[1]DARAAN
[2]Iir04-10331-10782 | 2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992 |"
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[6]te
[8]OIM 98-000nn
[9]13 April 1998
[11]MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Executive Director
[12]‘VIA: Director of Information Management
[14]FROM: Lee S. Strickland
[15]Chief, Information Review Group/OIM
[17]SUBJECT : - Pending ARRB (JFK Board) Issues
[19]“i
[21]. . i
[23]1. (AIUO) Per your request at our 1 April bi-weekly
[24]meeting, we have summarized below the significant issues which .
[25]are under deliberation and negotiation with the JFK Board. Our
[26]approach on protecting Agency equities is multi-step:
[28]e First, with the staff, we argue relevance although the statute and
[29]implementing regulations define ‘assassination records’’ very
[30]broadly as including
[32]e (1) any records related to the assassination or Oswald,
[33]® (2) any records concerning the various conspiracy theories, and
[35]e (3) any records within the scope of previous investigations
[36]including the Church Committee, Pike Committee, Warren
[37]Commission, or House Select Committee on Assassinations
[38](HscaA) ,*
[40]e Second, with the staff, we argue that release would cause current
[41]damage although the exemptions under the JFK statute are much
[42]narrower than the corresponding exemptions under the FOIA, and
[44]e Third, if we fail to convince the staff, we must proceed to a more
[45]detailed and formal presentation to the Board.
[47]» (AIUO) It is the materials collected by the HSCA which are the most
[49]numerous and often the most troublesome in terms of sensitive equities. They
[51]are generally referred to as the ‘sequestered collection.‘'
[52]CL BY: 0219849 .
[53]CL REASON: 1.5(c)
[55]DECL ON: X1
[56]DRV FROM: Multiple
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[64]© .
[65]Pending ARRB (JFK Board) Issues
[67]SUBJECT:
[69]ISSUE 1 -- Unacknowledged Covert Actions
[71]2. (S) Within records surfaced by the Ford Library is a
[72]document -- a Helms Memorandum for the Record on a PFIAB meeting
[73]-- which contains references to CIA\covert financial support to
[74]political parties in Peru, Greece, Italy and Brazil and-to labor
[76]{unions in France and Italy.’
[78]e
[80]3. (S) After much negotiation, the ARRB staff has agreed
[81]to recommend to the Board that the information related to those
[82]covert actions be considered non-related and the documents
[83]designated ““Not Believed Related'' (NBR). The document..will-be
[84]grouped with similar ~“NBR'' documents and be presented to the
[85]‘Board for final action at the 13 April or 12 May meeting.- =
[87]ISSUE 2 -- Alias Documentation and Accommodation Addresses
[89]4. (S) The security file of former Agency employee, David
[90]Morales (deceased -~- true name already released), within the
[91]sequestered collection contains documentation on five of his
[92]alias. We anticipate similar problems as we re-review other
[93]security files within the sequestered collection. We are >
[94]attempting to work a compromise with’ the following elements but
[95]-details have yet to be finalized:
[97]* protect all references to ficia} documents reflecting the alias
[98]such as (social security cards, drivers licenses
[100]e release items designated as pocket litter such as club cards,
[102]® protect elements of accommodation addresses to avoid identifying
[103]specific locations, and
[105]e lastly, make a decision to actually release or protect the alias
[106]itself depending on the timeframe and its importance to the JFK
[107]story.
[109]5. (S) However, disagreements on the actual implementation
[110](e.g., protect house number but release street name of ‘
[112]7 (8) See Attachment 1.
[114]3 (8) See Attachment 2.
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[126]SUBJECT: Pending ARRB (JFK Board) Issues
[128]accommodation address) have prevented a final resolution at this
[129]-time. We are also exploring with the DO senior management~
[130]whether the blanket release of pocket litter (whether awfully
[131](obtained or forged} might present media or operational issues
[132]‘today. Accordingly, we have requested that the issue be.
[133]postponed until the May meeting.
[135]ISSUE 3 -- Organizational Materials
[137]6. (S) This request (one of the earliest and known as CIA-
[139]1) asked for organization charts on various Agency directorates
[140]and/or components for the years 1958-1968. All Agency’
[141]directorates provided material responsive to the request and ‘the
[142]ARRB staff has selected items for inclusion in the.JFK
[143]-c6ltection. Remaining at issue are three DO charts -- a 1961
[144]generic DDP organization, a 1963 generic DDP organization, and a
[146]etaided JMWAVE organization.* The DO has agreed to release the
[147]first two and remain adamantly opposed to the release of the
[148]JMWAVE chart given its similarity to current organizational
[149]plans.
[151]7. (S) This issue will be presented by ARRB staff to the
[152]Board at the 13 April meeting where they will recommend that the
[154]DDP generic charts be accepted (good for CIA) and that the JMWAVE.
[156]chart be declared as an assassination record (bad for CIA); an
[157]actual vote by the Board will not take place until the May
[158]meeting.
[160]ISSUE 4 -- Mexico City Tapes
[162]8. (S) This request asked for a thorough search of Agency
[163]‘files and documents for and CIA **... surveillance ‘take’ from _
[164]Cuban and Soviet facilities in Mexico City at the time of the
[165]Oswald visit and in the immediate wake of the assassination.’
