What the record says
The U.S. Senate created the Church Committee in January 1975. It investigated abuses involving the CIA, FBI, NSA, and IRS, including surveillance and efforts to disrupt civil rights and anti-war groups. Its final report appeared on April 29, 1976. The inquiry helped drive reforms, including permanent Senate intelligence oversight.
Our reading
Accountability depends on access to evidence and institutions able to examine it. Read the findings alongside the committee’s remit, the period it studied, and the limits of what it could establish.
EDITORIAL INTERPRETATIONWho can scrutinize an intelligence service—and what information do they need to do it?
What this does not establish
This is a historical inquiry. Its findings do not, by themselves, establish what any agency is doing today.
Go to the source
01U.S. Senate · History of the Church CommitteeInstitutional history
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