It's not just a conspiracy theory that the CIA
For decades, though, internet users have spread unsubstantiated rumors that the CIA's efforts to manipulate the media extended to promoting propaganda in domestic news outlets through a large-scale campaign during the Cold War called "Operation Mockingbird" — and, in summer 2025, a claim circulated online that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard confirmed that the operation never ended.
The allegation spread on X, Facebook,
"BREAKING: DNI Tulsi Gabbard just said that Operation Mockingbird NEVER ENDED and that it's still in FULL SWING," said one X post.
However, this claim needs context. While Gabbard did appear to say in a July 31 interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson that she was currently combating efforts by CIA agents to manipulate American media, her response did not clearly indicate whether a formal CIA program named Operation Mockingbird still existed as of this writing — or ever existed at all.
We reached out to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to clarify the intent and meaning of Gabbard's comments and await a response.
Rumors about Operation Mockingbird spread long before Gabbard's comments. A description of the alleged campaign first appeared in "Katharine the Great: Katharine Graham and The Washington Post," Deborah Davis' 1979 unauthorized biography of Katharine Graham, a former owner of The Washington Post.
(Operation Mockingbird should not be confused with Project Mockingbird, a genuine CIA wiretapping program from the 1960s that spied on U.S. journalists.)
Whereas rumors about Operation Mockingbird have never been verified by demonstrable evidence, a legitimate 1976 Senate investigation known as the "Church Committee" — led by former Democratic Sen. Frank Church of Idaho — did find that at least 50 U.S. journalists or employees of U.S. media organizations were CIA assets, although most were freelance contributors and media representatives abroad (see Page 198 of this congressional report).
In his interview with Gabbard, Johnson referenced both Operation Mockingbird and the Church Committee. The full conversation is available on YouTube and the relevant clip starts at 23:52 (emphasis ours):
JOHNSON : The media being used as a propaganda mechanism. We saw it flatly. I mean, I think it's the smoking gun, quite frankly, of the Obamagate narrative and the Russiagate narrative. That it was so baked in, that The New York Times and Washington Post went and ran with it. Some would say that that's part of Operation Mockingbird. Some would say that that's part of what we learned in the Church Committee, that the intel agencies were using media outlets as their mouthpieces, and that those mouthpieces would parrot the official narrative.
And I wanted to ask you: is this operation still going on? Are you aware of the intel agencies working directly with media outlets in order to push prescribed narratives that may or may not be true?
GABBARD: It's something that we've already had to deal with, Benny, within this administration, where there are people within the intelligence community who believe that their will is more important than the will of the American people, and will weaponize intelligence by leaking it to their friends within the mainstream media with the intent of undermining President Trump's agenda.
Gabbard then continued to condemn those who "undermine" the president through media leaks, before Johnson returned to the topic of Operation Mockingbird (see 26:07):
JOHNSON: It's wild that you're still having to deal with that. Call it what you will, but Operation Mockingbird — just incredible that they were just out with it, that they were using the media as government organs to push propaganda. And it's still happening today.
GABBARD: This is why what we're doing is so important, Benny. And this is why President Trump's mandate in this is really critical, is by exposing the truth, by exposing the bad actors within the intelligence community and in the political space who are weaponizing intelligence to advance their own political interests is so important.
To be able to turn the light on in places that have been dark for far too long, expose the truth, and drive accountability. That's the only way that we can actually shift this and begin the work to try to restore trust in the intelligence community.
While some may consider Gabbard's comments confirmation of the continued existence of Operation Mockingbird, she specifically called out intelligence operatives who she claimed are "undermining President Trump's agenda."
Operation Mockingbird, in contrast, allegedly manipulated the media to favor the U.S. government, not diminish it, as part of a deliberate and systemic campaign. In other words, Gabbard appeared to imply that these operatives who supposedly attempt to manipulate the media are not acting in their official capacity or under the direction of the CIA, a stark difference from the purported purpose and function of Operation Mockingbird.
As such, it seems unlikely that Gabbard meant to confirm the existence or continued existence of Operation Mockingbird through her response to Johnson, although it's impossible to know what she truly meant without further clarification from her.
The 'Operation Mockingbird' conspiracy theory, explained
In "Katharine the Great," Davis claimed the CIA created "Operation Mockingbird" in response to the International Organization of Journalists' work promoting communism.
However, other claims Davis made in the book have been debunked. For example, Davis alleged the source behind the Watergate scandal, known as "Deep Throat," was a CIA officer named Richard Ober — but in 2005, The Washington Post confirmed Deep Throat's identity as former FBI Deputy Director Mark Felt.
"Davis provided no information on her sources," said David P. Hadley, a national security historian, in his book, "The Rising Clamor: The American Press, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Cold War."
Hadley went on to note that subsequent investigations, including the Church Committee, found no evidence of an "Operation Mockingbird" as described by Davis.
"The Davis/Mockingbird theory, that the CIA operated a deliberate and systematic program of widespread manipulation of the U.S. media, does not appear to be grounded in reality, but that should not disguise the active role the CIA played in influencing the domestic press's output," Hadley wrote.
In 1977, journalist Carl Bernstein, of Watergate fame, published a 25,000-word cover story in Rolling Stone alleging that "more than 400 American journalists" have "secretly carried out assignments" for the CIA, citing documents on file at CIA headquarters, and that the Church Committee's report deliberately misrepresented the "actual scope of the activities."
Both Bernstein and the congressional report agreed, however, that the CIA's propaganda targeted foreigners, not Americans — although both expressed concern that overseas propaganda would filter into the American consciousness.
The Church Committee's work resulted in various official restrictions on the CIA's manipulation of the media. Snopes reached out to the CIA to ask whether Operation Mockingbird ever existed, which the agency declined to answer on the record. We also asked for details about the agency's relationship with American media as of this writing and will update this story if and when we hear more.
In a 2024 statement to ABC News, a CIA
In sum ...
Gabbard's July 31 comments did not make it clear whether she intended to confirm Operation Mockingbird, an alleged CIA campaign to influence the American press for political gain, still existed as of summer 2025. Instead, she appeared to imply that some American intelligence operatives disapproved of President Donald Trump's agenda and sought to undermine it by leaking information to the press
As of this writing, allegations that the CIA coordinated widespread manipulation of the American press did not appear to be based in evidence, despite the CIA's documented role in manipulating foreign news and its reported partnerships with American journalists, particularly those abroad.