Pike Committee
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One of the most important exposures of CIA activities |
Congressional hearing
| Pike Committee link () | |
|---|---|
| File:16 Feb 1976 Pike Comm report in Village Voice.jpg | |
| Interests | Church Committee,Rockefeller Commission |
| Membership | Otis G. Pike, Lucien Nedzi, Ron Dellums, A. Searle Field, Aaron Donner, Jack Boos, Robert Brauer, Robert Giaimo, James P. Johnson, Robert McClory, ... |
| One of the 3 important US intelligence committees during the late 1970s revealing deep state activities. | |
The Pike Committee is the common name for the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence during the period when it was chaired by Otis G. Pike.
History
The Select Committee had originally been established in February 1975 under the chairmanship of Lucien Nedzi. Following Nedzi's resignation in June, the committee was reconstituted with Pike as chair, in July 1975, with its mandate expiring January 31, 1976. Under Pike's chairmanship, the committee investigated illegal activities by the CIA, FBI and NSA.
Report
The final report of the Pike Committee was never officially published, due to opposition from US congress. However, unauthorized versions of the (draft) final report were leaked to the press. CBS News reporter Daniel Schorr was called to testify before congress, but refused to divulge his source. Major portions of the report were published by The Village Voice[1], and a full copy of the draft was published in England.
The Pike Committee established important protocols for the declassification of intelligence documents, which would continue to evolve. It also created a precedent for the oversight of the Executive Branch and its agencies, leading to the creation of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which now has the autonomy to declassify any of the information it receives. The Pike Committee constituted an extremely significant step in the tradition of government transparency.
Media
The Pike Committee found that 29 per cent of the CIA's covert operations was directed at "media and propaganda," meaning that in 1978 the agency had spent in this area as much as the combined budgets of the world biggest news agencies (AP, Reuters and UPI) put together.[2]
Recommendations
The commission recommended (like the Church Committee and the Rockefeller Commission) strengthening the CIA Office of Inspector General. This was not followed.[3]
Weblinks
The Pike Report Audio version of the Pike Committee
References
- ↑ https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2017/aug/23/vv-pike-report/
- ↑ Richard Keeble Hacks and Spooks - Close Encounters of a Strange Kind page 97
- ↑ https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v44i5a02p.htm#AuthorR Snider, L. Britt. "Creating a Statutory Inspector General at the CIA". CIA.