1 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: It's December, five days before Christmas, and a few dozen 2 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: people are gathered for a big holiday party. They're at 3 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: the US Post Office building in downtown San Francisco. Peeking in, 4 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:21,759 Speaker 1: it looks like a scene out of Mad Men. Guys 5 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: in crisp suits, skinny ties, women in colorful dresses, everyone 6 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: drinking and laughing. There's a Deputy U S Marshal at 7 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: the party named Wayne Ritchie. He's got a girlfriend, but 8 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,319 Speaker 1: she didn't come tonight. It doesn't matter. He's just here 9 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: to mingle. The mood is light, everyone's having fun whatever 10 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: the small talk. The booze is flowing. Actually it's more 11 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: than that. It's the sort of party where you can 12 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: reach out and someone will put a glass right in 13 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: your hand. You don't even have to ask. As Wayne 14 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: Ritchie SIPs gingerly, the drink hits him a little too quick. 15 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: This isn't just some light buzz. There's an uncomfortable feeling 16 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: in his chest. Then something in his brain starts pulling 17 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: him away from reality towards someplace else, a place he 18 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: doesn't like. He begins seeing things. The holiday lights melt 19 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: in front of him, and for some reason, creatures pop 20 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: up around him. Monsters really eyeing him suspiciously. Richie's office 21 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 1: is in the building. He excuses himself and sits alone. 22 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: He spent five years in the military and one year 23 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 1: as a guard at Alcatraz. He's a well respected marshal. 24 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,640 Speaker 1: But sitting there, Richie feels a surge of emotions, like 25 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: he's let people down, his friends, his relatives. Suddenly the 26 00:01:55,640 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: office no longer feels safe. He leaves. The monsters follow Wayne. 27 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: Ritchie is out on the streets now, trying to flee. 28 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: Faces don't look like faces anymore. Eyes are in the 29 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: wrong places, sore noses, sore mouths. The sidewalk moves under 30 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: his feet like it's liquid cement, like it never dried. 31 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: Richie's mind starts to wander. He starts thinking about his girlfriend. 32 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: He loves her so much. He remembers how she always 33 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: wanted to visit New York, how he couldn't afford the trip. 34 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: But right now, New York seems like a good idea. 35 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: Right now, it seems like the best idea he's ever had. 36 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: But he's got no money, not enough for that. What 37 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: if he could get the money. Richie goes back to 38 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: the post office building, to his storage locker, he gets 39 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 1: his service revolver. He's not sure why he needs a weapon, 40 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:04,680 Speaker 1: but he feels better with it, safer. He begins ducking 41 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: in and out of bars for more drinks. Maybe something 42 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: will wash away these feelings. Then he walks into the 43 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: right bar, the bar that can solve all his problems, 44 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: Shady Grove. He looks around. The monsters are still there, 45 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:29,079 Speaker 1: and there are people, too many people. He's nervous. Suddenly 46 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: he pulls out his gun. He aims at at the bartender. 47 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: He demands money, all the money. This is not Wayne Ritchie. 48 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: This man is committing armed robbery five days before Christmas. 49 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 1: Wayne Ritchie is a U S. Marshal, sworn to uphold 50 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: the law, a man who has never once broken it. 51 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: Part of him is looking on in horror, not believing 52 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: what's happening. Another part is totally comfortable with what's going on. 53 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: He can't even be fine if the bartender pulled out 54 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: his own gun and aimed it back at him. Now, 55 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 1: he says something that feels so right and so foreign 56 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: at the same time. Just put it all in the bag. Okay, 57 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: take it easy. I'm gonna go to New York with 58 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: my girl. Okay, Hey, hey, Mr. That last voice is 59 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: an anchor. It cuts through his thoughts and pulls him 60 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: back to reality. He's grateful, he turns to the person, 61 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: then a blast of pain explodes in the back of 62 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:53,359 Speaker 1: his head. When Wayne Ritchie regains consciousness, two police officers 63 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: are standing over him. He'll lose his job, his reputation 64 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:01,160 Speaker 1: will be ruined in an in stint, He'll go from 65 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:04,720 Speaker 1: an officer of the law to a felon. And it'll 66 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: be decades before Richie has any clue what happened that 67 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: he hadn't gone insane. Richie would later come to believe 68 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: he'd been dosed with LSD. It explained everything, and George 69 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: White's diary had a note about this exact party at 70 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: the Federal Building. While Richie could never definitively prove what 71 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: had happened to him that night, his story is forever 72 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:33,280 Speaker 1: late to White's reign of terror. For over a decade, 73 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: George White had used LSD to summon demons that chased 74 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: down innocent people, but before it was all over, someone 75 00:05:40,680 --> 00:06:13,359 Speaker 1: would finally be chasing him. For I Heart Radio, this 76 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: is Operation Midnight Climax, and I heard original podcast I'm 77 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: Your host Noel Brown. And this is chapter eight the climax, 78 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: Part one paper trail. Hey, Geo, fuck it, I fucking quit. Technically, 79 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 1: that's how George White's career came to a close, both 80 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: careers law enforcement and illegal LSD experimentation. It happened in 81 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,160 Speaker 1: at the San Francisco Narcotics Bureau office. In the end, 82 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: it wasn't a complaint or a death or his conscience. 