The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is one government agency that remains largely hidden from the American public. It operates with a secret federal budget and appears to run independent activities, even having the means to generate its own revenue.
By now most people who follow politics understand how the CIA and State Department operate collaboratively in most foreign endeavors. Many CIA operatives have State Department covers. The CIA also works jointly with the State Dept on influence operations through USAID, which makes some recent events a little uncomfortable.
