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
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Quiz of The Week: 15 – 21 NovemberQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
Can the UK do more on climate change?Today's Big Question Labour has shown leadership in the face of fraying international consensus, but must show the public their green mission is ‘a net benefit, not a net cost’
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will US Catholics rebel against the Pope?Podcast Plus what are the ethics of freezing your late partner?
