CIA Ops Moonlight for Corporations

Apparently CIA operatives don't have enough on their plates fighting two wars and al Qaeda: Many operatives moonlight as consultants to financial firms and hedge funds, Eamon Javers writes in a book excerpt on Politico. Moonlighting in the private sector is generally allowed for federal employees if they follow strict guidelines; in the case of CIA agents, it's seen to counteract the problem of brain-drain to higher-paying private sector jobs.

CIA agents have especially strong ties to one consulting company, Boston-based Business Intelligence Advisors. BIA specializes in "tactical behavioral assessment," a sort of "human lie detector" analysis that seeks to detect whether people are lying without using a polygraph. The firm trains clients to conduct TBA themselves—or does it for them for a fee, often on quarterly corporate-earnings calls.

(More CIA stories.)