CIA Medal Awarded to Former White House Counsel Raises Questions

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A newly surfaced email shows that former White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler received a medal from then-CIA Director John Brennan in 2015, shortly after leaving her position in the Obama administration. The award raises questions about Ruemmler's role in managing the fallout from the Senate's landmark report on the CIA's post-9/11 torture program, which Brennan had called the 'most complex, challenging, distracting, and time consuming' problem he faced. The email also reveals Ruemmler's connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whom she referred to as 'Uncle Jeffrey' and who gave her a $9,400 Hermès handbag.

Why it matters

The award of the CIA's Agency Seal Medal to Ruemmler, a non-CIA employee, suggests she may have played a significant role in the agency's efforts to manage the fallout from the torture report, which exposed the CIA's systematic misrepresentation of the program to Congress, the White House, and the public. Ruemmler's involvement in this controversy, as well as her relationship with Epstein, raise concerns about the extent to which the White House protected the CIA from accountability during the Obama administration.

The details

According to the report, when the Senate Intelligence Committee completed its landmark 6,700-page report on the CIA's post-9/11 torture program in 2013, the CIA under Brennan's leadership began leaking inaccurate information about the report while refusing to discuss it directly with committee members or staff. The CIA also secretly searched computers used by Senate staffers investigating the torture program, an action that Brennan initially denied but was later confirmed by the CIA's own inspector general. Ruemmler, who was White House Counsel at the time, played a key role in managing the administration's response to the torture report controversy, including writing letters to Republican senators on the White House's behalf and helping manage the release of Benghazi documents that had blocked Brennan's nomination as CIA director.

• In March 2013, John Brennan was sworn in as CIA director.
• In 2014, the CIA fought the committee's efforts to release what Senate staff viewed as embarrassing but clearly unclassified material from the torture report.
• On March 11, 2014, Sen. Dianne Feinstein accused the CIA of spying on Congress during the torture report investigation.
• In January 2015, John Brennan awarded Kathryn Ruemmler the CIA's Agency Seal Medal.

What they’re saying

What’s next

The CIA has not responded to requests for comment on the award of the Agency Seal Medal to Kathryn Ruemmler, and it remains unclear what specific contributions she made to the agency's 'intelligence efforts' that warranted the honor. Further investigation is needed to determine the extent of Ruemmler's involvement in the CIA's handling of the torture report controversy and her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.