HTLINGUAL

HTLINGUAL (also HGLINGUAL) was a secret project of the United States of America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to intercept mail destined for the Soviet Union and China. It operated from 1952 until 1973. Originally known under the codename SRPOINTER (also SGPOINTER), the project authority was changed in 1955 and renamed. Early on, the CIA collected only the names and addresses appearing on the exterior of mailed items, but they were later opened at CIA facilities in Los Angeles and in New York.

The program had the stated purpose of obtaining foreign intelligence, but it targeted domestic peace and civil-rights activists as well.

See also

• Cabinet noir
• Project Mockingbird

Further reading

• Church Committee document: Exhibit 1: Inspector General's Survey of the Office of Security (Annex II) (PDF)
• Family Jewels (Central Intelligence Agency), documents released in 2007 ([1] and [2], on the National Security Archive's website)
• Commission on CIA Activities Within the United States, June 6, 1975, Report from Rockefeller Commission to the President.
• Department of Justice 57 page Declination memo (date, c. 1976) to not prosecute those involved in the mail intercept operations of 1953–1973.