83 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:07,679 Speaker 1: It was invoices. All along, White had been forwarding expense 84 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: invoices to his CIA supervisor, Sidney Gottlieb. White was billing 85 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: the CIA for everything from prostitutes to booze. Not exactly 86 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: a good move if you want to fly under the radar. 87 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: And beginning in nineteen sixty three, these invoices were landing 88 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: on the desk of CIA Inspector General John Eyerman. Eerman 89 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:34,440 Speaker 1: was outraged. He spoke to Gotlieb, who confirmed White was 90 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 1: on the prowl in San Francisco. White had full approval 91 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: to dose innocent people with LSD. Erman dubbed the entire 92 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: enterprise a series of sophomoric procedures. He wanted it shutdown. 93 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: Of course, Gottlieb and a CIA ally named Richard Helms 94 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: didn't agree. Helms tried to placate Erman. You promised to 95 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 1: sit down with CIA director John mccoon to explain and 96 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: exactly what was going on. Then Helms ignored the issue completely. 97 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: He never approached mccon. Erman was shocked, so Erman wrote 98 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: a report and delivered it directly to mccon. Got Leeban 99 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: Helm sat down with the director to argue their side 100 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: of it. Sure, it looked like White was harming innocent civilians, 101 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: but this was war. Helms insisted the Soviets had a 102 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: stranglehole on chemical weapons and attacks. The United States was 103 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 1: just trying to keep up. George White's brand of realistic 104 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: testing was a necessity. Faced with what he perceived as 105 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: two compelling arguments, McCone did what bureaucrats do. He pushed 106 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: it off to the side and refused to make a 107 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:52,079 Speaker 1: decision for two years. While Erman fumed, the San Francisco 108 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 1: safe houses were allowed to remain open as he had 109 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 1: always done, got leave insulated wife from the bureaucracy. When 110 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: mc hohne was finally convinced in k Ultra had to 111 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,719 Speaker 1: be stopped, it was less of an order than a suggestion. 112 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: Gottlieb allowed George White to run his safe houses for 113 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: another year, Hey all of his bills. Maybe he believed 114 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 1: he could change mccowan's mind. Maybe he just wanted White 115 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: to have one last go of things. But ultimately common 116 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 1: sense prevails. There were no more last minute bailouts for White. 117 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: This time, the party really was over. In He turned 118 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: in his gun and badge and walked out the door, 119 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 1: not just the CIA's door, but the door of the 120 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 1: Narcotics Bureau too. The Narcotics Bureau had nothing to do 121 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: with the CIA work, but White was indignant. He'd only 122 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,559 Speaker 1: remained on the job to moonlight as a psychedelic hit man. 123 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:56,680 Speaker 1: If that was being stripped from him, he had little 124 00:09:56,679 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: reason to continue. All he had left was a job 125 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: that was now insisting on a concept he detested, oversight. 126 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:11,839 Speaker 1: The culture was changing, police work was changing. There were 127 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 1: forms to fill out, people to answer to. Rogue agents 128 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:19,320 Speaker 1: like White. Nike Feldman were a dying breed. Feldman had 129 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: been exiled to Bangkok. He had gotten into trouble for 130 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: searching a property without a search warrant and later distributing 131 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 1: guns he'd seized to other cops. White was criticized for 132 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: taking an opium scale during a raid for his extensive 133 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 1: collection of drug paraphernalia his trophies. The Narcotics Bureau itself 134 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 1: wouldn't exist for much longer. It underwent a restructuring. By 135 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: seventy three, it had been absorbed into the newly created 136 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: Drug Enforcement Agency or d e A. The world was 137 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,800 Speaker 1: changing around George White, who later wrote to a friend 138 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 1: about his decision. I retired in San Francisco after about 139 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 1: thirty two years of rumbled tumble, and I suppose I 140 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: got out just in time, as I suspect I couldn't 141 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 1: abide the current rules applying to policeman. It was actually 142 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:11,280 Speaker 1: bad health which forced me out, as the booze finally 143 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 1: cut off with my liver and sirosis kept me in 144 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: and out of hospitals for a few years. I haven't 145 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: had a drink in six years, and I'm living without it, 146 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,880 Speaker 1: as the anti smoke TV puffs put it. And he 147 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: once told a journalist, there are more clerks, more forms, 148 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: more meetings, more laterals, more verticals. It serves no purpose, 149 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 1: wastes of time and money, and I don't enjoy it anymore. 150 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 1: I grew up in a much rougher school after decades 151 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: as one of the most successful and celebrated cops in 152 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: the country. George White disappeared, but the consequences at George 153 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:53,880 Speaker 1: White's actions didn't just suddenly end with his retirement. They 154 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:57,240 Speaker 1: reverberated for years. After he squeezed his last dose of 155 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 1: LSD into a stranger's drink like a hangover, his actions 156 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 1: would linger, and they wouldn't remain a secret forever. Though 157 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: Sydney Gottlieb gave it his best shot. For a time 158 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: it seemed like Gotlee ban White would get away with everything. 