Last Updated on September 14, 2023
CIA whistleblower Pedro Israel Orta told NATIONAL FILE that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has worked with pedophiles in Afghanistan, and that the CIA engages in a corrupt practice of retaliating against whistleblowers who complain about abuse or incompetence in the agency’s leadership. Pedro Israel Orta personally blew the whistle on a female superior who put men in harm’s way for her shopping, baking, and socializing activities in a combat zone. Pedro Israel Orta is describing the war on whistleblowers in his book The Broken Whistle: A Deep State Run Amok.
“The CIA, like many US Government agencies, is suffering from the consequences of what is called the bureaucratic state and an increase in US Government executive branch powers with no accountability from Congress or the judiciary branch. A problem amplified by its classified and ultra-secret environment,” Pedro Israel Orta told National File.
“Therefore, what happens, the CIA abuses its power to shield itself from accountability for any mistakes, violations of laws, and abuses of power. It aims to preserve its power and get its fair share of tax dollars to fund operations,” Orta said, adding, “For whistleblowers like myself who have alleged reprisals, that we receive our restoration and restitution stolen from us. They took reprisals against us, they must admit they did, and provide restitution. If they do not, they are liars and any claims that there are whistleblower reprisal protections is a lie.”
Here are excerpts from the lawsuit, JAMES S. PARS v. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY and JOHN O. BRENNAN:
“The COB ran the base like a college dormitory. Her behavior negatively impacted the Base’s ability to meet its mission of assisting Intelligence Community (IC) and US military partners, and endangered the lives of personnel. The COB admitted to Plaintiff that she was “wrecked” and “horribly depressed” because she missed her family. The COB placed her personal needs of cooking, baking, socializing, entertainment, exercise and shopping above he needs of the mission often going days and sometimes more than a week without meeting with key personnel,” according to whistleblower Pedro Israel Orta’s lawsuit against the CIA, which he filed under his alias “James S. Pars.” Orta has provided evidence to NATIONAL FILE proving that he, Orta, and James S. Pars are the same person.
“The COB continually put herself and personnel in danger by insisting that they travel in areas of indirect fire attack (IDF) when not operationally necessary — such as trips for food, shopping or to the gym — contrary to US Military personnel movement guidance. In one instance, the COB and her personnel traveled through the same area hit by a rocket about 10 minutes after transiting the area. The COB adopted certain U.S. Military members to feed and entertain on base. She referred to these military members as her “adopted sons.” The COB would frequently spend hours entertaining her adopted sons,” according to Pedro Israel Orta’s lawsuit against the CIA.
The Chief was the second-in-command military official at the base.
“In early February 2015, while the COB was on Rest and Recuperation (R&R), Plaintiff wrote to the Chief regarding his concerns with the COB. He also had verbal discussions with the Chief regarding the concerns. The Chief’s response was to accuse Plaintiff of not supporting the COB. He also told Plaintiff that he was wrong to support the TISO. The Chief also reported Plaintiff’s disclosures to the COB,” according to Orta’s lawsuit.
“When the COB returned from R&R, Plaintiff attempted to speak to her about his concerns but she told him she did not want to hear about it. The situation at the Base continued to deteriorate. The OIC, who was being encouraged by the COB, took advantage of the TISO. There were increased personnel moves through IDF zones for non-mission essential purposes. The COB continued to miss meetings with key US personnel. The COB insisted on increasing social activities on the Base, which had a negative impact on the Base’s ability to support the IC and the US military. In one instance, the COB concluded a staff meeting with “Let’s get back to cooking,” which caused her to miss a meeting with a very senior US military official.”
“Due to the escalating conflict between the OIC and the TISO, on or about February 19, 2015, Plaintiff had two lengthy in-person conversations with the COB regarding the issues enumerated in paragraphs 14 to 18 and 25. Plaintiff told the COB he wanted to work with her to resolve the issues. Instead, the COB escalated the matter to the Chief who, on the following day during a heated telephone conversation, again accused Plaintiff of not supporting the COB. In addition, the Chief tried to coerce Plaintiff into making false accusations against the TISO in order to remove him from the Base.”
“The next day, the COB retaliated against Plaintiff by assigning him to be the compound “noise monitor,;” excluding him from key military meetings; extreme micromanaging of all Plaintiff’s work; and accusing Plaintiff of “failing miserably” at team building at the Base. The COB also exhibited belligerent and threatening behavior toward Plaintiff. Because of the COB’s retaliation and lack of support from the Chief, Plaintiff reached out to the Chief of Station (COS) for assistance. Plaintiff communicated with the COS in writing and also via virtual teleconference (VTC). Plaintiff reported the issues enumerated in paragraphs 9 to 27. The COS recommended that Plaintiff take his R & R three weeks early on February 24, 2015. Plaintiff was supposed to return to the Base on or about March 17 or 18, 2015. The COS stated that Plaintiff’s issues with the COB would be addressed while Plaintiff was on R & R. Plaintiff departed the Base on February 24, 2015 and arrived in the Washington Metropolitan Area on February 25, 2015.
