WASHINGTON, DC — Spy thrillers may not be entirely fictive, if the three sex scandals involving CIA operatives that came to light within the past year are any indication.In all three cases, representatives of the U.S. intelligence agency used or abused sex in ways that violated CIA rules and regulations.

In the most recent case, six weeks after Andrew Warren, 41, was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting two Algerian women and videotaping one of the encounters, CIA Director Leon Panetta informed the long-term officer he will be dismissed despite his distinguished service record. During an internal investigation, colleagues said Warren discovered the value of sex as an intelligence tool early in his career: As a novice he often took potential spy recruits to strip clubs and brothels, they revealed.

Now Congress wants answers about how CIA bosses police their subordinates and how diligent the agency is in rooting out corruption.

“The alleged activities are completely unacceptable,” a statement released by the Senate panel that oversees the CIA noted.

Although CIA officials have sworn the sex scandals only involve a handful of the agency’s worldwide workforce, former officers have indicated the super-secret network’s “ends justify the means” mentality leads to more rule-breaking than is discovered or reported.

“You have an organization of professional liars,” Tyler Drumheller, former chief of the CIA’s European division, told The Washington Post. Inevitably, “some people will try to take advantage of the system … and it’s a system that can be taken advantage of.”

Former CIA Assistant General Counsel A. John Radsan told the Post that internal guidelines and structures are ineffective, since they include few incentives for reporting bad behavior. The CIA’s effectiveness hinges on contradiction by design, he noted.

“You want a culture that values innovation and creativity and doesn’t mind violating the laws of other countries, but at the same time, you want a culture of compliance and honesty,” he said. “It is a built-in contradiction.”