159 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: Gotleib continued to petition for LSD experiments when and where 160 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:24,240 Speaker 1: he could, and for a time he was vindicated. In 161 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,320 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy two, the c i A learned that two 162 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:32,319 Speaker 1: physicians who accompanied President Richard Nixon to Moscow returned behaving erratically. 163 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:37,320 Speaker 1: One of the physicians reportedly had unexplained crying fits. He 164 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:41,440 Speaker 1: had trouble recognizing his friends. He was treated for months. 165 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 1: Gotly believed they had been drugged by the Soviets, though 166 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: was never proven. Then came Watergate. In June two, after 167 00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:54,960 Speaker 1: a break in at the Watergate Hotel, Gottlieb got nervous 168 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: think of all the incriminating documents related to MK Ultra. 169 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 1: It was a paper or trail of the CIA at 170 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 1: its most irresponsible and sadistic. A few months following the 171 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:09,720 Speaker 1: Watergate break in got leaving his colleague of the CIA, 172 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: Richard Helms, decided to cover their tracks the old fashioned 173 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 1: way by destroying every single document related to MK Ultra, 174 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: and a few months after that Gottlieb retired to what 175 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: he believed would be a quiet life of tennis and 176 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 1: raising goats. He was now a bystander to LSD's evolution 177 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: from a truth drug to a notorious drug. The use 178 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:38,080 Speaker 1: of LSD among the general public had gotten more popular, 179 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,200 Speaker 1: doing no small measure to the government introducing into the 180 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:46,400 Speaker 1: masses through frequent and covert experimentation. As Gottlieb fed it 181 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:50,560 Speaker 1: to universities and professors, it spread through college campuses, but 182 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: it was getting harder for the general public to obtain. 183 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: In ninety eight, possession of LSD was a misdemeanor and 184 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: the sale of it a fell me Soon after, it 185 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:06,880 Speaker 1: was a schedule one substance. People like Timothy Leary, Aldis Huxley, 186 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 1: and even actor Carrie Grant were advocating for LSD is 187 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:15,079 Speaker 1: a therapeutic, even as it was being increasingly stigmatized. If 188 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:17,600 Speaker 1: anyone found out about the government using LSD in the 189 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: most dangerous way possible by giving it to people unwittingly, 190 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:25,960 Speaker 1: there would be a tremendous problem. But got Leep had 191 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: made confetti out of it, erasing any trace of mk 192 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: ultra from the government's collective memory, or so he thought. 193 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 1: In four a reporter named Seymour Hirsch wrote an article 194 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,600 Speaker 1: for The New York Times. He detail l the CIA 195 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 1: is a legal domestic intelligence operation which kept surveillance on 196 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 1: the anti war movement. It was criminal and a considerable 197 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: departure from the CIA's boundaries. At least, it was a 198 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: departure from their public reputation of being a virtuous organization. 199 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,960 Speaker 1: President Gerald Ford saw the press poking around, hoping for 200 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,960 Speaker 1: another water game. He knew if Congress took the initiative, 201 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 1: it might result in unnecessary disclosures about CIA activities, So 202 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: Ford grabbed the wheel and announced a special commission devoted 203 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: to investigating the CIA. His vice president, Nelson Rockefeller, would 204 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:44,320 Speaker 1: share it, and it was during those hearings that CIA 205 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 1: Director William Colby wound up dropping the bombshell that the 206 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: CIA had conducted LSD experiments on American citizens. Colby, unlike 207 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: many in the CIA, thought there was such a thing 208 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: as a bad secret, and so he simply told the truth. 209 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:06,440 Speaker 1: When the Rockefeller Committee failed to follow up on Colby's revelations, 210 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:11,120 Speaker 1: a second committee was organized, the Select Committee to Study 211 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: Governmental Operations with respect to Intelligence Activities. It could have 212 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,080 Speaker 1: also been called what the fuck is the CIA doing. 213 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: Senator Frank Church headed the group, which was dubbed the 214 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 1: Church Committee, and unlike Rockefeller's team, they were eager to 215 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 1: get to the truth. The call went out to CIA 216 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:35,160 Speaker 1: officials passed and present to explain themselves. Sydney Gottlieb was 217 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 1: among them. Gottlieb didn't want to talk when he was 218 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 1: summoned to the hearings in ninety five. His answers were 219 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 1: sealed from the public and the press. He was finally 220 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,040 Speaker 1: convinced to speak a second time on September twenty one, 221 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven, during hearings chaired by Senator Ted Kennedy. 222 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 1: In exchange he would be immune from prosecution. Gottlieb tried 223 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: to be as evasive as possible. He began by reading 224 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:09,040 Speaker 1: a prepared statement. My name is Sydney Gottlieb. At least 225 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:11,679 Speaker 1: that part was true. I would like to comment on 226 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:15,440 Speaker 1: Project MK Ultra. In the judgment of the CIA, there 227 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:18,160 Speaker 1: was tangible evidence that both the Soviets and the Red 228 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:22,360 Speaker 1: Chinese might be using techniques of altering human behavior which 229 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: were not understood by the United States and which would 230 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:29,440 Speaker 1: have implications of national survival in the context of national 231 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:34,879 Speaker 1: security concerns at that time. Gotlieb admitted the CIA had 232 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:39,120 Speaker 1: targeted civilians. As far as the Bureau of Narcotics project 233 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:42,520 Speaker 1: is concerned, there was no advanced knowledge or protection of 234 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 1: the individual's concerned. The only comment I would like to 235 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,080 Speaker 1: make on this is harsh as it may seem in retrospect. 