The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a
committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
of the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
, currently chaired by
Adam Schiff
Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who has served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Par ...
. It is the primary committee in the U.S. House of Representatives charged with the oversight of the
United States Intelligence Community
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
, though it does share some jurisdiction with other committees in the House, including the
Armed Services Committee for some matters dealing with the
Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to:
Current departments of defence
* Department of Defence (Australia)
* Department of National Defence (Canada)
* Department of Defence (Ireland)
* Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
and the various branches of the
U.S. military.
The committee was preceded by the Select Committee on Intelligence between 1975 and 1977. House Resolution 658 established the
permanent select committee, which gave it status equal to a
standing committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
on July 14, 1977.
Jurisdiction
The committee oversees all or part of the following
executive branch departments and
agencies:
History
Prior to establishing the permanent select committee in 1977, the House of Representatives established the "Select Committee on Intelligence", commonly referred to as the "
Pike Committee The Pike Committee is the common name for the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence during the period when it was chaired by Democratic Representative Otis G. Pike of New York. Under Pike's chairmanship, the committee inv ...
", so named after its last chairman,
Otis G. Pike of
New York. The
select committee had originally been established in February 1975 under the chairmanship of Congressman
Lucien Nedzi
Lucien is a male given name. It is the French form of Luciano (disambiguation), Luciano or Latin ''Lucianus'', patronymic of Lucius.
Lucien, Saint Lucien, or Saint-Lucien may also refer to:
People
Given name
*Lucien of Beauvais, Christian sain ...
of
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
. Following Nedzi's resignation in June, the committee was reconstituted with Pike as chair, in July 1975, with its mandate expiring January 31, 1976. Under Pike's chairmanship, the committee investigated illegal activities by the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA) and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(FBI).
The final report of the Pike Committee was never officially published, due to Congressional opposition. However, unauthorized versions of the draft final report were leaked to the press.
CBS News reporter
Daniel Schorr
Daniel Louis Schorr (August 31, 1916 – July 23, 2010) was an American journalist who covered world news for more than 60 years. He was most recently a Senior News Analyst for National Public Radio (NPR). Schorr won three Emmy Awards for his te ...
was called to testify before Congress, but refused to divulge his source. Major portions of the report were published by ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'', and a full copy of the draft was published in England.
During the 1980s the HPSCI worked to acquire access to covert action notifications of the CIA, as well as to strengthen the role of the committee in intelligence agency funding. Under the
Reagan administration
Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over ...
, the HPSCI and
United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (sometimes referred to as the Intelligence Committee or SSCI) is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of ...
(SSCI) worked with the
Director of Central Intelligence William J. Casey on what was known as the "Casey Accords". The accords required that covert action findings were to be accompanied by "scope papers" that included a risk/gain assessment of each such activity. However, the deal was not acceptable to the HPSCI, and after the
Iran–Contra affair
The Iran–Contra affair ( fa, ماجرای ایران-کنترا, es, Caso Irán–Contra), often referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the McFarlane affair (in Iran), or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States ...
, more pressure was placed on strengthening the oversight of committees.
In 2017, the committee was tasked along with the SSCI to evaluate the
degree of Russian interference in
2016 US elections. The committee was also investigating allegations of
wiretapping
Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
of
President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, as well as ties between Russian officials and members of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. The committee came under intense scrutiny in 2017 and 2018 due to allegations of partisanship and leaks of classified information by members and their staff. In March 2018, the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections was abruptly ended by the committee's Republican members despite the assertion by Democratic members that the investigation was incomplete and had failed to gather pertinent information. Notably, House Intelligence Republicans released a draft of their investigatory report which contradicted some findings of the U.S. Intelligence Community and was written without the input of House Democrats.
In March 2018, after further bitter disagreements, Republican committee member
Tom Rooney claimed that the committee had "lost all credibility" and had become "a political forum for people to leak information to drive the day's news."
In July 2018, the chair of the committee, Representative
Devin Nunes
Devin Gerald Nunes (; born October 1, 1973) is an American businessman and politician who is chief executive officer of the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). Before resigning from the House of Representatives and joining TMTG, Nunes was ...
, accused the Department of Justice, and its Federal Bureau of Investigation, of obstructing the committee's Trump/Russia related investigation in the hope of a Democratic takeover of congress later that year.
With change of party leadership in the House for the
116th United States Congress
The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2019, and ended on Janu ...
, the committee launched a probe of Trump's finances and Russian ties in February 2019. In June 2019, in the course of hearings on the national security implications of climate change, the White House blocked the submission of a statement by the State Department's
Bureau of Intelligence and Research
The Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) is an intelligence agency in the United States Department of State. Its central mission is to provide all-source intelligence and analysis in support of U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy. INR is ...
Office of the Geographer and Global Issues, and the analyst who wrote the statement, Rod Schoonover, resigned.
Members, 117th Congress
Subcommittees
Chairs
Select Committee chairs
*
Lucien N. Nedzi (D), 1975
*
Otis G. Pike (D), 1975–1976
Permanent Select Committee chairs
*
Edward P. Boland (D), 1977–1985
*
Lee H. Hamilton (D), 1985–1987
*
Louis Stokes
Louis Stokes (February 23, 1925 – August 18, 2015) was an American attorney, civil rights pioneer and politician. He served 15 terms in the United States House of Representatives – representing the east side of Cleveland – and was the firs ...
(D), 1987–1989
*
Anthony C. Beilenson (D), 1989–1991
*
David K. McCurdy (D), 1991–1993
*
Dan Glickman
Daniel Robert Glickman (born November 24, 1944) is an American politician, lawyer, lobbyist, and nonprofit leader. He served as the United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1995 until 2001, prior to which he represented as a Democrat in Con ...
(D), 1993–1995
*
Larry Combest
Larry Ed Combest (born March 20, 1945) is a retired American Republican politician who represented Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1985 to 2003.
Early life
Combest was born in Memphis, Texas, a small town in West Texas and the s ...
(R), 1995–1997
*
Porter Goss
Porter Johnston Goss (; born November 26, 1938) is an American politician and government official who served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 until 2004, when he became the last Director of Central Intellig ...
(R), 1997–2004
*
Pete Hoekstra (R), 2004–2007
*
Silvestre Reyes
Silvestre "Silver" Reyes (born November 10, 1944) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for , serving from 1997 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligen ...
(D), 2007–2011
*
Mike Rogers (R), 2011–2015
*
Devin Nunes
Devin Gerald Nunes (; born October 1, 1973) is an American businessman and politician who is chief executive officer of the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). Before resigning from the House of Representatives and joining TMTG, Nunes was ...
(R), 2015–2019
*
Adam Schiff
Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who has served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Par ...
(D), 2019–present
See also
*
COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO (syllabic abbreviation derived from Counterintelligence, Counter Intelligence Program; 1956–1971) was a series of Covert operation, covert and illegal projects actively conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation ( ...
*
Church Committee
*
Family Jewels
*
*
Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2019)
*
United States President's Commission on CIA Activities within the United States
*
United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (sometimes referred to as the Intelligence Committee or SSCI) is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of ...
Notes
External links
*
The Pike Committee Investigations and the CIA ''Government Printing Office Online''. Detailed listings of many aspects of previous memberships and sessions of Congress.
Open Congress WikiPike Committee Reports
Are all leaks good? The Pike Committee Report, Kissinger, and the Distortion of EventsHistorical Dictionary of the Kurds: Pike Committee Report
{{Authority control
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...
Reports of the United States government
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...
1977 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Government agencies established in 1977
Organizations associated with Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
Legislative intelligence oversight