20 Times the Government Admitted to Doing Something Shady, Virginians Take Note

Virginians have found out the hard way that despite talk of government transparency, the truth doesn’t always come out right away.

These are real times when the government came clean about shady actions, often after denying them first.

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study Lasted for Decades Without Treatment

From 1932 to 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service ran a study in Alabama that involved 600 Black men, many of whom had syphilis.

The men were told they were receiving treatment, but they were actually left untreated so researchers could observe the disease’s progression.

Even after penicillin became the standard cure, it was withheld from the participants.

The government publicly admitted to the study in 1972, and President Clinton formally apologized in 1997.

The CIA Secretly Tested LSD on Americans Without Their Consent

In the 1950s and 1960s, the CIA ran a program called MK-Ultra that experimented with mind control and behavior modification.

Part of the program involved secretly dosing people with LSD, sometimes in hospitals or through fake clinics.

Many subjects had no idea they were being drugged.

The program was exposed in the 1970s, and Congress held hearings after internal documents were released.

The Government Denied Area 51 Existed Until 2013

For decades, the U.S. government would not confirm the existence of Area 51, a remote military facility in Nevada.

Speculation about UFOs and secret aircraft testing fueled public curiosity.

In 2013, the CIA finally declassified documents acknowledging the location and its use in developing spy planes.

While it didn’t confirm any alien theories, it did admit to years of secrecy.

Radiation Was Tested on Unknowing Hospital Patients

During the Cold War, the U.S. government funded medical experiments that exposed patients to radiation without informed consent.

Some of these tests involved injecting people with plutonium or exposing them to high doses of radiation.

Most of the patients were already hospitalized and unaware of what was happening.

Details came to light in the 1990s, prompting a federal investigation and a public apology.

The FBI Spied on Civil Rights Leaders Without Just Cause

During the 1960s, the FBI conducted secret surveillance on civil rights activists, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The agency collected private recordings and even attempted to discredit King with anonymous letters.

These operations were part of a broader FBI program known as COINTELPRO, which targeted political groups the agency deemed “subversive.”

The program was officially acknowledged and condemned by Congress in the 1970s.

The U.S. Government Conducted Secret Nuclear Tests and Kept the Results Quiet

From the 1940s through the early 1960s, the United States carried out hundreds of nuclear tests, many of which released radioactive material into the atmosphere.

Communities near test sites in Nevada and Utah were exposed to harmful fallout, but they were not informed of the risks.

The government later admitted the exposure in declassified reports and established compensation programs for affected residents.

Even decades later, some of the long-term health effects are still being studied.

Operation Northwoods Proposed Staging Attacks to Justify War

In the early 1960s, U.S. military leaders drafted a plan called Operation Northwoods.

It suggested staging fake terrorist attacks on American soil, including hijackings and bombings, to create public support for a war with Cuba.

The proposal was presented to the Department of Defense but was rejected by President Kennedy.

Declassified documents confirmed the plan existed, sparking debate about how far officials were willing to go.

The NSA Collected Phone Records Without Public Knowledge

After the 9/11 attacks, the National Security Agency began collecting the phone metadata of millions of Americans.

This surveillance was conducted without individual warrants and was not publicly disclosed.

The program was revealed in 2013 through leaked documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Following the public outcry, government officials confirmed the activity and scaled back the program under new legislation.

Japanese Americans Were Forcibly Interned During World War II

In 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government ordered over 120,000 Japanese Americans into internment camps.

They were forced to leave their homes, jobs, and businesses with little notice, even though most were American citizens.

The government claimed it was a security measure, but decades later, it admitted there was no military necessity.

In 1988, Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act, formally apologizing and offering financial reparations.

The Government Let Toxic Chemicals Linger in Water at Camp Lejeune

From the 1950s through the 1980s, Marines and their families at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina were exposed to toxic chemicals in the base’s drinking water.

It took years for the government to admit the contamination and its potential health effects.

Many former residents developed cancer and other serious illnesses linked to the exposure.

Eventually, the government acknowledged the issue and created benefits for those affected.

The ATF’s “Fast and Furious” Operation Lost Control of Firearms

In the late 2000s, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) ran Operation Fast and Furious, aimed at tracking illegal gun sales.

Agents allowed thousands of firearms to be sold to suspected traffickers, hoping to trace them to drug cartels.

But many of the guns were lost and later linked to violent crimes, including the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

The operation was publicly acknowledged as a failure, and top officials faced heavy criticism.

The Pentagon Spent Millions Investigating UFOs

For years, the Department of Defense quietly funded a program called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP).

Its purpose was to study unexplained aerial phenomena, but it remained secret from the public.

In 2017, officials confirmed the program existed and released videos showing unidentified flying objects captured by military pilots.

The government later established a new office to continue studying the issue more transparently.

The FBI Tried to Get Martin Luther King Jr. to Abandon His Work

In the 1960s, the FBI went beyond surveillance and actively tried to pressure Dr. King into stepping down from leadership.

This included sending anonymous letters that suggested he take his own life and threatening to expose personal details.

These tactics were part of the COINTELPRO initiative, which targeted civil rights leaders and other activists.

Years later, the government acknowledged these actions and released many of the related documents.

The CIA Interfered in Foreign Elections Without Telling the Public

Declassified records have confirmed that the CIA covertly supported or influenced elections in other countries during the Cold War.

In places like Iran, Guatemala, and Chile, the agency backed coups or helped install favorable leaders.

The public was never told at the time, and the full impact of these actions often came to light only decades later.

U.S. officials eventually confirmed their involvement in multiple foreign interventions.

The Government Secretly Monitored Anti-War Protesters

During the Vietnam War era, the U.S. government conducted surveillance on thousands of citizens who opposed the war.

This included wiretapping, mail interception, and infiltration of peaceful protest groups.

Programs like Project MINARET and others monitored journalists, athletes, and politicians without proper oversight.

Public hearings later revealed the scope of these efforts, leading to new privacy laws.

U.S. Agencies Conducted Psychological Experiments on Prisoners

In several cases during the mid-20th century, prisoners were used in federally funded experiments without full consent.

Some tests involved isolation, sensory deprivation, or experimental medications.

Researchers were often more focused on military or intelligence applications than the health of participants.

Years later, public pressure forced government agencies to admit these experiments had taken place.

The U.S. Tested Mustard Gas on Its Own Troops

During World War II, the U.S. military secretly tested chemical weapons like mustard gas on its own service members.

These tests were intended to study the effects on different racial groups to determine potential battlefield resistance.

Thousands of soldiers were exposed without proper protection or long-term medical support.

The government officially acknowledged the experiments in the 1990s and issued limited compensation decades later.

The IRS Targeted Specific Political Groups

In the early 2010s, the Internal Revenue Service came under fire for giving extra scrutiny to nonprofit applications from conservative groups.

Organizations with terms like “Tea Party” or “patriot” in their names were flagged more frequently for review.

A public investigation revealed the pattern, and the IRS admitted the bias.

Apologies were issued, and reforms were promised to prevent future political targeting.

The U.S. Public Health Service Infected Guatemalan Citizens Without Consent

In the late 1940s, U.S. government researchers conducted experiments in Guatemala where individuals were intentionally infected with syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases.

These experiments were done without informed consent and targeted prisoners, mental health patients, and soldiers.

The goal was to test the effectiveness of treatments, but many people were harmed in the process.

The U.S. formally apologized in 2010 after the study was rediscovered by a medical historian.

The Military Burned Toxic Waste at Open-Air Sites

For years, the U.S. military disposed of waste by burning it in open-air pits, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan.

These burn pits released hazardous chemicals into the air, affecting thousands of service members and local residents.