MHCHAOS: the CIA's illegal domestic surveillance program, 1967 to 1974

7,200 personal files, 300,000 names indexed, one act of Congress broken, and one Seymour Hersh story that unraveled it

In production·Lead grade: FACT

Also relevant to: Sowing Division, Surveillance State(s) and the Criminalization of Dissent

IntelligenceGovernmentLawAnticommunismSurveillance

Summary

Chartered by DCI Richard Helms in August 1967 under LBJ's direction to find foreign backing for the anti-war movement. Expanded under Nixon. Terminated by DCI William Colby in March 1974. Exposed by Seymour Hersh on the New York Times front page of December 22, 1974. The database and full write-up are next.

Last updated

2026-07-13

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