Happy 4th! What better day to do some light reading on a CIA domestic psy op to rehabilitate its public image by exploiting the war of independence. A nice (if perhaps awkward) conversation starter. @nsarchive.bsky.social nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...

“Exploiting the Bicentennial”: The Church Committee, the CIA, and the Politicization of the Revolutionary War

Washington, D.C., July 1, 2026 - A pamphlet published 50 years ago by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to celebrate the United States Bicentennial and highlight the role of secret intelligence op...

nsarchive.gwu.edu

Cool video summary of @nsarchive.bsky.social article on the CIA & the Bicentennial.

National Security Archive@nsarchive.bsky.social · last mo.

50 years ago, the CIA released a pamphlet celebrating the spies of the American Revolution after it was caught surveilling American citizens. Coincidence? No.

A pamphlet published in 1976 to celebrate the Bicentennial and highlight the role of secret intelligence operations in the Revolutionary War was part of an effort to push back against congressional investigations of CIA abuses, writes @ajimenezbacardi.bsky.social. nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...

“Exploiting the Bicentennial”: The Church Committee, the CIA, and the Politicization of the Revolutionary War

Washington, D.C., July 1, 2026 - A pamphlet published 50 years ago by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to celebrate the United States Bicentennial and highlight the role of secret intelligence op...

nsarchive.gwu.edu

50yrs ago, the CIA published "Intelligence in the War of Independence" to rehabilitate the Agency's public image as it was being investigated for decades of misdeeds. In this post for @nsarchive.bsky.social I write a little history on this CIA publication.

“Exploiting the Bicentennial”: The Church Committee, the CIA, and the Politicization of the Revolutionary War

Washington, D.C., July 1, 2026 - A pamphlet published 50 years ago by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to celebrate the United States Bicentennial and highlight the role of secret intelligence op...

nsarchive.gwu.edu

👇

Freedom of the Press Foundation@freedom.press · 4mo ago

By declaring the Presidential Records Act unconstitutional, the Justice Department is effectively claiming that the presidency has private ownership over the American story. It doesn't. @laurenleharper.bsky.social latest for @theintercept.com on why the DOJ's history killer memo can't stand:

Glad someone is tracking the administration's assault on the right to information

National Security Archive@nsarchive.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Rachel Santarsiero on the chronology of disappearing data under the Trump administration that she has compiled for the National Security Archive www.youtube.com/shorts/su2Lj...

Check out our new article @lucatrenta.bsky.social

Just Security@justsecurity.org · 4mo ago

The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei signals the end to the US ban on political assassinations, write Luca Trenta and Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi. And, they say, "it opens the door for other States to embrace the use of force to eliminate foreign adversaries."

My piece w @lucatrenta.bsky.social is up @justsecurity.org. It warns of implications of Khamenei assassination & US abandonment of domestic assass ban for inter society & recommends Congress invest & legislate prohibiting assass as Church recommended 50 yrs ago. www.justsecurity.org/135015/khame...

Khamenei’s Killing and the Perilous Death of the Assassination Ban

Khamenei’s killing ends U.S. ban on assassination, deepens U.S.-Israeli lethal ties, and invites States to abandon diplomacy for violence.

justsecurity.org

🔔 Introducing the Disappearing Data Chronology—a timeline tracking the Trump admin’s fundamental changes to the information landscape, including major data losses / restorations, legal challenges, and threats to archival collections. nsarchive.gwu.edu/special-exhi... @nsarchive.bsky.social

A Disappearing Data Chronology

About the ExhibitThe Disappearing Data Chronology documents fundamental changes to the federal information landscape under the Trump administration, including major data losses and restorations, legal...

nsarchive.gwu.edu

Here is my discussion with @klasfeldreports.com on my article for @nsarchive.bsky.social on the Barr Doctrine: the secret legal framework that paved the way for the Noriega op in 1989, Maduro this year & potentially more to come www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9cj...

Trump's Ex AG Bill Barr MEMO EXPOSES Maduro Raid

YouTube video by Legal AF

youtube.com

Here is an article @lucatrenta.bsky.social and I wrote in @uk.theconversation.com that situates the Khamenei killing within long hist of assassination plots where US prefers that someone else pulls the trigger. Based @nsarchive.bsky.social docs posted over years theconversation.com/ali-khamenei...

Ali Khamenei’s killing continues long US tradition of letting others pull the trigger

Declassified documents reveal details about the long history of the US seeking allies willing to cooperate to kill.

theconversation.com

Odds of decapitation or "inadvertent" assassination just went up as well

Looking forward to participating in this webinar @quincyinst.bsky.social on Fabruary 17 at 1:00pm to discuss a new book by Jack Cheevers on the 1963 coup and assassination of Diem in South Vietnam. You can sign-up here. quincyinst.org/events/kenne...

Kennedy’s Coup: How Diem’s Assassination Became Our Foreign Policy Albatross

A discussion of Jack Cheevers' new book.

quincyinst.org

Powerful warning by @sophieduroy.bsky.social & @lucatrenta.bsky.social on the U.S.'s lack of even trying to engage with international law re the Maduro snatch operation. verfassungsblog.de/even-hypocri...

