Less than two weeks after it was revealed that CIA director William Burns had multiple meetings with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Burns announced that the spy agency was revamping how it dealt with sexual assault and harassment allegations.
Burns said late last week that he would "act quickly and systematically to address concerns" about rampant sexual harassment at the CIA. The spy chief is an odd choice to run point on the agency-wide effort to combat sexual harassment and assault—Burns met several times with Epstein in 2014, long after the Democratic donor and financier was publicly accused of grooming underage girls for sex, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The CIA has sought to downplay Burns’s relationship with Epstein. An agency spokesman claims Burns only met with Epstein for "general advice" as he was transitioning out of his government job.
"The director did not know anything about him, other than that he was introduced as an expert in the financial services sector and offered general advice on transition to the private sector," the spokesman said. "They had no relationship."
Burns says he personally met with "several affected officers to hear their concerns" about how the agency handles allegations, and that their concerns were heard "loud and clear." Burns says the agency will establish a sexual harassment task force that "will be advised by outside experts."
It is unclear whether Burns will look into the background of the experts before meeting with them. The intelligence agency claims its leader "did not look into Epstein's background before arranging to meet" with him in 2014.
Epstein was accused of molesting young girls as early as 2006 and registered as a sex offender in 2008, when he pleaded guilty to trafficking underage girls. In 2019, Epstein was indicted by the federal government for trafficking underage girls for sex at his various homes, and ultimately killed himself in prison.
The White House and CIA did not respond to requests for comment.