The CIA ought to have recognized one thing was off the second ex-officer David Rush demanded 667 kilos of gold bullion.
As an alternative of requesting diamonds or uncommon gems — the far lighter, extra cellular foreign money the company has lengthy favored for clandestine work — Rush requested for heavy gold bars, a alternative a former senior CIA official instructed The Submit was an apparent pink flag.
Now Rush is incarcerated in an Alexandria, Va., lockup and charged finishing up an enormous theft – though it’s the spy company itself going through powerful questions from lawmakers about how he was ever allowed to get this far.
The primary clue is the gold itself.
“You are inclined to go in different instructions as a result of it’s lighter. Valuable jewels are higher. Diamonds are higher,” former CIA Iran targets officer Reuel Marc Gerecht instructed The Submit.
“Individuals don’t notice how heavy cash is. It was usually an issue for big funds – significantly for those who’re making an attempt to do it clandestinely. You could possibly simply weigh your self down with money. Gold – you’d want mules,” he exclaimed.
The safety breakdown allegedly allowed Rush, who had a prime secret safety clearance, to hoard in levels 303 gold bars valued at $40 million and weighing 667 kilos.
He additionally compiled three dozen luxe watches, principally Rolexes, and $2 million in money, in keeping with a felony criticism filed within the Japanese District of Virginia. Every bar weighs 1 kilogram, or 2.2 kilos.
The scandal is drawing fierce backlash, with the Senate Intelligence Committee now launching “aggressive” oversight into the company’s unfastened purse strings and lax vetting.
The federal government says that Rush managed to manufacture main elements of his educational and army historical past – apparently fooling skilled probers and hauling away large quantities of loot with out instantly triggering alarm, partially as a result of the CIA operates on blind belief. He allegedly mentioned the booty was wanted for “work-related bills.”
“It’s not British banking. You don’t have a number of strains of individuals checking issues. The company is a system that operates largely on belief. Generally they’ve been burned by that,” Gerecht mentioned.
“It’s a humiliation for the CIA,” mentioned Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, the watchdog group that has hammered the Secret Service for placing President Trump in danger.
“It exhibits that the company is a catastrophe by way of inner safety,” he mentioned. “It is a disaster by way of safety on the CIA. Who else is working there who has a fabricated background?” he mentioned.
The Submit reported Friday that the breach may reveal harmful patterns.
“The truth that this slipped by way of the cracks makes me involved that there are different individuals who slipped by way of the cracks.” mentioned former CIA workers operations officer Tracy Walder.
The timeline outlined in an FBI agent’s affidavit factors to simply among the lapses.
It accuses Rush of offering false details about his schooling “on his software to the USG” – which means it wasn’t picked up on his preliminary background test.
Contradictory data was allegedly later uncovered in US Navy data – that apparently additionally acquired missed.
The affidavit states that he utilized to work for the feds thrice, utilizing totally different data every time, one other missed alternative.
Investigators didn’t instantly uncover that he didn’t have a pilot’s license – and that he wasn’t a flight teacher.
The large haul of gold and funds have been eliminated between November 2025 and March 2026, which means they have been allowed greater than as soon as. It says the CIA alerted the FBI after conducting its personal inner probe, however doesn’t say when.
Nor have the feds been in a position to find what has occurred to a “important quantities” of overseas foreign money, in keeping with the affidavit.
Lawmakers are already gearing as much as do their very own digging.
“The Senate Intelligence Committee exists to conduct rigorous oversight of the Intelligence Neighborhood, together with guaranteeing accountability when critical allegations of misconduct come up,” mentioned Rachel Cohen, a spokeswoman for Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
She mentioned Warner was “carefully following the matter” and would work with panel chair Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) “to hold out the Committee’s oversight obligations completely and aggressively” – a sign the company must present detailed explanations to lawmakers about what went mistaken.
The Home Intelligence panel can also be gathering data, with out tipping its hand. “The Home Intel Committee and Chairman [Rick] Crawford (R-Ariz.) have been saved up to date on this case as issues developed,” mentioned a committee supply.
These panels are the principle overseers of the company, which has lengthy resisted outdoors accounting.
A 2001 Authorities Accountability Workplace report mentioned the Company had not been audited because the Nineteen Sixties, partially as a result of “now we have no entry to sure CIA ‘unvouchered accounts’ and can’t compel our entry to overseas intelligence and counterintelligence data.”
Rush’s legal professional didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. “The FBI is working carefully with our companions on the CIA and the Division of Justice as we proceed to analyze this matter absolutely,” the businesses mentioned in a joint assertion.
