Melissa Boyle Mahle

Melissa Boyle Mahle is a writer and former Central Intelligence Agency officer.

She graduated from University of California, Berkeley and went on to acquire fluency in Arabic.

Mahle worked as a CIA "field officer" (spy) for the CIA from the mid-1980s until 2002 in the Middle East. She was involved in US intelligence operations in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. Her service spans the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, to the beginning of George W. Bush.

Since leaving the CIA, Mahle has worked as a commentator, movie consultant, author, and publisher.

In 2004, after leaving the CIA, Mahle published Denial and Deception, in which she criticized in detail the CIA as rudderless and adrift in a post-Cold War world up to 9/11. She also described the challenges of being a married woman field agent (in a covert career that overlapped with Valerie Plame).

She appeared as a guest on the The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2005). For the documentary Secrecy (2008), which opened at the Sundance Film Festival, she featured in and advised film makers Peter Galison and Robb Moss on practices within the Intelligence Community. For the film Salt (2010), she advised actors Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, and Chiwetel Ejiofor on their as well as director Phillip Noyce on script and visuals. For the film Hanna (2011), she advised actress Cate Blanchett on her role and director Joe Wright on script.

She often speaks at the International Spy Museum, particularly youth programs.

She co-founed Spy Girls Press with Kathryn Dennis.

• Denial and Deception: An Insider’s View of the CIA from Iran-Contra to 9/11 (The Nation Press, 2004)
• Lost in Petra - Anatolia Steppe Mystery, Book 1) (Spy Girls Press, 2012)
• Camp Secret - Junior Spies, Volume 1 (Spy Girls Press, 2013)
• Uncovered in Istanbul - Anatolia Steppe Mystery, Volume 2 (Spy Girls Press, 2014)

• Spy Museum Profile