Evan Welling Thomas III[2][3] (born April 25, 1951) is an American journalist, historian, lawyer, and author.

In 1992, DCI Robert Gates granted Thomas historical access to view classified Central Intelligence Agency files.

Under these provisions, CIA may grant individual researchers and former presidential appointees access to classified files, once the recipient of this access signs a secrecy agreement and agrees to allow the agency to review his manuscript to ensure that it contains no classified information.

[4] Former DCI Robert Gates directed that the CIA history staff locate and provide records that would satisfy Thomas's research request.

He is the son of Anna Davis (née Robins) and Evan Welling Thomas II, an editor who worked for HarperCollins and W. W. Norton & Company.