Langley, Va.
The Central Intelligence Agency this week released more than 700 pages of documents detailing assassination plots, domestic spying operations, and other illegal activities. CIA Director Michael Hayden said the agency decided to publish the files, known in-house as “the family jewels,” as part of its “social contract” with the American people. The files were compiled in the 1970s during an internal review spurred by the Watergate scandal. Among the papers are details of efforts to buy the silence of the Watergate burglars, spy on American reporters, and recruit a Mafioso to murder Fidel Castro. Hayden said new safeguards deter similar abuses by today’s CIA. “What we do now to protect Americans,” he said, “we do within a powerful framework of law and review.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.