The Lawfare Podcast Lawfare Daily: Unearthing and Reckoning with the Intelligence Excesses of the Cold War
Feb 4, 2026
Brian Hochman, historian of intelligence practices, and Matthew Guariglia, surveillance scholar and journalist, discuss the Church Committee’s revelations of Cold War intelligence abuses. They trace shocking programs, human costs, agency roles, and the reforms that followed. The conversation also connects past excesses to modern surveillance, corporate data, encryption debates, and local police intelligence growth.
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Scope Of Cold War Intelligence Abuses
- The Church Committee exposed broad, institutional abuses across CIA, FBI, and NSA during the Cold War era.
- Its findings confirmed public suspicions and revealed assassination plots, MKUltra drug experiments, and surveillance of Americans.
Mathematician Forced Into Exile
- Anatole Rapoport lost his University of Michigan position after FBI harassment and moved to Canada with his family.
- Frank Church later handed Rapoport his thick FBI file which led Rapoport to cry at the evidence of damage to his life.
Not Rogue Agents — Institutional Programs
- COINTELPRO and similar programs were centralized, bureaucratized, and not the work of rogue agents.
- The FBI institutionalized illegal tactics with official guidance, 'do not file' orders, and expectations to destroy records.
