United States · founded 1947 · US civilian foreign-intelligence service. It also carries out covert action when directed by the President.
Operation Northwoods (Episode 1) was a Joint Chiefs of Staff paper, not a CIA plan. See the Joint Chiefs entry.
Episode: CLASSIFIED — COMING SOON
Section: United States
Case files (9): Iran-Contra: the Walsh final report · Abu Omar rendition from Milan · Crypto AG / 'Minerva' · Letelier–Moffitt car bombing · Guatemala 1954 (PBSUCCESS) · Iran 1953 coup (TPAJAX) · Church Committee: alleged assassination plots · MKUltra hearing and the 'seven boxes' · Senate study of CIA detention and interrogation
Leaks (2): Vault 7: CIA hacking tools · Vault 8: Hive source code
The National Security Archive posted CIA documents it says include what is believed to be the CIA's first formal acknowledgement that the agency helped plan and execute the 1953 coup; the Archive notes accounts of who did what differ.
National Security Archive (GWU): CIA Confirms Role in 1953 Iran Coup ↗
CIA released about 1,400 pages on its 1954 Guatemala coup operation, including an instructional guide on assassination found in the operation's training files.
National Security Archive (GWU): CIA and Assassinations: The Guatemala 1954 Documents ↗
A FOIA lawsuit by the National Security Archive obtained release of volumes of the CIA's internal history of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.
National Security Archive (GWU): Top Secret CIA 'Official History' of the Bay of Pigs ↗
CIA declassified a 693-page file compiled on a 1973 order of then-Director Schlesinger, which the National Security Archive describes as a record of the agency's illegal activities.
A Senate select committee published an interim report on alleged assassination plots involving foreign leaders, including planning around the Congo.
Senate Intelligence Committee (PDF): Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders ↗
The CIA Director told a Senate hearing that seven boxes of MKULTRA finance records had been found, though the project's other files were believed destroyed in 1973; the hearing record says at least one death resulted from unwitting LSD tests.
Senate Intelligence Committee (PDF): Project MKULTRA hearing, 1977 ↗
The Senate Intelligence Committee published its study of the program, with a foreword by Chairman Feinstein and additional and minority views.
Senate Intelligence Committee: Committee Study of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program ↗
A less-redacted CIA history of the U-2 and OXCART reconnaissance programs (written by agency historians and first kept in classified channels in 1992) was released under FOIA and posted by the National Security Archive, with a declassified map of the Groom Lake / Area 51 test site.
National Security Archive (GWU): The Secret History of the U-2 and Area 51 ↗
CIA released dozens of presidential intelligence briefings from 1998 to 2001 relating to al-Qaeda; NBC reports they show warnings but no definitive information on how or when an attack would happen.
NBC News: Declassified CIA documents show clear warnings to presidents before 9/11 ↗
National Archives PIDB blog: Long-Sought 9/11 Records Now Declassified ↗