CIA put senior officials on leave over officer arrested with gold bars

WASHINGTON — The CIA has put several senior officials on administrative leave over their handling of a high-ranking officer who allegedly had $40 million in gold bars stashed at his home, according to three people familiar with the decisions.

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David Rush, a senior CIA officer who worked on one of the most highly sensitive programs in the U.S. government, was arrested in Virginia on May 19 and is accused of lying about his work experience and education. Rush is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.

The agency placed the senior officials on leave over how they managed Rush’s requests for money or initial internal flags that his requests may not have been a legitimate part of his work, the people familiar with the decisions said. They did not know the number of CIA officials affected or when they were put on leave.

A spokesperson for the CIA declined to comment.

The fallout over Rush’s arrest has only grown following NBC News’ reporting last week revealing new details about the case, which has rattled lawmakers who are questioning how an agency that handles the nation’s most sensitive secrets allowed a man accused of lying about his bona fides into its upper ranks.

On Wednesday, officials from the CIA and other federal departments briefed lawmakers on Rush’s case, according to two people familiar with the briefing.

Rush has yet to plead to charges outlined in court documents that he filed fraudulent time sheets by falsely claiming he was a member of the Navy Reserve. Court papers also say that he had requested and received from the CIA a large amount of foreign currency and gold bars for “work-related expenses” — much of which the agency then couldn’t find when conducting a review.

When FBI agents searched Rush’s home last month, they found about 303 gold bars, $2 million in cash and more than 30 luxury watches, according to the court affidavit.

A CIA employee for about 17 years, Rush was most recently a liaison to the Defense Department for a sensitive nuclear submarine program, NBC News has reported . He was given that assignment at the request of the Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, with whom Rush had a close professional relationship over the years, according to four people familiar with their relationship. Feinberg founded the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell has said it is “completely false” that Rush and Feinberg had “a close relationship of any kind.” In a previous statement to NBC News, Parnell said that Feinberg “never supported Mr. Rush’s career at any point in his life, nor did he endorse Mr. Rush for any career position.” Feinberg has not been accused of wrongdoing.

A CIA spokesperson has said an internal investigation had “identified potential violations of the law” by Rush and the issue was then referred to the FBI.