AGENCY: NSA
JFK ASSASSINATION SYSTEM
IDENTIFICATION FORM
DATE: 01/13/98
PAGE: 1
AGENCY INFORMATION
RECORD NUMBER: 144-10001-10127
RECORDS SERIES :
AGENCY FILE NUMBER : N0078
DOCUMENT INFORMATION
ORIGINATOR: NSA
FROM LOWMAN, DAVID
TOPDASOFD (INTEL)
TITLE :
SSCSGO QUERIES
DATE: 01/26/76
PAGES: 11
SUBJECTS :
INVESTIGATION, WARREN COMMISSION
DOCUMENT TYPE: MEMORANDUM, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT
CLASSIFICATION: T
RESTRICTIONS: 1B
CURRENT STATUS: P
DATE OF LAST REVIEW: 11/12/97
OPENING CRITERIA :
ORIGINATING AGENCY'S DETERMINATION REQUIRED
COMMENTS
CONTAINS SENSITIVE COMPARTMENTED INFORMATION
[R] - ITEM IS RESTRICTED
Released pursuant to Executive Order 14176, DECLASS. OF RECORDS CONC THE ASSASSINATIONS OF PRES JFK, BEN
RFK, AND THE REV. DR. MLK, JR.
Released pursuant to Executive Order 14176, DECLASS. OF RECORDS CONC. THE ASSASSINATIONS OF PRES, JEK, SEN. REK, AND THE REV. DR.
MLK, JR.
DEFE
FENS
OF AMERICA
TOP SECRET
NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY
CENTRAL SECURITY SERVICE
FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MARYLAND 20755
N0078
Serial:
26 January 1976
TOP SECRET
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRINCIPAL DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY
OF DEFENSE (INTELLIGENCE)
SUBJECT: Senate Select Committee Queries to NSA Concerning
the Warren Commission
Reference your letter dated 14 January 1976 transmitting
a request from Mr. Alton Quanbeck of the Senate Select
Committee Staff. The following information is provided in
response to Mr. Quanbeck's letter, keyed by paragraph to
his letter (inclosed - see underlined portions). Most of
the information was made available to the SSC Staff, Mr.
Jim Johnson, during an interview with Dr. Louis Tordella
on 20 January 1976.
Para. 1.
-
NSA requested permission to retain
photocopies of those reports on which we had worked merely
as record copies of our efforts on behalf of the Commission.
It was felt that if a question should arise at that time
concerning what analytic efforts had been involved and the
number of manhours expended, a record copy would prove useful.
No operational use was made of these documents except to
hold them on file for a period of time which cannot now be
determined. To the best of our present knowledge, the photo-
copies have now been destroyed. Absolutely no results
relevant to the assassination were obtained through NSA's
analytic look at the exhibits. The Commission, in the person
of Mr. Allan Dulles, had asked Dr. Tordella, informally, to
review the exhibits for any secret writing or codes which
might have been contained in the documents. Dr. Tordella,
after causing a careful review of the documents by NSA crypt-
analysts, reported verbally to Mr. Dulles and other Commission
members that nothing whatsoever had been achieved by the
analytic effort. No written reply was submitted.
Classified by DIRNSA/CHCES (NES/CSSM 123-2)
Exempt from GDS, 2018,
Declassify Upon Motification by the Originator
TOP SECRE
MANGLE VIA CONSENT CU CY
APPENDED DOCUMENTS CONTAIN
CODEWORD MATERIAL
B/30109
Serial:
N0078
-
Para. 2. NSA is uncertain as to what is precisely
meant by these comments, but we assume that the comments on
names refer to our biographic files which are maintained on
foreign personalities of potential intelligence significance.
As the Committee knows, these biographic files are maintained
(now at CIA incidentally) as analytic support. It is also
possible that the Commission was referring to the fact that
names are frequently seen in traffic collected for foreign
intelligence purposes and therefore NSA might have access
to foreign names not otherwise available to the Intelligence
Community.
-
Para. 3.
It may well be that CIA did obtain such
transmissions and pass them to NSA for analysis, but no one
presently working that analytic area recalls such a request.
