Jury selection begins Monday in a case involving a former CIA officer who said she was sexually assaulted by a colleague at the agency’s headquarters in July 2022.
As the trial began, Rachel Cuda, the alleged victim, revealed her identity for the first time and spoke to CBS News. She said working at the CIA was a dream career until she took a walk at work in the summer of 2022 with a close colleague who attacked her in a stairwell, she claimed.
“I felt a scarf come over my head. I turned around and my attacker said, ‘This is what I want to do to you,’ started pulling it tighter and then tried to lean in to kiss me,” Cuda said.
She said she pushed the perpetrator away and told him to stop.
“I didn’t know what just happened,” Cuda said. “No one had tried to touch me at work.”
Cuda said she tried to report what happened to her immediate supervisor and several other CIA offices, but said she discovered there was no formal process in place to handle claims of sexual misconduct.
“I was in the dark about the handling of my case,” she said. “I didn’t get the proper updates on what was being done to protect me.”
Cuda said CIA officials warned her that going to police would violate confidentiality agreements she made as an agency employee.
“I was very adamant. I want to go into law enforcement, but I also want to keep my career. There was no way to do that,” she said.
When a series of internal investigations cleared her alleged attacker of any wrongdoing, she turned to the CIA, filed a police report and requested a protection order. She also shared her story with Congress and testified behind closed doors before the House Intelligence Committee.
A total of 26 whistleblowers, including Cuda, spoke to the committee as part of a sweeping investigation into the C.I.A. The results showed the agency “failed to handle allegations of sexual assault and harassment.”
Last December, Congress passed legislation requiring the agency to create an agency new policies and training to handle cases of sexual assault and harassment, provide a dedicated victim investigator for each case, and allow victims to file reports confidentially.
“We’re seeing more people coming forward and we’re encouraging people to come forward,” said CIA spokesperson Tammy Thorp.
Thorp acknowledges that the reporting process was confusing before the changes.
“The nature of our work requires many officers to work undercover. I will say that one of the most important steps we’ve taken has been to tell people they can go to the police,” Thorp said.
Cuda said she believes reporting her allegations outside the CIA led to her firing last year. The agency denies that it retaliated against her. She said she still hears from victims who don’t feel safe reporting their cases to CIA officials.
Thorp’s message to employees is to come forward and share their concerns.
“We understand we have more work to do,” she said.
County prosecutors in Virginia ultimately charged Cuda’s alleged attacker with misdemeanor assault, not assault. A recent legal filing by his lawyer argued that he had been falsely accused, that he had gently draped the scarf over Cuda as a lighthearted joke and had no intention of harming her.
“I did not do what I am accused of,” the alleged attacker previously told the Washington Post. “I want to be very clear that I did not in any way endanger this person, harm him or attempt to kiss him, and I look forward to proving that in court.”
Cuda told CBS News she plans to testify at the trial.
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