Church Committee

Frank Forrester Church, III (July 25, 1924 – April 7, 1984) was a four-term United States Senator from Idaho, serving from 1957 to 1981.

Church headed the "Church Committee" the senatorial committee that would become the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is the Deep State's arm in the Senate. There he uncovered the Lockheed Bribery scandal.

While on the committee, Church learned of the surprising power of the NSA to monitor people and intrude into their lives through surveillance. Speaking of the electronic monitoring power of the NSA, Church said in 1975:

"That capability at any time could be turned around on the American people, and no American would have any privacy left, such is the capability to monitor everything: telephone conversations, telegrams, it doesn't matter. There would be no place to hide. If a dictator ever took over, the N.S.A. could enable it to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back."

Because of his criticism of the Vietnam War (and perhaps the NSA), the NSA monitored him in "Project Minaret," along with Martin Luther King Jr. and Howard Baker. The NSA would later say that "Project Minaret" was "disreputable if not outright illegal."

The Church Committee uncovered several foreign coups, assassinations, and attempted assassinations of foreign leaders, often by rogue elements within the CIA without presidential authorization, congressional oversight, or advise and consent of the Congress. This marked the beginning of a permanent Senate Intelligence oversight committee. CIA director William Colby revealed to Congress the plans to kill Fidel Castro and the 1953 Iranian coup. President Gerald Ford signed an executive order in 1975 banning the CIA from engaging in coups and assassinations on its own without Presidential authorization, known as a Presidential Finding. The CIA director now must report to the permanent committee every 30 days on its ongoing activities. The director must inform the committee of all covert operations, including if the CIA has killed anyone within the past 30 days, whether it be authorized by a Presidential Finding or for the purposes of maintaining operational security.

The committee also learned of Operation Mockingbird, the extent of infiltration and control of American media and the press to influence American public opinion and perceptions about CIA activities.

In 2023, the incoming GOP majority that took control of the House of Representatives pledged to establish a new Church Committee to investigate the politicized misuse of the FBI and DOJ.

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