Contractor Used Classified CIA Systems as ‘His Own Personal Google’

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systems for information he then sold to a U.S. lobbying firm and foreign clients, used access to those CIA systems as “his own personal Google,” according to a court record reviewed by 404 Media and Court Watch.

Dale Britt Bendler, 68, was a long running CIA officer before retiring in 2014 with a full pension. He rejoined the agency as a contractor and sold a wealth of classified information, according to the government’s sentencing memorandum filed on Wednesday. His clients included a U.S. lobbying firm working for a foreigner being investigated for embezzlement and another foreign national trying to secure a U.S. visa, according to the court record.

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“In total, between July 2017 and September 2020, Defendant earned approximately $360,000 in private client fees while also working as a full-time CIA contractor with daily access to highly classified material that he searched like it was his own personal Google,” the document says. “He violated his oaths, broke the law, and should be held accountable.”

In his contractor role, Bendler had a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance, which granted access to some of the most sensitive information in the U.S. government. In 2017, Bendler started working for a foreign national who was being investigated by his home country for allegedly embezzling money from the country’s sovereign wealth fund, according to the court record. Bendler was paid $20,000 a month to help mount a public relations campaign that could rebut those embezzlement allegations and lobby government officials, it adds. The document says Bendler searched classified U.S. government systems to see what information they contained about the foreign national.

Bendler then sent a proposal to a U.S. lobbying firm working with the foreign national, the document says. That included Bendler’s plan to publish online articles and messages “to influence the American public and using his prior relationships with government officials on the National Security Council and in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to influence U.S. policy,” it reads. This proposal included classified information, including SECRET//NOFORN information which is not supposed to be shared with anyone from another country, the document says.

In the second case, the foreign national had been accused of laundering money for a foreign terrorist organization. Bendler then searched CIA systems for information related to this person, according to the court record.

“In many ways, Defendant was able to use the fact that his job was so sensitive and classified as both a sword and a shield,” the document reads. “He wielded it as a sword when he abused his access to classified information and he relied on it as a shield to hide his criminal activity. The dualism of secrecy inherent in Defendant’s job is another reason why it is important to send a strong message at sentencing and deter other former members of the intelligence community from breaking the law to make some extra money.”