236 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:53,080 Speaker 1: In an issue where national survival might be concerned, such 237 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:56,240 Speaker 1: a procedure and such a risk was a reasonable one 238 00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: to take. The committee asked why, if the cause was just, 239 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,679 Speaker 1: he had tried to destroy every document related to it. 240 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: With my retirements and with the drug work over and 241 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:10,359 Speaker 1: inactive for several years, these files were of no constructive 242 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:13,200 Speaker 1: use to the agency. They were the kind of sensitive 243 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,720 Speaker 1: files that were capable of being misunderstood by anyone not 244 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: thoroughly familiar with their background, but Kennedy and his team 245 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:24,400 Speaker 1: came prepared. God leaves paper apocalypse of a few years 246 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,640 Speaker 1: prior had missed a number of boxes lurking in another office. 247 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 1: Some of the most devious minds and American intelligence had 248 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: failed to cover all their tracks. More than twenty thousand 249 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: documents related to MK Ultra survived. They were discovered by 250 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:45,000 Speaker 1: a journalist named John Marks, who had filed a Freedom 251 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,440 Speaker 1: of Information Act request to obtain them. The papers included 252 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:52,840 Speaker 1: financial records, plus evidence the CIA had used LSD on 253 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:57,520 Speaker 1: operatives as well as citizens. Got Leab took issue with 254 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 1: the papers for one specific reason. I feel victimized and 255 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 1: I am appalled at the CIA's policy wherein someone or 256 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 1: some group selectively pinpoints my name by failing to delete 257 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 1: it from documents released under the Freedom of Information Act 258 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: without any permission for me. Sydney Gottlieb was suddenly worried 259 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:28,479 Speaker 1: about consent Part two implausible deniability. The hearing was not 260 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 1: Gotlieb's finest hour, but his plan, dating back to nineteen 261 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:36,639 Speaker 1: fifty two, had actually worked brilliantly. Remember that Gotlieb hired 262 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 1: George White as a contractor. He was never an actual 263 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 1: CIA employee. White was a Narcotics Bureau employee. It gave 264 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,679 Speaker 1: the CIA one degree of separation from the horrors he 265 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:52,800 Speaker 1: inflicted At the hearings. Gotlieb argued George White had gone rogue. 266 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,119 Speaker 1: The CIA, in turn would declare Gottlieb was the one 267 00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:58,919 Speaker 1: who had struck out on his own. No one was 268 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:03,359 Speaker 1: responsible for any thing. I might straighten one thing out 269 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:07,720 Speaker 1: here that this narcotics agent worked for the CIA. That 270 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: is total distortion. He remained a very active and I 271 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:17,800 Speaker 1: understand effective Bureau of Narcotics agents and administrator. He felt 272 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:21,679 Speaker 1: that his interest and ours could be successfully intermingled, and 273 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:23,719 Speaker 1: the nature of the things that he did for us 274 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 1: were indeed not things that he would say, well, now 275 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 1: I am doing this for the CIA. They were meant 276 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 1: to be useful in his own work, to the extent 277 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:34,479 Speaker 1: that he felt that way. I just want to straighten 278 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 1: that out. He never worked for the CIA. George White's 279 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 1: diary entry in fifty two told a far different story. 280 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:48,640 Speaker 1: Gottly proposes, I'd be a C I a consultant. I agree. 281 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 1: Senator Kennedy press Scottie on this point. Kennedy knew about 282 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:58,400 Speaker 1: George White, about Morgan Hall, about the safe houses. Kennedy 283 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 1: moved in on the number of victims was left in 284 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:04,640 Speaker 1: the wake of white psychedelic journey. In response to your 285 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:08,399 Speaker 1: second question of how many I testified, After carefully looking 286 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: over all the files that were shown to me, my 287 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:16,920 Speaker 1: best guests would be fifty. Kennedy pointed out that among 288 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,119 Speaker 1: the recovered documents, they were well over two hundred checks 289 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: White paid out to his underlings. The amounts ranged from 290 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 1: fifty dollars to a hundred dollars. Many had the words 291 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:31,240 Speaker 1: stormy in the memo section. Stormy was, of course, George 292 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:35,360 Speaker 1: White's favorite term for LSD. I would agree that they 293 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: probably represented at least attempts at drug administrations. The real 294 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: number is unknown. Senator Kennedy asked god lead if prostitutes 295 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,639 Speaker 1: were involved. The element of prostitution is interwoven in the 296 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,800 Speaker 1: whole matter, So I am certainly persuaded that, as far 297 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:55,640 Speaker 1: as safe houses are concerned, there were prostitutes in them. 298 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:58,359 Speaker 1: Gottlieb then tap danced around a question about whether they 299 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:04,080 Speaker 1: had recorded the activities in Chestnut Street. That is another 300 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:06,240 Speaker 1: matter which I think needs to be talked about in 301 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 1: something more than a yes or no answer. Kennedy wanted 302 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:14,199 Speaker 1: to know about self experimentation. Did Gottlieb administer drugs to 303 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:18,760 Speaker 1: any of his colleagues or try LSD himself? There was 304 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:22,080 Speaker 1: an extensive amount of self experimentation for the reason that 305 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: we felt that a firsthand knowledge of the subjective effects 306 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,360 Speaker 1: of these drugs were important to those of us who 307 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:32,639 Speaker 1: were involved in the program. The committee also brought up 308 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:36,440 Speaker 1: Frank Olsen, the CIA employee who plunged to his death 309 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:41,359 Speaker 1: in nineteen three. Olson, you'll