STATEMENT OF ADMIRAL STANSFIELD TURNER DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BEFORE SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND SENATE HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH & SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WEDNESDAY - 3 AUGUST 1977

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000300020011-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 5, 2007
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: August 3, 1977
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
before
SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE
and
SENATE HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH & SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
Wednesday - 3 August 1977
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Mr. Chairman:
In my letter to you of 15 July 1977, I reported our recent discovery
of seven boxes of documents related to Project MKULTRA, a closely held
CIA project conducted from 1953-1964. As you may recall, MKULTRA was
an "umbrella project" under which certain sensitive subprojects were funded,
involving among other things research on drugs and behavioral modification.
During the Rockefeller Commission and Church Committee investigations in
1975, the cryptonym became publicly known when details of the drug-related
death of Dr. Frank Olson were publicized. In 1953 Dr. Olson, a civilian
employee of the Army at Fort Detrick, leaped to his death from a hotel room
window in New York City about a week after having unwittingly consumed
LSD administered to him as an experiment at a meeting of LSD researchers
called by CIA.
Most of what was known about the Agency's involvement with behavioral
drugs during the investigations in 1975 was contained in a report on Project
MKULTRA prepared by the Inspector General's office in 1963. As a result
of that report's recommendations, unwitting testing of drugs on U.S. citizens
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was subsequently discontinued. The MKULTRA-related report was made
available to the Church Committee investigators and to the staff of Senator
Kennedy's Subcommittee on Health. Until the recent discovery, it was believed
that all of the MKULTRA files dealing with behavioral modification had been
destroyed in 1973 on the orders of the then retiring Chief of the Office of
Technical Service, with the authorization of the then DCI, as has been
previously reported. Almost all of the people who had had any connection
with the aspects of the project which interested Senate investigators in 1975
were no longer with the Agency at that time. Thus, there was little detailed
knowledge of the MKULTRA subprojects available to CIA during the Church
Committee investigations. This lack of available details, moreover, was
probably not wholly attributable to the destruction of MKULTRA files in 1973;
the 1963 report on MKULTRA by the Inspector General notes on page 14:
"Present practice is to maintain no records of the planning and approval of
test programs."
When I reported to you last on this matter, my staff had not yet had an
opportunity to review the newly located material in depth. This has now been
accomplished, and I am in a position to give you a description of the contents
of the recovered material. I believe you will be most interested in the following
aspects of the recent discovery:
--How the material was discovered and why it was not previously
found;
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--The nature of this recently located material;
--How much new information there is in the material which may
not have been previously known and reported to Senate in-
vestigators; and,
--What we believe the most significant aspects of this find
to be.
To begin, as to how we discovered -these materials. The material had
been sent to our Retired Records Center outside of Washington and was discovered
there as a result of the extensive search efforts of an employee charged with
responsibility for maintaining our holdings on behavioral drugs and for
responding to Freedom of Information Act requests on this subject. During the
Church Committee investigation in 1975, searches for MKULTRA-related
material were made by examining both the active and retired records of all
branches of CIA considered at all likely to have had association with MKULTRA
documents. The retired records of the Budget and Fiscal Section of the Branch
responsible for such work were not searched, however. This was because
financial papers associated with sensitive projects such as MKULTRA were
normally maintained by the Branch itself under the project file, not by the
Budget and Fiscal Section. In the case at hand, however, the newly located
material was sent to the Retired Records Center in 1970 by the Budget and Fiscal
Section as part of its own retired holdings. The reason for this departure from
normal procedure is not known. As a result of it, however, the material escaped
retrieval and destruction in 1973 by the then-retiring Director of the Office as well
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as discovery in 1975 by CIA officials responding to Senate investigators. The
employee who located this material did so by leaving no stone unturned in his
efforts to respond to FOIA requests. He reviewed all listings of material. of this
Branch stored at the Retired Records Center, including those of the Budget
and Fiscal Section and, thus, discovered the MKULTRA-related documents
which had been missed in the previous searches. In sum, the Agency failed
to uncover these particular documents in 1973 in the process of attempting
to destroy them; it similarly failed to locate them in 1975 in response to the
Church Committee hearings. I am convinced that there was no attempt to conceal
this material during the earlier searches.
Next, as to the nature of the recently located material, it is important
to realize that the recovered folders are finance folders. The bulk of the
material in them consists of approvals for advance of funds, vouchers,
accountings, and the like--most of which are not very informative as to
the nature of the activities that were undertaken. Occasional project
proposals or memoranda commenting on some aspect of a subproject are
scattered throughout this material. In general, however, the recovered
material does not include status reports or other documents relating to
operational considerations or progress in the various subprojects, though
some elaboration of the activities contemplated does appear. The recovered
documents fall roughly into three categories:
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--First, there are 149 MKULTRA subprojects, many of which
appear to have some connection with research into
behavioral modification, drug acquisition and testing
or administering drugs surreptitiously .
