CIA trainee sues agency over right to free speech

A member of the CIA’s first post-11 September 2001 class is alleging in a federal lawsuit that the agency violated his constitutional right to free speech by ordering dozens of deletions in his book about spy training after initially approving it.

T J Waters worked for the agency from 2002 to 2004, going through training for the clandestine sector but ultimately joining the intelligence analysis division for a short time.

Mr Waters’ book, Class 11: Inside the CIA’s First Post-9/11 Spy Class, chronicles his year at the CIA’s training facility where recruits learn how to use disguises and survive interrogation.
CIA employees are allowed to publish books, but they must first be cleared by a special review board to ensure they do not contain classified information. Mr Waters said he believed the CIA director, Porter Goss, opposed agency personnel writing books and had put the publications review staff under pressure to slow the process.

Katherine Shrader