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U.S. Constitution Title: Detailed Report of CIA's Wiretapping of Americans and Dirty Tricks To Be Unclassified -- Updated In its first 25 years, the Central Intelligence Agency violated its charter by plotting assassinations, funding behavioral and drug studies that included "unwitting participants," opening U.S. mail, creating dossiers on nearly 10,000 American dissidents, wiretapping journalists to root out their sources, and interrogating a Soviet defector against his will for two years, according to a summary of a decades-old CIA report on the agency's activities released Thursday by the National Security Archive, an open government group. Simultaneously, the head of the CIA, General Michael Hayden, made an unexpected announcement Thursday at the annual convention of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations that the agency would declassify the full 693-page report on CIA wrongdoings and release it Monday. That report was compiled in 1973 at the order of then-CIA director James Schlesinger, following revelations that the Watergate burglars had CIA help. The existence of report, referred to as the "Family Jewels" has long been known, but only a few bits have been revealed through open government requests. Thomas Blanton, the Archive's director, called the declassification the "first truly controversial declassification since 1998." "It's not that the dark activities were unknown," Blanton told THREAT LEVEL, referring to revelations in the Church Committee report. "What's new is having single primary source that sums them up and then seeing for yourself how President Ford was briefed on these horrors." The Archive found the report summary and the presidential briefing transcript in papers in the Ford library and had been planning to use them as evidence in a lawsuit to unseal the full report. The CIA's collection of dossiers on 9,900 American citizens was first revealed on the front page of the New York Times in 1974 by Seymour Hersh. The summary of the report (.pdf) shows that the CIA: * wiretapped two journalists in 1963 and listened in as they spoke with a dozen Senators and six Congressmen. * conducted physical surveillance of reporters Mike Getler and Jack Anderson * broke into contractors and former employees houses to look for documents * opened mail to and from Russia for 20 years in the Kennedy Airport Mail Depot and opened mail to and from China for 3 years in San Francisco * funded academic research for a decade into "behaivoral modification," including drug trials * plotted the assassination of foreign leaders, including Cuba's Fidel Casto, the Dominican Republic's dictator Rafeal Trujillo and the Congo's Patrice Lumumba. Both of the latter were assasinated, though the document claims the CIA had no hand in Lumumba's death and no active role in Trujillo's murder. Hayden described the release as "a glimpse of a very different time and a very different Agency" and promised to declassify more than 10,000 pages of Cold War era documents about the Soviet Union, China and the A-12 spy plane, according to the National Security Archive. CIA chief William Colby briefed (.pdf) President Gerald Ford on the agency's skeletons on February 3, 1975, and the President responded by saying he would order the intelligence community to obey the law. "We don't want to destroy but preserve the CIA," Ford said in response, according to a declassified transcript also published Thursday. "But we want to make sure that illegal operations and those outside the charter don't happen." Reddit It | Digg This | Add to del.icio.us Let's see...[i]Hayden described the release as "a glimpse of a very different time and a very different Agency"{/i} AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....yeah, now that the laughter is over, let's consider how different the CIA really is by perusing some other Threat Level and Danger Room articles. Oh that's right, it hasn't changed in the slightest. Posted by: Mogadishu Jones | Jun 21, 2007 5:29:56 PM Ford had an interesting and under-appreciated role in the Privacy Act of 1974 and in the ultimate creation of FISA, according to this op-ed piece at Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2007/01/04/privacy-protection-ford-oped-cx_res_0105privacy.html P.S. Dear Gen. Hayden - thanks for setting up the illegal wiretap program at NSA. Datamine much lately? Posted by: | Jun 21, 2007 7:48:35 PM Truly shocking. That US taxpayers spent billions on various un-Constitutional activities in the name of defending the National Security interest is a real eye-opener. But to reveal and announce this report now... as a means of deflecting criticism of the CIA's use of extraordinary rendition, torture, and domestic surveillance abuse... takes balls. CheneyBot balls, to be specific. Isn't he a separate branch of government now? Ahhhh, the insulation... Posted by: Jack Lint | Jun 21, 2007 8:25:26 PM "Hayden described the release as "a glimpse of a very different time and a very different Agency"." Ahahahahahhahaha..........sniff....chortle....ahahahaha!! Stop it buddy, you're killin' me! Posted by: solid | Jun 22, 2007 4:11:08 AM GET REAL, PEOPLE! DIRT IS A NECESSARY PART OF GOVERNMENT. YOU WANT TO PLAY WITH YOUR PS2 AND HAVE THE FREEDOM TO GO WHERE AND WHEN YOU WANT-- THEN DON'T CRY FOUL WHEN THE U.S. USES DIRTY TACTICS TO SAFEGUARD YOUR FREEDOMS! IT'S A CROOKED WORLD. Posted by: WCM | Jun 22, 2007 4:46:38 AM Sieg heil, WCM! You just keep goose-stepping along and you'll continue to do just fine. Posted by: Mogadishu Jones | Jun 22, 2007 5:00:39 AM I don't care if someone else is doing it, two wrongs don't make a right. They just make you look as bad as the guy doing it in the first place. The minute more people in this world realize that the better off we as a species might be. Posted by: Mooman | Jun 22, 2007 5:19:49 AM Anyone think it is any different now? I would say it is much worse now. Bye Bye Republic, Bye Bye Democracy, it was nice knowing you Posted by: PsyBorg | Jun 22, 2007 6:15:42 AM The end never justifies the means. Posted by: Rob | Jun 22, 2007 6:26:34 AM An interesting and compelling subject to say the least, but the point some of you seem to be missing is that we do not live in the shiny/happy, black