CHURCH COMMITTEE OPENS HEARINGS TO INVESTIGATE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 27, 1975, a Senate committee chaired by Frank Church* (D-Idaho) opened hearings investigating the activities of Federal intelligence agencies including the Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, a.k.a. Church Committee, issued its final report on April 29, 1976.
As the work of the committee started, Senator Church said...
"I know the capacity that is there to make tyranny total in America and we must see...that (these agencies)...operate within the law and under proper supervision."
The Church committee held 126 full meetings hearing 800 witnesses and investigating 110,000 documents. According to the U.S. Senate website, the committee found that intelligence agencies had "undermined the constitutional rights of citizens."
In the aftermath of the investigations, the Congress would pass legislation to provide greater checks and balances of the intelligence community.
While the committee found no "direct evidence" that the CIA & FBI were involved in the assassination of JFK, it did criticize those agencies for withholding information from the Warren Commission and CIA plots to kill Fidel Castro.
JFK+50 NOTE
I have mentioned before on this blog that I spoke privately with Senator Howard Baker (R-TN) concerning what President Nixon meant when he said on the Watergate tapes, "If this thing about the Bay of Pigs comes out, it will blow the lid off everything." Senator Baker replied, "John, I don't know and I think its a good thing I don't."
What I did not know, and have just learned today, is that Senator Baker was a member of the Church Committee. Senator Baker gained national prominence as Vice-Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Watergate. He later would serve as President Reagan's Chief of Staff.
I was fortunate to get to know Senator Baker personally as a fellow of the Baker Institute held at the University of Tennessee School of Law.
*Frank Forrester Church III (1924-1984) was born in Boise, Idaho & served in military intelligence during WWII. FFC graduated from the Stanford University School of Law & served in the U.S. Senate 1957-1981. He gave the keynote address at the 1960 Democratic Convention which nominated JFK for POTUS.
SOURCES
"Church Committee Convenes," JFK+50, January 27, 2011, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/
"Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, 1975-1976," United States Senate, www.senate.gov/
