Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a civilian intelligence organization tasked with foreign intelligence in service of the federal government of the United States. The agency's director is John Ratcliffe, who was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 23, 2025.[1]
The CIA is overseen by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
History
In 1977, the Washington Post reported that senior officials at the National Institute of Mental Health were likely aware that the CIA funneled money to the institute to administer LSD and other drugs to federal prisoners in Lexington, Kentucky as a part of the MKULTRA program.[2]
On September 29, 1999, the CIA announced the launch of its new venture capital firm, In-Q-Tel.[3]
COVID-19
On January 25, 2025, the CIA issued a statement that the agency "assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin based on the available body of reporting."[4]
Personnel
| Names | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| John Ratcliffe | Director (2025-present)[1:1] | America First Policy Institute (AFPI) |
| William J. Burns | Director (2021-present) | - |
| Gina Haspel | Director (2018-2021) | - |
| Mike Pompeo | Director (2017-2018) | - |
| James Woolsey | Director (1993-1995) | Arlington Institute |
| William Colby | Director (1973-1976) | - |
| Allen Dulles | Director (1953-1961) | - |
| David Cohen | Acting Director (2021) | - |
| Meroe Park | Acting Director (2017) | - |
| Avril Haines | Deputy Director (former)[5] | Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) |
| Nick Bostrom | Expert consultant[6] | Future of Humanity Institute, Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI), Yale University, European Commission |
| A. B. Krongard | Counselor to the Director (2000-2001), Executive Director (2001-2004)[7] | Apollo Global Management, Alex. Brown & Sons, Blackwater |
| Cindy Otis | Military Analyst (2007-2017)[8] | Alethea Group, Digital Forensic Research Lab (DRFLab), Argonne National Laboratory |
External links
Klepper, D. (2025, January 23). Senate confirms John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA. AP News. http://archive.today/2025.01.25-195008/https://apnews.com/article/cia-director-ratcliffe-trump-cabinet-national-intelligence-a73ceaef42086d46a728979189a9826b ↩︎ ↩︎
Richards, B., & Jacobs, J. (1977, August 19). CIA Funded 1956 Research For Hypertension Remedy. Washington Post. http://archive.today/2020.06.15-222517/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/08/19/cia-funded-1956-research-for-hypertension-remedy/36352b62-d84a-4cbc-89fb-a72abd383aae/ ↩︎
Yannuzzi, R. E. In-Q-Tel: A New Partnership Between the CIA and the Private Sector. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved August 16, 2000, from https://web.archive.org/web/20000816205529/http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/inqtel/ ↩︎
Diamond, D., & Strobel, W. P. (2025, January 25). CIA now favors lab-leak theory, as critics of covid response take power. Washington Post. http://archive.vn/2025.01.26-142103/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/01/25/cia-covid-origins-fauci-republicans-lab-leak/ ↩︎
Avril Haines. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220308234931/https://www.dni.gov/index.php/who-we-are/leadership/director-of-national-intelligence ↩︎
Advisors. Singularity Institute. Retrieved February 11, 2010, from https://web.archive.org/web/20100211210711/http://singinst.org/aboutus/advisors ↩︎
Alvin B. Krongard. Icahn Enterprises. Retrieved August 7, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240807172719/https://www.ielp.com/board-directors/alvin-b-krongard ↩︎
Cindy Otis Bio. (2020, October 15). United States Congress. https://web.archive.org/web/20240524221023/https://www.congress.gov/116/meeting/house/111087/witnesses/HHRG-116-IG00-Bio-OtisC-20201015.pdf ↩︎
Further reading
Michael Shellenberger