“Before departing for R & R, Plaintiff contacted the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) office point of contact (POC) for the Base and forwarded emails regarding the COB’s behavior that he had previously sent to the COS. On March 9, 2015, Plaintiff had a meeting with the EEO POC to discuss his case. The EEO POC had no interest in hearing the details of the events at the Base. He told Plaintiff that it was good to get fired from a job and that Plaintiff should reinvent himself.”
“Also on March 9, 2015, Plaintiff had a meeting with the CIA Deputy Chief for Area Division in charge of the specific territory for the Base, the Chief of the Office for the special area of operation and the Chief of human resources for this specific division. They told Plaintiff that he would not be returning to the Base. Plaintiff inquired about a comparable position in the area of operation, but was told that no job was being offered as a replacement. Unbeknownst to Plaintiff, the COS had sent a “short of tour cable” stating that the COS had lost all confidence in Plaintiff’s leadership. The cable contained false and derogatory information about Plaintiff that was used to support the short of tour and send Plaintiff home early.
“A short of tour is a very negative career event. As a result of the short of tour, Plaintiff was stripped of the benefits granted to personnel serving in a PCS location. In addition, Plaintiff’s career with the CIA has been severely impacted. By contrast, no actions were taken against the COB who was allowed to complete her tour. Personnel and Base operations were modified to accommodate the COB’s social and appetite needs. The ability of the Base to assist the IC and US Military partners was significantly degraded. To alleviate the friction between the OIC and the TISO, the TISO was sent to another location. No one replaced Plaintiff as DCOB until close to the end of the COB’s tour. The sole reason Plaintiff was sent home short of tour was because he complained about the COB’s behavior and mismanagement of personnel and resources.”
“President Obama issued PPD-19 on October 10, 2012, to ensure that employees serving in the Intelligence Community or who are eligible for access to classified information can effectively report waste, fraud, and abuse while protecting classified national security information. (Exhibit 1). PPD-19 prohibits retaliation against employees for reporting waste, fraud and abuse and requires covered agencies (of which CIA is one) to provide a review process under which the agency Inspector General shall issue a review to determine whether a Personnel Action violated 5 U.S.C. Section 2302(b)(8). (Exhibit 1).”
“On or about April 3, 2015, Plaintiff complained to the CIA Inspector General’s Office (CIA IG) that he was subjected to retaliation following his protected disclosures to the Chief, COB and COS about COB’s mismanagement of personnel and resources and her reckless endangerment of personnel. Plaintiff met with two CIA IG investigators on or about April 8 and 9, 2015 to discuss his written summary of events. The CIA IG office initially sent the case to the EEO office. On or about July 8, 2015, Plaintiff met with the CIA IG and asked the CIA IG to conduct a reprisal investigation. The CIA IG purportedly began a reprisal investigation in early October 2015.
“Plaintiff provided additional information to the CIA IG in November and December 2015, including a complete list of documents to request or locate and personnel to interview. Plaintiff has contacted the CIA IG multiple times since December 2015 regarding the status of his complaint but to his knowledge, no additional actions have been taken. Plaintiff has refrained from contacting witnesses in order to avoid tampering with the investigation; however, one of Plaintiff’s main witnesses informed him that as of July 2016, he had not been contacted by the CIA IG.
“The CIA IG has not issued a final written disposition on Plaintiff’s reprisal complaint pursuant to PPD-19 and the IC IG External Review Procedures. As a result, Plaintiff is unable to request review by the IC IG. Additionally, the significant delay by the CIA IG in investigating Plaintiff’s reprisal complaint could significantly damage Plaintiff’s ability to substantiate his claims.”
PEDRO ISRAEL ORTA SPOKE TO NATIONAL FILE FOR AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ABOUT THE CIA
Pedro Israel Orta worked for nearly two decades in the Central Intelligence Agency. He said:
“18 years with the CIA and it included 19 months in the Office of the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community…Two years in Iraq, 2004 to 2006, doing interagency work for the CIA. High-level work with other government agencies and the US Military…A two-year overseas tour conducting cover action program management targeting terrorists…A one-year tour in Qandahar, Afghanistan as a counterintelligence officer working to keep our base and officers safe from hostile penetrations…Three years with the CIA Information Operations Center as a Technical Targeter doing cyber operations against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula with multiple TDYs overseas to the Middle East area….
