American intelligence gathering is being hampered by sexual harrassment among the country’s military diplomats, a whistleblower has alleged.

Ryan Sweazey, a recently retired air force lieutenant colonel, warned that national security is being put at risk by the infighting within the Defense Intelligence Agency, an arm of the Pentagon with a presence in around 140 countries.

He has submitted a dossier of approximately 30 witness statements to Congress alleging sexual harassment and diplomats spying on each other, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“The toxic culture within DIA is a threat to national security,” he warned.

He added the agency’s actions are “alienating and disenfranchising our intelligence personnel while disrupting and degrading operations.”

Diplomats within the agency operate openly, briefing the Pentagon on military exercises and arms sales within their patch.

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Positions within the agency are sought after, but the witness statements suggest many staff are disillusioned by their working conditions.

“As a defence attaché at a US Embassy in a foreign country, I should not have to spend a large portion of my time looking over my shoulder for someone nefarious from DIA,” a Navy officer wrote in one of the witness statements submitted to Congress.

“There are plenty of other foreign threats for me to worry about.”

Other incidents included the production of a video in which students training to join the agency were clandestinely photographed while...

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