HTLINGUAL

HTLINGUAL (also HGLINGUAL) was a secret Central Intelligence Agency project to intercept mail destined for the Soviet Union and China that operated from 1952 until 1973. Originally known under the codename SRPOINTER (also SGPOINTER), the project authority was changed in 1955 and renamed. Early on, only the names and addresses appearing on the exterior of mailed items were collected, but they were later opened at CIA facilities in Los Angeles and New York.

Mail to and from prominent individuals such as Bella Abzug, Linus Pauling, John Steinbeck, Martin Luther King, Edward Albee, and Hubert Humphrey was opened over the course of the operation.

References

*Church Committee document: [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/church/reports/vol4/pdf/ChurchV4_9_Exhibits.pdf Exhibit 1: Inspector General's Survey of the Office of Security (Annex II)] (PDF)
*Timothy Naftali (December 19, 2005). [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-naftali/bush-and-the-nsa-spying-s_b_12552.html Bush and the NSA spying scandal.] The Huffington Post
*Family jewels (Central Intelligence Agency), documents released in 2007 ( [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB222/top02a.pdf] and [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB222/top02b.pdf] , on the National Security Archive's website)