Former Senior CIA Officer Sold Secrets for Thousands of Dollars

Dale Britt Bendler, a former senior operations officer with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) residing in Miami, pleaded guilty on April 23rd to acting as a foreign agent and transmitting and selling classified material. According to U.S. Department of Justice officials, Bendler reached a plea agreement yesterday, Wednesday, and could face up to seven years in prison. The 68-year-old former officer, an occasional panelist on A Fondo at Americatevé and regular source for our news reports, worked for nearly four decades at the CIA as an intelligence officer. He retired in 2014 as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service with the rank of SIS-4, equivalent to a three-star general. After retiring, he began working full-time as a CIA contractor with a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance. However, from 2017 through at least July 2020, Bendler worked with a U.S. lobbying firm, engaging in unauthorized and covert activities on behalf of foreign clients. He received hundreds of thousands of dollars until the CIA terminated his contract and security access in September 2020. During that period, according to the prosecution, Bendler attempted to use his position and access within the CIA to influence a foreign government\'s embezzlement investigation involving one of his clients. Some unofficial sources suggest the government in question could be that of a U.S. ally, although this is unconfirmed. According also allege that he attempted to sway the U.S. government’s decision on granting a visa to another client, who was reportedly connected to terrorism financing. The former officer is accused of searching classified CIA systems for information related to his private lobbying clients, improperly storing and disclosing classified U.S. government information to unauthorized individuals and of lying to both the CIA and the FBI about his status as a foreign agent and his unauthorized lobbying and public relations activities. The case has deeply shaken Bendler’s colleagues, both active and retired— in the Intelligence Community, as well as his friends, including the author of this article, who view his actions as a betrayal of both their country and their personal trust, and friendship. Following yesterday’s revelations, the conference on China’s role in Latin America — organized by Bendler and scheduled for May 1st at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora— has been canceled. As part of his plea deal, Bendler will be required to forfeit $85,000 in addition to serving prison time. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 16th.