Criticism of the Church Committee

Abstract

This chapter looks at the reasoning behind the criticism of the Church Committee’s enquiry. It argues that the Church Committee was a balanced, thorough investigation as the public demanded. This chapter identifies that Senator Church’s use of publicity throughout the investigation led to inaccurate but damaging claims of self-interest on Church’s part. Furthermore, this study refutes the claims that Church used the enquiry as a springboard for the presidency despite such accusations continuing into the twenty-first century. Critics in both 1976 and the modern-day manipulated Church’s bid for the presidency in order to cast aspersions on the Church Committee’s enquiry. In the case of 1976, these allegations were part of a campaign to promote the necessity of alternative legislation. Modern-day criticism was aimed at easing the restrictions on the executive branch caused by the legislative legacy of public opinion during the Year of Intelligence.