James Marcinkowski (born January 10, 1955) is a former

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

(CIA) case officer and former administrative staff attorney in the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office (

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

), and was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2006 election for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

in Michigan's 8th Congressional District. He is one of the former CIA officers who has spoken about the consequences of the

Plame affair The Plame affair (also known as the CIA leak scandal and Plamegate) was a political scandal that revolved around journalist Robert Novak's public identification of Valerie Plame as a covert Central Intelligence Agency officer in 2003. In 2002, ...

Early life

Marcinkowski was born in

Hamtramck, Michigan Hamtramck ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 28,433. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small portion that borders the fellow enclave city of Hi ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

descent. After finishing high school in 1973, Marcinkowski, then 18, clerked in the Computer Systems Division of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

. In 1975, he enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, where, as a
Operations Specialist
he became an expert in anti-submarine warfare, was an

, and collected shipboard intelligence on the Soviet Navy during the Cold War. He served aboard the

and was a member of the commissioning crew of th

Following assignments to the 3rd and 7th (Pacific) and the 2nd (Atlantic) Fleets, Marcinkowski returned to Michigan where he earned his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in Political Science from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

in 1982. At Michigan State, Marcinkowski ran

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

's campus campaign in 1980 and served as the Michigan College Republican chairman in 1980–82. In 1985 he earned a law degree from the University of Detroit School of Law.

Career

After graduating from law school, Marcinkowski joined the CIA. He completed the Career Trainee Program and the Operations Course to become a case officer in the Agency'
Directorate of Operations
He served as an Operations Officer in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. After leaving the CIA in 1989, Marcinkowski joined th
Prosecutor's Office
in

Oakland County, Michigan Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, b ...

where, as an executive staff attorney, he established the first special prosecution unit for

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

. In 1993, Marcinkowski abruptly left the office, refusing to cooperate with the criminal probe of another assistant prosecutor who was arrested in a

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

raid. He publicly accused his former boss, Prosecutor Richard Thompson, of corruption and demanded an investigation by Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelly. After a review of the allegations, Kelly, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, declined the request citing a lack of "specific information" that Thompson, a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, broke any laws. That same year, Marcinkowski filed a lawsuit against Thompson claiming

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

and violation of his

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

rights. The case resulted in a judgment for Defamation against Richard Thompson and other Oakland County officials. Later, as a Deputy City Attorney for the City of Royal Oak, Marcinkowski obtained the first criminal conviction of

Jack Kevorkian Murad Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian (May 26, 1928 – June 3, 2011) was an American pathologist and euthanasia proponent. He publicly championed a terminal patient's right to die by physician-assisted suicide, embodied in his quote, "Dying is n ...

. He is a member o
Teamsters Local 214
A former resident of

Oxford, Michigan Oxford is a village in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,436 at the 2010 census. The village is located within Oxford Township. Located about north of Detroit, it is a northern suburb of the Metro Detroit r ...

, he unsuccessfully ran as a Republican candidate for state representative in 1992 and township trustee in August 2000. A former member of the

Young Republicans The Young Republican National Federation, commonly referred to as the Young Republicans or YRNF, is a 527 organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization ...

, he made a $250 campaign contribution to

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

in 1999. He made a total of $350 in contributions to Republican Michael Cox's successful 2002 run for Michigan Attorney General. Marcinkowski, a resident of

Lake Orion, Michigan Lake Orion ( ) is a village in the northern outskirts of Metro Detroit in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. The population was 2,973 at the 2010 census. "Lake Orion" can refer to either the village or the much larger Orion Township, of wh ...

, was the Democratic nominee for U.S. Representative from Michigan's 8th Congressional District in 2006 (se
map
. He was defeated by Republican incumbent Mike Rogers of

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. Marcinkowski currently is acting vice president of the Atwater Commons HOA (Homeowner's Association) in Lake Orion.

Plame affair

Marcinkowski trained with

Valerie Plame Valerie Elise Plame (born August 13, 1963) is an American writer, spy novelist, and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. As the subject of the 2003 Plame affair, also known as the CIA leak scandal, Plame's identity as a CIA officer ...

when he started at the CIA in September 1985. On July 22, 2005, Marcinkowski joined two other former CIA agents,

Vincent Cannistraro Vincent Cannistraro was Director of Intelligence Programs for the United States National Security Council (NSC) from 1984 to 1987; Special assistant for Intelligence in the Office of the Secretary of Defense until 1988; and Chief of Operations and ...

and Larry Johnson, in discussing the consequences of the Plame affair.

Congressional campaign

On June 28, 2006, an article in ''

Congressional Quarterly Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...

s CQPolitics.com announced that Marcinkowski's early campaign efforts had spurred it to change its rating of the race to "Republican Favored" from "Safe Republican". The article noted that Marcinkowski presented two logistical challenges that Republican Mike Rogers had not faced in either of his previous re-election bids: location and resources. Marcinkowski hailed from the portion of Oakland County outside of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

at the eastern end of the 8th District. According to ''Congressional Quarterly'', that gave Rogers, from Livingston County in the middle of the 8th, his first direct competition for votes in the portion annexed to the district in the most recent remap. Campaign resources were also giving Marcinkowski an advantage over past candidates; he had enough money to launch a radio ad campaign in early June, putting him ahead of Rogers' past two underfinanced opponents. A May 4, 2006 article in ''

Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...

'' noted that Marcinkowski raised more than $138,000 from January 1-March 31, 2006 — about $11,000 more than Rogers took in during that same period. Marcinkowski received 79 percent of his money from individual contributions, which, according to his comments in the article, translated into support on the ground in the district. According to ''Roll Call'', Rogers received 63 percent of his first-quarter money from political action committees, while only 37 percent came from individual contributions. Marcinkowski told ''Roll Call'', "It is way harder to raise money from working people than from the

K Street Project The K Street Project is an effort by the Republican Party (GOP) to pressure Washington lobbying firms to hire Republicans in top positions, and to reward loyal GOP lobbyists with access to influential officials, an arrangement known as crony capi ...

. I think it shows that we're connecting to people in the district."

Founding member of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

Marcinkowski is a founding member of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. In September 2015, Marcinkowski and 27 other members of VIPS steering group wrote a letter to President Obama, challenging a recently published book, that claimed to rebut the report of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Senate Intelligence Committee The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (sometimes referred to as the Intelligence Committee or SSCI) is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of ...

on the

's use of torture.

References

External links

"MI 8: Marcinkowski Aims to Take Down Rogers' Rising Star"
''Congressional Quarterly'', June 28, 2006.
"It's FBI vs. CIA in Michigan House Race"
''Roll Call Magazine'', May 4, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcinkowski, James 1955 births People of the Central Intelligence Agency People associated with the Plame affair Michigan Democrats Michigan Republicans Michigan State University alumni University of Detroit Mercy alumni American people of Polish descent American anti–Iraq War activists United States Navy sailors Living people People from Hamtramck, Michigan People from Oxford, Michigan People from Lake Orion, Michigan