The second is the damage to the credibility and independence of a free press which may be caused by covert relationships with the U.S. journalists and media organizations.

Frank Church was considered a progressive (remarkable considering that he represented one of the most conservative states in the nation); He in 1979 was the first in Congress to disclose and protest the presence of Soviet combat troops in Cuba. After one of his testicles and glands in his lower abdomen were removed Church was given only a few months to live. His defeat was blamed on the activities of the Anybody But Church Committee and the national media's early announcement of Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan's overwhelming win in Idaho.

Church was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1976 presidential election losing to Jimmy Carter. A member of the Democratic Party he served as a United States Senator from Idaho from 1957 to 1981.