--Second, there are two boxes of miscellaneous MKULTRA
papers, including audit reports and financial statements
from "cut-out" (i. e. , intermediary) funding mechanisms
used to conceal CIA's sponsorship of various research
projects.
--Finally, there are 33 additional subprojects concerning
certain intelligence activities previously funded under
MKULTRA which have nothing to do either with behavioral
modification, drugs, and toxins or with any other related matters.
We have attempted to group the activities covered by the 149 subprojects
into categories under descriptive headings. In broad outline, at least, this
presents the contents of these files. The activities are placed in the following
15 categories:
1. Research into the effects of behavioral drugs and/or
--17 subprojects probably not involving human testing;
--14 subprojects definitely involving tests on human
volunteers;
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--19 subprojects probably including tests on human
volunteers. While not known, some of these
subprojects may have included tests on unwitting
subjects as well;
--6 subprojects involving tests on unwitting subjects.
2. Research on hypnosis:
--8 subprojects, including 2 involving hypnosis
and drugs in combination;
3. Acquisition of chemicals or drugs:
--7 subprojects;
4. Aspects of magicians' art useful in covert operations: e.g.
,
surreptitious delivery of drug-related materials:
--4 subprojects;
5. Studies of human behavior, sleep research, and behavioral changes
during psychotherapy:
--9 subprojects;
6. Library searches and attendance at seminars and international
conferences on behavioral modification:
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--6 subprojects;
7. Motivational studies, studies of defectors, assessment, and training
techniques:
--23 subprojects;
8. polygraph research:
--3 subprojects;
9. Funding mechanisms for MKULTRA external research activities:
--3 subprojects;
10. Research on drugs, toxins, and biologicals in human tissue;
provision of exotic pathogens and the capability to incorporate them in effective
delivery systems:
--6 subprojects;
11. Activities whose objectives can not be determined from available
--3 subprojects;
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12. Subprojects involving funding support for unspecified activities
connected with the Army's Special Operations Division at Ft. Detrick, Md.
This activity is outlined in Vol. I of the Church Committee Report, pp. 388-389.
Under CIA's Project MKNAOMI, the Army assisted CIA in developing, testing,
and maintaining biological agents and delivery systems for use against humans
as well as against animals and crops. The objectives of these subprojects
cannot be identified from the recovered material beyond the fact that the money
was to be used where normal funding channels would require more written or
oral justification than appeared desirable for security reasons or where
operational considerations dictated short lead times for purchases. About
$11,000 was involved during this period 1953-1960:
--3 subprojects;
13. Single subprojects in such areas as effects of electro-shock,
harassment techniques for offensive use, analysis of extrasensory perception,
gas propelled sprays and aerosols, and four subprojects involving crop and
materiel sabotage .
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14. One or two subprojects on each of the following:
--"Blood Grouping" research, controlling the activity
of animals, energy storage and transfer in organic
systems; and,
--stimulus and response in biological systems .
15. Three subprojects cancelled before any work was done on them
having to do with laboratory drug screening, research on brain concussion,
and research on biologically active materials to be tested through the skin
on human volunteers.
Now, as to how much new the recovered material adds to what has
previously been reported to the Church Committee and to Senator Kennedy's
Subcommittee on Health on these topics, the answer is additional detail, for
the most part: e.g. , the names of previously unidentified researchers and in-
stitutions associated on either a witting or unwitting basis with MKULTRA
activities, and the names of CIA officials who approved or monitored the various
subprojects. Some new substantive material is also present: e.g. , details
concerning proposals for experimentation and clinical testing associated with
various research projects, and a possibly improper contribution by CIA to a
private institution. However, the principal types of activities included have,
for the most part, either been outlined to some extent or generally described
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in what was previously available to CIA in the way of documentation and was
supplied by CIA to Senate investigators. For example:
--Financial disbursement records for the period 1960-1964
for 76 of the 149 numbered MKULTRA subprojects had been
recovered from the Office of Finance by CIA and were made
available to the Church Committee investigators in August
or September 1975;
--The 1963 Inspector General report on MKULTRA made
available to both the Church Committee and Senator
Kennedy's Subcommittee mentions electro-shock and
harassment substances (pp. 4, 16); covert testing on
unwitting U.S. citizens (pp. 7, 10-12) ; the search
for new materials through arrangements with specialists
in universities, pharmaceutical houses, hospitals, state
and federal institutions, and private research organi-
zations (pp. 7, 9); and the fact that the Techincal Service
Division of CIA had initiated 144 subprojects related to the
control of human behavior between 1953-1963 (p. 21).
