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During my time at the CIA, I was responsible for briefing the press and circulating disinformation. Disinformation is not necessarily a lie, but rather a half truth. We would select influential journalists and provide them with information that we wanted to convey to the American public. We targeted respected journalists like Robert Chaplin, Kais Beach, Bud Merrick, Malcolm Brown, and Maynard Parker. I would cultivate their trust by sharing valid information and then slip in the data we wanted to spread, which may not have been true. We would also create an environment where journalists couldn't fact-check by briefing diplomats who would confirm our false information. Personally, I am opposed to these disinformation activities as they serve no useful purpose for the CIA.

I briefed the press as an analyst and interrogator for the CIA, circulating disinformation to influence public opinion. I targeted influential journalists like Robert Chaplin and Kais Beach, planting false information to support US interests in Vietnam. I would also mislead reporters by briefing diplomats to provide false confirmation. Despite my involvement, I now oppose these propaganda tactics, believing they serve no purpose for the CIA.

The CIA's main function is gathering intelligence, but it also engages in covert actions and propaganda. We disseminate propaganda to influence public opinion, sometimes working with journalists. This involves planting false stories, sometimes by using compromised journalists or even creating false narratives with fabricated evidence. This practice isn't limited to foreign countries; we've also planted false stories in the US press. For example, during the Angolan war, we used false stories about Cuban atrocities, including fake photos, which were then spread internationally. We've also sponsored the publication of numerous propaganda books in English, influencing public opinion about Vietnam. While the CIA admits to some propaganda efforts abroad, they deny similar activities within the United States. However, this is untrue, as we planted false stories in the Washington Post.

According to the transcript, Director of the CIA William Casey, when asked by President Reagan about his function, stated, "We will know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." Barbara Honinger, assistant to the chief domestic policy advisor to President Reagan, confirmed she was at the meeting, took dictation of the statement, and shared it with White House correspondent Sarah McClendon, who made it public. The speaker emphasizes the importance of this information and its connection to understanding the causes of the ice age.

The CIA has various functions, including running secret wars and spreading propaganda to influence people's minds. They manipulate journalists by providing them with both true and false stories, exploiting their vulnerabilities to control their actions. The Church Committee in 1975 revealed that around 400 journalists, including prominent names, cooperated with the CIA to introduce stories into the press. In the Angola war, a third of the speaker's staff was dedicated to propaganda. They would write stories, publish them in the Zambia Times, and then send them to journalists on their payroll in Europe, who would pretend to have received them from their own sources. The goal was to create false narratives about Cuban atrocities to demonize communists.

There are functions of the CIA that include running secret wars and disseminating propaganda to influence people's minds, a major function that overlaps with information gathering. You have contact with a journalist; you will give him true stories and you’ll get information from him, and you will also give him false stories. You also work on human vulnerabilities to recruit journalists as agents to control what they do, so you don’t have to set them up by deception. You can tell them to plant stories on a schedule. Concrete evidence of using the press this way was highlighted by the church committee in 1975, and later by Woodward and Bernstein in Rolling Stone, noting that about 400 journalists cooperated with the CIA to consciously introduce stories in the press. A concrete example from Angola: one third of the staff was propaganda. There were propagandists around the world, principally in London, Kinshasa, and Zambia. They would take stories they wrote and put them in the Zambia Times, then pull them out and send them to a journalist on payroll in Europe. But the cover story was that the journalist had gotten them from his stringer in Lusaka who had gotten them from the Zambia Times, and after that point, the journalists, Reuters, and AFP, the management was not witting of it. The contact man in Europe was used to pump dozens of stories about Cuban atrocities, Cuban rapists, but there was not a single atrocity committed by the Cubans. It was pure, raw false propaganda to create an illusion of communists, you know, eating babies for breakfast.

The Associated Press, or as I call them, the Associated Propaganda, ran an international news story that was completely false. They claimed that we fired air traffic controllers, but that is not true. We didn't fire any air traffic controllers. Actually, we're trying to hire more.