Back to Afghanistan as a deputy chief of base. Sent home short of tour through acts of reprisal for blowing the whistle. Endured four months of a hostile CIA EEO, CIA IG, and CIA bureaucracy hellbent on destroying my claims of reprisal. Ended up on a joint duty assignment with the ICIG for 19 months. Witnessed the acting leadership of the ICIG plotting to defraud whistleblowers of their reprisal protections. My tour cut short and I was sent back to the CIA for another round of CIA bureaucracy hellbent on destroying my claims of reprisal. Fired as a direct result of my blowing the whistle.”
The CIA has worked with pedophiles in Afghanistan
“There have been multiple press reports on the problems in Afghanistan with males and their liking for boys for sexual purposes,” Orta said.
“Typical in Pashtun culture. Sad, but true. And this issue plagued all coalition forces in Afghanistan. We, as in CIA USMIL, and coaliation forces, had to deal and work with military and police officials who undoubtedly abused boys. At times having to turn a blind eye because the need for a relationship with the police or military official was very necessary. What do you do if the police chief or military official is the only one who can help fight threats? Intelligence is an ugly world.
I would not say that the CIA engages directly in human trafficking or child exploitation, but there are intelligence assets, contacts, and foreign liaison partners who again, may engage in unacceptable behaviors. How each case is handled is dependent on need versus gain. Risk versus gain. What do you do if a child molesting Pashtun has critical intelligence on adversaries trying to kill you or of high-value targets plotting to conduct terrorist operations to kill us? Subject’s utility may outweigh his nefarious ways—lots of ethical dilemmas. In some cases, if is more than hearsay and known that a subject is doing illegal things, then it gets thoroughly documented with approvals from the US DOJ to maintain such a relationship.
I had to work through many sensitive issues in some countries with questionable characters and I can tell you that once it is known that an asset or contact is in fact dirty, it gets bumped up to very high levels with approvals required to maintain a relationship.”
Pedro Israel Orta decided to blow the whistle to protect the lives of his fellow servicemen, who were being endangered by the shopping-happy COB.
“I blew the whistle with the CIA IG and CIA EEO in June 2009. Abuse of authority and gross mismanagement in an overseas station where I was posted. The CIA IG had no interest to look into the case and passed it to CIA EEO. The CIA EEO was a feckless office that did nothing for me and covered up for the violators of the laws and became a tool to cover up the violations of laws pertaining to personnel matters. Entering the CIA EEO process made things worse for me with more reprisals.
Two years later, I was still dealing with the aftermath of a feckless CIA EEO that claimed they had investigated and found no harassment. But they failed to contact four to six witnesses of the harassment. Proving the CIA EEO was part of the reprisal problem.
In late 2014, I blew the whistle to the CIA IG, fully documenting the complete failures of CIA EEO to be a lawful and impartial arbiter of any employee claims of harassment. Providing indisputable proof that CIA EEO failed to investigate the harassment I endured in 2009. And I provided proof of the damages I had suffered as an employee and human being. Career and family damages. Again, the CIA IG had no interest at all looking at the information.
Please see the articles and lawsuit for some details of the James Pars case. I was assigned the name James Pars by CIA EEO in 2015. This was after I had reported in 2015 waste, gross mismanagement, abuse of authority, specific and significant endangerment to public safety, and Title VII protected civil rights law violations with violations of equal employment opportunity laws in a warzone. This led to what I call an exile with a joint duty assignment with the ICIG. Only to see a year later the interim ICIG leadership plotting to defraud IC whistleblowers of their reprisal protections.
I was sent back to the CIA in April 2017 and months later all the way through December 2017 I repeatedly blew the whistle to seniors at CIA, DNI, and Congress on the abject failure of CIA EEO and CIA IG to uphold the laws pertaining to EEO matters and reprisal protections. Instead of addressing the CIA law violations, they allowed the CIA Office of Security to act like a mafia hitman to take me out. They kicked me out and fired me for my whistleblowing with Congress watching it all failing to assist.
Multiple times I made ICWPA disclosures through ICIG and CIA OCA, but these were never processed. At no time did the ICIG assist. And worse, the ICIG ordered an investigation against me.
Consequently, when the ICIG and Congress jumped on the opportunity to process a second-hand hearsay complaint against Trump in the summer/fall 2019, I went public with the hypocrisy.”
Pedro Israel Orta’s book details the cases of other CIA whistleblowers including John Kiriakou, who has led the way on exposing the CIA’s links to child sexual exploitation.
“My memoir walks the reader through all the reprisals and actions taken against me in each step I took while blowing the whistle. I also discuss the cases of John Reidy, Andrew Bakaj, Jonathan Kaplan, Daniel P. Meyer, and John Kiriakou, using well-sourced open source documents that show how these had blown the whistle and alleged reprisals.
