1970 CIA documents reveal assassination plots, drug testing citizens, and spying on protesters

I love reading declassified government secrets. Imagine what we'll find out about the Bush regime in 2040:

The documents detail assassination plots against foreign leaders like Fidel Castro, the testing of mind- and behavior-altering drugs like LSD on unwitting citizens, wiretapping of U.S. journalists, spying on civil rights and anti-Vietnam war protesters, opening mail between the United States and the Soviet Union and China, break-ins at the homes of ex-CIA employees and others.

The 693 pages, mostly drawn from the memories of active CIA officers in 1973, were turned over at that time to three different investigative panels - President Ford’s Rockefeller Commission, the Senate’s Church committee and the House’s Pike committee.

The Washington Post explores the CIA's attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro:

The plot, described in detail in CIA documents released today, involved six poison pills, a bungled wire-tapping and CIA operatives working with two mob bosses on the FBI's ten-most wanted list.

The CIA's efforts to assassinate Castro were documented by the Church Committee in 1975, based on the testimony of many of the key players, but the documents show that the agency's actions in the early 1960's still have the capacity to shock.

The CIA plan was known only to a few top officials. Robert A. Maheu, an ex-FBI agent, was asked to contact Johnny Roselli, a high-ranking mobster who was an acquaintance. Maheu made the pitch on Sept. 14, 1960 in New York City. He brought along James O'Connell, who he identified as an employee, but was, in reality, chief of the CIA's operational support division. They offered to pay $150,000, but Roselli said he did not want any money.