Central Intelligence Agency Office of Inspector General

United States
Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency
Seal of the Central Intelligence Agency
Agency overview
Formed1952; 72 years ago (1952)
JurisdictionUnited States
HeadquartersGeorge Bush Center for Intelligence, Langley, Fairfax County, Virginia
Agency executive
  • Robin Ashton, Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency
Parent agencyCentral Intelligence Agency
WebsiteOfficial website

The Office of Inspector General (often abbreviated to OIG) of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the independent overseer of the organisation. Since 2021, the office has been held by Robin Ashton. The first inspector general was appointed in 1952.[1] The Central Intelligence Agency Office of Inspector General has worked on cases in collaboration with the United States Department of Justice and the National Security Agency Office of Inspector General.[2]

The 1970s

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The Rockefeller Commission, Church Committee, and Pike Committee all recommended strengthening the office of OIG. Their criticisms included claims that the IG had few staff, was ignored, and was denied access to information. Their suggestions were not made into law.[1]

1980s

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The CIA OIG investigation of the Iran Contra scandal was criticized in the final report of the Congressional investigation of the Iran-Contra affair.[3] Members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (especially Boren, Cohen, Specter, and Glenn) wrestled with how to improve the IG while not interfering with the work of the CIA. They tried to make a bill that would satisfy various members of Congress and also not be vetoed by president George Bush.[1] Senator Boren (chairman of the SSCI) worked with Robert Gates who was deputy to Brent Scowcroft at the time. In 1989 a new IG law was passed creating a more independent IG. The IG also would no longer be chosen by the Director of Central Intelligence but would instead be appointed by the President with the "advice and consent" of the Senate.[1]

Global War on Terror

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There were several controversies surrounding the IG during the years of the Global War on Terror.

The IG released a controversial report on failures of the intelligence community before 9/11.[4]

IG staff Mary O. McCarthy was fired in 2006.[4]

In 2007 General Michael Hayden, head of the CIA, had attorney Robert Deitz review the work of the IG.[4]

2004 Inspector General Report

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In 2004 the CIA OIG published a report on prisoner treatment in the Global War on Terror. It was entitled "CIA Inspector General Special Review: Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities".[5] After a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, a less redacted version was declassified in 2009 and released to the public.

List of Inspectors General

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Name Term start Term end Refs
Donald F. Chamberlain July 1973 July 1976
John H. Waller July 1976 January 1980 [6]
Charles A. Briggs January 1980 September 1982 [6]
James H. Taylor September 1982 July 1984 [6]
John H. Stein July 1984 December 23, 1985 [6]
Carroll L. Hauver December 23, 1985 January 18, 1988 [6]
William F. Donnelly January 18, 1988 December 1, 1989 [6][7]
William F. Donnelly (Acting) December 1, 1989 November 13, 1990 [6]
Frederick P. Hitz November 13, 1990 May 1, 1998 [1][4][6]
Dawn Ellison (Acting) May 1, 1998 August 3, 1998 [6]
L. Britt Snider August 3, 1998 January 20, 2001 [6][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]
Rebecca Donegan (Acting) January 21, 2001 November 14, 2001 [6]
Rebecca Donegan (Deputy Inspector General) November 14, 2001 January 14, 2002 [6]
George Clark (Acting Deputy Inspector General) January 14, 2002 April 26, 2002 [6]
John L. Helgerson April 26, 2002 March 21, 2009 [4][6][21]
Patricia Lewis (Acting) March 21, 2009 October 6, 2010 [22]
David Buckley October 6, 2010 January 31, 2015 [23]
Christopher Sharpley (Acting) February 1, 2015 September 9, 2017
Cristine Ruppert (Acting Deputy Inspector General) September 9, 2017 June 28, 2021 [24]
Robin Ashton June 28, 2021 Incumbent [25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Snider, L. Britt. "Creating a Statutory Inspector General at the CIA". CIA. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2009.
  2. ^ https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/six-charged-scheme-defraud-federal-government
  3. ^ House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran and the Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition (1987). Report on the Iran-Contra Affair. Washington DC: GPO. p. 425.
  4. ^ a b c d e Miller, 2007
  5. ^ "CIA Inspector General Special Review: Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities" at the ACLU web site
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Council of the Inspectors General, Inspector General Historical Data Archived August 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, 2007 May
  7. ^ Wines, 1990
  8. ^ "Press | Intelligence Committee". www.intelligence.senate.gov. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  9. ^ Verton, 2001
  10. ^ Hudec, James G. (January 1, 2001). "Unlucky SHAMROCK--The View from the Other Side". Homeland Security Digital Library. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  11. ^ Snider, L. Britt. "Recollections from the Church Committee's Investigation of NSA" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 19, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  12. ^ Snider, L. Britt (January 1999). "Unlucky SHAMROCK: Recollections from the Church Committee's Investigation of NSA". Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  13. ^ Church Committee
  14. ^ Verton, Dan (June 22, 2001). "CIA grappling with its role amid IT revolution". Computerworld. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  15. ^ "A Message from the CIA Inspector General". fas.org. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  16. ^ "The Agency and the Hill: CIA's Relationship with Congress, 1946-2004 by L. Britt Snider, Center for the Study of Intelligence, 2008" (PDF). Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  17. ^ L. Britt Snider - The Literature of Intelligence: A Bibliography of Materials, with Essays, Reviews, and Comments J. Ransom Clark Emeritus Muskingum University New Concord, Ohio
  18. ^ Anderson, Nate (June 30, 2013). "How a 30-year-old lawyer exposed NSA mass surveillance of Americans—in 1975". Ars Technica. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  19. ^ "Public Interest Declassification Board Meeting Minutes..." (Dec 15, 2006 - also included a panel discussion of historians from NRO, NSA, DIA, and the Office of the ... L. Britt Snider, Chairman of the PIDB, chaired the...)
  20. ^ Snider, L. Britt. "Creating a Statutory Inspector General at the CIA". CIA. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2009.
  21. ^ Panetta, Inspector General's Retirement
  22. ^ HEARING BEFORE THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE, ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION, congress.gov, September 21, 2010, retrieved January 4, 2010
  23. ^ CIA Inspector General David Buckley to Resign, time.com, January 6, 2015, retrieved January 4, 2017
  24. ^ "IG Net Page on CIA OIG". Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  25. ^ @CIA on Twitter. ""#CIA welcomes Robin Ashton, our new Senate-confirmed Inspector General"". Twitter. Retrieved July 1, 2021. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
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