A letter signed by more than 100 current and former intelligence or national security officials urged a northern Virginia county against allowing a the construction of a casino, was published Thursday, with the officials arguing the casino would pose threats to recruitment and national security.
Sent to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, the letter was sent by a group called the National Security Leaders for Fairfax, and contains more than 100 signatures from, “a diverse group of retirees who worked for national security agencies, their contractors, or the U.S. military in and around Fairfax County.”
They warned the county, “a gambling establishment within walking or easy driving distance from tens of thousands of federal employees, civilian defense and intelligence contractors, and U.S. military personnel with such security clearances presents an unacceptable and needless risk to national security.”
The retired intelligence and national security workers argued that casinos are often linked to “adversarial intelligence services looking to recruit” people with security clearances, “whom they hope to blackmail.”
Beyond spies seeking to accrue blackmail on members of the intelligence community, the letter also claims casinos could pose an increased risk of military personnel and intelligence workers having their electronic devices hacked.
“Casinos already have become major targets of hackers seeking the personal information of gamblers, the first step to blackmail,” they wrote in the letter.
The letter also notes the U.S. Secret Service precludes candidates who engage in gambling, and suggested establishing a casino in Fairfax County would result in less available recruits.
“The recent testimony of Acting Director of the Secret Service Ronald Rowe after the attempted assassination of former President Trump highlighted the significant shortfall of personnel within the Secret Service,” they retired officials wrote in their letter. “Given the documented attraction of gambling to younger men, in particular, we are confident you can appreciate the growing difficulty that government agencies and private companies have today recruiting, monitoring, and retaining qualified personnel with security clearances.”
Virginia Democrats have long sought to build a casino in Fairfax County, including by Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax), who offered to tie the construction of the casino in a last-minute deal with Governor Glenn Youngkin that could have seen Democrats approve a new arena to attract the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards to the commonwealth.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
