The arrest of a former senior CIA official who was allegedly found with $40 million worth of gold bars in his home has prompted scrutiny of the agency.
David Rush, described in court documents as a “senior executive service-level employee” for a government agency, is due to attend his first hearing on June 5 in connection with the astonishing case against him.
He was arrested on May 19 after the CIA said it caught wind of discrepancies in the academic credentials he used to land the job, along with inflated military leave pay. When FBI agents searched his Virginia home, they found “approximately 303 gold bars” with an estimated value of over $40 million, along with luxury watches and $2 million in cash.
That discovery came after Rush had requested and received “a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses,” all of which the agency said it had subsequently been “unable to locate” until it turned up in his home.
The court papers do not specify Rush’s potential work projects or the tasks that required the valuable haul.
But the red flags that have been uncovered in his background have prompted uncomfortable questions about how he got hired in the first place. Throughout his career, Rush applied for government work several times, though the details of his educational background varied with each new application. Two of the academic institutions that he reported earning degrees from have since stated they have no record of him in their databases.
Rush is also accused of falsifying his credentials when applying for promotions, and of being certified as a pilot when he apparently has no pilot’s license.
“These are things that are normally picked out pretty easily in the security process. It’s all verifiable. They got adjudicators and background people,” Dan Meyer, an attorney specializing in security clearance issues, told The New York Post. “Why did they miss it with this guy?”
“And if this guy got through, who else got through?” he said.
A joint statement from the CIA and FBI released on May 27 said CIA Director John Ratcliffe had referred Rush’s “potential violations” to the FBI for investigation, leading to the raid that uncovered the stash of gold.
“The FBI is working closely with our partners at the CIA and the Department of Justice as we continue to investigate this matter fully. We are committed to following the facts, ensuring accountability, and pursuing justice in accordance with the law,” a CIA spokesperson said.
Rush is currently in detention after being denied bail.
