{"id":2628868,"date":"2026-07-12T13:01:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T17:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cias-counter-espionage-department-investigated-unvaccinated-employees-lawsuit-alleges\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T13:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T17:05:13","slug":"cias-counter-espionage-department-investigated-unvaccinated-employees-lawsuit-alleges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cias-counter-espionage-department-investigated-unvaccinated-employees-lawsuit-alleges\/","title":{"rendered":"CIA&#8217;s Counter Espionage Department Investigated Unvaccinated Employees, Lawsuit Alleges"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcias-counter-espionage-department-investigated-unvaccinated-employees-lawsuit-alleges%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2628868&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses a lawsuit alleging that the CIA conducted investigations into unvaccinated employees as if they were espionage threats following the Biden administration&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in September 2021. The lawsuit claims the CIA&#8217;s Counter Espionage Department improperly used invasive techniques and maintained permanent files on employees\u2019 vaccine status, which could be used for various purposes. Former CIA officer James Erdman revealed he tried unsuccessfully to have the records corrected,and he criticized the conflation of insubordination wiht espionage. The lawsuit, filed by the nonprofit Feds for Freedom in Virginia, also alleges violations of federal procedures and confidentiality laws. Erdman resigned from the CIA amid thes issues and now advocates against the vaccine mandate. The CIA declined to comment on the matter.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The CIA investigated thousands of unvaccinated employees as if they were potential foreign espionage and sabotage threats, a new class action lawsuit alleges.<\/p>\n<p>In September 2021, former President Joe Biden mandated that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2021\/09\/14\/2021-19927\/requiring-coronavirus-disease-2019-vaccination-for-federal-employees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">federal employees<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2021\/09\/14\/2021-19924\/ensuring-adequate-covid-safety-protocols-for-federal-contractors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contractors<\/a> receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Shortly after, the CIA\u2019s chief operating officer directed the Counter Espionage Department (CED) to begin investigating employees and contractors who did not comply, the lawsuit alleges.<\/p>\n<p>Former CIA officer James Erdman, who uncovered Langley\u2019s alleged surveillance of its own unvaccinated employees, said in an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation that he repeatedly pressed CIA Director John Ratcliffe\u2019s office to remove the marks on unvaccinated employees\u2019 personnel files but the director never took action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did everything in my power to get the agency to just fix it. That\u2019s all I wanted. Give us the answer on what happened, and fix it,\u201d Erdman said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fedsforfreedom.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Feds for Freedom<\/a> \u2014 a nonprofit founded by federal employees in 2021 to challenge the Biden administration\u2019s vaccine mandate \u2014 announced the new lawsuit on Wednesday. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen a government agency uses national security tools to punish the personal medical choices of their employees, it is agency leadership \u2014 not the employee \u2014 who has crossed the line,\u201d said Feds For Freedom Executive Director Stephanie Weidle in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The CIA\u2019s espionage division \u201cutilizes invasive investigative techniques,\u201d the legal complaint states. While security violations and HR violations can be expunged, investigatory material collected in CED investigations permanently remain in the CIA\u2019s files. And this intelligence \u201ccan be used by the Agency for any reason it deems necessary,\u201d the complaint states.<\/p>\n<p>The CIA declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit <a href=\"https:\/\/cmsapi.theepochtimes.com\/us\/exclusive-cia-investigated-officers-for-espionage-over-not-taking-covid-19-vaccine-lawsuit-6054857\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">was first reported by The Epoch Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Erdman said he learned of the CED investigations from a tip while on detail with former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.<\/p>\n<p>Gabbard\u2019s declassification and accountability task force was digging into how the Biden administration weaponized the federal government against perceived political enemies under a January 2025 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/01\/ending-the-weaponization-of-the-federal-government\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">executive order.<\/a> Erdman resigned from the CIA earlier this week and now serves as the director of development for Feds for Freedom.<\/p>\n<p>In March, one of the unvaccinated employees formally requested Ratcliffe\u2019s office remove the material dug up by the CED from his file, but never received a reply.<\/p>\n<p>When pressed by Gabbard\u2019s task force to clarify under what authority the CED investigations had been launched, the CIA did not give an answer, the legal complaint alleges.<\/p>\n<p>At other federal agencies, if employees applied for religious accommodations, the government considered them compliant until after a determination was made about their application.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not what happened at the CIA, according to Erdman.<\/p>\n<p>Even under the Biden administration\u2019s premise that the COVID-19 vaccine mandate was unquestionably good for the health of the CIA staff, defiance of the mandate should have been handled as insubordination rather than a counterespionage case, Erdman said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is an employee insubordination issue. That\u2019s handled differently than espionage. And that\u2019s why this is really concerning, because you\u2019re conflating those things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The suit alleges violations of the Administrative Procedure Act, the law that governs federal agency procedures, and cites as plaintiffs an anonymous CIA security officer, an anonymous CIA staff operations officer and an anonymous cybersecurity architect contractor. The plaintiffs seek the removal of all adverse information from their files and \u201cany further relief this Honorable Court deems necessary or appropriate in order to accord full and complete relief.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. 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( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new lawsuit claims the CIA treated thousands of unvaccinated staff as espionage threats. After Biden&#8217;s 2021 vaccine mandate, CIA directed investigations into noncompliant employees<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2628869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_0176.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[7362,82618,4585,82620,82619],"class_list":["post-2628868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-cia","tag-counter-espionage","tag-lawsuit","tag-united-states-intelligence","tag-unvaccinated-employees"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_0176.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2628868"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2628872,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628868\/revisions\/2628872"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2628869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2628868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2628868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2628868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}