There’s a common stereotype that CIA agents aren’t allowed to tell anyone who they work for, but it’s not as strict as you think.
A former spy has taken us behind the scenes and shared her experiences of dating while working for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Dating while working for the CIA
In a TikTok video, ex-CIA officer Brittany C Butler explained that she had two serious boyfriends while working at the headquarters in Washington, DC.
The first was a Mexican American who moved to the United States to study law at Harvard and they dated for around nine months.
“I did have to tell the CIA that I had a serious relationship with him,” she explained – but that’s only because he was a foreign national.
She had to give his name, date of birth and a bit of background on him and they made sure he “wasn’t a Mexican spy or anything”.
Apart from that, they continued dating like any other normal relationship, but she never told him that she worked for the CIA specifically.
“I just said that I did government work and that’s a really normal thing to say that you do in Washington DC,” the former spy said.
Not as strict as you’d think
Butler then went on to describe dating her current husband Matt while working for the intelligence agency.
One of his friends coincidentally worked in the same division as her and answered a call from Matt that was meant for her.
He instantly recognised the voice and soon worked out that they both worked at the CIA together, but it wasn’t an issue.
“It was not really that exciting or special because a lot of people work in intelligence in Washington DC,” she said.
The most surprising part is that he was able to go and visit her while she was working at the Langley headquarters.
She had to give his name and social security number to the police that guard the headquarters, then he was able to come into the communal areas.
He wasn’t allowed was in the vault or able to access any classified information but was allowed to walk around the museum, Starbucks, courtyard and cafeteria.
So, dating in the CIA isn’t as strict as you’d think!
Brittany C Butler worked as a targeting officer within the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, Counterterrorism Center for nine years, working at Langley and on temporary assignments in the Middle East.
