CIA Interim Watchdog Resigns and Withdraws GI Appointment

Christopher Sharpley was appointed Inspector General of the CIA, but he now resigns from the agency.

(Associated Press)

Christopher Sharpley, who was accused of retaliation against whistleblowers, resigned on Friday,

Christopher Sharpley, whose appointment to the agency's inspector general had stagnated in the Senate, said in a statement. "After three decades of public service, he has decided to pursue his career outside the agency, and we wish him the best in this new chapter," said Ryan Trapani, a spokesman for the CIA. said in a statement. "The CIA's commitment to rigorous and independent oversight is unwavering, and the Office of the Inspector General will continue this important mission during the transition."

Sharpley also withdraws his appointment as Inspector General, reported CNN.

The Senate was not ready to advance Sharpley's candidacy until a resolution of the complaints of two former CIA employees turned whistleblowers on suspicion of retribution, according to a Congressional assistant who was not allowed to discuss the issue publicly and spoke only under the guise of anonymity.

"Sharpley understood that it would not be confirmed and decided to withdraw" Whistleblower Aid's director, who represents two of the plaintiffs alleging retaliation.

A complainant is Jonathan Kaplan, 59, a former special agent and investigator from the Office of the Inspector General who spent 33 years at the CIA.

is Andrew Bakaj, 35, who worked in this office as a special agent from 2012 to 2015. He played a key role in the development of the regulating bodies governing the investigation of reprisals by whistleblowers

. I am not aware of any investigation open to me, details of any complaint about me, "Sharpley testified at his confirmation hearing last October

. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Ron Wyden say they find it hard to believe that Sharpley was unaware of the complaints when he testified.

"How is it possible that he did not have knowledge of any inquiries open against him at the time he testified?" Grassley, R-Iowa, and Wyden, D- Ore., Asked in a letter that they wrote to the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

They said that one of the ongoing cases was being investigated by the internal watchdog of the Department of Homeland Security. Representatives of these former CIA employees told the Associated Press last year that there has been friction within the Inspector General's Office, an independent unit created in 1989 to supervise the spy agency.

this report.