I was concerned that planted stories meant for foreign audiences were being circulated and believed here at home. This would mean that the CIA could manipulate the news in the United States by channeling it through another country. We are looking into this very carefully. We do have people who submit pieces to American journals. I think that getting into the details of whether we have people paid by the CIA who are working for television networks should be handled in a closed session. By 1954, relationships with the CIA had been established at CBS. I was told about them and asked if I'd carry on with them. We will evaluate the information we have, and we will include any evidence of wrongdoing in our final report and make recommendations. Whether we name the news organizations in our final report remains to be decided.

Planted stories intended for foreign countries were circulated in the US, raising concerns about CIA manipulation of news. CIA involvement with American journals and TV networks was discussed, with details kept confidential. CBS had contacts with the CIA, and the investigation will assess any wrongdoing. The use of CIA sources by reporters was considered acceptable in the past but requires caution now due to public scrutiny.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was based on false information about attacks that never happened. Only two members of Congress voted against it. Evidence from sailors and pilots contradicts the claims of attacks. The war in Vietnam was built on lies, as revealed in recently released White House tapes discussing plans for retaliation before the alleged attacks. The whole conflict was a fraud, causing immense damage to both the US and Vietnam.

Checklist for summary approach: - Identify and order the main claims and their sequence. - Preserve key facts, dates, and figures mentioned. - Highlight unique or unexpected details (e.g., CIA memo and term origin). - Exclude filler, repetition, and off-topic material. - Translate only if needed (transcript is in English); present in English. - Avoid adding personal judgments or external context; present claims as stated. - Aim for a concise, cohesive 377–472 word summary capturing essential points and conclusions. In 1964, president Lyndon B. Johnson claimed that a US ship called the USS Maddox had been attacked by North Vietnamese forces in the Gulf of Tonkin, but the second attack never happened; it was a complete fabrication. Yet Congress passed the Gulf Of Tonkin Resolution, effectively giving Johnson a blank check to escalate the war in Vietnam. By 1968, over half a million US troops were in Vietnam, with carpet bombing of villages and the spraying of chemical weapons like Agent Orange, and millions of Vietnamese citizens affected, all described as based on a lie. After France lost its colonial war in Vietnam, the US stepped in, ignored international agreements, and installed a dictator in the South. He was so corrupt and brutal that even the Vietnamese people hated him. When nationwide elections were planned to unify the country, Ho Chi Minh was guaranteed to win, but the US backed out and canceled democracy. So, the US didn’t just join the Vietnam War; it escalated, provoked, and manipulated its way into it. As thousands of soldiers died and anti-war protests surged in the US, people asked questions about the rationale for Vietnam, why the poor were drafted while the rich received deferments, and why the government lied about the Gulf of Tonkin. The CIA was not about to lose that narrative. In 1967, they wrote a classified memo, CIA dispatch number 1035-960, a propaganda guide sent to journalists and foreign operatives on how to quietly discredit critics, especially when questions arose around JFK. This memo labeled those questions as conspiracy theorists because that term didn’t exist before then. The memo was weaponized to shame critical thinkers, equating questioning the government with being unhinged or batshit crazy. It worked: the Vietnam War escalated with a provable lie sustained by media propaganda and shielded by a weaponized insult that’s still used today. Conspiracy theorists at the time didn’t mean crazy; they were people who weren’t buying the government’s story, and many of those critics were right. So when someone says the government would never do that, remember that it did, and they created a stigma to silence dissent. And if you think this is crazy, consider what happened in Panama. Follow for more deep dives. They don’t want you to know.

