Gang of Eight Sensitive Covert Action Notifications: The Historic Record

Notwithstanding the continuing debate over the merits of such notifications, what remains less
clear is the historic record of compliance with Gang of Eight provisions set out in statute.
Questions include: have such notifications generally been limited to covert actions, ones that
conform to congressional intent that such covert actions be highly sensitive and involve the risk
to life? When prior notification is limited to the Gang of Eight, has the executive branch provided
an explanatory statement as to why it limited notification to the Gang of Eight? If the Gang of
Eight is not provided prior notice, has the executive branch then informed the intelligence
committees at a later date and provided a reason why prior notification was not provided? Has the
Gang of Eight, once notified, ever then made a determination to notify the intelligence
committees, a prerogative envisioned by its congressional sponsors? Have the congressional
intelligence committees, at any time since they were established, attempted to develop procedures
to guide Gang of Eight notifications, as envisioned by the sponsors of the Gang of Eight
provision?

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Further Reading: CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties

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