[166]Among the items provided by the DO were five boxes containing
[167]audio tapes from telephone taps on the Cuban and Russian
[168]embassies and facilities. A number of the tapes are dated 22
[170]* “(s) See Attachment 3.
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[184]November 1963; many others are dated 23 November 1963 through
[185]December 1963.° mo a
[187]9. (S) This is one of the most complex requests because of
[189]the following facts:
[191]® at one time, there was a tape of Oswald in existence but it has
[192]since been lost or erased;
[194]tape in existence today contains the Oswald c conversation;
[196]EI
[200]® there is a confidential request from the ARRB{to the Mexican /
[201]{Government} for any (opies of the actual/Oswald conversation they
[202]May possess; and,
[204]e - quite obviously, the sensitivity is not so much the mere fact that
[206]we possess such tapes but our confirmation of the extent and our
[207]release of the actual conversations captured.
[209]10. (S) The good news, at least at this time, is that the
[210]ARRB staff has agreed to postpone Board consideration until May
[211]and, in the interim, the Agency will have an opportunity to
[212]review (i.e., listen and transcribe) and determine the
[213]sensitivity and provide detailed arguments in this regard.
[215]ISSUE 5 -- Protection of (I =9
[217]11. (S) (LITAMIL-9}was a CIA penetration 6f the Cuban )
[219]( Embassy} Unfortunately, his identity was indirectly and =
[220]inadvertently released in 1993 and, as a result, (he was
[221]_Gdentified in true name as a CIA agent in John Newman's book,  /
[222]Oswald and the CTA) As of 1993, (LITAMIL-9/ was still alive and
[223]‘living in (Mexico City with family in(Cuba._) To date, the ARRB
[224]Board has agreed to protect his identity and crypt and delay. the
[225]release of his 201 file until the Agency could make some
[227]judgments about the potential damage created by the release on
[229]if
[230]s
[232](S) The scope of this request is quite significant; it includes five boxes
[233]of 185 tapes from operations against both the Cuban and Russian Embassy.
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[239]this was not an unilateral operation but rather a joint operation *
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[256]additional documents with his name/crypt in them... That will now
[258]occur at the May meeting of the Board. It is, however, umlikely
[260]that the Board would agree to delay release until 2017, however,
[262]there is precedent for delaying release of records on individuals
[263]for shorter periods or until death.
[265]ISSUE 6 ~~ {Richard Gibson (C sset)
[266]—~_\12- (8) Richard Gibson, who présently lives in England, is
[268]“a left wing journalist who was associated with,the Fair Play For
[269]Cuba Committee (FPFCC), an entity to which Oswald wrote. letters
[270]“and claimed to be a membér. “Gibson did not become an . Agency.
[272]a ter the assassination, however, he — been of:
[274]ema of previous reTéases-Tedto press reports in ase
[275]1994/1995 about his relationship with’ the CIA. At that time,
[276]officers weré dispatched to advise him about the possible
[277]compromise and promise him the very best attempt at protecting
[279]the relationship.
[281]. Since then, the A has agreed to : delay the.
[282]elease of any additional information until the Agency. and FBI
[284]had determined the full extent of the files on Gibson and the
[285]potential damage. The issue is scheduled for ARRB action at the
[286]May meeting and. our objective is to release Gibson's role in the’
[287]JFK assassination story while protecting his relationship with
[288]{the Agency; however, the. FBI has a four volumes file which covers
[289]both FBI interest and Gibson's relationship with the Agency. We
[290]will be working in detail with the ARRB staff and the FBI on this
[291]japproach.
[293]ISSUE 7 -- Certain Files of CIA Officials
[295]14. (S) This is a Major request encompassing *“... the
[296]office files of the individual occupying the following positions
[297]during the period 1959-1964." ,
[299]The Office of Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
[300]General Charles Cabell 1953-1962
[302]General Marshall Carter 1062-1965
[304]The Office of the Deputy director for Plans
[306]Richard Bissell 1958-1965
[308]Richard Helms 1962-1965
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[317]SUBJECT: Pending ARRB (JFK Board) Issues
[319]° ‘The chronological files of C. Tracy Barnes, 1959-1964
[320]© Office of General Counsel, Lawrence Houston, 1959-1964."
[321]e Operational Diaries of William Harvey 1962-1963.
[323]This request will by its very breadth require significant time on
[324]the part of the directorate (and DCI) IROs. While it may appear
[325]overly broad, we have developed a methodology. with the ARRB staff
[326]which provides the access required by the Board but guarantees
[328]that their review is focused: In sum, we work from shelf lists ?
[330]to narrow the selection and then conduct file review sesstons——
[332]with the ARRB staff; if material requested is particularly |
[334]sensitive, access can be limited to the ARRB Executive, Director
[336].or. members of the Board. This effort will continue fox some
[338]time. ’ oo a
[340]Conclusion ’
[341]; . pet tyr *
[342]15. (AIUO) At the present time, over 40 persons are
[344]involved in the JFK records review and we anticipate that this
[345]level of effort may increase by 25% in the coming months as we
[346]near the statutory end of the Board (30 September 1998).
[347]However, even if the Board is not extended (and it has been
[348]extended previously), there are statutory tasks for CIA which
[349]will extend 12-18 months beyond the end of the Board's existence.
[350]Your continued support is critical.
[352]Lee S. Strickland
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