The discussion centers on concerns about the CIA’s influence over American media and how covert connections abroad could affect news domestically. Speaker 0 states a real concern: planted stories intended to serve a national purpose abroad could come back home and be circulated and believed in the United States, implying the CIA could manipulate the news in the U.S. by channeling it through a foreign country. The participants agree to examine this matter carefully. Speaker 1 raises a targeted question about individuals paid by the CIA contributing to major American journals, effectively asking whether there are CIA-paid contributors to prominent news outlets. Speaker 2 acknowledges that there are people who submit pieces to American journals and asks about whether any are paid by the CIA who are working for television networks, indicating a potential broader reach across media. Speaker 2 suggests that detailing “this kind of getting into the details” is something they would prefer to handle in an executive session, signaling a desire to limit public discussion at that stage. Speaker 3 provides historical context from CBS, noting that “the ships had been established” by the time the speaker became head of the news and public affairs operation in 1954, and that he was told to carry on with them, implying an established framework of CIA involvement or collaboration. Speaker 0 reiterates the need to evaluate the information and to “include any evidence of wrongdoing or any evidence of impropriety in our final report and make recommendations,” indicating a plan to compile findings and address possible abuses. The question is revisited: “Do you have any people being paid by the CIA who are contributing to the national news services, AP and UPI?” Speaker 2 again wants to move the discussion to an executive session, suggesting sensitivity about the specifics and possibly broader implications. Speaker 0 notes that the final report’s content or title “that remains to be decided,” leaving unresolved how the findings will be presented. Speaker 3 asserts that correspondents at the time “made use of the CIA agent chiefs of station and other members of the executive staff of CIA as sources of information which were useful in their assessments of world conditions,” indicating direct use of CIA personnel as information sources. The question is asked whether this practice continues today, and Speaker 3 responds affirmatively, though with caveat: due to revelations of the 1970s, a reporter “has got to be much more circumspect” and careful, or risk being looked at with considerable disfavor by the public. The speaker emphasizes the need for greater prudence in contemporary reporting in light of those revelations.

The CIA has various functions, some more legitimate than others. One function is to run secret wars, while another is to disseminate propaganda to influence people's minds. They use journalists to spread both true and false stories, exploiting their vulnerabilities to control them. In the past, the CIA had around 400 journalists cooperating with them, including well-known names. An example of their manipulation is seen in the Angola war, where they planted false stories about Cuban atrocities to create an illusion of communist brutality. This shows how the CIA uses the press to further their agenda.

The CIA has been known to plant inaccurate and fabricated news reports. In Angola, the CIA manipulated the media to push the narrative of Russian and Cuban aggression. They created stories and used propaganda to support their agenda. The CIA's efforts were successful, as newspapers around the world unknowingly published their fabricated stories. Similar tactics were used in Central America, particularly in the campaign against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. The CIA spread disinformation about arms flow and Soviet bases in Nicaragua, despite evidence to the contrary. The media played a role in perpetuating these false narratives. It is important for readers to be critical of the news they consume and not believe everything they read.

Throughout history, leaders and generals have used distraction, deception, untruths, and a mix of truth in military campaigns. According to Speaker 1, the government is capable of disinformation campaigns, psychological operations, and information warfare. Speaker 1 claims to have participated in information warfare campaigns against Al Qaeda and ISIS, involving deception, lies, misinformation, and disinformation to sway the audience. Speaker 1 believes QAnon is a well-executed SIOP (Single Integrated Operational Plan) directed against the American people.

In 1990, Iraq attacked Kuwait, leading to a split opinion among the US public on whether to engage in a land war. However, support for war increased dramatically after a 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl testified before a congressional committee. She claimed that Iraqi soldiers took babies out of incubators, causing them to die. This testimony was later revealed to be false, as the girl was coached by a PR firm. The US and Kuwait had engaged in a $10 million campaign of deception. This incident highlights the use of fake organizations, false documents, and disinformation to achieve geopolitical goals.

The discussion centers on concerns that planted stories intended to serve a national purpose abroad could come back and be circulated in the United States, potentially allowing the CIA to manipulate U.S. news by channeling it through a foreign country. There is emphasis on looking at this very carefully. Questions were raised about whether any people paid by the CIA contribute to major American journals or to television networks. One speaker notes that some individuals submit pieces to American journals, and asks about whether any are paid by the CIA who work for television networks. The response indicates that this is a level of detail better addressed in executive session. It is stated that at CBS, the CIA had contacted the organization, and that by the time the head of the news and public affairs operation was appointed in 1954, “the ships had been established,” and he was told about them and asked to carry on with them. Regarding final reporting, there is a commitment to evaluate all the detailed information and to include any evidence of wrongdoing or impropriety in the final report and to make recommendations. The question is raised again about whether there are people paid by the CIA contributing to national news services such as AP and UPI, with the response again preferring to handle those details in executive session. When asked whether the new organization’s final report would be named, the speaker indicates that this remains to be decided. It is asserted that correspondents at that time were allowed to make use of CIA agent chiefs of station and other CIA executive staff as sources of information useful in their assessments of world conditions. The question is asked whether this continues today. The response acknowledges that it probably does for a reporter, but notes that due to revelations of the 1970s, a reporter would need to be much more circumspect now, and must be careful not to be viewed with considerable disfavor by the public.

