The son of a female undercover CIA officer whom the agency reprimanded in 1993 made an unusual public defense of his mother Friday.
In a letter to the editor of The New York Times, Steven A. Brookner of Alexandria, Va., wrote that he felt compelled to break years of "a proud silence" about his mother's spy career when the Times revealed her identity in a Sept. 14 story.The woman, Janine Brookner, sued the CIA last summer under the pseudonym "Jane Doe Thompson." She contended the agency ruined her career by improperly and unfairly investigating charges against her by subordinates whom she had accused of misdeeds. The probe by the CIA's inspector general led to a February 1993 formal reprimand that she said effectively ended her career.
She joined the CIA in 1968 and still works there.
In his letter to the newspaper, Brookner wrote that his mother had become a target of false accusations by subordinates despite more than two decades of "outstanding, unblemished" service in the CIA.
"Her resolve to work in clandestine operations was founded on her patriotic belief in the CIA's mission and self-confidence that her effectiveness as a spy would have a positive impact on this country's national security," he wrote.
She chose to work in the clandestine service "despite the objections of male career officers who believed such work was better done by men, let alone a divorced woman with a child," he wrote.
Brookner disputed the specific accusations against his mother that triggered the CIA investigation, including allegations by subordinates that she drank excessively and was a "sexual provocateur" while heading the CIA station in Jamaica.
"I have never seen her drink during a workday or drink in excess," he wrote, adding that her doctor offered the CIA independent medical reports, but the agency rejected them.
Brookner wrote that the "sexual provocateur" accusation was ridiculous.