Former Senior CIA Officer Sold Secrets for Thousands of Dollars

According to U.S. Department of Justice officials, Bendler reached a plea agreement yesterday, Wednesday, and could face up to seven years in prison.

The 68-year-old former officer, an occasional panelist on A Fondo at Americatevé and regular source for our news reports, worked for nearly four decades at the CIA as an intelligence officer. He retired in 2014 as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service with the rank of SIS-4, equivalent to a three-star general.

After retiring, he began working full-time as a CIA contractor with a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance. However, from 2017 through at least July 2020, Bendler worked with a U.S. lobbying firm, engaging in unauthorized and covert activities on behalf of foreign clients. He received hundreds of thousands of dollars until the CIA terminated his contract and security access in September 2020.

During that period, according to the prosecution, Bendler attempted to use his position and access within the CIA to influence a foreign government's embezzlement investigation involving one of his clients. Some unofficial sources suggest the government in question could be that of a U.S. ally, although this is unconfirmed.

According also allege that he attempted to sway the U.S. government’s decision on granting a visa to another client, who was reportedly connected to terrorism financing.