50 U.S.C. § 3525: Office of the Ombudsman for…

Summary

Creates an Office of the Ombudsman for Analytic Objectivity inside the Agency. The Office is led by an Ombudsman whom the Director must pick from current or former senior staff officers of the Agency. The Ombudsman must run an annual survey about objectivity in analysis, set up a way for any employee to file complaints about politicization, bias, or poor analytic work, and investigate those complaints. If a complaint is about how intelligence is collected, the Ombudsman must pass it to the official in charge of collection. The Ombudsman must also keep watching high‑risk analytic areas to make sure proper methods are used. The Ombudsman must send annual reports to the intelligence committees with the survey results for the most recent fiscal year and an annual report listing the number of complaints, their nature, actions taken, and how they were resolved. The Ombudsman must also send quarterly reports that list the areas monitored during the most recent calendar quarter and briefly describe how they were monitored. "Intelligence committees" means the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Title 50, §3525

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(a)Establishment

(1)In general

There is established in the Agency an Office of the Ombudsman for Analytic Objectivity (in this section referred to as the “Office”).

(2)Appointment of Ombudsman

The Office shall be headed by an Ombudsman, who shall be appointed by the Director from among current or former senior staff officers of the Agency.

(b)Duties and responsibilities

The Ombudsman shall—

(1)on an annual basis, conduct a survey of analytic objectivity among officers and employees of the Agency;

(2)implement a procedure by which any officer or employee of the Agency may submit to the Office a complaint alleging politicization, bias, lack of objectivity, or other issues relating to a failure of tradecraft in analysis conducted by the Agency;

(3)except as provided in paragraph (4), upon receiving a complaint submitted pursuant to paragraph (2), take reasonable action to investigate the complaint, make a determination as to whether the incident described in the complaint involved politicization, bias, or lack of objectivity, and prepare a report that—

(A)summarizes the facts relevant to the complaint;

(B)documents the determination of the Ombudsman with respect to the complaint; and

(C)contains a recommendation for remedial action;

(4)if a complaint submitted pursuant to paragraph (2) alleges politicization, bias, or lack of objectivity in the collection of intelligence information, refer the complaint to the official responsible for supervising collection operations of the Agency; and

(5)continuously monitor changes in areas of analysis that the Ombudsman determines involve a heightened risk of politicization, bias, or lack of objectivity, to ensure that any change in the analytic line arises from proper application of analytic tradecraft and not as a result of politicization, bias, or lack of objectivity.

(c)Reports

(1)On an annual basis, the Ombudsman shall submit to the intelligence committees a report on the results of the survey conducted pursuant to subsection (b)(1) with respect to the most recent fiscal year.

(2)On an annual basis, the Ombudsman shall submit to the intelligence committees a report that includes—

(A)the number of complaints of submitted pursuant to subsection (b)(2) during the most recent fiscal year; and

(B)a description of the nature of such complaints, the actions taken by the Office or any other relevant element or component of the Agency with respect to such complaints, and the resolution of such complaints.

(3)On a quarterly basis, the Ombudsman shall submit to the intelligence committees a report that includes—

(A)a list of the areas of analysis monitored during the most recent calendar quarter pursuant to subsection (b)(5); and

(B)a brief description of the methods by which the Office has conducted such monitoring.

(d)Intelligence committees defined

In this section, the term “intelligence committees” means the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Pub. L. 116–260, div. W, title IV, § 401(b), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2377, provided that: “Any reference in any law, regulation, map, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the Ombudsman for Analytic and Collection Objectivity of the Central Intelligence Agency shall be deemed to be a reference to the Office of the Ombudsman for Analytic Objectivity of the Central Intelligence Agency established by section 24(a) [50 U.S.C. 3525(a)] of the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 (50 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), as added by subsection (a).”

§3525 Office of the Ombudsman for Analytic Objectivity

Summary

Title 50, §3525

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Citations & Metadata