Central_Intelligence_Agency_Office_of_Inspector_General

Central Intelligence Agency Office of Inspector General

Central Intelligence Agency Office of Inspector General

Accountability and audit authority of the CIA


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]

Quick Facts Agency overview, Formed ...

The 1970s

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

The CIA OIG investigation of the Iran Contra scandal was criticized in the final report of the Congressional investigation of the Iran-Contra affair.[2] 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

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.[3]

IG staff Mary O. McCarthy was fired in 2006.[3]

In 2007 General Michael Hayden, head of the CIA, had attorney Robert Deitz review the work of the IG.[3]

2004 Inspector General Report

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".[4] 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

More information Name, Term start ...

See also


References

  1. 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. 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.
  3. Miller, 2007
  4. Council of the Inspectors General, Inspector General Historical Data Archived August 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, 2007 May
  5. Wines, 1990
  6. "Press | Intelligence Committee". www.intelligence.senate.gov. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  7. Verton, 2001
  8. Hudec, James G. (January 1, 2001). "Unlucky SHAMROCK--The View from the Other Side". Homeland Security Digital Library. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  9. 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.
  10. Snider, L. Britt (January 1999). "Unlucky SHAMROCK: Recollections from the Church Committee's Investigation of NSA". Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  11. Verton, Dan (June 22, 2001). "CIA grappling with its role amid IT revolution". Computerworld. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  12. "A Message from the CIA Inspector General". fas.org. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  13. 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.
  14. Snider, L. Britt. "Creating a Statutory Inspector General at the CIA". CIA. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2009.
  15. Panetta, Inspector General's Retirement
  16. CIA Inspector General David Buckley to Resign, time.com, January 6, 2015, retrieved January 4, 2017
  17. "IG Net Page on CIA OIG". Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  18. @CIA on Twitter. ""#CIA welcomes Robin Ashton, our new Senate-confirmed Inspector General"". Twitter. Twitter. Retrieved July 1, 2021. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)

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