Editing James Jesus Angleton (section)

==Legacy==
Angleton's responsibilities as chief of Counterintelligence have given rise to a considerable literature focused on his efforts to identify Soviet or [[Eastern Bloc]] agents working in American secret intelligence agencies.

In time, Angleton's zeal and suspicions came to be regarded as counterproductive, if not destructive. In the wake of his departure, counterintelligence efforts were undertaken with far less enthusiasm. Some{{Who|date=July 2023}} believe this overcompensation was responsible for oversights which allowed [[Aldrich Ames]], [[Robert Hanssen]] and others to compromise American intelligence agencies after Angleton's resignation. Although the American intelligence community quickly recovered from the [[Church Committee]], it found itself uncharacteristically incapable of policing itself after Angleton's departure. [[Edward Jay Epstein]] has argued that the positions of Ames and Hanssen—both well-placed Soviet counter-intelligence agents, in the CIA and FBI respectively—would enable the KGB to deceive the American intelligence community, in the manner that Angleton hypothesized.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/question_angleton.htm|title= Was Angleton Right?|last=Epstein|first=Edward Jay|date=30 December 2004 <!-- OR 2001 -->|work=Question of the Week|access-date=2 December 2010}}</ref>

Despite misgivings over his uncompromising and often obsessive approach to his profession, Angleton is highly regarded by a number of his peers in the intelligence business. Former Shin Bet chief [[Amos Manor]], in an interview in ''[[Ha'aretz]]'', revealed his fascination with the man during Angleton's work to forge the U.S.–Israel liaison in the early 1950s. Manor described Angleton as "fanatic about everything", with a "tendency towards mystification". Manor discovered decades later that the real reason for Angleton's visit was to investigate Manor, being an Eastern European Jewish immigrant, for Angleton thought that it would be prudent to "sanitize" the U.S.–Israeli bridge before a more formal intelligence relationship was established.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Melman |first=Yossi |date=March 11, 2006 |title=History of CIA-Israel collaboration |work=[[Ha'aretz]] |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/692298.html |url-status=dead |access-date=October 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060909000000/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/692298.html |archive-date=September 9, 2006}} [https://aldeilis.net/english/history-of-cia-israel-collaboration/ Alt URL]</ref>

Three books dealing with Angleton take foreign intelligence activities, counterintelligence and domestic intelligence activities as their central theme: [[Tom Mangold]]'s ''Cold Warrior'', David C. Martin's ''Wilderness of Mirrors'', and [[David Wise (journalist)|David Wise]]'s ''Molehunt''. [[Tim Weiner]]'s ''Legacy of Ashes'' paints Angleton as an incompetent alcoholic.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2468-1733_shafr_sim010200093 |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=The SHAFR Guide Online|doi=10.1163/2468-1733_shafr_sim010200093 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

These views have been challenged by [[Tennent H. Bagley]] in his 2007 book, ''Spy Wars'', and [[Mark Riebling]] in his 1994 book, ''Wedge''. John M. Newman, in his 2022 book, ''Uncovering Popov's Mole'', characterizes Angleton as a man lacking self-confidence and who required a father figure. Newman claims that Angleton was duped by at least two KGB moles: [[Kim Philby]] in [[MI6]] and Bruce Solie in the Office of Security. Newman also suggests that Leonard V. McCoy in the Soviet Russia Division's Reports & Requirements section may have been a mole.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Newman |first=John M. |title=Uncovering Popov's Mole |publisher=Independently published |year=2022 |isbn=979-8355050771}}</ref>

=== CIA Family Jewels ===
{{main|Family Jewels (Central Intelligence Agency)}}
A set of highly sensitive Agency documents, referred to as the "Family Jewels," was publicly released on June 25, 2007, after more than three decades of secrecy.<ref name="WaPoJun27">{{cite news |first=Karen |last=DeYoung |author-link=Karen DeYoung |author2=Walter Pincus |title=CIA Releases Files on Past Misdeeds |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/26/AR2007062600861.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=2007-06-27 |access-date=2017-10-26}}</ref><ref name="NYTJun26">{{cite news |title=C.I.A. Releases Files on Misdeeds From the Past|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-CIA-Family-Jewels.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2007-06-26 |access-date=2007-06-26}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}.</ref> The release was prompted by an internal CIA investigation of the 1970s [[Church Committee]] which verified the far-ranging power and influence that Angleton wielded during his long tenure as counter-intelligence czar. The exposé revealed that Angleton-planned infiltration of law enforcement and military organizations in other countries was used to increase the influence of the United States. It also confirmed past rumors that it was Angleton who was in charge of the domestic spying activities of the CIA under [[Operation CHAOS]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://washington.blogs.nytimes.com/|title=Perspective on the Jewels From the C.I.A.'s Chief Historian|work=Washington — [[New York Times]] Blog|access-date=2 December 2010|first1=Mark|last1=Mazzetti}}</ref>

=== 2025 JFK document release ===
Angleton's heavily-redacted testimony before the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations With Respect to Intelligence Activities in 1975 was finally released on March 18, 2025. The 50-year-old Top Secret report covers several topics, particularly clandestine, intelligence-sharing agreements with Israel, nuclear secrets, [[Yuri Nosenko]], [[George Blake]], [[signals intelligence]], [[Anatoliy Golitsyn]], the Warren Commission, and Lee Harvey Oswald. The 113-page fully unredacted document discloses several matters, including leaks to newsmen [[Seymour Hersh]] and [[Tad Szulc]] and their information about Watergate, Cuba, [[Project Azorian]], and [[Sidney Gottlieb]].<ref name=JFK157>[https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/2025/0318/157-10014-10005.pdf JFK Record Number 157-10014-10005]</ref>

In the previously-redacted sections, the document is full of ''NBR'' markings from the [[Assassination Records Review Board]], meaning ''Not Believed Relevant''.