and white world where two wrongs etc. actually make a difference. Shades of grey are the only thing that differentiate the good guys from the bad. Think about that before attaching "third riech" sentiments to someone who appears to see the bigger picture. Posted by: fhaji | Jun 22, 2007 6:32:35 AM Hear! Hear! WCM and fhaji! I agree one hundred percent. Only if we knew what other countries intelligence agencies did. We are all gray! Posted by: Scott | Jun 22, 2007 7:11:21 AM "There is no right or wrong, only popular opinion!" Posted by: JSF | Jun 22, 2007 7:32:59 AM Good point, Scott! We should exempt our politicians and government officials from following the laws they set. That way we CIA agents can own slaves, kill innocents, and own child pornography, and not have to worry about silly things like laws. If law enforcement officials don't have to follow the law, then we can legally shoot you in the head for no reason. Great idea, thanks for the insight! (P.S. Don't mind the red dot on your forehead.) Posted by: President Hitler | Jun 22, 2007 7:36:49 AM It's possible to both see in shades of gray and have a moral compass. Seeing the "bigger picture" shouldn't leave one complacent with evil, nor should one assume that everything the CIA does is badly intentioned or unethically executed. When there is evidence of CIA misconduct it makes no sense to turn a blind eye. Who knows what 'family jewels' report will be declassified 50 years from now (if any important documents are ever again to be declassified). Secrecy for reasons of efficacy can be justifiable, secrecy because the American public wouldn't countenance the actions the agency has taken in their name (or to avoid any debate or oversight) is another thing entirely. Extraordinary rendition falls under that second category, and though I'd like to think it's plainly "unamerican", that term does seem to describe a smaller set of shameful activities each day. Posted by: ZachF | Jun 22, 2007 7:47:05 AM Seems like good material for another Robert Ludlum spy thriller. The long laundry list of good and bad deeds pile up like cord wood, but the reality of the situation in the world shows it's ugly face on a daily basis. It's good to know there are dedicated professionals out there defending our way of life. Excellent decisions or foul play, it depends whose rose colored glasses they are being viewed though at the time. Posted by: Chas R | Jun 22, 2007 8:20:49 AM When the CIA is over zealous it is reigned in and vilified. When its ability to function is severely curtailed we are unprepared. I still see the people jumping from the towers because we had our heads in the sand. It is sad when we only focus on what it does wrong and not what it has done right. Those that are so critical of the CIA are not the holders of truth and virtue they are just as flawed but on the other side of the spectrum. Posted by: Josh | Jun 22, 2007 8:26:16 AM "We should exempt our politicians and government officials from following the laws they set."---show me a congressman who pays speeding tickets or parking violations. "That way we CIA agents can own slaves, kill innocents, and own child pornography, and not have to worry about silly things like laws."---Most CIA agents come from other areas of public service, they do actually have morals, that line just came from left field somewhere. "If law enforcement officials don't have to follow the law, then we can legally shoot you in the head for no reason."---you used the word "we" in this sentence, if you are in employed in law enforcement you obviously have a low opinion of yourself and your colleagues. "(P.S. Don't mind the red dot on your forehead.)"---that was just uncalled for. It is posts like this which make me fear for the future of this country, people who are so narrow-minded as to be unable to see the truth of argument that sometimes rules must be broken, but for the right reasons. Ever heard of a law enforcement official actually using illegal substances while undercover? It would be called "maintaining cover" in that particular instance, and is considered legal given the circumstances being dealt with. Posted by: fhaji | Jun 22, 2007 8:37:54 AM The very simple truth, of course, is that laws and rules are for the people who don't have enough of a moral compass to follow anyway. Most people don't need to be told not to beat up their neighbors, but some do. Giving an agency carte blanc to break the law, or putting them 'outside the rules' just means that the people inside that agency who also have questionable moral standards are going to run amok - which they have. It does not excuse their actions, and trying to say that 'it was justified to protect our way of life' is just a copout. Posted by: Technomancer | Jun 22, 2007 8:50:49 AM "GET REAL, PEOPLE! DIRT IS A NECESSARY PART OF GOVERNMENT. YOU WANT TO PLAY WITH YOUR PS2 AND HAVE THE FREEDOM TO GO WHERE AND WHEN YOU WANT-- THEN DON'T CRY FOUL WHEN THE U.S. USES DIRTY TACTICS TO SAFEGUARD YOUR FREEDOMS! IT'S A CROOKED WORLD." If you want evidence that the people are defeated, this is it. Posted by: Justinlee37 | Jun 22, 2007 9:41:52 AM Post a comment You are currently signed in as (nobody). Sign Out Name: Email Address: (Not Required, Not Published) Comments: See more Threat Level Click here to find out more! Ryan Singel | e-mail Luke O'Brien | e-mail Kevin Poulsen | e-mail | IM Sarah Lai Stirland | e-mail Kim Zetter | e-mail June 2007 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 * Detailed Report of CIA's Wiretapping of Americans and Dirty Tricks To Be Unclassified -- Updated * Senate Committee Subpoenas Warrantless Spying Documents: White House Showdown Looms -- UPDATED * Hacker Posts Possible Harry Potter Spoiler, Illustrating Corporate Vulnerabilities * Vice President Cheney Defied Security Rules; Turned Away Inspectors * Hacker Adrian Lamo Wins, Won't Have to Give the FBI his Blood * DHS Security Chief Dismisses Congress's Hacking Questions * Lofgren Asks if US VISIT Hacked; Wired Has Proof Answer is Yes * Online Publication of Bizarre OJ Simpson Book Puts AOL/TimeWarner in Hot Water * Hackers in Homeland Security's Own Systems: Congress Investigates * Secret Spying on Americans: The Top Unanswered Questions
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