FBI Files: Directors, Agents and Personnel of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Background

The Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947 with the signing of the National Security Act by President Harry S. Truman. The act also created a Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) to serve as head of the United States intelligence community; act as the principal adviser to the President for intelligence matters related to the national security; and serve as head of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 amended the National Security Act to provide for a Director of National Intelligence who would assume some of the roles formerly fulfilled by the DCI, with a separate Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Below you will find a collection of CIA agents and various personnel connected with the agency.

FBI Files

Abramson, Harold Alexander – [20 Pages, 9.9 MB] – Harold Alexander Abramson (November 27, 1899 – September 1980) was an American physician (allergist and pediatrician) noted as an early advocate of therapeutic LSD. He played a significant role in CIA’s MKULTRA program to investigate the military applications of LSD.

Angleton, James Jesus – [347 Pages, 83.4 MB] – James Jesus Angleton (December 9, 1917 – May 11, 1987) was chief of CIA Counterintelligence from 1954 to 1975. His official position within the organization was “Associate Deputy Director of Operations for Counterintelligence (ADDOCI)”. Angleton was significantly involved in the U.S. response to the purported KGB defectors Anatoliy Golitsyn and Yuri Nosenko. Angleton later became convinced the CIA harbored a high-ranking mole, and engaged in an intensive search. Whether this was a highly destructive witch hunt or appropriate caution vindicated by later moles remains a subject of intense historical debate.

Buckley, William Francis – [32 Pages, 1.9MB ] – William Francis Buckley (May 30, 1928 – June 3, 1985) was a United States Army officer and CIA station chief in Beirut from 1984 until 1985. His cover was as a Political Officer at the US Embassy. He died on or around June 3, 1985—five months before the date claimed by his captors—while in the custody of Hezbollah. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery and is commemorated with a star on the Memorial Wall at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Conein, Lucien – [45 Pages, 8.3MB ] – Lt. Col. Lucien Emile Conein (born 29 November 1919, Paris, France – died 3 June 1998, Bethesda, Maryland) was a noted U.S. Army officer and OSS/CIA operative. Among other exploits, he was instrumental in the November 1963 coup against Ngô Đình Diệm that resulted in Diệm’s assassination, having served as Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.’s liaison officer with the coup plotters and delivering $42,000 of the known cash disbursements. He later ran secret operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Although the FBI said that additional possible records could exist, they claim they could not find/locate them.

Cameron, Donald Ewen – [21 Pages, 8.3MB ] – Donald Ewen Cameron (24 December 1901 – 8 September 1967) — known as D. Ewen Cameron or Ewen Cameron — was a Scottish-born psychiatrist who served as President of the American Psychiatric Association (1952–1953), Canadian Psychiatric Association (1958-1959), American Psychopathological Association (1963), Society of Biological Psychiatry (1965) and World Psychiatric Association (1961-1966). In spite of his high professional reputation, he has been criticized for administering electroshock therapy and experimental drugs to patients without their informed consent. Some of this work took place in the context of the Project MKUltra mind control program.

Clarridge, Duane – [17 Pages, 2.8MB] – Duane Ramsdell “Dewey” Clarridge (April 16, 1932 – April 9, 2016) was an American senior operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and supervisor for more than 30 years. Clarridge was the chief of the Latin American division from 1981 to 1987 and a key figure in the Iran-Contra Affair.

Gottlieb, Sidney – FBI Release #1 – [43 Pages, 15.4MB ] – Sidney Gottlieb (born Joseph Scheider; August 3, 1918 – March 7, 1999) was an American chemist and spymaster best known for his involvement with the Central Intelligence Agency’s 1950s and ’60s assassination attempts and mind control program, known as Project MKUltra.

Harvey, William King – [376 Pages, 172 MB] – William King “Bill” Harvey (September 13, 1915 – June 9, 1976) was a Central Intelligence Agency officer, best known for his role in Operation Mongoose. He was known as “America’s James Bond”, a tag given to him by Edward Lansdale.

Helms, Richard – [342 Pages, 190 MB]
Helms, Richard – Letter stating additional FBI Records were destroyed – [2 Pages, 0.4MB]Richard McGarrah Helms (March 30, 1913 – October 23, 2002) served as the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from June 1966 to February 1973. Helms began intelligence work with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. Following the 1947 creation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) he rose in its ranks during the Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy administrations. Helms then served as DCI under Johnson, then Nixon.

Maheu, Robert – [1,151 Pages, 852MB] – (Note: This is a large file. It is recommended you right click and select “save as” instead of opening in a browser).

Robert Aime Maheu (October 30, 1917 – August 4, 2008) was an American businessman and lawyer, who worked for the FBI and CIA, and as the chief executive of Nevada operations for the industrialist Howard Hughes. Maheu said: “The CIA was my first steady client, giving me ‘cut-out’ assignments [those jobs in which the Agency could not officially be involved].”

Marchetti, Victor– [30 Pages, 2.2MB] – Victor Leo Marchetti, Jr. (December 23, 1929-October 19, 2018) was a special assistant to the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency who later became a prominent critic of the United States Intelligence Community and the Israel lobby in the United States.

McCone, John – [746 Pages, 46.4MB] – John A john mccone

lexander McCone (January 4, 1902 – February 14, 1991) was an American businessman and politician who served as Director of Central Intelligence during the height of the Cold War. After the disaster of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, president John F. Kennedy forced the resignation of the CIA director Allen Dulles and some of his staff. McCone replaced Dulles on November 29, 1961.

Montgomery, Hugh – [746 Pages, 46.4MB] – Hugh Montgomery (November 29, 1923 – April 6, 2017) was a United States diplomat and intelligence officer. He served for 63 years with the Central Intelligence Agency and has been called one of the CIA’s founding fathers.

Paisley, John – [297 Pages, 183.3MB] – John Arthur Paisley (August 25, 1923 – September 24, 1978) was a former official of the Central Intelligence Agency. Paisley served in the CIA from 1963 to 1974. During his career, he was heavily involved in Soviet operations. Paisley retired as deputy director in the Office of Strategic Research, the branch that monitored Soviet military movements and nuclear capabilities.

Shackley, Theodore “Ted” – [340 Pages, 96MB] – Theodore George “Ted” Shackley, Jr. (July 16, 1927 — December 9, 2002) was an American CIA officer involved in many important and controversial CIA operations during the 1960s and 1970s. He is one of the most decorated CIA officers. Due to his “light hair and mysterious ways”, Shackley was known to his colleagues as “the Blond Ghost”.