The "Family Jewels" Show: The More Things Change... [1]
Submitted by Diane Farsetta [2] on
On June 25, the Central Intelligence Agency [3] will declassify its "full 693-page file amassed on CIA's illegal activities by order of then-CIA director James Schlesinger [4] in 1973 -- the so-called 'family jewels.'" The non-governmental research institute National Security Archive [5] "separately obtained ... a six-page summary [6] of the illegal CIA activities, prepared by Justice Department [7] lawyers after a CIA briefing in December 1974, and the memorandum of conversation [8] when the CIA first briefed President Gerald Ford [9] on the scandal on January 3, 1975." On the list of CIA activities that "presented legal questions" are: wiretapping [10] two syndicated columnists; conducting physical surveillance of several journalists, including the Washington Post's Michael Getler and current Fox News [11] anchor Brit Hume; compiling files on "9,900-plus Americans related to the antiwar movement"; conducting behavior modification experiments on "unwitting" U.S. citizens; and planning to assassinate Cuba's Fidel Castro [12] and other foreign leaders.