Central Intelligence Agency

The entrance to the newly renovated CIA museum at the agency headquarters in Langley, Va. The ceiling features a variety of spy codes. This one is in Morse Code. The CIA plans to put them all online to see if they can be broken. Courtesy of CIA hide caption

CIA Director William Burns testifies before the House Intelligence Committee in March. Burns has focused the agency more on U.S. rivalries with Russia and China. He's been involved in the public release of U.S. intelligence on Russia's military plans in Ukraine, and he's established the China Mission Center at CIA headquarters. Susan Walsh/AP hide caption

Former President Donald Trump spoke at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., on his first full day in office, Jan. 21, 2017. But he had difficult relations with the intelligence community throughout his presidency. Andrew Harnik/AP hide caption

Afghan soldiers stand guard after the American military left the Bagram Airfield, north of Kabul, on July 5. While the U.S. military is now largely gone from Afghanistan, the CIA is still monitoring the Taliban and developments in the country, though under much more difficult circumstances. Rahmat Gul/AP hide caption

A wall inside the CIA headquarters honors members of the CIA who died in the service of their country. Larry Downing/Sygma via Getty Images hide caption

After she was detained, CIA officer Marti Peterson was taken to the KGB headquarters, Lubyanka, in central Moscow. She was held for four hours and kicked out of the Soviet Union the next day. She went on to work another 26 years for the CIA. H. Keith Melton Collection at the International Spy Museum hide caption

The CIA had a booth at the recent Awesome Con gathering for movie and comic book superheroes in Washington. It's one quirky example of the way the spy agency is reaching out to a broader potential pool of recruits. Greg Myre/NPR hide caption

This painting of Virginia Hall hangs in one of the main hallways near the entrance of CIA headquarters. The painting shows her making radio contact with London from an old barn in France to request supplies and personnel. Power for her radio was provided by a bicycle rigged to power an electric generator. Courtesy of CIA hide caption

Tony Mendez, the former CIA officer who rescued six American diplomats from revolutionary Iran in 1980, died Saturday. He's shown here in 2012 in Washington, D.C., at the premiere of Argo, a film based on his operation in Iran. Cliff Owen/AP hide caption

CIA Director Gina Haspel, speaking at the University of Louisville in September, says she wants to send more undercover officers overseas. Many in the intelligence world says this has become more challenging in an era of universal surveillance. Timothy D. Easley/AP hide caption