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Ex-Senate Committee General Counsel Accused of Leaking Secret Info

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. on September 06, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

In court documents released last week, a former CIA officer currently facing prosecution for leaking classified information to the New York Times is accusing former Senate Intelligence Committee general counsel Vicki Divoll of being the actual leak.

Connecting a number of events, the defendant asserts that Ms. Divoll was terminated from her post for breaching confidentiality rules.

She has denied the allegations.

The filing--a motion in support of a subpoena--explains that, in March 2003, Jeffery Sterling properly met with Vicki Divoll and two other members of committee staff to provide information about the CIA's classified effort to impede Iran's nuclear program.

A month later, New York Times reporter James Risen informed the CIA that he had information about this program, and planned to disclose its details.

At some point during this time, Vicki Divoll left her job as general counsel. Though she was eliminated as a suspect, a FBI report states that a witness claims that Divoll was terminated for providing information to James Risen.

At this juncture, the allegations against Divoll are just that--allegations. No proof, aside from the one witness statement, has been proffered to explain her departure from the Intelligence Committee.

Moreover, Vicki Divoll has remained in the public eye and in respectable employment since 2003, reports Politico. A former member of the CIA and the Clinton White House, she has continued to use her experience to write a number of pieces on intelligence issues, lecture, and serve as a fellow at both Harvard's Institute of Politics and the Naval Academy.

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