remember, had been dosed with 310 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:46,160 Speaker 1: LSD just days prior. They asked why it didn't halt 311 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:52,240 Speaker 1: the program, and Senator Kennedy broached the ultimate question, quote, 312 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:54,520 Speaker 1: can you tell us what you learned from the years 313 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,160 Speaker 1: of the operation of the safe house? Was a useful 314 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 1: What can you tell us? I think what we learned 315 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 1: from the safe houses was more about what you could 316 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: not do than what you could do. That was as 317 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:16,640 Speaker 1: relevant as positive information. I think the conclusion from all 318 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:20,480 Speaker 1: the activities was that it was very difficult to predictably 319 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,879 Speaker 1: manipulate human behavior in this way, and that would be 320 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:28,480 Speaker 1: a summary statement I would make. By the time the 321 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:31,359 Speaker 1: hearing has concluded and the report issued, the CIA had 322 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:34,800 Speaker 1: been publicly scolded and reprimanded for its intentional dosing of 323 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 1: Americans with LSD. The U. S Government banned the use 324 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:42,920 Speaker 1: of experimental drugs on human subjects without their consent in seven, 325 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:46,680 Speaker 1: although the CIA under Gottlieb's watch wouldn't have paid such 326 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:51,880 Speaker 1: a mandate much mind promised immunity. Gottlieb walked away, back 327 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: to a retirement of folk dancing and his goats. But 328 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,600 Speaker 1: one question remained. What happened to the man who was 329 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:03,879 Speaker 1: respond posible for terrorizing American citizens with LSD for twelve years? 330 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:28,240 Speaker 1: What happened to George White? Part three? The Colonel George 331 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 1: White grew up with the sound of crashing ocean waves 332 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:34,280 Speaker 1: in the Hambra, California. When he walked away from police 333 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:37,600 Speaker 1: work in nineteen he and his wife Albertin made a 334 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:40,879 Speaker 1: home for themselves in Stinson Beach, California, a community of 335 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:44,879 Speaker 1: about seven people. In the third and final act of 336 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 1: his life, he returned to the sea, but Albertin wasn't 337 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:51,600 Speaker 1: known much. She was still acting as a clothing buyer 338 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 1: for major retailers. She was also dabbling in real estate. 339 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:59,399 Speaker 1: Life kept her moving and on the road, and so 340 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:02,560 Speaker 1: for the first time in decades, George White had time 341 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:07,040 Speaker 1: on his hands. He thought about becoming a private investigator, which, 342 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:10,560 Speaker 1: given his considerable skills, the legitimate investigator would have fit 343 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,440 Speaker 1: him like a glove. It would have brought him full 344 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 1: circle back to his days as a private investigator's assistant 345 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:21,160 Speaker 1: before becoming a narcotics cop. He applied for a license, 346 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 1: but his health was an impediment of cruising the streets 347 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,800 Speaker 1: looking for wayward husbands. Decades of drinking had made a 348 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:32,879 Speaker 1: mess of his liver. Instead, he threw himself into Stintson Beach. 349 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 1: He became the volunteer fire marshal, a job that didn't 350 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 1: demand much of him. White drove around in a red jeep, 351 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,880 Speaker 1: sometimes driving across the lawn of residence he disliked. After 352 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:47,639 Speaker 1: an increase in vandalism, he helped open a youth center. 353 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,560 Speaker 1: The man who once took down a nationwide Chinese opium 354 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,399 Speaker 1: ring was now concerned with juvenile delinquents busting windows with rocks. 355 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,160 Speaker 1: We can't clean these little bastards are complete bastards until 356 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:01,920 Speaker 1: we've given them a little clubhouse where they convent their energies. 357 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: If this fails, will throw them all in juvenile all. 358 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:09,360 Speaker 1: In a letter to a friend, he wrote last year, 359 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 1: I was suckered into becoming fire chief of this village. 360 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:16,360 Speaker 1: We have two modern pumpers and about twenty volunteer firemen, 361 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:20,920 Speaker 1: all small town prima donnas. Although my heart attack last 362 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 1: year came about when in the capacity is firewarden, I 363 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:27,800 Speaker 1: over exerted. It happened during a cliff side rescue operation. 364 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,640 Speaker 1: I was persuaded to take the job since it appeared 365 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:32,440 Speaker 1: I was the only two legged man who could get 366 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 1: along with the various cliques amongst the volunteers, most probably 367 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: because I was the only one who didn't want to 368 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,560 Speaker 1: be chief. Of course, I stipulated I wouldn't slide down 369 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:46,720 Speaker 1: the pole to send cliffs or eat smoke, but would 370 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:52,879 Speaker 1: confine my activity to deep thinking and issuing orders. The 371 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:57,159 Speaker 1: fire department was another small army White corral order around 372 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:02,120 Speaker 1: and send that on missions. Was considering his limitations an 373 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:05,679 Speaker 1: effective echo of his law enforcement work. It gave him 374 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,320 Speaker 1: a measure of power and control, even if it was 375 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: just over fire hydrants and unpaid volunteers. But Stinson Beach 376 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:15,960 Speaker 1: was an odd choice for White. The Stinson Beach of 377 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:19,800 Speaker 1: the early nineteen seventies was full of retirees boating enthusiasts 378 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:22,879 Speaker 1: and more than a few hippies. Jerry Garcia had a 379 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,760 Speaker 1: place there. The smell of marijuana sometimes drifted from the 380 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,880 Speaker 1: shore over to the homes just off the sand. White 381 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,440 Speaker 1: kept a telescope in his living room and scanned the 382 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 1: beaches looking for the tiny burst of flame that accompanied 383 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:40,199 Speaker 1: a freshly lit joint. If he saw it, well, there 384 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:48,359 Speaker 1: would be trouble. Police department, Marty, it's the colonel. People 385 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:52,040 Speaker 1: in Stinson Beach called White. The Colonel. I got four 386 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:54,160 Speaker 1: creeps here lighting up a joint right outside my house. 