Church Committee

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The Church Committee, formally the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, was established in 1975 to investigate alleged abuses by U.S. intelligence agencies. Its work included a significant examination of the CIA and FBI's conduct in the investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, culminating in Book V of its final report. This inquiry involved reviewing historical documents and conducting interviews to assess the thoroughness and integrity of the original investigations.

Records related to the Church Committee in the JFK Assassination Records Collection primarily consist of internal Senate documents, including draft and final reports, memoranda, and transcripts of testimony. These materials date predominantly from 1975 and 1976, reflecting the committee's active period. The collection also contains correspondence and materials from other agencies, such as the FBI and the Department of Defense, provided to the committee for its review.

The documents shed light on the committee's process of scrutinizing intelligence agency activities, including their handling of information related to figures like Lee Harvey Oswald and broader topics such as covert actions in Cuba. The presence of redacted documents indicates the sensitive nature of some of the information reviewed by the committee and subsequently released under the JFK Records Act.