United States of America

CIA Faces Subpoena Over Seized JFK, MKUltra Files

Were the files seized to hide dark secrets or is the entire story fabricated partisan theater?

MAY 15·Updated MAY 20

CIA Faces Subpoena Over Seized JFK, MKUltra Files

Story

Above: Tulsi Gabbard testifying at a House Select Intelligence Committee hearing on March 19. Image credit: Andrew Harnik/Staff/Getty Images

The Facts

Two Republican lawmakers visited CIA headquarters on Thursday to investigate the agency's removal of roughly 40 boxes of JFK assassination and MKUltra files from facilities under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which were being processed for declassification.
The Sunday Guardian Live
The Washington Times
CIA whistleblower James Erdman III, a roughly 20-year agency veteran, testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday, alleging the CIA took back the boxes from ODNI and illegally monitored the computers and phones of investigators working under ODNI authority.
Daily Mail
Daily Caller
DNI Press Secretary Olivia Coleman denied reports of a raid, writing on X, "This is false — the CIA did not raid the DNI's office." Rep. Anna Paulina Luna later clarified the incident was not a same-day raid but maintained the CIA took documents "ODNI has jurisdiction over."
Newsweek
The Washington Examiner
NewsNation's Katie Pavlich reported that CIA personnel removed the JFK and MKUltra records from the National Reconnaissance Office in the middle of the night during the 2025 government shutdown and had not returned them to ODNI.
The Statesman
Daily Caller
Luna, who chairs the House Oversight Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, gave the CIA 24 hours to return the documents or face a subpoena motion, and joined House Oversight Chairman James Comer in sending a preservation letter to CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Wionews
The Washington Examiner
The controversy stems from Trump's Executive Order 14176, signed Jan. 23, 2025, directing the DNI and attorney general to oversee full declassification of records related to the assassinations of JFK, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. MKUltra, a Cold War-era CIA mind-control program.
The Sunday Guardian Live
LiveNOW from FOX

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

The CIA snatched forty boxes of JFK and MKUltra files from Tulsi Gabbard's office to bury proof of its past crimes. This move defies a presidential order for full release and blocks Congress from records it demanded. Subpoenas must force every file into public view right now.

Breitbart

Daily Caller

Narrative B

Claims of a CIA raid on the director of national intelligence office are pure fiction and partisan theater. Officials confirm no seizure occurred and the story rests on unreliable testimony from a subpoenaed witness. No files require return since the alleged action never took place.