200000
104-10331-10149
2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992
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8 April 1998
MEMORANDUM FOR: Lee Strickland
Chief, IRG/OIM
FROM:
J. Barry Harrelson
SUBJECT:
JFK Project Officer
Pending ARRB Issues for EXDIR Info Brief
(S) 1 Covert Actions. Within the Ford Presidential
Library referred materials is a document which raises
concerns It is a Helms' MFR on a PIFAB Meeting. Within it
there are references to CIA covert financial support to
political parties in Peru, Greece, Italy and Brazil and to
labor unions in France and Italy.
Status and Issues: The ARRB staff has agreed to recommend
to the Board that the information related to those covert
actions be considered non-related and the documents
designated “Not Believed Related” (NBR). The document will
be grouped with similar “NBR” documents and be presented to
the Board for action at its 13 April or 12 May meeting.
--
(AIUO) 2. Alias Documentation and Accommodation
Addresses. The security file of former Agency employee,
David Morales (deceased true name already released),
within the sequestered collection contains documentation on
five of his alias. We anticipate similar problems as we re-
review other security files within the sequestered
collection. The ARRB staff has proposed a compromise
resolution to this problem as follows:
Protect all references to official documents
reflecting the alias such as (SSN, Drivers Permit, etc.;
Release items designated as pocket litter such as
club cards, etc.;
--
Protect elements of accommodation addresses to avoid
identifying specific locations; and
Then make a decision to actually release or protect
the alias itself depending on the timeframe and its
importance to the JFK story.
CL BY:
0611637.
CL REASON: 1.5 C
DECL ON:
DRV FRM:
X1
Multiple
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Status and Issues: The DO JFK Team is currently reviewing
this proposal If they agree with, the Agency and ARRB will
spell out the guidelines which will be submitted to the
Board at the 13 April meeting accompanied by a staff
recommendation to accept. If the DO has problems with the
proposed guidelines, I will request that the issue be
postponed until the May meeting.
(AIUO) 3. ARRB Request, CIA-1, Organizational Materials.
This request asked for organization charts on various Agency
directorates/components for the years 1958-1968.
All Agency
directorates provided material responsive to the request.
The ARRB staff has reviewed the material and selected items
to be incorporated into the JFK collection.
material has been reviewed by a
selected
1. All
full or in sanitized form
The DO has advised the ARRB
staff that all of the DO items selected will be denied in
full
and can be released, either opriate components/IROS
except for the DO material.
Status and Issues: The ARRB will present the selected
material, including a DO JMWAVE chart, to the Board to be
declared Assassination Records at the 13 April meeting.
They will also propose that a generic DO organization chart
be prepared in lieu of the records in contention. The chart
would include those components that were involved in the
Oswald story and anti-Castro activities. These JMWAVE and
DO organization charts have been the subject of several
discussions and meetings with the ARRB staff over the past
few months. The ARRB staff is clearly leaning toward
recommending that the JMWAVE chart be released; an actual
vote on these records by the Board will not take place until
the May meeting.
"
(S) 4. ARRB Request, CIA-IR.-15, Mexico City Tapes.
This request asked for a thorough search of Agency files and
documents for and CIA “surveillance `take' from Cuban and
Soviet facilities in Mexico City at the time of the Oswald
visit and in the immediate wake of the assassination.'
Among the items provided by the DO were five boxes
containing audio tapes from tel-tap on Cuban and Russian
embassies and facilities. A number of the tapes are dated
22 November 1963; many others are dated 23 November 1963
through December 1963.
Status and Issues: The ARRB staff has asked the question,
what could possibly be sensitive or classified on the tapes
given that we have acknowledge a unilateral tap on the
embassies and the existence of the tapes is public
knowledge. Barring any additional information from the DO,
the ARRB staff plants to present the issue to the Board at
the 13 April meeting and request that it declare at least
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the tapes from 22 and 23 November to be Assassination
Records. A vote on releasing the tapes will be delayed
until the May meeting.
