WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- The Central Intelligence Agency is clamping down on current and former staff with warnings against speaking to the media without clearance.
One former official told Britain's Financial Times the agency had warned several retired employees who have consulting contracts with the agency that they could even lose their pensions by talking to reporters without permission.
However, Jennifer Millerwise Dyke, spokeswoman for CIA director Porter Goss, called the allegation "rubbish," saying under current law, "termination of a contract does not affect pensions."
Larry Johnson, a former CIA official who blogs at TPMCafe.com, said he recently received a "threatening" letter reminding him about his confidentiality agreements.
"They are trying to intimidate the press and trying to intimidate employees," said Johnson. "Anybody who has been critical of the Bush administration is getting letters."
Meanwhile, Goss has increased the number of "single issue" lie detector tests aimed at discovering employees who are talking to the media, the newspaper said.
