House Republicans revisited long-standing questions about possible links between the CIA’s infamous MKUltra program and Charles Manson’s murderous cult, as lawmakers revealed newly discovered agency records are being prepared for declassification.

Investigation and Testimony

Task Force Chair Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., opened the hearing by accusing the CIA of carrying out illegal human experimentation on unwitting Americans before destroying evidence to hide the program. Investigative journalist Tom O’Neill testified that his decades-long investigation uncovered correspondence between CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb and psychiatrist Dr. Louis ‘Jolly’ West discussing experiments involving LSD, hypnosis, memory manipulation, and behavioral control.

O’Neill also testified that West later established operations near a San Francisco clinic where Manson and members of his inner circle received free medical treatment in 1967, the same period Manson transformed from a recently paroled criminal into the cult leader who would order the Tate-LaBianca murders two years later.

Allegations and Concerns

Historian Stephen Kinzer testified that MKUltra amounted to ‘the most extreme experiments on human beings’ ever carried out by a U.S. government agency, alleging victims included prisoners, psychiatric patients, and unwitting civilians in the United States and overseas. Kinzer argued the CIA intentionally obscured the program by destroying records before congressional investigators could review them and urged lawmakers to seek the removal of decades-old redactions from surviving documents.

Republicans repeatedly questioned why no CIA officials were prosecuted after former Director Richard Helms ordered MKUltra files destroyed before leaving office. ‘No one went to prison. No victim was ever formally compensated,’ Luna said.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.