CIA "Family Jewels" Report
Erowid Excerpts
v1.0 - Sep 11, 2007
The CIA's infamous "Family Jewels" report was declassified and published to the CIA web site on June 26, 2007. Shortly thereafter Erowid excerpted and compiled all materials from the original 703 page document pertaining to psychoactive substances, using the collated PDF version made available by the National Security Archive at George Washington University as a source.1
The "Family Jewels" report was the result of a general order by CIA Director James Schlesinger given May 7, 1973 to all CIA employees instructing them to report any activity "which might be construed by reasonable people to be outside the legislative charter of [the CIA]" (see pp. 3-4). Schlesinger apparently issued the order to prepare for his role in the ongoing Watergate investigations, and indeed much of the resulting 703 page report pertains to persons and operations related to Watergate crimes. This collection of documents and memos became known as the "Family Jewels".
The "Family Jewels" report gained notoriety after part of it was leaked to investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, who wrote an article for the New York Times in December 1974. His article describes a National Security Agency (NSA) operation in which more than 250,000 pieces of domestic first-class mail were intercepted and photographed by that agency – a serious violation of their charter and of Federal law.
The New York Times article precipitated an outcry that led directly to three investigations led by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy, and Senator Frank Church. The Church Committee convened for nearly three years and eventually produced an enormous report that copiously documented numerous illegal operations. Among the most notorious were CIA Project MKULTRA in which US citizens were given LSD by CIA agents without their knowledge or consent (see MKULTRA Vault), and the FBI operation COINTELPRO in which putatively-subversive people and groups ranging from the Black Panther Party to the Parent Teacher Association were scrutinized and, in some cases, made the target of harassment.
In 2007, amid much fanfare and press coverage, the original "Family Jewels" document was released. While a complete analysis of the 703-page report has not yet been completed, the report appears to contain few, if any, revelations. Most of the material documented in the report has been a matter of public record since the time of the Church Committee hearings. In addition, the "Family Jewels" report has been heavily redacted, and a full 15% of the pages in the report have been completely blanked out.
Nonetheless, some of the documents have some historical interest. Documents that pertain to areas of Erowid interest, especially projects involving drugs or "narcotics", have been collected in this volume.
Download Excerpted Collection (PDF)
The "Family Jewels" report was the result of a general order by CIA Director James Schlesinger given May 7, 1973 to all CIA employees instructing them to report any activity "which might be construed by reasonable people to be outside the legislative charter of [the CIA]" (see pp. 3-4). Schlesinger apparently issued the order to prepare for his role in the ongoing Watergate investigations, and indeed much of the resulting 703 page report pertains to persons and operations related to Watergate crimes. This collection of documents and memos became known as the "Family Jewels".
The "Family Jewels" report gained notoriety after part of it was leaked to investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, who wrote an article for the New York Times in December 1974. His article describes a National Security Agency (NSA) operation in which more than 250,000 pieces of domestic first-class mail were intercepted and photographed by that agency – a serious violation of their charter and of Federal law.
The New York Times article precipitated an outcry that led directly to three investigations led by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy, and Senator Frank Church. The Church Committee convened for nearly three years and eventually produced an enormous report that copiously documented numerous illegal operations. Among the most notorious were CIA Project MKULTRA in which US citizens were given LSD by CIA agents without their knowledge or consent (see MKULTRA Vault), and the FBI operation COINTELPRO in which putatively-subversive people and groups ranging from the Black Panther Party to the Parent Teacher Association were scrutinized and, in some cases, made the target of harassment.
In 2007, amid much fanfare and press coverage, the original "Family Jewels" document was released. While a complete analysis of the 703-page report has not yet been completed, the report appears to contain few, if any, revelations. Most of the material documented in the report has been a matter of public record since the time of the Church Committee hearings. In addition, the "Family Jewels" report has been heavily redacted, and a full 15% of the pages in the report have been completely blanked out.
Nonetheless, some of the documents have some historical interest. Documents that pertain to areas of Erowid interest, especially projects involving drugs or "narcotics", have been collected in this volume.
Download Excerpted Collection (PDF)
Contents
| Description | Page # | Original Page # |
| Director James Schlesinger's original general order to report actions outside of the CIA charter | 3-4 | 439-40 |
| MKULTRA and Edgewood Arsenal | ||
| CIA/Army project in which behavioral drugs that had been rejected because of negative side effects are delivered to the US Army Edgewood Arsenal for animal experiments and testing on US Military volunteers | 5 | 417 |
| Senior CIA official Carl Duckett believes the Director would be ill-advised to say he is acquainted with MKULTRA | 6 | 213 |
| MKULTRA Director Sidney Gottlieb reports the support the Technical Services Division has given other Agencies | 7-8 | 215-16 |
| CIA and BNDD Corruption | ||
| Howard Osborn describes Project TWO-FOLD (also TWOFOLD) in which the CIA assisted the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) in forming an internal security unit to investigate corruption within the BNDD | 9-10 | 56-57 |
| BNDD head Robert Ingersoll asked CIA Director Richard Helms for assistance in recruiting agents for narcotics investigation as well as internal affairs issues | 11 | 62 |
| Excerpt from a memo by Harry Pisner describing Project TWOFOLD | 12 | 106 |
| CIA Directorate of Intelligence sets "Trap" on leaks of Narcotics Intelligence | 13 | 389 |
| CIA and Narcotics Crime Investigation | ||
| CIA assists law enforcement in monitoring putatively drug-related telephone communication between the United States and South America | 14-15 | 140-41 |
| Deputy Director for Intelligence and the Director of Domestic Contact Service describes the conditions under which the CIA will accept information on the narcotics trade | 16-20 | 180-82, 184-85 |
| Miscellaneous Drug-Related Operations | ||
| The Poppy Project | 21 | 200 |
| Memo on an undescribed CIA-funded "heroin study" | 22 | 393 |
| Telephone and Mail Surveillance | 23 | 332 |
| "CIA Narcotics Activities Having Domestic Implications" | 24-25 | 534-6 |
| Procedural Items of Interest | ||
| Director of CIA described as talking to Agency employees about misleading press | 26-8 | 454-6 |
| General Counsel Lawrence Houston recommends against illegal surveillance | 29-30 | 548-9 |
Links #
Notes #
- Full report available for download at: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB222/index.htm, accessed June 28, 2007.