(S) 5. LITAMIL-9
--
a CIA Penetration of the Cuban
Embassy. The identity of LITAMIL-9 was inadvertently
released in 1993. He is now identified in true name as a
CIA agent in John Newman's book, Oswald and the CIA. As of
1993, LITAMIL-9 was still alive, living in Mexico city and
he has family in Cuba. Up to now, the ARRB Board has agreed
to protect his identity and crypt and delay the release of
his 201 file until the Agency could make some judgments
about the potential damage created by the release on
additional documents with his name/crypt in them.
Status and Issues: The ARRB has requested that we address
LI-9 issue at the May meeting. The DO has confirmed that
LI-9 is still alive and living in Mexico City. The HRP/DO
JFK teams are currently reviewing the 201 and other LI-9
material in the file. It is unlikely that the Board would
agree to delay release until 2017, however, there is
precedent for delaying release of records on individuals for
shorter periods or until death.
Gibson, who presently
an
(S) 6. Richard Gibson, CIA asset.
lives in England, is a left wing journalist who was
associated with the Fair Play For Cuba Committee (FPFCC),
entity to which Oswald wrote letters and claimed to be a
member. Gibson did not become an Agency asset until after
(the assassination, however, he had been of interest to the
FBI when he headed the FPFCC. Unfortunately a combination
of previous releases and release by the Board led to press
reports in 1994/1995 about his relationship with the CIA. At
that time, CIA officers were dispatched to advise him about
(the possible compromise and promise him the very best
attempt at protecting the relationship. ARRB also agreed
to delay the release of any additional information until the
Agency and FBI had determined the full extend of the files
(on Gibson and the potential damage.
Status and Issues:
The Gibson documents are scheduled for
ARRB action at the May meeting. It appears to be possible(__
to release Gibson's role in the JFK assassination story and
protect his relationship with the Agency in our JFK
assassination records; however, the FBI has a four volumes
file which covers both FBI interest and Gibson's
Trelationship with the Agency. The HRP/DO JFK teams are
currently reviewing the Gibson material and I will be
meeting with the FBI to review what they are releasing on
Gibson and the disposition of their file.
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(AIUO) 7. ARRB Request, CIA-IR-34, Files of CIA Officials
and/or Officers. This is a major request. The board has
ask for “the office files of the individual occupying the
following positions during the period 1959-1964.”
The Office of Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
General Charles Cabell 1953-1962
General Marshall Carter 1062-1965
The Office of the Deputy director for Plans
Richard Bissell #1958-1965
Richard Helms : 1962-1965
The chronological files of C. Tracy Barnes, 1959-1964
Office of General Counsel, Lawrence Houston, 1959-1964
Operational Diaries of William Harvey 1962-1963.
Status and Issues: This request will by. its very breadth
require lots of time on behalf of directorate and DCI
records officers
And, while it may seem overly broad, HRP
has developed a methodology with the ARRB which provides the
access required by the Board and guarantees that their
review is focused. The request is for access to review the
files for possible assassination related material and the
Board has no interest in reviewing multiple files which have
nothing to do with the assassination story. A meeting is
held between the ARRB staff, HRP JFK team and the
✓ to discuss the scope of the request.
approprhe
HRP
Usually,
staff are first provided shelf lists,
indexes, records lists, etc. for the purpose of
narrowing/selection what they think is important.
assist the IRO or component representatives
in reviewing
the selected files to ensure they deal with appropriate
subjects and timeframes. Once access is approved, the
appropriate IRO and component sets up a file review session
with the ARRB staff. If material requested is particularly
sensitive, access can be limited to the ARRB Executive
Director or members of the Board. Any records selected as
Assassination Records are subject to review under the JFK
Act. This process has be used for numerous requests for
access including DCI McCone Files, Family Jewels materials,
histories and security files
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