Many chapters walk the reader through blatant CIA misconduct on reprisal protections. I blow the lid wide open on a bureaucracy hellbent on protecting itself from any liabilities from EEO claims or whistleblower reprisal claims. Including willful and malicious CIA OGC obstruction of due process by denying me legal representation, bullying lawyers through threats, and CIA Security acting like a mafia hitman to take me out through false accusations and strong-arm tactics.”
Pedro Israel Orta writes in the book about John Kiriakou. Here is an excerpt from the book:
“But strikingly much worse was a separate case with D/CIA Brennan grossly abusing his powers to target a whistleblower with devastating effects. In early 2012, the DOJ indicted former CIA officer John Kiriakou with five counts of criminal acts alleging he violated the Espionage Act of 1917, lied under oath, and disclosed the protected identity of an intelligence person.[1] It was a stacked indictment meant to inflict maximum damage, making a defense exorbitantly expensive and certainly out of reach for a former government employee without the financial resources to mount a robust defense. Therefore, to avoid bankruptcy and the risk of many years in prison, Kiriakou pled guilty to one count of violating the rarely enforced 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act (IIPA), despite his alleged disclosure causing no damage to US national security with no sources or methods publicly revealed.[2]
Kiriakou’s prosecution was an extreme injustice carried out at the behest of D/CIA Brennan who demanded that DOJ prosecute Kiriakou despite a lack of evidence.[3] Years earlier the DOJ had scrutinized the same allegations, found no violations of laws, and declined to prosecute Kiriakou. But Brennan’s insistence on his prosecution led the DOJ to find a creative way to make it happen. Meanwhile, D/CIA Brennan was embroiled in a scathing scandal of his own with serious allegations of violations of laws by spying on the US Senate and lying to Congress.[4] A crime for which a common citizen of the US would face the full force and fury of DOJ with indictment and prosecution. But not D/CIA Brennan, who kept his job, and likely played a role so that I as a whistleblower would never see justice. My disclosures during D/CIA Brennan’s leadership led to serious reprisals with no relief at a time Brennan’s CIA and the DOJ were waging war against whistleblowers—fittingly named the “war on whistleblowers.”[5]
Pedro Israel Orta believes that legendary leaker Edward Snowden, who worked for the CIA when he released evidence showing the NSA’s mass-surveillance of civilian phone records, deserves to be pardoned. Snowden is currently living in Russia, where Vladimir Putin granted him amnesty.
“I dedicate numerous paragraphs of Edward Snowden and call for his pardon in my Epilogue. Snowden can be justified in bypassing a failed regime hellbent of destroying whistleblowers. I blew the whistle post-Snowden, and my case proved that it just ink on paper not worth printing. I wrote: “Congress and the IC have no legitimate right to complain about the Snowden disclosures because they failed to address these severe abuses of the IC whistleblower processes. Snowden was justified in bypassing the broken IC whistleblower regime. Congress and the IC must acknowledge their mistakes, correct their ways, and the President of the United States should issue a full pardon to Edward Snowden. They should also demand that Congress and the IC fix their broken whistleblower processes, providing restitution and restoration to those who have suffered reprisals without relief. These grave abuses of state power on IC whistleblower issues have inflicted significant damage on US national security, and immediate course correction is essential to prevent further harm.”
Pedro Israel Orta believes that “the CIA abuses its power…”
“The CIA, like many US Government agencies, is suffering from the consequences of what is called the bureaucratic state and an increase in US Government executive branch powers with no accountability from Congress or the judiciary branch. A problem amplified by its classified and ultra-secret environment.
Therefore, what happens, the CIA abuses its power to shield itself from accountability for any mistakes, violations of laws, and abuses of power. It aims to preserve its power and get its fair share of tax dollars to fund operations.
There is no doubt it does a lot of good work, but when it makes a mistake, it is hellbent on covering up the mistake or legal violations to conceal embarrassment or destroy any legal liabilities.”
Pedro Israel Orta wrote his book for a reason
“What I seek to do with this book: Expose and fix the broken IC EEO and whistleblower process and reprisal investigation regime.
For whistleblowers like myself who have alleged reprisals, that we receive our restoration and restitution stolen from us. They took reprisals against us, they must admit they did, and provide restitution. If they do not, they are liars and any claims that there are whistleblower reprisal protections is a lie.
Congress must take action and correct its mistakes on these issues. These agencies have taken reprisals with impunity aided and abetted by a complicit Congress that has empowered these agencies to take the reprisals. The lack of accountability breeds lawlessness. This lawlessness unchecked grows the abuse of power by the deep state. Endangering our constitutional republic and turning us into a tyrannical bureaucratic government state of civil servants and political appointees running amok imposing their will on the people. The law becomes just pretty letters on paper of no consequence.”