The CIA has sent an unclassified email containing the names of everyone hired at the agency over the past two years to comply with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last month, according to multiplenews reports Wednesday.
The message, which purportedly listed the first names and the first initials of the last names of all employees who are on probation, was sent to the Office of Personnel Management. Many of those included in the list were young analysts whose roles focus on China, according to The New York Times, which was first to report the news.
It’s unclear how many staffers were named in the email.
The email was meant to comply with Trump’s executive order to downsize the federal government.
While officials seemed to dismiss concerns around sharing the list, CNN noted that many of the employees included in the email have uncommon first names and could possibly be identified by hackers who could use the information to connect the dots with other publicly available data, citing sources.
Democratic lawmakers blasted the White House over these latest revelations.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, described it as a “disastrous national security development.”
“Exposing the identities of officials who do extremely sensitive work would put a direct target on their backs for China,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, echoed those concerns.
“From what I have learned, the CIA should not have transmitted these names in this fashion, nor should the White House have insisted on such a clearly irresponsible approach, one that could genuinely put people in danger,” he said in a statement.
In a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) recalled Trump’s obsession with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails.
“Now, I remember when Donald Trump was always talking about Hillary’s emails,” Schiff said. “What about this email?”
Earlier this week, the CIA reportedly offered all of its employees “buyouts.”
CBS News reported the offer differs from the “differed resignation” program that was made available to over 2 million federal employees via email with the subject line “Fork in the Road.” The offer made to CIA staffers reportedly includes Voluntary Early Retirement Authority beside other resignation options, CBS said. Certain CIA staffers reportedly wouldn’t be eligible for the offer.