Discussions with Dr. Tordella also failed to shed any light
on this subject. There are no files or records which we have
been able to locate from that time frame which would sub-
stantiate such a claim. In fact, the only file the responsible
analytic group has been able to locate concerning a request
from the Warren Commission deals with a file compiled from
open sources citing major dates in the last months of Oswald's
life. Presumably the date file was to be compared with NSA
product on/about the key dates in the hope that something
could be deduced. The file does not contain any "hits."
The analysts who performed this effort have since retired.
-
Para. 4. The informal request from Mr. Dulles is
the known total extent of NSA's role in assisting in the
investigation. The file discussed in Paragraph 3 is the only
file thus far recovered. There is no information which can
now be identified which was developed from Cuban or Soviet
transmissions relating to the assassination.
Para. 5.
-
We have no information on this subject
at all. However, pursuant to the subject raised during the
Tordella interview, we have searched our files manually,
and as Mr. Lowman agreed during the Tordella interview, we
have recovered three product reports (Inclosures 2 through
4) which show that Cuban military forces did go on alert
immediately after the assassination. There is no SIGINT
evidence, however, that the Cuban forces were alerted prior
to the assassination, thereby suggesting that they had prior
knowledge of the event.
2
TOP GEPUNY
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SEN. REK, AND THE REV. DR. MLK, JR.
HANDLE VIA CRPFNY PRIC
TOP S
Para. 6.
-
Serial: N0078
No hard copy material of any kind was
provided to the Commission (see Para. 1).
Dend formen
DAVID D. LOWMAN
Special Assistant
to the Director
for Congressional Reviews
4 Incls:
a/s
TOP SECRET
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SEN. RFK, AND THE REV. DR. MLK, JR.
3
HANDLE VIA COME GETS C
JFK,
Serial: N0078
CC:
DIR
(Less Incls)
D/DIR
"
ESS
"
ESS/R
ESS, Mr. Lowman
G, Mr. Peksa
NCRDEF
A, Miss Caracristi (Less Incls)
L221
"
M/R:
Inclosures 2 through 4 are product reports numbered
2/0/CURUJ
/R66-63, 
2/0/CUN/R196-63 and 2/0/CUJ/R58-63.
Kala Brost
Frank Foster/O/ESS/3161s/26 Jan 76/kjb
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SEN. REK, AND THE REV. DR. MLK, JR.
TOP SECRET
CONTROL NO. 20
R2132
REFERRED TO
RECEIVED
RELEASED
OFFICE
SIGNATURE
DATE TIME DATE TIME
SEEN BY
NAME & OFFICE SYMBOL DATE
Handle Via Indicated Controls
COMINT
Access to this document will be restricted to those persons
cleared for the specific projects;
WARNING
This document contains information affecting the national security of the United States within the meaning of
the espionage lows U. S. Code Title 18, Sections 793, 794 and 798. The law prohibits its transmission or the
revelation of its contents in ony manner to an unauthorized person, as well as its use in any manner prejudicial
to the solely or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of
the United States. It is to be seen only by personnel especially indoctrinated and authorized to receive in-
formation in the designated control channels. Its security must be maintained in occordance with regulolions
pertoning to the BY EMAN and Communications Intelligence Controls. No action is to he loken on any com.
munications intelligence which moy be contained herein, regardless of the advontoge to be goined, if such
action might have the effect of revealing the existence and nature of the source, unless such action is first
approved by the appropriate authority.
Released pursuant to Executive Order 14176, DECLASS, OF RECORDS CONC. THE ASSASSINATIONS OF PRES. JFK,
SEN. REK, AND THE REV. DR. MLK, JR.
TOP SECRET
PRANK CHURCH, IDAHO, CHAIRMAN
JOHN G. TOWER, TEXAS, VICE CHAIRMAN
PHILIP A. HAHT. MICH.
WALTER F. MONDALE, MINN.
HOWARD H. BAKER, JR.,
BARRY GOLDWATER, AMIZ
WALTER D. KUDDLESTON, KY.
ROBERT MORGAN, N.C.
CHARLES MC C. MATHIAS, JR., MD.
RICHARD S. SCHWEIXER, PA.
CARY HART, COLO.
