The Case FBI Against Nada Prouty CIA Covert Terrorism Officer

Nada Prouty's identity was once a closely held national secret. She was an FBI agent, then a CIA officer with top security clearances who penetrated terrorist organizations overseas. Her fellow CIA officers say she risked her life often, volunteering for dangerous missions. And because she's originally from Lebanon, she speaks native Arabic, a rare skill for an American intelligence officer.

Pursuing justice for the FBI led her to much more dangerous missions at the CIA. She worked in Iraq during the most violent period of the insurgency. Armed with an assault rifle, she went on raids with U.S. Special Forces troops.



She interrogated suspected terrorists, and she was part of the team that developed the intelligence on the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein. Her CIA boss at the time said "many officers in the CIA were unwilling to serve in this deteriorating, high-risk and thankless environment. Mrs. Prouty did not waver."

Prouty had to wait two years while the FBI ran a background investigation. She was cleared in 1999 and became a rising star. After two more background investigations she got one of the nation's highest security clearances. And in 2003 she joined the CIA. But while Prouty was hunting terrorists overseas, an investigation began back home that would destroy her career. The Bush administration was working to break up terrorist financing. And by 2004, federal prosecutors in Detroit were looking at the large Arab-American population around Dearborn, Mich.

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