More than five years after The Black Vault filed a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) request seeking a fresh review of the CIA’s historic KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation manual, the Agency has released its most complete official version of the document to date.
The release stems from MDR case EOM-2021-00117, originally filed in May 2021 by The Black Vault. An initial response issued on February 9, 2024, resulted in only limited additional disclosures while continuing to withhold portions of the manual under Executive Order 13526, Sections 3.3(h)(2) and 6.2(d).
Following an appeal submitted by The Black Vault on March 1, 2024, the CIA’s Agency Release Panel conducted a second review. In a letter dated July 21, 2026, the Agency stated that its earlier determination “can now be revised such that the enclosed document previously released in part may now have more information released,” while continuing to withhold certain passages under the same Executive Order authorities.
Although many of the newly disclosed passages are administrative in nature, the release fills in several long-redacted sections, restores historical directive references, and provides additional context regarding CIA counterintelligence procedures during the Cold War.
Coordination with Other U.S. Agencies
Among the more notable restorations is language explaining how KUBARK coordinated certain clandestine interrogations conducted overseas by other U.S. departments and agencies.
The newly released text identifies ODAPSE Directive No. 5 as governing KUBARK’s responsibility for coordinating specific clandestine interrogation activities abroad. According to the newly disclosed passage:
“ODAPSE Directive No. 5 deals with KUBARK’s responsibilities for the coordination of ODYOKE clandestine activities conducted abroad.”
The restored section explains that clandestine interrogations involving espionage or counterintelligence conducted by other government components were, under certain circumstances, subject to KUBARK coordination. It further references previously redacted internal guidance including Chief/KUBARK Directives 5/1 and 5/2, which governed those coordination procedures.
While portions of the paragraph remain classified, the release provides a clearer picture of the administrative framework governing overseas counterintelligence interrogations than previously available.
Newly Identified Historical References
The appeal release also restores several references to internal CIA guidance documents that had previously been withheld.
One recurring reference directs interrogators to consult the Field Double Agent Guide of August 1960 when planning the interrogation of suspected double agents. The guide itself was not publicly available when the KUBARK manual first entered the public domain decades ago, but documents bearing that title were released as part of the National Archives’ JFK Assassination Records releases beginning in 2022. These newly restored references provide additional documentary connections between CIA counterintelligence manuals produced during the early Cold War.
Newly Released Statistic on Soviet Defectors
Another noteworthy disclosure restores a numerical estimate that had remained redacted in previous releases.
Discussing Soviet defectors, the manual now states:
“The most significant single fact to be kept in mind when planning the interrogation of Soviet defectors is that a certain percentage of them have proven to be controlled agents; estimates of this percentage have ranged as high as seventy percent during a period of several years after 1955.”
Earlier public versions of the document withheld the percentage entirely. While the manual presents the figure as an estimate used by CIA personnel during the period (not as an independently verified historical fact), the release provides additional insight into how the Agency evaluated the possibility of controlled defections during the height of the Cold War.
Much Remains Classified
Despite the additional disclosures, portions of the manual remain withheld.
Entire phrases, organizational identifiers, operational procedures, and references to internal directives continue to be redacted under Executive Order 13526. In its appeal decision, the CIA stated that the remaining deletions continue to be protected under Sections 3.3(h)(2) and 6.2(d), authorities cited in conjunction with statutory protections incorporated through FOIA Exemption (b)(3).
While the latest appeal does not fundamentally alter historians’ understanding of KUBARK, it does produce what appears to be the most complete officially released version of the manual currently available, restoring previously withheld directive references, administrative context, and several historical details that had remained classified until now.
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Download July 1963 KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation Manual [132 Pages, 70MB]
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