Research Guides: HONR 199H: Declassified Collections of Government Documents: Home

Resources

CIA FOIA Reading Room
Provides access to National Intelligence Estimates and other CIA analyses of various foreign countries.
A Citizen's Guide on Using the Freedom and Information Act and the Privacy Act of 1974 to Request Government Records
Periodic manual produced by the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Defense Intelligence Agency FOIA
Provides access to declassified military intelligence reports on various topics including terrorist detainee treatment documents.
FBI FOIA Reading Room
Features links to classified files on espionage cases, prominent criminals, and celebrities such as Elvis Presley.
Foreign Relations of the United States
Produced by the State Department's Office of the Historian, this is the official documentary record of U.S. foreign policy. Volumes are arranged by presidential administration, geographic region, and topic area. These volumes are generally declassified and publicly released 30 years after they were written.
Information Security Oversight Office
This National Archives Office is responsible for administering and overseeing the U.S. Government's security classification program.

U.S. Declassified Documents Online This link opens in a new window
Searchable database of previously classified federal records spanning the twentieth and twenty first centuries. The types of materials include intelligence studies, policy papers, diplomatic correspondence, cabinet meeting minutes, briefing materials, and domestic surveillance and military reports. Database allows users to to locate the full text of documents and filter their search results by document type, issue date, source institution, classification level, and date declassified as well as other document characteristics.

John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Courtesy of the U.S. National Archives
Justice Department Freedom of Information Act
Organization responsible for administering the 1966 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and its 1996 electronic amendments. Features links to various Justice Department office FOIA reading rooms.
Liberty and Security in a Changing World
Report and recommendations of the President's Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies. December 2013 Obama Administration report.
National Archives Access to Archival Databases
Provides access to declassified records from many U.S. Government agencies on a limitless variety of topics.
National Security Agency FOIA
This agency is responsible for cryptographic and signals intelligence operations and analysis. Their FOIA website features the text of reports on historic NSA activities such as the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Cuban Missile Crisis, John F. Kennedy's assassination, and the Venona program documenting Soviet espionage in the U.S. from 1943-1980.
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Books
The National Security Archive is a research institution that is part of George Washington University. The Electronic Briefing Books are collections of declassified U.S. Government documents on foreign policy, intelligence, and national security topics from various government agencies.