CIA will pay $400K to family of contractor who was killed in Benghazi

  • CIA is expanding survivor benefits for agency employees and contractors
  • It will apply to those killed in the line of duty overseas in acts of terrorism 
  • The change is retroactive to the 1983 Beirut bombing that killed 63 people
  • Family of Glen Doherty applauded the move - they will receive $400,000
  • Doherty was killed in the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Libya
  • He had no children and was divorced so was not eligible for benefits 

The CIA is expanding survivor benefits for agency employees and contractors killed in the line of duty overseas in acts of terrorism.

The change is retroactive to 1983 and was applauded Wednesday by Barbara Doherty, the mother of Glen Doherty, a CIA operative killed in the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Libya. 

The CIA has agreed to pay a death benefit even though the family was not entitled under a standard federal insurance policy Glen Doherty held that pays a survivor benefit only to spouses and dependents.

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The CIA is expanding survivor benefits for agency employees and contractors killed in the line of duty overseas in acts of terrorism. One such victim was Glen Doherty (pictured)

The CIA is expanding survivor benefits for agency employees and contractors killed in the line of duty overseas in acts of terrorism. One such victim was Glen Doherty (pictured)

The change was applauded by Barbara Doherty (right), mother of Glen. While sister Kate Quigley (left) said she had been waiting for this day to come

Doherty was killed  in the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Libya (pictured)

Doherty was killed  in the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Libya (pictured)

The family will receive $400, 000 from the spy agency  under the newly-revealed program.

They have been pressuring the government to expand Doherty's benefits, which has gained support from members Congress.

Barbara Doherty issued a family statement calling the expanded benefit 'symbolic justice.' Her son was killed, along with three other Americans, in the attack on the facility in Benghazi. He was divorced and had no children.

The CIA said in a statement that the expanded benefit reflects a statutory change enacted last December and applies to survivors of all federal employees, including contractors, killed overseas in the line of duty and as a result of terrorism. 

It is retroactive to April 18, 1983, the date a suicide attacker crashed a truck into the front of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people, including 17 Americans, some of whom were CIA officers. 

Tyrone Woods, a fellow CIA contractor and former SEAL who was killed alongside Doherty in Benghazi, had a wife and child. 

CIA Director John Brennan (right) was urged by sister Quigley to 'try and figure out a way to make this work'

CIA Director John Brennan (right) was urged by sister Quigley to 'try and figure out a way to make this work'

U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens (right) and State Department computer specialist Sean Smith (left) were also killed in the Benghazi attack

U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens (right) and State Department computer specialist Sean Smith (left) were also killed in the Benghazi attack.

They would have been eligible for death benefits, but the new program will provide additional financial assistance, according to ABC.

U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and State Department computer specialist Sean Smith were also killed in the Benghazi attack. 

Kate Quigley, Doherty's sister, told ABC the family was 'thrilled' when they got the call from the CIA on Monday and that they had been waiting for this day for a long time.

She added that they were happy not just because of what ti means for their family but for all the other families who will be helped as a direct result.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said in a written statement: 'We will never forget the sacrifice Glen Doherty made defending our nation, and this benefit for the Doherty family honors that courage and service.

'It is only right that the Doherty family and all the families who've lost loved ones oversees are fully compensated and honored for their heroism... I thank the CIA for honoring Glen Doherty, who served our nation so bravely, with the benefits that his family deserves.'

The change is retroactive to April 18, 1983, the date a suicide attacker crashed a truck into the front of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut (pictured), killing 63 people, including 17 Americans, some of whom were CIA officers

The change is retroactive to April 18, 1983, the date a suicide attacker crashed a truck into the front of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut (pictured), killing 63 people, including 17 Americans, some of whom were CIA officers