According to records examined by the Daily Caller, the CIA has seemingly submitted notifications on potential conflicts of interest involving dozens of its employees to the Department of Justice (DOJ) during the Biden administration. Between January 2021 and May 2023, the CIA filled out 32 form 202 conflict of interest referral notifications to the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) within the Biden administration. These notifications, as per OGE guidelines, are submitted to report alleged ethics violations referred to the DOJ.
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The records, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, reveal that multiple forms may be submitted for a single referral. The OGE clarified that the numbers provided represent the forms received, not necessarily the number of referrals. The exact nature of the alleged conflicts and whether the DOJ took any action remains unclear, as both the OGE and DOJ declined to comment. The reported conflicts cover potential violations under various sections of the U.S. Code related to bribery, graft, and conflict of interest.
In fiscal year 2023, OGE made numerous ethics recommendations to federal agencies to enhance ethics programs. While OGE publicly disclosed its 2022 ethics inspection of the CIA, the number of CIA employees required to file financial disclosures was classified. The CIA’s response to inquiries on the reported conflicts of interest remains unavailable.