--The relevant section of a 1957 Inspector General
report on the Technical Service Division was also
made available to the Church Committee
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staff. That report discusses techniques for human
assessment and unorthodox methods of communication
(p. 201) ; discrediting and disabling materials which
can be covertly administered (pp 201-202); studies
on magicians' arts as applied to covert operations
(p. 202) ; specific funding mechanisms for research
performed outside of CIA (pp. 202-203, 205) ; research
being done on "K" (knockout) material, alcohol
tolerance, and hypnotism (p. 203); research on LSD
(p. 204); anti-personnel harassment and assassination
delivery systems including aerosol generators and
other spray devices (pp. 206-208); the role of Fort
Detrick in support of CIA's Biological/ Chemical Warfare
capability (p. 208) ; and material sabotage research
(p. 209). Much of this material is reflected in the
Church Committee Report, Volume 1, pp. 287-411.
The most significant new data discovered are, first, the names
of researchers and institutions who participated in the MKULTRA project
and, secondly, a possibly improper contribution by CIA to a private
institution. We are now in possession of the names of 185 non-government
researchers and assistants who are identified in the recovered material
dealing with the 149 subprojects. The names of 80 institution. where
work was done or with which these people were affiliated are also mentioned.
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The institutions include 44 colleges or universities, 15 research foundations
or chemical or pharmaceutical companies and the like, 12 hospitals or clinics
(in addition to those associated with universities), and 3 penal institutions.
While the identities of some of these people and institutions were known
previously, the discovery of the new identities adds to our knowledge of
MKULTRA.
The facts as they pertain to the possibly improper contribution are
as follows: One project involves a contribution of $375, 000 to a building
fund of a private medical institution. The fact that a contribution was made
was previously known; indeed it was mentioned in a 1957 Inspector General
report on the Technical Service Division of CIA, pertinent portions of which
had been reviewed by the Church Committee staff. The newly discovered
material, however, makes it clear that this contribution was made through
an intermediary, which made it appear to be a private donation. As a private
donation, the contribution was then matched by federal funds. The institution
was not made aware of the true source of the gift. This project was approved
by the then DCI, and concurred in by CIA's top management at the time, including
the then General Counsel who wrote an opinion supporting the legality of the
contribution.
The recently discovered documents give a greater insight into the
scope of the unwitting drug testing but contribute little more than that. We
now have AINM ~information that some of the unwitting drug testing
was carried on in safehouses in San Francisco and New York City , and we
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have identified that three individuals were involved in this undertaking as
opposed to the previously reported one person. We also know now that some
unwitting testing_took place on criminal sgxual psychopaths confined at a
State hospital and that, additionally, research was done on a knock-out or
"K" drug in parallel with research to develop pain killers for cancer patients.
These, then are the principal findings identified to date in our review
of the recovered material. As noted earlier, we believe the detail on the
identities of researchers and institutions involved in CIA's sponsorship of
drugs and behavioral modification is a new element and one which poses a
considerable problem. Most of the people and institutions involved are not
aware of Agency sponsorship. We should certainly assume that the researchers
and institutions which cooperated with CIA on a witting basis acted in good
faith and in the belief that they were aiding their government in a legitimate
and proper purpose. I believe we all have a moral obligation to these researchers
and institutions to protect them from any unjustified embarrassment or damage
to their reputations which revelation of their identities might bring. In addition,
I have a legal obligation under the Privacy Act not to publicly disclose the
names of the individual researchers without their consent. This is especially
true, of course, for those researchers and institutions which were unwitting
participants in CIA-sponsored activities.
Nevertheless, recognizing the right and the need of both the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Subcommittee on Health to investigate
the circumstances of these activities in whatever detail they
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consider necesssary, I am providing your Committee with all of the names
on a classified basis. I hope that this will facilitate your investigation while
protecting the individuals and institutions involved. Let me emphasize that
the MKULTRA events are 12 to 25 years in the past. I assure you that the CIA
is in no way engaged in either witting or unwitting testing of drugs today.
Finally, I am working closely with the Attorney General and with the
Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare on this matter. We are making
available to the Attorney General whatever materials he may deem necessary
to any investigation he may elect to undertake. We are working with both
the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare to
determine whether it is practicable from this new evidence to attempt to identify
any of the persons to whom drugs may have been administered unwittingly.
No such names are part of these records, but we are working to determine
if there are adequate clues to lead to their identification; and if so, how to go
about fulfilling the Government's responsibilities in the matter.
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