387 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:56,840 Speaker 1: You gotta come by and pick him up. Listen, Colonel, 388 00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: are you sure? Because I'm damn sure, right in front 389 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:03,400 Speaker 1: of my else. What do these kids think they are? Okay, 390 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:14,399 Speaker 1: we'll be over pump kids, hippies. Dear Paul. This afternoon, 391 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 1: four adults sat down on the beach less than fifty 392 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:19,119 Speaker 1: ft from my front window and had a pot party 393 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:23,400 Speaker 1: on my beach. I called the sheriff and had them sneezed. 394 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:25,480 Speaker 1: I'm gonna put a sign on my bulkhead. Hey man, 395 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 1: absolutely no pot smoking within a hundred yards of this window. 396 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,879 Speaker 1: This means you, the man who had spent over a 397 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 1: decade drugging unwitting subjects was now anti drug, vehemently anti drug. 398 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:43,400 Speaker 1: He once said, everyone convicted of smoking marijuana should spend 399 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:46,760 Speaker 1: some time in jail. You'd have some pretty full jails 400 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:49,200 Speaker 1: for perhaps a year. But when people learned it was 401 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:52,680 Speaker 1: dangerous to smoke grass, I think use would taper off 402 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: and the problem would diminish greatly. In his writing, White 403 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: laid out his basic stance, the currently premiss of attitude 404 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,479 Speaker 1: towards the smoking of marijuana cannot fail to breed damage 405 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 1: for society. It has been cleaned that marijuana is not addictive, 406 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 1: but admitted in the same quarters that a great many 407 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,760 Speaker 1: marijuana users progress to other drugs that are definitely addictive. 408 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: As such, no apology or rationale may be made for it. 409 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,520 Speaker 1: White also had words for LSD, which he'd wielded like 410 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 1: a weapon against an unknown number of people. LSD, like 411 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 1: all the hallucinogenic drugs, is devastatingly dangerous, particularly in its 412 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:34,720 Speaker 1: social effect because of the curious endorsement given it by 413 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:41,120 Speaker 1: pseudo intellectuals, bohemians, and some of the irresponsible celebrities. There 414 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: is no question that its use invites and in many cases, 415 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: produces brain damage. The solution to the drug issue was, 416 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:55,920 Speaker 1: he wrote, suppression. I am convinced that the ultimate solution 417 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,480 Speaker 1: as of the present time lies in rigid suppression of 418 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:03,480 Speaker 1: the traffic, drying up the source of supply. The police, 419 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,280 Speaker 1: and the police alone are responsible for this limitation and 420 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: are rarely given credit for the effectiveness of this accomplishment. 421 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 1: In White's mind, drugs had no demonstrable benefit. Clinicians working 422 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 1: towards therapeutic uses were spinning their wheels. Only complete and 423 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:24,040 Speaker 1: total condemnation would work. White often spoke of a desire 424 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,960 Speaker 1: to have power, to wield it, to have a secret. 425 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: It came in the form of his badge and his 426 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:33,200 Speaker 1: gun in his exploits in foreign countries, and his killing 427 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 1: of spies in his double life as a straight laced 428 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 1: cop and a kinky swinger. And it came in the 429 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:42,440 Speaker 1: form of a tiny plastic ampule that gave him more 430 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 1: power than any bullet ever could, the power to break 431 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:50,200 Speaker 1: through the psychological borders of the mind. When he could 432 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 1: pursue it no longer, he retired distints and beach. Without 433 00:30:54,640 --> 00:31:01,680 Speaker 1: his oversight, drugs were dangerous, forbidden. The question is always 434 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:06,280 Speaker 1: why why did George White drug an uncounted number of citizens. 435 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 1: Knowing early on that LSD was never going to be 436 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:12,480 Speaker 1: the answer to brain warfare or mind control, that should 437 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,960 Speaker 1: have become obvious within months. The so called mind control 438 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:19,760 Speaker 1: of the Korean War was simply brutal interrogation techniques designed 439 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:23,000 Speaker 1: to break the will of prisoners. White was armed with 440 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:27,600 Speaker 1: LSD from nineteen fifty three to nineteen sixty five, a 441 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:32,280 Speaker 1: period of twelve years. Based on the small sample size 442 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:34,360 Speaker 1: of people he was known to have drugged and their 443 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: resulting problems ranging from a steria at a hospitalization, George 444 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,160 Speaker 1: White might have driven more people to the brink than 445 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 1: anyone else alive. Today, LSD is experiencing a resurgence of 446 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: interest in legitimate and controlled medical study, its benefits hinge 447 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:56,240 Speaker 1: on proper administration and consent. The knowledge that one is 448 00:31:56,280 --> 00:32:00,560 Speaker 1: taking LSD is the anchor to reality. Without you risk 449 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: a fractured mind. Maybe George White believed that was a 450 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:08,440 Speaker 1: risk worth taking in the name of democracy, or maybe 451 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 1: he'd finally come to regret what he had done when 452 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,360 Speaker 1: he wasn't busting pot smokers. White started scribbling on a 453 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:22,400 Speaker 1: giant sheet of counterfeit paper he'd once sees during a raid. 454 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: He wanted to start chronicling his experiences in the field, 455 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:31,040 Speaker 1: a lifetime spent chasing criminals from New York City to Calcutta. 