§ 3525. Office of the Ombudsman for Analytic Objectivity

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(a)Establishment

(1)In general There is established in the Agency an Office of the Ombudsman for Analytic Objectivity (in this section referred to as the “Office”).

(2)Appointment of Ombudsman The Office shall be headed by an Ombudsman, who shall be appointed by the Director from among current or former senior staff officers of the Agency.

(b)Duties and responsibilities The Ombudsman shall—

(1)on an annual basis, conduct a survey of analytic objectivity among officers and employees of the Agency;

(2)implement a procedure by which any officer or employee of the Agency may submit to the Office a complaint alleging politicization, bias, lack of objectivity, or other issues relating to a failure of tradecraft in analysis conducted by the Agency;

(3)except as provided in paragraph (4), upon receiving a complaint submitted pursuant to paragraph (2), take reasonable action to investigate the complaint, make a determination as to whether the incident described in the complaint involved politicization, bias, or lack of objectivity, and prepare a report that—

(A)summarizes the facts relevant to the complaint;

(B)documents the determination of the Ombudsman with respect to the complaint; and

(C)contains a recommendation for remedial action;

(4)if a complaint submitted pursuant to paragraph

(2)alleges politicization, bias, or lack of objectivity in the collection of intelligence information, refer the complaint to the official responsible for supervising collection operations of the Agency; and

(5)continuously monitor changes in areas of analysis that the Ombudsman determines involve a heightened risk of politicization, bias, or lack of objectivity, to ensure that any change in the analytic line arises from proper application of analytic tradecraft and not as a result of politicization, bias, or lack of objectivity.

(c)Reports

(1)On an annual basis, the Ombudsman shall submit to the intelligence committees a report on the results of the survey conducted pursuant to subsection (b)(1) with respect to the most recent fiscal year.

(2)On an annual basis, the Ombudsman shall submit to the intelligence committees a report that includes—

(A)the number of complaints of submitted pursuant to subsection (b)(2) during the most recent fiscal year; and

(B)a description of the nature of such complaints, the actions taken by the Office or any other relevant element or component of the Agency with respect to such complaints, and the resolution of such complaints.

(3)On a quarterly basis, the Ombudsman shall submit to the intelligence committees a report that includes—

(A)a list of the areas of analysis monitored during the most recent calendar quarter pursuant to subsection (b)(5); and

(B)a brief description of the methods by which the Office has conducted such monitoring.

(d)Intelligence committees defined In this section, the term “intelligence committees” means the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.

(June 20, 1949, ch. 227, § 24, as added Pub. L. 116–260, div. W, title IV, § 401(a), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2376.)

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