=== In popular culture ===
* The 2006 film ''[[The Good Shepherd (film)|The Good Shepherd]]'' is loosely based on Angleton's life and his role in the formation of the CIA.<ref>{{cite web |date=20 December 2007 |title=The Good Shepherd, Matt Damon |url=http://www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/out/ent/cinema_thegoodshepherd_damon.php}}</ref>
* ''[[The Laundry Files]]'' by [[Charles Stross]] features a senior Laundry agent whose ''[[nom de guerre]]'' is James Angleton.<ref>{{cite web |last=Stross |first=Charles |date=20 July 2008 |title=Down on the Farm |url=http://www.tor.com/stories/2008/07/down-on-the-farm |access-date=2013-11-10}}</ref>
* The 2002 novel ''[[The Company (Littell novel)|The Company]]'' by [[Robert Littell (author)|Robert Littell]]—and the 2007 television mini-series ''[[The Company (TV miniseries)|The Company]]'' based on it, with Angleton portrayed by [[Michael Keaton]]—is focused on Angleton's efforts to find a Soviet mole.
* Angleton was portrayed by [[John Light (actor)|John Light]] in the 2003 BBC TV mini-series ''[[Cambridge Spies]]''.
* The song "Angleton" by Russian indie rock band [[Biting Elbows]] is about Angleton's life and career.<ref>{{cite web |date=29 September 2017 |title=Angleton Lyrics |url=http://www.releaselyrics.com/355a/biting-elbows-angleton/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724224351/http://www.releaselyrics.com/355a/biting-elbows-angleton/ |archive-date=24 July 2014 |access-date=5 June 2014 |publisher=Release Lyrics}}</ref>
* In the television series ''[[Granite Flats]]'' the actor [[Cary Elwes]] plays Hugh Ashmead, the name "Ashmead" being the cover name for Angleton.
* [[William F. Buckley]]'s 2000 novel ''Spytime: The Undoing of James Jesus Angleton'' is a fictionalized treatment of Angleton's career, a storyline being placed upon, between and within actual historic facts and events.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Buckley |first1=William F. |url=https://archive.org/details/spytimeundoingo000buck |title=Spytime: the undoing of James Jesus Angleton |date=2000 |publisher=Harcourt |isbn=0-15-100513-3}}</ref>
* [[Mike Doughty]] released a song entitled "James Jesus Angleton" on Apple Music in December 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Listen to "James Jesus Angleton" |url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/post/sa.e5bd7050-ecb6-11e7-8d66-938abd566b37 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128021215/https://itunes.apple.com/us/post/sa.e5bd7050-ecb6-11e7-8d66-938abd566b37 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 28, 2018 |access-date=August 14, 2019 |website=Apple Music}}</ref>
* [[The Fatima Mansions]] track "Brunceling's song" mentions Angleton by name, in a narrative involving spies adapting to regular life.
* In the 1991 [[Norman Mailer]] novel ''[[Harlot's Ghost]]'', Tremont Montague (Harlot) is based on Angleton.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Morley |first1=Jefferson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwCXDgAAQBAJ&q=Tremont+Montague+angleton&pg=PA267 |title=The Ghost: The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton |date=24 October 2017 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |isbn=9781250080615 |page=}}</ref>
* The fourth season of the television series ''[[The Bureau (TV series)|Le Bureau des Légendes]]'' introduces a character from the French external security service [[General Directorate for External Security|(DGSE)]] with the nickname of "JJA" - James Jesus Angleton. There is a short discussion of Angleton's career and its connection to this character.
* Angleton was portrayed by [[Stephen Kunken]] in the 2022 [[ITVX]] mini-series ''[[A Spy Among Friends]]'' about the defection of [[Kim Philby]].
* In 2016, he was portrayed by [[Anthony Brophy]] in [[The Crown (TV series)|The Crown]].
* In the [[Max (streaming service)|HBO Max]] miniseries ''[[White House Plumbers (miniseries)|White House Plumbers]]'', Angleton is portrayed by [[David Pasquesi]].
* In season 2, episode 5 of the [[Netflix]] series ''[[The Recruit (American TV series)|The Recruit]]'', the CIA's general counsel states that a CIA lawyer should "run the Angleton playbook."<ref>{{cite web |last=Dean |first=Grace |date=30 January 2025 |title=The Recruit season 2 episode 5 recap: a new plan and an escape from Korea |url=https://www.whattowatch.com/features/the-recruit-season-2-episode-5-recap-a-new-plan-and-an-escape-from-korea |access-date=2025-01-30}}</ref>