456 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,960 Speaker 1: He wanted to write his autobiography in a proper hard 457 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:40,160 Speaker 1: boiled style. He titled it A Diet of Danger. Since 458 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:42,880 Speaker 1: my retirement to a beachside cottage where I lived with 459 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:46,800 Speaker 1: my wife, Albertine, I find myself increasingly reflective about the 460 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:49,840 Speaker 1: full and active years just behind me, and of the 461 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 1: social forces and defections that add up to criminal conduct. 462 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:58,280 Speaker 1: The surf rolls in at my doorstep, the fog billows 463 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:02,480 Speaker 1: over my garden. My fire burns red and hot, and 464 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:04,560 Speaker 1: the images of the past are as fresh as they 465 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:09,000 Speaker 1: were yesterday. I remember a room in his stun Bolt 466 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:13,080 Speaker 1: where heroin makers stood ready to end my life. The 467 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:15,960 Speaker 1: hot pursuit of murder incorporated through the nighttime streets of 468 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:19,400 Speaker 1: New York. I haven't forgotten a moment of my membership 469 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 1: in a Chinese gang. Each moment was a separate adventure 470 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:31,880 Speaker 1: of itself. The past has not been though. White's autobiography, 471 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 1: at least the partial manuscript that survives, is a curious document. 472 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:38,880 Speaker 1: It's full of the bravado you'd expect from a World 473 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:43,120 Speaker 1: War two intelligence operative and narcotics cop. But out of necessity, 474 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:46,720 Speaker 1: it lacks the most colorful portion of White's life, his 475 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:50,400 Speaker 1: relentless pursuit of LSD as a truth and mind control drug. 476 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,880 Speaker 1: He had taken a vow of silence familiar to intelligence operatives, 477 00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:00,200 Speaker 1: magicians and Mafiosa's morals and vital truths. You'll have to 478 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:04,400 Speaker 1: draw for yourself as separate dividends. As a former newspaperman, 479 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,240 Speaker 1: I know better than to set down more than the what, 480 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:11,680 Speaker 1: the who, and the wire and the me. He even 481 00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:14,920 Speaker 1: disclosed why Stints in Beach had such appeal despite its 482 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:18,360 Speaker 1: rampant drug culture. I am interested in content that I 483 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:21,000 Speaker 1: live on the exact epicenter of the San Andreas Fault, 484 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:27,200 Speaker 1: the historically lethal dead center of California's earthquake zone, and 485 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:31,320 Speaker 1: perhaps on some quiet, lonely night as an alien and 486 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:36,120 Speaker 1: unexplained automobile circles my Salty haven. The stimulating spark of 487 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:40,960 Speaker 1: adventure and challenge me once more glow? What better tonic 488 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:44,960 Speaker 1: could have pastured? Man Hunter? Ask for? It's been a 489 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:53,400 Speaker 1: hell of a life. The Sirosis caught up to George 490 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 1: White on October He died at age sixty seven. It 491 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:02,600 Speaker 1: was just weeks after Gottlieb testified to the Church Committee. 492 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:07,200 Speaker 1: White's death may have cheated justice. His legacy becomes not 493 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:10,560 Speaker 1: one of a narcotic star, but a devil in CoP's clothing. 494 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:17,359 Speaker 1: Albertin remarried Stenson Beach, remembered and honored their colorful fire. 495 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:22,800 Speaker 1: Marshal White never finished his autobiography notes from publishers, so 496 00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:25,360 Speaker 1: the material of a cop on the Hunt for dope 497 00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:29,440 Speaker 1: fiends would be hard to market. If White had lived, 498 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:32,080 Speaker 1: he might have written about the exploits of Morgan Hall, 499 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:35,520 Speaker 1: his c I a alter ego, and that would have 500 00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:52,280 Speaker 1: been a very different story epilog. Thanks to Sydney Gottlieb, 501 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:55,000 Speaker 1: the world will likely never know the full extent of 502 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:58,719 Speaker 1: the CIA's experimentation with LSD, or how many times it 503 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,840 Speaker 1: was actually deployed. The victims the government was able to 504 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:06,480 Speaker 1: identify came courtesy of George White, who testified from beyond 505 00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:11,520 Speaker 1: the grave. Not long after White's death, his wife, Albertine, 506 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:14,360 Speaker 1: donated all of his papers to Foothill Junior College in 507 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:19,520 Speaker 1: Los Altos Hills, California. They eventually wound up at Stanford University. 508 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:23,560 Speaker 1: There are ten boxes of diaries and date books, names 509 00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:27,240 Speaker 1: and dates, letters and receipts. It would be the only 510 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:32,880 Speaker 1: way George White would ever cooperate with the investigation. In 511 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:36,760 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy nine, the CIA created a Victim's Task Force, 512 00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:41,440 Speaker 1: appointing CIA officer Frank Laubinger to track down White's victims 513 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:44,640 Speaker 1: and offer whatever assistance or apology would be deemed appropriate. 514 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:49,920 Speaker 1: Labbenger used White's diaries to try and locate individuals. Initially, 515 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:53,120 Speaker 1: he was told White and only drug criminals, but as 516 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:56,160 Speaker 1: he dove into the project, he realized White had expanded 517 00:36:56,200 --> 00:37:01,360 Speaker 1: his reach. The list of knowns subjects was rather short, 518 00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:07,560 Speaker 1: as White's diaries were purposefully vague. Still, Labinger managed to 519 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:10,960 Speaker 1: reach Elliott Smythe, whose wife Barbara had been dosed in 520 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:15,040 Speaker 1: ninety three while their newborn baby was present. It was 521 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:17,440 Speaker 1: the first time Elliott had ever become aware of the 522 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:23,400 Speaker 1: fact Barbara, now deceased, had been drugged. Elliott sued the 523 00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:27,120 Speaker 1: CIA for two point five million dollars, but it never 524 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:30,960 Speaker 1: got very far. But Clarice Stein, drugged the same night 525 00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:34,480 Speaker 1: as Barbara, received a settlement from the CIA. The price 526 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:41,360 Speaker 1: for a government approved psychological assault thousand dollars. Others like 527 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:44,279 Speaker 1: the actress Linda King and the singer Ruth Kelly, were 528 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:47,960 Speaker 1: never located by the Task Force. When Labinger kept pressing, 529 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:51,200 Speaker 1: kept trying to find out why White dosed people he 530 00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:54,200 Speaker 1: was either friends with or just happened across, he was 531 00:37:54,280 --> 00:38:00,120 Speaker 1: told by his superiors to stop. Laubinger didn't look at 532 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:02,880 Speaker 1: Wayne Ritchie U S. Marshall, who was dosed at a 533 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:06,920 Speaker 1: holiday party in nineteen fifty seven in San Francisco. Richie 534 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:10,920 Speaker 1: didn't connect the dots until nineteen when he read Sydney 535 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:14,200 Speaker 1: got Leave's obituary and began to understand what had happened. 