Church Committee

Church Committee   (Congressional hearing)
Formation	1975
Extinction	1976
Interests	Project MKULTRA, Mind Control research, CIA/Assassinations
Interest of	Pike Committee, Senate Subcommittee on Multinational Corporations
Membership	• Frank Church • Philip Hart • Walter Mondale • Walter Huddleston • Robert Morgan • Gary Hart • John Tower • Howard Baker • Barry Goldwater • Charles Mathias • Richard Schweiker • William G. Miller • Frederick A. O. Schwartz • Curtis Smothers • Audrey Hatey

The Church Committee was the informal name of the US Senate's Select Committee To Study Governmental Operations With Respect To Intelligence Activities. It was set up as a result of growing concern about the activities of the CIA, and "led to revelations about many of the dark secrets within the CIA." As a result, it contributed impetus to the offshoring of the US deep state.

Staffing

The Church Committee contained lawyer Charles Mathias, who was well known to the Bilderberg group, having gone there already in 1967, 1968, 1970, 1972 and 1974.

Conclusions

The Church Committee warned that covert operations had developed a dangerous "bureaucratic momentum." Numbering some 900 between 1960 and 1975, such operations were becoming "increasingly costly to America's interest and reputation," the committee concluded. But instead of proposing truly meaningful reforms-other than the creation of permanent oversight committees-the panel merely implored that covert operations be reserved for "grave threats to American security" and be "consistent with publicly defined U.S. foreign policy goals." New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis called its recommendations "a gamble that the American system of checks and balances can work even in the powerful secret world of intelligence."

The Church Committee recommended (like the Rockefeller Commission and the Pike Committee) strengthening the CIA Office of Inspector General. This was not followed.

 

Documents by Church Committee

Title	Document type	Publication date	Subject(s)	Description
Document:Covert Action in Chile, 1963-73	report	1976	CIA Operation Mockingbird Chile/1973 coup d'état	A Church committee report of the hearings before them to study governmental operations with respect to intelligence activities of the United States Senate. A very thorough, but lengthy, investigation into CIA activity in Chile. Includes numerous instances of media manipulation and propaganda in the millions of dollars.
File:Church Committee - Congo.pdf	report	1975	Patrice Lumumba/Assassination	An investigation into CIA involvement in the murder of Patrice Lumumba.

 

A Quote by Church Committee

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Foundation funding

 

Related Quotation

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Foundation funding

 

Known members

10 of the 15 of the members already have pages here:

Member	Description
Howard Baker
Frank Church	Leader of the Church Committee, which probably did more than any other organisation to expose the activities of the US intelligence agencies.
Barry Goldwater
Gary Hart	Democrat presidential candidate exposed in extramarital scandal after calling for reopening of JFK assassination investigation. "And I think that I signed my death warrant when I did that. I didn't realize at the time...but I think what happened to me in 1987 was a pure setup."
Philip Hart	US Senator who was strong supporter of civil rights, anti-trust legislation and consumer and environmental protection. Member of Church Committee. Died of cancer soon after.
Walter Huddleston	Member of the Church Committee, lost Senate seat in 1985 election.
Charles Mathias	Church Committee member, Bilderberg/Steering committee, 17 Bilderbergs
Frederick A. O. Schwartz
Richard Schweiker
Curtis Smothers

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