WILLIAM G MILLER, STAFF DIRECTOR
FREDERICK A. O. SCHWARZ, JR., CHIEF COUNSEL
CURTIS A. SMOTHERS, MINORITY COUNSEL
HANDLE
A
FLS
Vlnited States Senate
SELECT COMMITTEE TO
STUDY GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS WITH
RESPECT TO INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES
(PURSUANT TO 4. RES. 21, 9TH CONGRESS)
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20510
January 13, 1976
Mr. Thomas K. Latimer
Special Assistant to the Secretary
U. S. Department of Defense
Washington, D. C. 20301
Dear Tom:
In connection with the Select Committee's investigation of
the assassination of President Kennedy, we earlier received
answers to certain questions put to NSA. Since then we have
examined other material pertaining to NSA's contribution to
the Warren Commission's investigation and we desire further in-
formation from NSA,
By way of background for this request, we note the Warren
Commission provided NSA various documents and asked NSA to re-
view them for any cryptological significance. NSA found no
cryptological significance and its report of this fact was pub-
lished by the Commission.
1. By letter of July 10, 1964, (a copy of which is attached)
Mr. Rankin provided General Blake a copy of certain documents
requested by Dr. Tordella for NSA's files. Since NSA's analysis
of the documents was apparently completed at the time of Rankin's
letter, we wish to know why NSA wanted to keep these documents
for its file. Further, we wish to know what use, if any, was
made of these documents and what results relevant to the assassina-
tion were obtained from such use.
2.
"
In a Commission staff internal memorandum, discussing the
documents provided NSA, it is reported that NSA is "primarily
interested in names, and NSA claims it has "information on names
which the CIA does not have." Assuming these statements are ac-
curate, we wish to know what significance such names would have.
TOP
HANDLE VIA COMENT CHANNELS
CLSSC Intell act.
EXCAST FROM TRAL DECLASSIFICATION
SCH: BULF OF
So of core?
AUTOMATICALLY DELLASSIFIED ON
-Impossible to Determine
fun!264 passible, set date or event)
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SEN. RFK, AND 
THE REV. DR. MLK, JR.
P
Mr. Thomas K. Latimer
January 13, 1976
Page Two
HANDLE VIA COMINT CHANNELS
to NSA and what information on names NSA had that CIA did not.
If names had significance, what names did NSA use in its analysis?
3. We are informed that CIA obtained transmissions from the
Soviet Embassy in Mexico City for November or December 1963 and
that it may have passed these to NSA for analysis. Did NSA re-.
ceive these transmissions or any transmissions relevant to the
assassination inquiry? Did it analyze them? What were the re-
sults of its analysis?
4. We are interested in learning the extent of NSA's role in
assisting in the investigation of the assassination. In that
connection, please inform the Committee the extent of NSA files
relating to the assassination. Please provide the staff of the
Committee access to those files. Please provide the staff with
a summary of all information NSA developed from Cuban or Soviet
transmissions relating to the assassination.
5.
We have been informed that after the assassination the
Cuban government instructed its embassies and consulates to re-
turn all files on Oswald to Cuba. What information does NSA
have on whether such instructions were issued?
6. In connection with the answers to questions 4 and 5, please
indicate whether such material was provided the Warren Commission
and provide copies of all documents evidencing that fact.
We would appreciate receiving a response to these questions
as soon as possible and to expedite this inquiry we are sending
a copy of this letter to Mr. Foster of NSA.
CC: Frank Foster
Sincerely,
ai
Alton H. Quanbeck
CLASSIF SSC Intell act
EXPMP KLASIFICATION
APTION LAY:
re une or acre)
DECLASSIFIED ON
$5.
AU
Impossible to Extermine
Conless so
$
sert nls of T
TOP SEC
HANDLE VIA COMBIC CHANNELS
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SEN, RFK, AND THE REV. DR MLK, JR.
JLR:RM/bjc
7/7/64
NSA
JUL 1 0 1964
Lieutenant, General Gordon A. Blake, U. S. A.
Director, National Security Agency
Fort George 0. Meade, Maryland
Dear General Blake:
In regard to Dr. Tordello's request, the National
S curity Agency is authorized to keep for its file the following
photographic copies of items which have been used by the
Commission in its investigation:
(2).
