Richard Helms pleaded nolo contendere to misleading Congress over his Chile testimony; he was not indicted, and not over Phoenix
Documented · said What these labels mean →Sheehan says DCI Richard Helms was 'indicted' for lying to Congress about the Phoenix Program's death toll and separately ordered MKUltra files destroyed. Correction: Helms was not indicted. He was charged by criminal information and on 31 Oct 1977 pleaded nolo contendere to two misdemeanors (2 U.S.C. §192) for failing to testify fully to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about CIA activity in Chile, not Phoenix; fined $2,000, suspended two-year sentence. The 1973 MKUltra destruction order is documented.
Evidence
| Relation | Record | Note |
|---|---|---|
| documents | washingtonpost.com | Washington Post, 1 Nov 1977: nolo contendere to two misdemeanor counts (Chile testimony, Feb/Mar 1973); not an indictment, not Phoenix |
| documents | ahrp.org | Helms/Gottlieb ordered MKUltra records destroyed Jan 1973; ~90% destroyed, ~20,000 surfaced later via FOIA |
Sources
| Source | Relation | At |
|---|---|---|
| Sheehan on Danny Jones (2024) | asserts |
Ties
| To | Role | Years | Verdict | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Helms | named | Structural | ||
| CIA | named | Structural | ||
| Daniel Sheehan | speaker | Structural |
Claim
Sheehan says DCI Richard Helms was 'indicted' for lying to Congress about the Phoenix Program's death toll and separately ordered MKUltra files destroyed. Correction: Helms was not indicted. He was charged by criminal information and on 31 Oct 1977 pleaded nolo contendere to two misdemeanors (2 U.S.C. §192) for failing to testify fully to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about CIA activity in Chile, not Phoenix; fined $2,000, suspended two-year sentence. The 1973 MKUltra destruction order is documented.
Correction: not an indictment. Helms was charged by criminal information and pleaded nolo contendere (31 Oct 1977) to two misdemeanors for incomplete Senate testimony on CIA activity in Chile, not Phoenix. The January 1973 MKUltra destruction order is documented.