How We Got SSCI with a Little Help from CIA

"OPINION - You've probably seen that iconic photo of Senator Frank Church (D-ID) holding up a CIA poison dart gun, right? Or perhaps the one of Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) aiming it at the sky? They came from the Church Committee's live hearings on intelligence activities some fifty years ago, in September 1975. We know that the Senate's Church Committee investigated a wide range of intelligence issues and organizations, including CIA covert operations. And those hearings ushered in a new, more public phase of intelligence politics."

"What you may not know is that a few short months later Senate Members and staff quietly reached out to the CIA and the White House for comments on a draft bill to create a new intelligence oversight committee. In mid-December 1975, Senator Charles Percy's office asked CIA Director Colby to set up a series of "off the record" meetings to discuss congressional intelligence oversight "philosophically as well as practically" because the Senate planned to take up the issue."

"Similarly, Senators Strom Thurmon (R-SC) and John Stennis (D-MI) sought CIA input for talking points ahead of early January meetings on intelligence oversight. With significant changes and over deep Senate divisions, the draft bill worked its way from the Church Committee to the Senate Government Oversight Committee and through the Rules Committee to eventually become Senate Resolution 400 (S. Res. 400), establishing the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI)."

Senators who led the 1975 Church Committee hearings later sought CIA and White House comments while drafting a bill to establish formal intelligence oversight. In December 1975, Senator Charles Percy's office requested off-the-record meetings with CIA Director Colby to discuss congressional oversight "philosophically as well as practically." Other senators sought CIA talking points for early January meetings. The draft bill moved through multiple Senate committees amid deep divisions and changes and ultimately became Senate Resolution 400, which established the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI). The outreach set a precedent of CIA technical assistance in shaping oversight.

Read at The Cipher Brief