Ishmael Jones: America's leading proponent of intelligence reform.

The CIA is suing Ishmael Jones for publishing The Human Factor. The book contains no classified, classifiable, or secret information, but it is intensely critical of CIA waste, fraud, and inaction. The CIA has unlimited money, time, and lawyers with which to pursue this lawsuit. 

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           Checks can be mailed payable to:  Writers Representatives (Ishmael Jones Defense), 116 W. 14^th St., 11^th Floor, New York, NY 10011

Questions to: stevejohnsonz91@yahoo.com

We're fighting the good fight. Our constructive criticism of the CIA over the last three years has paid off in improvements in clandestine programs and in tighter financial discipline, but there's a long way to go. 

The CIA's goals are to silence Jones and to take the profits Jones earned from publication of the book. These profits sit in educational accounts belonging to children of American soldiers killed in action. Incredibly, the CIA wants this money. We think they have enough money already.

The CIA's legal stategy appears to be to avoid due process and to keep the case away from a jury. We are fighting this now. The CIA cannot win in front of a jury. Jones spent 20 years on active duty, first with the Marine Corps and then the CIA, working to protect the family and friends of every jury member, and he continues to work for their safety through reform of the clandestine service.

The CIA won the first rounds of the case before Judge Gerald Bruce Lee in the Eastern District of Virginia. In using summary judgment, the court was able to effectively block ordinary due process such as a trial, the presentation of evidence and witnesses, and the opportunity for Jones to question his accusers. Because such a ruling was unusual, however, Jones's chances of winning on appeal are increased. 

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Ishmael Jones wrote The Human Factor for use as a tool in intelligence reform. The book was published in June 2008. It contains no classified, classifiable, or secret information, but it is intensely critical of CIA waste, fraud, and inaction.

The CIA requires that its employees submit manuscripts before publication in order to make sure that no classified information is revealed. After review, the CIA sends authors a list of what sentences need to be removed or rewritten. For The Human Factor, the CIA was unable to find any classified information in the manuscript, but objected to its criticism of the CIA, and took the unusual step of disapproving every single word in the manuscript. During the year that the CIA spent evaluating the manuscript, Jones repeatedly offered to remove or rewrite anything in the manuscript.  

Initially, the book drew relatively little attention, but as Jones continued to work toward intelligence reform and to meet with members of Congress and the Administration, he began to get more traction. In July 2010, more than two years after the book was published, the CIA filed a lawsuit against Jones. Jones learned about the lawsuit in September 2010, when the CIA served him papers.

The lawsuit is civil, not criminal. The CIA is not suggesting that Jones revealed classified information but rather that the book was written without its approval. The CIA’s legal remedy – what it wants if it wins the case – is to take the profits Jones earned from the book. These profits, however, sit in educational accounts belonging to children of soldiers killed in action.

Most Americans believe that the government has enough money already. Victory for the CIA in court would seem to be a public relations defeat.

Ishmael Jones was an accomplished intelligence officer in the CIA for nearly two decades. He became increasingly concerned about the CIA’s lack of human source intelligence in most of its key target areas, especially in weapons of mass destruction. The CIA had become intensely bureaucratic, and with the influx of money after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it became a place to get rich. More than 90% of CIA employees live and work entirely within the United States instead of in the foreign countries where intelligence work is needed. About half of the CIA workforce had become contractors in order to avoid the limitations of federal pay scales. It is possible for a married couple at CIA Headquarters to pull down $600,000 per year. The former CIA managers running contracting companies can make tens of millions.

Americans were at risk because the CIA was not performing basic intelligence work.

Ishmael Jones took his concerns throughout the chain of command at the CIA, and then to the CIA’s Inspector General, but it was futile. The bureaucracy and the money-making were too entrenched. Jones then resigned from the CIA, in good standing, in order to work for intelligence reform. Only as a last resort did he publish The Human Factor.

As noted above, the book was published in June 2008. The CIA filed the lawsuit in July 2010.

The CIA's strategy appears to be to avoid due process and to keep the case away from a jury. We are certain that Ishmael Jones will win if he is able to present his case to a jury. Jones spent 20 years on active duty with the Marine Corps and the CIA working to protect the family and friends of every jury member, and he continues to work for their safety through influencing improvements at the CIA.

Since filing the lawsuit, the CIA has won a couple of procedural victories. Initially we thought there would be a statute of limitations, given that it took the CIA two years to file the lawsuit. However, we learned that when the federal government sues an individual, there is no statute of limitations. We also attempted to move the case to Ishmael Jones’s home state for better security and to control legal costs, but the court ruled that the case will remain in Virginia.

In early 2011, the CIA moved for summary judgment. Summary judgment means the CIA is asking the judge to rule in its favor without a chance for Jones to gather and present evidence, question witnesses, appear before a jury, have his day in court, or have any of the protections we normally think of when we think of American legal protections. It would seem to be a bureaucrat's star chamber, and it would be highly unusual for the judge to rule in the CIA’s favor on this motion.

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