The CIA's Secret Mind Control Assassin Program
Declassified documents have exposed a chilling CIA program called Project Artichoke that experimented with brainwashing individuals to turn them into unwitting assassins. According to records quietly added to the agency's public archives in 1999, this top-secret initiative operated from 1951 to 1956, focusing on psychological manipulation and behavioral influence techniques.
The Assassination Plot Against Foreign Officials
In January 1954, the CIA issued a classified report revealing that intelligence officials had selected a specific target for Artichoke experiments. The plan involved transforming a foreign government official into an assassin without their knowledge or consent. While the memo identified the target as a high-ranking politician from an unnamed country, it chillingly noted this technique could also be deployed against American officials 'if necessary.'
A Senior Representative, whose name was redacted from the files, documented that Artichoke team agents visited this country between January 8 and January 15 to answer one disturbing question: 'Can an individual of [REDACTED] descent be made to perform an act of attempted assassination involuntarily under the influence of ARTICHOKE?'
A handwritten footnote in the documents suggested the method would involve drugging the would-be assassin 'through the medium of an alcoholic cocktail at a social party.' The scheme remained concealed from public view until 1979, when a citizens' group obtained the documents through the Freedom of Information Act.
Profile of the Unwitting Assassin
Despite redactions removing names and specific countries, the memo provides detailed information about the CIA's assassination plot. The selected individual was approximately 35 years old, well-educated, fluent in English, and possessed strong social and political connections within their government.
CIA operatives had conducted surveillance on this person, discovering they were a heavy drinker. This information helped the agency develop a plan to spike their beverages with mind-altering substances. Intelligence officials in 1954 even knew the target had recently left another job and was now working directly with their country's government.
Recognizing they would have limited opportunities to brainwash this individual, the memo stated agents would need to target 'a single social meeting' and administer the Artichoke drug in their drink during that party.
From Foreign Targets to American Officials
The intelligence community wasn't merely theorizing about targeting foreign leaders. The memo explicitly suggested this same brainwashing technique could be used against 'a prominent [REDACTED] politician or if necessary, against an American official.' Multiple declassified reports in the CIA's public database have revealed the agency conducted mind-controlling drug experiments that allegedly targeted US citizens during the Cold War era.
The four-page document claimed this particular plot was only 'simulated,' suggesting it was never actually carried out. However, it mentioned 'future applications' of the mind control program, which later materialized in the CIA's infamous MKUltra program that expanded these experiments on a much larger scale.
Historical Context and Modern Echoes
Project Artichoke served as a direct precursor to MKUltra, with many related files destroyed in the 1970s, leaving the full extent of this research unknown. Recently disclosed government documents have fueled conspiracy theories suggesting CIA involvement in high-profile assassinations worldwide, including President John F. Kennedy's murder just nine years after the Project Artichoke memo was written.
While thousands of JFK files released in 2025 didn't prove this connection, they revealed that one of the slain president's top advisers called for the CIA to be disbanded in 1961, referring to it as a 'state within a state.'
In November 2025, Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee claimed mind control programs similar to these Cold War experiments continue operating today, transforming American citizens into potential assassins. Without providing evidence, Burchett alleged that failed presidential assassin Thomas Crooks was psychologically manipulated online using techniques reminiscent of MKUltra.
The congressman described Crooks as having been 'programmed' to act as a disposable patsy, warning that Trump and his supporters were targets of the so-called 'deep state' - a description strikingly similar to JFK adviser Arthur Schlesinger's 1961 characterization of the CIA.
Burchett's portrayal of Crooks as an intelligence community pawn eerily echoes Project Artichoke's 1954 documentation about their target: 'After the act of attempted assassination was performed, it was assumed that the SUBJECT would be taken into custody by the [REDACTED] Government and thereby "disposed of."'
