The Office of Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA-OIG) is the internal oversight office for the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States. The first inspector general was appointed in 1952.

The 1970s The Rockefeller Commission, Church Committee, and Pike Committee all recommended strengthening the office of inspector general. Their criticisms included claims that the inspector general had few staff, was ignored, and was denied access to information. Their suggestions were not made into law.

1980s The CIA OIG investigation of the Iran–Contra scandal was criticized in the final report of the Congressional investigation of the Iran–Contra affair. Members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (especially Boren, Cohen, Specter, and Glenn) wrestled with how to improve the IG while not interfering with the work of the CIA. They tried to make a bill that would satisfy various members of Congress and also not be vetoed by President George Bush. Senator Boren (chairman of the SSCI) worked with Robert Gates who was deputy to Brent Scowcroft at the time. In 1989, a new IG law was passed, creating a more independent IG. The IG also would no longer be chosen by the Director of Central Intelligence but would instead be appointed by the president with the "advice and consent" of the Senate.

Global war on terror There were several controversies surrounding the IG during the years of the global war on terror.

The IG released a controversial report on failures of the intelligence community before 9/11.Miller, 2007

IG staff Mary O. McCarthy was fired in 2006.

In 2007, General Michael Hayden, head of the CIA, had attorney Robert Deitz review the work of the IG.

2004 Inspector General Report In 2004, the CIA OIG published a report on prisoner treatment in the global war on terror. It was entitled "CIA Inspector General Special Review: Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities"."CIA Inspector General Special Review: Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities" at the ACLU web site After a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, a less redacted version was declassified in 2009 and released to the public.

List of Inspectors General Name Term start Term end Refs Donald F. Chamberlain July 1973 July 1976 John H. Waller July 1976 January 1980 Council of the Inspectors General, Inspector General Historical Data , 2007 May Charles Ackerly Briggs January 1980 September 1982 James H. Taylor September 1982 July 1984 John H. Stein July 1984 December 23, 1985 Carroll L. Hauver December 23, 1985 January 18, 1988 William F. Donnelly January 18, 1988 December 1, 1989 Wines, 1990 William F. Donnelly (Acting) December 1, 1989 November 13, 1990 Frederick P. Hitz November 13, 1990 May 1, 1998 Dawn Ellison (Acting) May 1, 1998 August 3, 1998 L. Britt Snider August 3, 1998 January 20, 2001 Verton, 2001Church CommitteeL. Britt Snider - The Literature of Intelligence: A Bibliography of Materials, with Essays, Reviews, and Comments J. Ransom Clark Emeritus Muskingum University New Concord, Ohio"Public Interest Declassification Board Meeting Minutes..." (Dec 15, 2006 - also included a panel discussion of historians from NRO, NSA, DIA, and the Office of the ... L. Britt Snider, Chairman of the PIDB, chaired the...) Rebecca Donegan (Acting) January 21, 2001 November 14, 2001 Rebecca Donegan (Deputy Inspector General) November 14, 2001 January 14, 2002 George Clark (Acting Deputy Inspector General) January 14, 2002 April 26, 2002 John L. Helgerson April 26, 2002 March 21, 2009 Panetta, Inspector General's Retirement Patricia Lewis (Acting) March 21, 2009 October 6, 2010 HEARING BEFORE THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE, ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION, congress.gov, September 21, 2010, retrieved January 4, 2010 David Buckley October 6, 2010 January 31, 2015 CIA Inspector General David Buckley to Resign, time.com, January 6, 2015, retrieved January 4, 2017 Christopher Sharpley (Acting) February 1, 2015 September 9, 2017 Cristine Ruppert (Acting Deputy Inspector General) September 9, 2017 June 28, 2021 Robin Ashton June 28, 2021 December 31, 2024 Robert Host (Acting) December 31, 2024 September 19, 2025 Peter Thomson September 19, 2025 Present

See also Office of inspector general (United States) Inspector General Act of 1978 CIA's relationship with the United States Congress

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