According to sources within the intelligence community speaking to The Washington Post, the CIA is having trouble finding and recruiting informants and agents overseas.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the CIA is struggling to enlist foreign informants and “needs more spies,” citing current and former intelligence officials.
Sources say a major contributing factor is the rise of public surveillance systems and facial recognition technology worldwide, making it more difficult for operatives to go unnoticed.
CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis has publicly acknowledged the issue, stating that while “some of the tools and techniques from the 1960s or ‘70s might still work today, a lot of them need to be updated and refreshed.”
The WaPo also reported that officials pointed to past failures, like the agency’s aggressive recruitment of Chinese officials in the early 2000s. Chinese security forces later broke up that network, allegedly imprisoning and executing up to two dozen CIA assets.
The report also noted that the COVID-19 pandemic hampered operations by disrupting in-person meetings with informants due to lockdowns and travel restrictions. The current US President Donald Trump’s plan to close 10 embassies and 17 consulates as part of budget cuts may further reduce the CIA’s global presence.
To attract defectors, the CIA has created what the reports called “Hollywood-quality” videos aimed at Russian and Chinese audiences, distributed via social media. Officials told the Post that some Russians have responded, but declined to elaborate.
The ads were met with skepticism in both countries and that satirized the agency’s message by focusing on American problems.
Chinese netizens are having fun with the CIA’s recruitment ad for Chinese spies!
They’ve turned it around and made it even more convincing than the original! 🤣
— Dominic Lee 李梓敬 (@dominictsz)
Domestically, the Post reports that the CIA’s recruitment of new agents has fallen by double-digit percentages since 2019, according to a former official. The newspaper mentioned that a recent White House directive that led to the distribution of an unclassified list of new hires — including first names and initials — could negatively affect morale and security.
In 2021, the agency was for a recruitment video featuring a “cisgender Millennial who has been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder.” Ellis stated that the current leadership is committed to building “the ultimate meritocracy at the CIA.”
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