As a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the National Security Archive, four out of five volumes of the CIA's official history of the Bay of Pigs operation are now available to the public. The Bay of Pigs was a failed invasion of Cuba undertaken in April 1961 by Cuban exiles under the direction of the CIA. It was initially planned under the Eisenhower administration and launched by President Kennedy. The operation ended in dismal failure and captured Cubans were later ransomed by the Kennedy administration. read more

The official history volumes include:

• Volume I: Air Operations
• Volume II: Participation in the Conduct of Foreign Policy
• Volume III: Evolution of CIA's Anti-Castro Policies
• Volume IV: The Taylor Committee Investigation

Volumes II and III are new; volumes I and IV were previously declassified. Volume II details the negotiations with the Guatemalan and Nicaraguan governments to allow their countries to be used in staging the operation. Volume V, a stinging rebuttal to the CIA's Inspector General Report (see part I and part II) remains classified.