The Church Committee at 40

This page features video excerpts from the  annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians on April 17, 2015 concerning the 40th anniversary of the Church Committee.  CSPAN recorded the entire proceeding and is expected to schedule it for broadcast next week.

Athan Theoharis

Athan Theoharis is an Professor of History Emeritus at Marquette University. Theoharis has written books about the work of the committee.  At the invitation of the committee he investigated the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, but as he explains in this clip, he was blocked by Henry Kissinger from seeing vital classified documents.  Later he discovered evidence that implicated the FBI in massive illegal spying operations on American citizens.

Kate Scott

Kate Scott works in the US Senate Historical Office. She discusses why the Church Committee decided to investigate FBI abuses. She traces the origin of the Senate's action to concerns expressed years earlier by Mike Mansfield, the Majority Leader.

John Fox

John Fox is employed as a historian by the FBI. In this video he discusses the FBI's reaction to the work of the Church Committee.