When we think of whistleblowers, we think of people like Bradley Manning, living in the shadows, risking their livelihoods to shed light on things our government may not want us to know. We don’t think of them tweeting about carrot cake muffins.
But ex-CIA trainee Lynnae Williams is not your average rogue. Instead of passing information about government agencies anonymously to third-party disseminators, Williams is opening up about her termination dispute with the CIA in the most public forums imaginable: Twitter and Blogspot.
It all started on January 26, 2012, when Williams posted the following statement to her blog, CIA Corrupt:
“I will start revealing the systematic process by which the U.S. Government denied my of my constitutional rights via this blog. I have to submit my postings to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Publication Review board for approval prior to publication on this website. I have dozens of incriminating documents that demonstrate the CIA’s official sanctioning of abuse of me, a former U.S. Government employee, and the unwillingness of the highest levels of the U.S. Government to respond to my repeated requests for investigation of these corrupt practices.”
Williams was transferred to the CIA’s national clandestine training program in 2009 after working as an analyst for the Department of Defense’s intelligence team, according to various tweets and blog posts, as well as an interview she gave to the Daily Beast’s Eli Lake. Four months later, Williams says, she was reported for her “bizarre and inappropriate behavior,” and shortly thereafter Williams was cited by Washington, DC police for leaving the scene of a car accident. She was then ordered to Dominion Hospital, a public-health-facility she refers to as a “prison,” where she spent one night plus six days as an outpatient before being discharged by her parents. Williams’ employment with the CIA was later terminated.
Many documents posted to her blog (assuming they’re authentic) appear to corroborate her story including documents from the CIA’s Personal Evaluation Board regarding her termination, and medical files from her stay at Dominion Hospital.
Williams seems to be making a concerted effort to stay within legal boundaries during the dispute process, submitting all posts for review by the CIA before publishing them. She has also maintained a good deal of transparency and civility, even once apologizing to the CIA’s Publication Review Board after accusing them of refusing to publish “humiliating and damaging” material.
“I cannot make accusations about the CIA with any credibility if I am unwilling to hold myself to the same exacting standards,” she wrote on January 30, 2012.
Whether or not Williams’s claims are valid—or whether airing her grievances public will elicit any explanation or compensation from the CIA—is yet to be seen. But if nothing else, her disclosures have brought attention to how the CIA handles mental health issues.
“I have had CIA clients sent to alcohol and drug treatment,” attorney Mark Zaid told the Daily Beast. “ The agency has spent thousands of dollars for people to get treatment and then they fire them, which doesn’t make any sense to me.”
In the meantime, Williams shows no signs of slowing down on Twitter, writing earlier today:
“#CIA has nothing to hold over my head and if I stop tweeting, you know they’ve gotten me again.”
Image via @wlynnae