Many people misunderstand the CIA's role, believing it primarily gathers intelligence. In reality, it functions as a covert action agency, focusing on overthrowing or supporting foreign governments and conducting disinformation campaigns, particularly targeting the American public. The CIA develops relationships with the press through various means, including direct contacts and planting propaganda. While some journalists may knowingly publish CIA-favored articles, others may do so unknowingly. In Vietnam, the CIA created the Diem regime and used the press to promote an illusion of its legitimacy. During that time, the press and government often cooperated closely, viewing the CIA as a trustworthy entity. The CIA also established a system, referred to as Wiesner's Wurlitzer, to influence media narratives globally, with current efforts focused on rebuilding its covert operations and penetrating various institutions.

Intel agencies have a significant influence on television broadcasts, Facebook, and Google. Many anchors, including a national security reporter, act as mouthpieces for the Pentagon and the CIA, knowingly spreading lies. This is a common practice, even at CNN. These reporters read government propaganda from intel agencies, and it's frustrating and offensive, regardless of whether one agrees with the lies or not. For instance, when the CIA and Pentagon claimed that Bashar al Assad used poison gas, there was no evidence to support it. Despite this, many people were killed in response.

The CIA's disinformation efforts aim to create an international anti-communist ideology to justify actions like overthrowing governments, such as in Nicaragua. This narrative links local conflicts to larger threats, making intervention seem necessary. While high-level officials may be aware of these operations, many in the State Department are often unaware. Examples include the controversial white paper on El Salvador, based on dubious documents, and various propaganda techniques. Although the CIA's covert actions are reportedly being rebuilt, manipulating the press today is more challenging due to increased skepticism among the public. While it might be possible to sell another war like Vietnam, it would require a more extensive and sustained effort.

The CIA is not just an intelligence agency, but also a covert action agency involved in overthrowing or supporting foreign governments and spreading disinformation, primarily targeting the American people. This disinformation is disseminated through the press to create an international anti-communist ideology. The goal is to justify actions like overthrowing the government of Nicaragua by linking it to a larger threat in order to gain public support.

Operation Mockingbird was a CIA program that recruited American journalists to write fake stories promoting the views of intelligence agencies. Some journalists were aware of their involvement, while others were unknowingly used as assets. The program began in the 1950s and continues to this day. The CIA paid these journalists, meaning taxpayers funded the operation. Former CIA agents have confirmed the dissemination of half-truths and disinformation to the press.

Speaker 0: Wikipedia is a propaganda operation, and one of its founders told me that the CIA or the American intel community is heavily involved in shaping the message, on Wikipedia. Did you come across evidence of that? Speaker 1: On the weaponization working group, as it's described by attorney general Bondi and the president's direction, intelligence community is one of the groups who was weaponized against the people, obviously. It's obvious. The question is, how are we gonna get to the bottom of it? Right? How are gonna get to the bottom of some of the weaponization of the government intelligence community against the citizens? And that's what I that's where I'm going now.

In Saigon, I operated under various covers, but those I interacted with knew I was with the CIA. I was there from 1969 to 1975, involved in analysis and press briefings, sometimes disseminating disinformation. Our success rate in planting information was about 70-80%. I targeted respected journalists to gain their trust and share data, which often included half-truths. While independent reporting was strong, many journalists were wary of CIA contacts. The CIA's primary objective is intelligence gathering, but disinformation can be counterproductive. After publishing my book, "Decent Interval," I faced a lawsuit for not submitting it for government censorship, leading to a Supreme Court ruling that imposed restrictions on government employees regarding their writings. The court's decision expanded the conditions for prior restraint, impacting First Amendment rights.

Speaker 0 asks if there are people paid by the CIA who contribute to American journals, television networks, and national news services. Speaker 1 prefers to discuss these details in an executive session. Speaker 2, from CBS, confirms that they were contacted by the CIA and continued working with them. Speaker 1 again defers to executive session when asked about specific news organizations. Speaker 2 believes it was acceptable for reporters to use CIA sources in the past, but acknowledges the need for caution due to public disfavor.