The National Security Archive has announced that the CIA will declassify in full a 693-page file amassed on CIA’s illegal activities during the 1960s and 1970s. The file had been compiled on the order of CIA director James Schlesinger in 1973, and had been dubbed “the family jewels.”

The file had been compiled under Schlesinger’s orders after it became public knowledge that Watergate burglars E. Howard Hunt and James McCord (both veteran CIA officers) had cooperation from the Agency as they carried out “dirty tricks” for President Nixon. The story was originally broken by Seymour Hersh in the New York Times in December, 1974, but until now, only a few dozen heavily censored pages of the file have been released.

The National Security Archives has posted a 1975 summary of the file, revealing 18 specific areas covered including:

1. Confinement of a Russian defector that “might be regarded as a violation of the kidnapping laws.”
2. Wiretapping of two syndicated columnists, Robert Allen and Paul Scott.
3. Physical surveillance of muckraker Jack Anderson and his associates, including current Fox News anchor Britt Hume.
4. Physical surveillance of then Washington Post reporter Michael Getler.
5. Break-in at the home of a former CIA employee.
6. Break-in at the office of a former defector.
7. Warrantless entry into the apartment of a former CIA employee.
8. Mail opening from 1953 to 1973 of letters to and from the Soviet Union.
9. Mail opening from 1969 to 1972 of letters to and from China.
10. Behavior modification experiments on “unwitting” U.S. citizens.
11. Assassination plots against Castro, Lumumba, and Trujillo (on the latter, “no active part” but a “faint connection” to the killers).
12. Surveillance of dissident groups between 1967 and 1971.
13. Surveillance of a particular Latin American female and U.S. citizens in Detroit.
14. Surveillance of a CIA critic and former officer, Victor Marchetti.
15. Amassing of files on 9,900-plus Americans related to the antiwar movement.
16. Polygraph experiments with the San Mateo, California, sheriff.
17. Fake CIA identification documents that might violate state laws.
18. Testing of electronic equipment on US telephone circuits.

The file should make for interesting reading when it is finally released.