A Point of Order Final Exam

Consider the following facts:

Jeffrey Sterling served as a CIA officer from 1993 to January 31, 2002. During that time, he became acquainted with a clandestine operational program that was designed to disrupt the nuclear development activities of Iran. According to a book later written by James Risen, this program involved a “botched attempt under the Clinton administration to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program by giving flawed blueprints for key components to a Russian nuclear scientist who had defected. The idea was that the Russian scientist, who was covertly working for the CIA, would feed the flawed designs to the Iranians. But according to the book, the CIA’s efforts went awry when the scientist got nervous and instead tipped off the Iranians to the flaws in the designs.”

The operation, codenamed “Merlin,” was sort of like a nuclear “Fast and Furious.”

Following his less than amicable separation from the CIA in 2002, Sterling approached the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) with information about Operation Merlin in March 2003. He met with SSCI staffers Don Stone and Vicki Divoll and told them that the program had not only been a failure, but may have assisted the Iranians in advancing their nuclear program.

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