grievances.
The man and woman have retained Seattle's largest law firm, Perkins Coie, to represent them. Both of their attorneys, Steven Hale and Betsy Alaniz, have had to sign secrecy agreements.
Both lawyers were reluctant to talk, citing those agreements and the delicacy of their clients' position.
Nevertheless, they say the issue is one of fundamental fairness: whether the Does, now U.S. citizens, should be afforded equal protection and due process, or whether those civil rights should be trumped by an agency the lawsuit alleges has a long and ragged history of mistreating defectors.
"What I will say is this: The issue here, in this constitutional democracy, is where do you draw that line?" asked Hale. "You have to have some secrets. . . . But weighted against that is a society that believes in rule by law and that no man is above the law. The question becomes whether secrecy is more important than their due process."
The lawsuit names as defendants the CIA, Director George Tenet and the U.S. government.
Calls to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., yesterday seeking comment were not returned. Kate Pflaumer, U.S. attorney for Western Washington, said she was unaware of the suit and could not comment.
Coerced into spying, they say
According to the lawsuit, John Doe was a "high-ranking diplomat" for a country identified only as an enemy of the United States. He and his wife were stationed at an embassy in a third country during the Cold War. They were under constant surveillance by their country's security apparatus when, at considerable risk, they approached a U.S. Embassy official and asked to defect.
Instead, they claim, they were taken to a CIA "safe house" and coerced into spying in exchange for a promise that they would be granted asylum later.
The agency, they claim, continued to string them along, escalating their exposure until it was "virtually guaranteed that the nature and extent of these activities would become known . . . putting them at lifelong risk of retaliation, including the risk of assassination," the lawsuit said.
Only then were they brought to the United States and given new identities, including fabricated backgrounds. They settled in King County.
Using his new identity and a false resume, and with the help and support of the CIA, Doe secured a job as an unspecified professional. Financial support from the agency decreased as his salary increased, and eventually the CIA subsidy was terminated altogether, the lawsuit claims.
In 1997, Doe was laid off, and he went to the CIA for help, relying on earlier promises that the agency would always provide support. Because of his security status and false identity, he's been unable to find work since, the lawsuit says.
Suit says help was promised
The lawsuit claims the CIA has cast the Does adrift, refusing for a variety of reasons to give them any support - all in alleged breach of earlier promises.
The lawsuit asks the court to issue an injunction ordering the CIA to resume its payments and support of the Does. It also seeks to compel the agency's director to put in place a procedure - secret or not - that assures the couple a fair and impartial airing of their grievances.
If they have to, they will challenge the Civil War-era doctrine that has allowed the government to sidestep judicial review of its secret deals.
The lawsuit claims the CIA has used that policy, known as the Totten Doctrine, "to block judicial enforcement of its lawful obligations."
The Does also claim that Tenet has abused the statutory authority granted by Congress when the CIA was formed in 1947, obligating him to take whatever steps are necessary to "protect intelligence sources and methods." He has used that authority, they claim, to deny them any meaningful method of redress.
The very existence of those sweeping powers, the lawsuit claims, demands that the CIA have scrupulously fair policies and procedures to resolve disputes.
"If a citizen whose liberty or property is subject to agency actions has no judicial recourse and must avail himself or herself of administrative procedures conducted in secret, then those procedures must be as rigorously fair as possible," the lawsuit claims.
Mike Carter: 206-464-3706
Copyright © 1999 The Seattle Times Company
