SALT LAKE CITY — Documents filed in a lawsuit against Tim Ballard accuse him of grossly exaggerating his job with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to raise millions of dollars for his nonprofit, Operation Underground Railroad (OUR).
Ballard also worked for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). People in the Utah law enforcement community have been questioning his role with the CIA for years.
The civil suit accuses Ballard of being an “unpaid intern” with the CIA who was fired after failing a polygraph test.
OUR stated the allegation is false.
Either way, Ballard’s story of working for the CIA has not been portrayed consistently.
Each of the experts interviewed by FOX 13 News for this story clarified they are not accusing Ballard of lying about his experience, but the inconsistencies surrounding his story raise “questions” and “red flags.”
Ballard’s LinkedIn page states he was an “officer” with the CIA for “less than a year.”
His bio on Twitter in October read, “Former CIA and DHS: Undercover Operator.”
He has since recently removed all references to the CIA from his Twitter bio.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints referred to Ballard as a “former CIA operative” in an article that has since been removed.
“As a former CIA operative he helped found a child crimes unit along with other Christian agents,” the article read. “After a time, he left the CIA and began his own private organization, Operation Underground Railroad, to help as many children as he could with his own 'dream team of operatives,' a team he trusts to save children from evil all over the world."
In February, long before the civil lawsuit was filed against him, FOX 13 News asked Ballard what he did for the CIA.
“There’s too many NDAs (nondisclosure agreements), probably I shouldn’t,” Ballard laughed. “All the cool stuff I ever did was with HSI (Homeland Security Investigations). It wasn’t operational stuff. It was an analyst officer position. It wasn’t, like, hands-on.”
“So your job was as an analyst?” asked FOX 13 News investigative reporter Adam Herbets.
“Yeah,” Ballard responded. “I was an analyst.”
FOX 13 News has interviewed several retired CIA case officers who clarified that the agency does not use the terms “operative” or “undercover operator.”
“I hate that term,” said one employee, who asked to not be identified. “The real term is CIA case officer.”
“Also, within the agency, we refer to them as ‘secrecy agreements,’ not ‘NDAs,’” said retired CIA case officer Peter Warmka. “The term operative is not really a term used within the organization.”
Frank Montoya Jr., a retired special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), said, although he did not work for the CIA, he has direct knowledge of its operations. He worked for the FBI for 26 years and was most recently the special agent in charge of the FBI’s field office in Seattle, Washington.
“There’s no such thing as an operative,” Montoya said. “You’re either a case officer, or an analyst, or a support staffer.”
Montoya and Warmka confirmed the CIA hires interns, but they were not sure if interns are “unpaid.”
They each said they’ve never heard anybody refer to themselves as an “analyst officer.”
“Analysts are important. They’re hugely important, but what exactly did (Ballard) do?” Montoya said. “It’s always easy to say, ‘I’ve got to hide behind the NDA.’ I mean, he acknowledges that the ‘cool stuff’ is when he was at HSI. So is the CIA experience even relevant, other than to entice people into giving him money?”
“To me, it would be kind of confusing. Even more so for the general public,” Warmka said. “What does this all mean? Get to the truth!”
Another retired CIA case officer, who asked to not be identified, told FOX 13 News that Ballard “downplayed his service” when he asked what Ballard did for the agency.
“He downplayed it a lot, stating he just spent a year working in the (CIA) Watch Office,” the case officer said. “He may have been an intern claiming to me that he was just in the watch office so I don’t ask additional questions... If he was an intern, he was not undercover. There are no undercover interns. I have not heard anything to suggest that he was an officer. That is the worst kind of exaggeration, and maybe I take it personally because I did serve in that capacity. It’s one of the most sought-after, selective, competitive roles.”
Employees who work in the CIA Watch Office are typically tasked with answering phones, particularly during off hours.
“Yeah, basically someone who answers phones,” Montoya said.
“So that would not be the same thing as a former CIA operative?”
“Hardly!” Montoya laughed. “You’re just basically making coffee and answering telephones.”
FOX 13 News reached out to the CIA for an official comment, but the agency did not respond.
“If someone had worked for the CIA but maybe stretched it a little bit? No one’s going to say anything. It’s just kind of like, let it go, because there are people who do that,” Warmka said. “If it’s something that doesn’t impact (the agency) one way or the other, they don’t seem to pursue it.”