Monarch Assurance P.L.C. And Thomas Patrick Denton Taylor v. United States

In this contract action, plaintiffs allege that they lent a secret agent of the United States money to support a clandestine CIA operation, and have not been paid for their efforts. The United States denies responsibility, and invokes the state secrets privilege to avoid responding to plaintiffs’ demands for discovery. The United States Court of Federal Claims concluded that, even if the individual alleged to be a secret agent was in fact such an agent, there was an insufficient showing that the agent had authority to contract on behalf of the United States. The court granted summary judgment…