A House of Representatives hearing on the CIA‘s MKUltra mind control program descended into a political thrashing when Republicans quizzed former NIH researcher Elizabeth Ginexi about “integrity problems” and “trust issues” in American medical research.The House oversight committee’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets billed its Tuesday morning hearing as an effort to “examine the history and timeline” of MKUltra, a clandestine program experimenting in the use of mind control, among other things, which officially ended in 1973. Yet the hearing veered off-topic when Republicans honed in on Ginexi’s testimony, which was unrelated to the program.“I am here today because what is happening to NIH right now is not reform,” Ginexi, who worked for the NIH between 2003 and 2025, told the committee. “It is the replacement of scientific judgment with political control.”
Democrats boycotted the hearing, though they sent Ginexi presumably to signal their belief that it was a political distraction. Democrats were able to call Ginexi to testify under the House’s minority witness rule.
Psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Ginexi testifies during a hearing on the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets Subcommittee hearing on “Mind Control and Accountability: Uncovering the Truth of the CIA’s MKULTRA Project” on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Jun 30, 2026. (Graeme Jennings / Washington Examiner)
