Operation CHAOS (1967-1974) was a CIA domestic surveillance program that compiled dossiers on over 300,000 Americans, indexed 7,200 citizens, and intercepted mail. The program targeted anti-war activists, civil rights leaders, and journalists. Seymour Hersh exposed it in 1974, and the Church Committee confirmed the CIA had systematically violated its charter prohibiting domestic operations. The program was a direct violation of the CIA's founding statute.