Proposed Washington, D.C. casino might be misused by foreign agents?

A planned new casino in the Washington, D.C., area might be used by foreign foes to breach United States national security, according to more than 100 veteran spies and intelligence agents.

The planned casino would be located in Tysons Corner, Northern Virginia, fewer than 20 miles west of the nation's capital. the region where the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the CIA are located. Nearby are the Pentagon and the headquarters of several defense contractors.

The National Security Leaders for Fairfax group warns that the casino may draw organized crime and that foreign adversaries may have opportunities to blackmail U.S. intelligence officers and other military personnel, in a letter to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and members of the Virginia State Assembly.

"With the Washington D.C. area having the greatest concentration of the most sensitive security clearances in the country, we urge you to immediately and categorically reject the proliferation of gambling establishments in Northern Virginia … as posing an unacceptable health and national security hazard, whose socioeconomic costs significantly outweigh any short-term increase in revenue," the letter continues.

Co-chair of the National Security Leaders for Fairfax and a former CIA employee of 25 years, Anne Gruner, is concerned that easy access to a neighboring casino may cause federal employees and contractors to acquire a gambling problem that may be exploited by foreign foes.

"These employees would become the focus of any intelligence collection and could become susceptible to extortion," Gruner stated.

During her tenure, Gruner claimed she had witnessed "security issues, problems with drinking" and other behaviors that members of the intelligence community "shouldn't do."

Others counter that measures are already in place. According to Dan Meyer, a partner at the military and security clearance law firm Tully Rinckey, PLLC, "elite" federal employees must follow 13 rules in order to obtain and maintain a security clearance.

The rules cover things like a person's financial interests, criminal activity, alcohol use, and sexual behavior.

"There are a lot of clearances, but not everybody can get them and not everybody can keep them," Meyer stated. "So that elite has to curtail its behavior while the rest of society decides what it's going to do in the various types of commercial activities it promotes."

Additionally, he claims that measures are in place to identify gambling-related problems.

"If you win more than $10,000 in a casino, an e-mail is automatically sent to your security officer through the Financial Crimes Reporting Center," Meyer explained. "So if you have a great day at MGM Grand over there and you win $10,050, [on] Monday you're going to be talking to your security officer and they're going to ask you about your behavior and whether everything is all right."

Following a committee decision Tuesday, the casino's plans moved forward to the Virginia General Assembly's entire senate. The Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County would schedule a referendum to give voters the last word on the project if the bill passed the full Assembly and was approved by the governor. Locals are worried about the project's accountability and traffic congestion as a result of the proposal.

Source:

“A group of former U.S. spies opposes building a new casino near D.C.” , Obed Manuel and Lisa Thomson, npr.org, January 28, 2025.