536 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:18,360 Speaker 1: He sued the CIA and d e A for twelve 537 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: million dollars. He even deposed Ike Feldman, White's colleague. Sympathy 538 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:28,319 Speaker 1: on the part of Feldman was in short supply. He 539 00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:31,759 Speaker 1: called Ritchie had Knitwitt, who simply couldn't handle the undisclosed 540 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,880 Speaker 1: dose of l s D given to him. Ultimately, a 541 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:38,920 Speaker 1: Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals judge wasn't convinced Richie 542 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:41,600 Speaker 1: couldn't prove some kind of LSD psychosis had led to 543 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:45,480 Speaker 1: his robbery attempt, but the judge also said had given 544 00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:48,319 Speaker 1: everything that had transpired. He believed Richie might have been 545 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:55,120 Speaker 1: a victim, but there would be no recourse. And one 546 00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:58,160 Speaker 1: of his final letters, White wrote to his old friend 547 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:00,719 Speaker 1: and former boss Sydney, got leap from his desk and 548 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:04,160 Speaker 1: stints and beach, the tide rolling in, and the ghosts 549 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:07,120 Speaker 1: of his past yet to catch up to him. It's 550 00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:10,480 Speaker 1: probably the most extinct form of self analysis George White 551 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:16,239 Speaker 1: ever put down on paper. Dear Sid, It's pleasant to 552 00:39:16,239 --> 00:39:20,400 Speaker 1: be remembered these days, since nature has steadily been decimating 553 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,800 Speaker 1: the ranks of my friends and acquaintances. In spite of 554 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:27,560 Speaker 1: the serrhosis, diabetes, and cardiac issues, I'll probably outlive most 555 00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:31,160 Speaker 1: of my contemporaries and die with my fireman's boots on 556 00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:37,800 Speaker 1: the reason I have nothing to worry about. I need nothing, 557 00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:41,000 Speaker 1: and envy no one. Of course. I was a very 558 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:45,560 Speaker 1: minor missionary, actually a heretic, but I toiled in the 559 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:52,640 Speaker 1: vineyards wholeheartedly because it was fun, fun, fun. Where else 560 00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:54,960 Speaker 1: could a red blooded American boy lie and kill and 561 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:57,200 Speaker 1: cheat and steal with the sanction and blessing of the 562 00:39:57,239 --> 00:40:03,000 Speaker 1: all highest pretty good stuff. Brother like man, I don't 563 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:06,560 Speaker 1: care if the FBI taps my phone. I'm gonna do 564 00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:10,560 Speaker 1: my crime planning while swimming in the ocean. Real cool. 565 00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:44,600 Speaker 1: Keep in touch regards g h W. WE hope you've 566 00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:49,120 Speaker 1: enjoyed Operation Midnight Climax and I heard original podcast excerpts 567 00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:52,160 Speaker 1: from George White's autobiography and letters are courtesy of the 568 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:57,960 Speaker 1: Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries. If you enjoyed 569 00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:01,080 Speaker 1: Operation Midnight Climax, I highly recommend checking out another podcast 570 00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:03,000 Speaker 1: that I co host called Stuff They Don't Want You 571 00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:05,520 Speaker 1: To Know. In it, we talk about things like MK 572 00:41:05,719 --> 00:41:09,480 Speaker 1: Ultra and Operation Midnight Climax, everything from government cover ups 573 00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:12,759 Speaker 1: to the supernatural, and even cryptids and extraterrestrials. It's a 574 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:14,239 Speaker 1: lot of fun. If you're red to the show, you 575 00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:16,440 Speaker 1: can find that anywhere you get podcasts, And if you 576 00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:18,200 Speaker 1: want to keep track of me, you can find me 577 00:41:18,239 --> 00:41:20,800 Speaker 1: on Instagram Where I Am at, how Now Noel Brown 578 00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:27,000 Speaker 1: and Now One Last Time. Operation Midnight Climax is hosted 579 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,600 Speaker 1: by Noel Brown. This show's written by Jake Rosen, editing, 580 00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:34,520 Speaker 1: sound design and mixing by Ernie Indra Deete and Natasha Jacobs. 581 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:38,759 Speaker 1: Original music by Aaron Kaufman. Research and fact checking by 582 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:42,560 Speaker 1: Austin Thompson and MAURICEA Brown Show logo by Lucy King 583 00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:47,400 Speaker 1: Tania Special thanks to Enzo Solucci, Adam Copeland, Spencer Gibson, 584 00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:52,000 Speaker 1: David Crumholtz, Vanessa crum Holtz, Ryan Murdoch, and Ted Ramy. 585 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:56,279 Speaker 1: Julian Weller is our supervising producer. Our executive producers are 586 00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:59,560 Speaker 1: Jason English and mangesh Ha Ticketer. See you on the 587 00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:01,920 Speaker 1: next one MM and in our next batch if I 588 00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:05,000 Speaker 1: heard original podcasts will transport you to the Great Depression 589 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:09,000 Speaker 1: and an unlikely coup attempt against President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 590 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:12,200 Speaker 1: which oddly gets left out of the history books, and 591 00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:16,520 Speaker 1: to London and Isaac Newton's forgotten second act as a 592 00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:21,040 Speaker 1: ruthless cop. Will also answer age old questions like what 593 00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:23,839 Speaker 1: happens when the world's biggest movie star buys your town 594 00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:26,760 Speaker 1: and treats you like an extra, or when a brutal 595 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:30,560 Speaker 1: dictator's son gets arrested at Disneyland. Keep an eye out 596 00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:33,520 Speaker 1: for these shows on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 597 00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:38,840 Speaker 1: or wherever you find your favorite shows. That's all, folks, 598 00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:40,160 Speaker 1: thanks for listening.