The OSS was created in 1942/43 for covert activities during ww2. Once ww2 ended in 1945 the OSS was disbanded. In 47 the CIA was created as a means to interpret intelligence from the War Dept (maybe Defense Dept at this time) and Dept of State. There was no covert activities allowed or specified in the bill Truman signed. They immediately began hiring ex-OSS employees who were active in the covert programs during the war.
In 1948, Truman wrote an op ed in the NYT saying he never would of signed the authorization bill if he had known the CIA was going to do covert activities.
In the Church hearings it was stated that since the CIA was founded, it had performed over 10,000 covert actions. All of them illegal.
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