# Central Intelligence Agency Office of Inspector General

The Office of Inspector General (often abbreviated to OIG) of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the independent overseer of the organisation. Since 2024, the office has been held by Robert Host. The first inspector general was appointed in 1952. The Central Intelligence Agency Office of Inspector General has worked on cases in collaboration with the United States Department of Justice and the National Security Agency Office of Inspector General.

## The 1970s

The Rockefeller Commission, Church Committee, and Pike Committee all recommended strengthening the office of OIG. Their criticisms included claims that the IG 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.
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". 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 |
| Donald F. Chamberlain | July 1973 | July 1976 |
| John H. Waller | July 1976 | January 1980 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Patricia Lewis (Acting) | March 21, 2009 | October 6, 2010 |
| David Buckley | October 6, 2010 | January 31, 2015 |
| 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 | Incumbent |