Operation Mockingbird: The Controversial History of the CIA’s Efforts to Manipulate American Media Outlets by Charles River Editors

Author:Charles River Editors
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Charles River Editors
Published: 2024-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Mockingbird

In August 1975, Senator Church gave an interview on the popular NBC current affairs show Meet the Press and spoke about the findings of the committee. He issued a stark warning: “If this government ever became a tyranny, if a dictator ever took charge in this country, the technological capacity that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back.”[27]

That interview, along with continued press reporting and speculation about just what the CIA was up to, prompted a limited response from the government. In February 1976, President Gerald Ford issued Executive Order 11905, which specifically prohibited “any member of the U.S. government from engaging or conspiring to engage in any political assassination anywhere in the world.” Senator Church and others pointed out that this only addressed a small element of the revelations revealed by the Church Committee and also correctly noted this Executive Order could simply be replaced by a new Executive Order if a new president decided that assassination was acceptable.

As a direct result of the Church Committee’s work, it was decided that CIA Director Colby should step down and be replaced by a new head, but a debate on just who this should be became quickly heated. Republican President Ford, who had unexpectedly inherited the role after Nixon’s resignation, clearly wanted someone he could trust in the role. His nomination was George H.W. Bush, a former Republican senator who had also served as a UN ambassador in the Nixon administration and as an envoy to China under President Ford. However, Bush was a Republican, and until this point in time, directors of the CIA had not been political appointments. Many Democrats were opposed to Bush’s potential appointment to head the CIA. Senator Church claimed the partisan appointment was “ill advised,” but despite opposition, Bush was appointed to lead the CIA in December 1975, though he needed confirmation from Congress to make it official.

The outgoing CIA director, Colby, blamed “sensational and hysterical” press reporting on the Church report’s findings for the loss of public confidence in the CIA and even for the assassination of Richard Welch. The CIA’s station chief in Greece, Welch, was killed by a militant group in late December, and there is no clear evidence the murder was in any way connected to the reporting of the Church Committee findings. Congress, however, seemed to be persuaded, and in January 1976, George HW Bush was confirmed as the new head of the CIA.

A short time after his confirmation, Bush addressed claims of CIA involvement in press reporting by announcing, “Effective immediately, the CIA will not enter into any paid or contract relationship with any full-time or part-time news correspondent accredited by any U.S. news service, newspaper, periodical, radio or television network or station.”[28] That certainly seemed positive, though some commentators noted it could also be taken to imply that in the past, the CIA had, indeed, entered into commercial relationships with journalists, though this was never admitted by the CIA.

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