US spy agency warns employees to stay away from politics.
Susan Tawil, World Israel News
A senior CIA official is under fire for posting pro-Palestinian social media posts following the Hamas invasion of Israel.
Amy McFadden, the Associate Deputy Director for Analysis at the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is one of the agency’s highest-ranking officials.
She attracted media attention when, two weeks after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, she changed the cover photo of her personal Facebook account to that of a young man waving a Palestinian flag.
The Financial Times first reported the incident, and the CIA, via an internal email, warned its employees against sharing political messages on social media.
McFadden’s pro-Palestinian postings have since been deleted.
McFadden began her career at the CIA 24 years ago.
Her job as associate deputy director is one of the top posts at the CIA.
She is one of three people responsible for approving all intelligence information disseminated inside the agency. She was previously responsible for submitting the “daily brief” to the President, a summary of the day’s classified intelligence.
Beginning over a year ago, McFadden stepped over the line of the impartiality expected by the nation’s premier espionage organization when she posted a selfie on her Facebook account with a “Free Palestine” sticker superimposed.
Last week, her LinkedIn page showed her support for the anti-Israel International Crisis Group, a non-profit with ties to the Iranian government.
The post McFadden “liked” was an article criticizing Israel for “making the utter defeat of Hamas its top priority.”
Several former CIA officials expressed concern that McFadden’s posts demonstrated bias that could undermine the agency.
An unnamed source, familiar with the situation, maintains that McFadden has “extensive background in all aspects of the Middle East” and that her postings were “not intended to express a position on the conflict.”
In an emailed statement about the situation, a CIA spokesperson said: “CIA officers are committed to analytic objectivity, which is at the core of what we do as an Agency…CIA officers may have personal views, but this does not lessen their—or CIA’s—commitment to unbiased analysis.”
McFadden has thus far faced no repercussions for her actions. The CIA has not said whether she would be disciplined or fired.