Secrets, Spies, and Scandals:
Exploring Idaho Senator Frank Church’s Investigation of U.S. Intelligence Activities
The Frank Church Institute and the College of Education and Public Service are excited to welcome a panel to campus, including a keynote from U.S. Senate Historian Kate Scott, to discuss the legacy of the Church Committee and its impact on U.S. intelligence oversight. Scott will reflect upon the committee, chaired by Idaho Senator Frank Church, and its historic 1975-76 investigation of U.S. intelligence agencies. The committee’s final report paved the way for the creation of a permanent Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Read Kate’s and the other panelists’ bios below.
Ticket Price:
$35 per person
$210 per table (6 spots)
Event Date:
October 22, 2026
Doors Open:
11:30 a.m.
Lunch and Program:
12:00 p.m.
Break:
1:00 p.m.
Panel Discussion:
1:10 p.m.
Event Location:
Stueckle Sky Center
Double R Ranch Room
1200 W. University Dr.
Boise, ID 83706
Panelist Bios
Katherine (Kate) Scott is the Historian of the United States Senate. She received her PhD in US political history from Temple University and joined the Senate Historical Office in 2010. Her research interests include relations between the legislative and executive branches of federal government, congressional investigations and oversight, oral history, and women in politics. As Senate Historian, Ms. Scott leads a team of professional historians and archivists who preserve and promote the institution’s history. She provides tours, talks and briefings to senators, staff, and the public on wide-ranging topics in Senate history, and conducts oral history interviews with senators and staff. She is currently editing the executive sessions of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 1969-1975, and is the author of Reining in the State: Civil Society and Congress in the Vietnam and Watergate Eras (2013), as well as articles, essays, and chapters related to U.S. political history.
James Dick joined the staff of the Church Committee in 1974, after graduating from Stanford Law School the previous year. He was part of the Domestic Task Force, focusing on warrantless FBI electronic surveillance, surreptitious entries, and mail opening, as well as the FBI’s investigation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Jim moved to the U.S. Justice Department when the Committee’s work concluded, serving as a Trial Attorney in the Criminal and then Antitrust Divisions. From 1979 to 1981, he worked at the White House as Counsel to the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board, whose mission was to investigate and to report directly to the President concerning any intelligence activities that raised serious questions of legality or propriety. Jim then entered private practice in Washington, DC, first as a partner in the Squire Patton Boggs law firm and then at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. He also served as General Counsel to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty for nearly 20 years. Since retiring to Delaware in 2022, he has been active with ACLU of Delaware in the area of immigrant rights.
Frederick Baron served as Counsel and Special Assistant to the Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (the “Church Committee”) from inception in 1975 through final fact findings, conclusions, and recommendations in 1976. Baron’s subsequent public service: Associate Deputy Attorney General and Director of Executive Office for National Security, U. S. Department of Justice (1995-96) for international and national security policy; Assistant U.S. Attorney for District of Columbia (1980-82); Acting Counselor (Chief of Staff ) to U.S. Attorney General (1979); Special Assistant to U.S. Attorney General (1976-79) for intelligence, counter-intelligence, FBI and Criminal Division; and Clinton and Carter presidential transition teams. For decades, Baron practiced law as a partner at Cooley LLP, a leading international Palo Alto-based technology and venture capital firm, chairing the global employment law practice; management positions including Partner Compensation Committee; advising and litigating for technology and life sciences companies, venture capital funds, CEOs, and boards. His community service, has included: legal advice to numerous nonprofit boards; Keys School board president; Stanford Law School Board of Visitors; Stanford Business School guest lectures; ARCS Foundation (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) Leadership Advisory Committee; Music Menlo Chamber Music board; State Department international lectures on U.S. justice and intelligence systems. He graduated from Stanford Law School and Amherst College.