The fate of a long-anticipated release of files tied to the CIA’s notorious MKUltra mind-control program is now uncertain following a leadership shake-up at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
MKUltra, which began in the 1950s, involved experiments using psychedelic drugs, hypnosis and electroshock therapy as the agency explored methods of psychological manipulation and mind control.
Many of the program’s records were destroyed in 1972, when then-CIA Director Richard Helms ordered the files burned after learning President Richard Nixon planned to replace him.
Director Gabbard had made the search for any surviving documents a priority, seeking to bring greater transparency to one of the most controversial chapters in the history of U.S. intelligence.
Renewed public interest, fueled in part by podcasters such as Joe Rogan and fresh investigations into the program, has pushed MKUltra back into the national conversation.
But any remaining secrets from the CIA operation may now stay out of public view.
Gabbard had been expected to release the files before her departure last Friday, according to sources familiar with those expectations who spoke to the Daily Mail.
She delayed her resignation by one month after announcing in May that she would step down to care for her husband, Abraham, who has been diagnosed with bone cancer.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard focused her position on declassifying secrets
Sidney Gottlieb of the Central Intelligence Agency was responsible for the agency’s Cold War mind-control and behavior-modification programs
Dr. Harry L. Williams (left) administers LSD 25 (lysergic acid diethylamide) to Dr. Carl Pfeiffer, chairman of Emory University’s Pharmacological Department, to produce effects similar to those experienced by schizophrenics
But Gabbard left the building last week without any updates on MKUltra.
Further disclosure on the elusive files are now in doubt, as the Daily Mail has learned that it is not a top priority for Trump’s new acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte.
The Office of National Intelligence did not return a request for comment.
Pulte is more focused on reducing the size of the office he is now charged with leading and has a top mandate from the President to reveal any intelligence operations surrounding the 2020 election, sources told the Daily Mail.
Whistleblower James Erdman III, a former CIA officer, claims the agency retrieved 40 boxes of files related to JFK assassination records and MKUltra that were about to be processed for declassification, a claim the CIA disputes.
Rep. Ana Paulina Luna announced a public hearing on Tuesday, promising to investigate ‘Mind Control and Accountability: Uncovering the Truth of the CIA’s MKULTRA Experiments.’
‘The intelligence community’s unwillingness to deliver the truth has fueled dangerous conspiracy theories and eroded public trust in the federal government,’ she said in a statement.
The hearing is expected to feature two witnesses: Stephen Kinzer, a former New York Times journalist and investigative journalist Tom O’Neill, the author of the book Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties.
Trump has appointed Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte to serve as an acting Director of National Intelligence
Bill Pulte’s priorities are to reduce the ODNI workforce and disclose intelligence surrounding the 2020 presidential election
President Donald Trump watches as CIA Director John Ratcliffe speaks with reporters i
The timing of the Congressional hearings is not coordinated around any upcoming document releases from the ODNI, a source confirmed.
Luna remains fully committed to more disclosure of CIA secrets, despite creating some friction with the agency.
Luna was closely aligned with Gabbard’s declassification efforts, a source familiar with her efforts told the Daily Mail. Luna similarly extended a warm welcome on social media to Pulte after the President appointed him.
But Pulte appears more focused on cutting the size of the ODNI.
After taking charge of the ODNI last week, Pulte fired six career and political intelligence officials on the spot and reassigned 45 career officials back to their home agencies.
Among those forced out of the building was Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Mission Integration Will Ruger, a Gabbard ally who raised red flags among Republican hawks due to his record of opposing any United States war with Iran.
Pulte’s efforts are backed by President Trump and also favored by Republican senators led by Senator Tom Cotton and prominent figures in the CIA, who feel the ODNI exists as an unnecessary overlap of national intelligence responsibilities.