“Even hypocrisy requires a moral code”

verfassungsblog.de

I just received a hard copy of @lucatrenta.bsky.social & @avramovok.bsky.social (eds) Killing in the Name of the State: State Sponsored Assassinations in International Politics, where I contributed a chapter on secret treaties and assassinations. www.rienner.com/title/Killin...

Aquí está mi artículo para @nsarchive.bsky.social sobre cómo la invasión estadounidense de Panamá en 1989 abrió la puerta a la operación contra Maduro. Traducido al español. elindependiente.mx/nacional/202...

Doctrina Barr contra Noriega sirvió para capturar de Maduro — El Independiente

Dr. Arturo Jiménez-Bacardi/ I de V partes* Los memorandos legales de 1989 decían que el presidente tenía “autoridad constitucional

elindependiente.mx

And for each one of those power grabs there should be some secret legal opinions effectively amending the law. #secretlaw #FOIA www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Trump Tests Presidential Power: Venezuela Operation, Iran Bombing and More

A breakdown of the presidential powers President Trump has sought for himself, including what he did to obtain power and what’s next.

nytimes.com

Must-read research and historical context for the Maduro operation 🗃️

Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi@ajimenezbacardi.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Here is my new article for @nsarchive.bsky.social It is based on documents I found at the George H. W. Bush Library that deal with the lead up to the "snatch" operation against Panama's Noriega in 1989 and how that op served as the key precedent for the Maduro op nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...

Oh hells yes! Have I ever mentioned that working with @nsarchive.bsky.social is kind of a dream of mine?

Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi@ajimenezbacardi.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Here is my new article for @nsarchive.bsky.social It is based on documents I found at the George H. W. Bush Library that deal with the lead up to the "snatch" operation against Panama's Noriega in 1989 and how that op served as the key precedent for the Maduro op nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...

Incredible piece from @ajimenezbacardi.bsky.social today on Bill Barr, Noriega, and the kidnapping of Maduro. Barr can also be remembered for dismantling the Cienfuegos case in 2020 by dropping drug trafficking and money laundering charges against Mexico's former SecDef. The more things change..!

Here is my new article for @nsarchive.bsky.social It is based on documents I found at the George H. W. Bush Library that deal with the lead up to the "snatch" operation against Panama's Noriega in 1989 and how that op served as the key precedent for the Maduro op nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...

Imperial Prerogative: How the Panama Invasion and the “Barr Doctrine” Set the Stage for the Maduro “Snatch” Operation

Washington, D.C., January 16, 2026 - The Justice Department official who wrote the legal opinion determining that President Donald Trump had the constitutional authority to “unilaterally order” the “e...

nsarchive.gwu.edu

Great power unilateralism and climate change are not a good combination. @rsanta.bsky.social @nsarchive.bsky.social nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...

Trump’s Withdrawal from UN Climate Body Breaks Bipartisan Consensus on Multilateral Efforts

Washington, D.C., January 15, 2026 - President Donald Trump’s recent withdrawal from the foundational United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Intergovernmental Panel on Cli...

nsarchive.gwu.edu

A huge loss. Bill Burr's commitments to transparency, accountability, knowledge, and mentorship had no limits. His EBBs always amazed me. Always FOIA, MDR, and appeal. @nsarchive.bsky.social

National Security Archive@nsarchive.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Today we mourn our beloved colleague Bill Burr, a giant in the field of nuclear history, who passed away last week. Click below to read tributes to Bill that have poured in from around the world. nsarchive.gwu.edu/news/2025-12...

Nice to see my article for @nsarchive.bsky.social on the killing of Che Guevara cited by the New York Times. Not as excited to see the U.S. continue to engage in "covert" regime change operations. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

Trump Administration Authorizes Covert C.I.A. Action in Venezuela

nytimes.com

Doyle & Dorfman @nsarchive.bsky.social continue amazing work as justice seekers for Ayotzinapa."the Chicago story within the Ayotzinapa case offers a cautionary tale about how drug war considerations can obscure and overwhelm the demand for accountability and justice for human rights."

The DEA and Ayotzinapa

Washington, D.C., September 26, 2025 - The eleventh anniversary of the enforced disappearance of 43 Mexican students from the Ayotzinapa college brings a grim reckoning. To date, no one has been held ...

nsarchive.gwu.edu

Great work on what you can find when you delve into the weeds of the JFK Assassination files.

Michael Evans@colombiadocs.bsky.social · 11mo ago

I dug through the JFK assassination papers to see what I could learn about CIA operations in Colombia during the 1960s and 70s. Here's what I found. nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...

Assistant Secretary of State Edward Miller (1952) was frustrated that the U.S. agreed to a rules-based international order that prohibits intervention into the domestic affairs of other states.

In 1952 the Psychological Strategy Board assessed that U.S. domestic policies on race relations, restrictive immigration, and tariffs were psychologically damaging to U.S. interests.

Flying Saucers, Oh my! Psychological Strategy Board staff minutes

If this intelligence assessment stands, this has the potential for a major clash between Trump and Netanyahu. Two individuals who are incapable of taking the blame for any kind of failure.

Jeffrey Lewis@armscontrolwonk.bsky.social · last yr.

Think of treaties as like vaccines -- more effective than quack cures but deeply unpopular among the stupidest people on earth.