(2)
Commission Exhibit 31
Commission Exhibit 15
(3) Commission Exhibit 104
(4) Commission Exhibit 18
(5)
Typewritten version of Commission Exhibit 24
(6)
F. B. I. items A-2, A-6
(7) F. B. I. items 137, 152
have rendered the Commission.
Thank you for the cooperation and assistance you
Sincerely,
SIGNED
cc: Mr. Rankin
Mr. Willens
Mr. Mosk
J. Lee Rankin
General Counsel
RECE
H
Released pursuant to Executive Order 14176, DBCLASS OF RECORDS CONC. THE ASSASSINATIONS OF PRES. JFK,
SEN. RFK, AND THE REV. DR. MLK, JR.
T
(2/0
ports hebel 'not
SECRET KIMPO
URU3/266-63
1963 (2/31
the subject
Chief
The Catense par
Beadquarters say thi
fros 23 to 20 own
grond ring nd Tubination prett
teported to 
oben otresined by ou
vera 
ne fint: fl (2/5/08/230-0
CU/2195-69)
gbeduled
Mring air. to
Laforest lob was
Tagse eources
Ralaasad pursuant to Executive Order 14176, DRCLASS OF RECORDS CONC. THE ASSASSINATIONS OF PRES
REK, AND THE REV. DR MLK, JR.
JTE SEN

SECRET KIMBO
2/0/CON/916-63
25 Nov 631815z
DZST: 0/MA
ST 250
ALE IN PASTEIN HAVAL DISTRICT RELAXED, 23 NOVELBER
As a result of the death of President: Kor the Easte
Naval District of Cuba us placed or an alert at 20442 c
22 November by Bangs, headquarters for that district.((4))
3144
"EST
At 20372 on 23 Roverber, the alert us relaxed a cartain
degree by Bases; instructions were passed to Santiago de Cabs,
a 
subordinato, to give leave to 25. percent of their parsommel:
for the 23rd 
and 24th and that further orders would be forthcoming
cn 25 Royaber, 1963
...
COMMENT:
The authorization to grant are to personnel to no
indication 
that the alert in sehat relaxed and
the note that further instructions would be issued on.
Monday, 25 November, indicates that a noxurgent, view
has huen adopted for the altuation by Cibac Naval
cotbo izies in the Easter Saval fistrict:
(()) (2/11/C/7-632/95/N/655,656, 667-63)
Iral 3
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REK, AND THE REV, DR MLK, JR
SECRET KIMBO
2/0/CUJ/R58-63
26 Nov 63 20197
DIST: 0/WA
ST 250
ALERT IN ORIENTE PROVICE BELIEVED TO BE TERMINATED
The alert in Oriente Province (see 2/0/CUN/R196-63) is be-
lieved to be teralnated. The alert, apparently prompted 
by
President KEZDY's death on 22 
November, was possibly pre-
scheduled to terminate on 25 November. There 
have been two 
orders
which suggest that the alert was destined to be 
concluded on
25 November; they are:
1) Access to the Coastal Observation Post at Punta
Malsi (20-15% 74-CSW) was restricted until 25 
November 
because
of the alert (see 2/QS/CUN/2667-63); and
2) Subordinates of Banes, Readquarters Eastern Naval
District, were to receive further orders on the 
25th, presumably
concerning their alert status (2/0/C/
196-63); no such orders
have been noted in commIications.
There have been no further references in Intercepted communi-
cations to the alert since 02222 on 23 
November (2/05/CUR/R667-63)
.
It is possible that the restricted access to the Observation
Post at Punta Palsi extends to other 
Observation "osts in Oriente
Province such as reported on 21 Novecher 
When Pirst Army Coastal
Observation Posts were placed in an 
alert status
(2/21/CH4/2138-67), 204 that the 
restriction 
was to be lifted on
23 November by all those pools.
Further indication that the alert has terminated is the fact
that the Can Navy was engaged in an island-
wide communications
exercise on 25 November. It is 
considered unlikely that such an
exercise mild be conducted umer 
alert cordiitons. .
There have been mi further refereixes to the alert status
of the (D percent Santiago de Cuba) units which 
was first ob-
112 CRAF and Soviet
served on 21 November (2/31.CA
/R05-63).
Forces Cuba cunctions appear to be rorail during this
, 22-26 lovealer 1953.
T.
DAMA
PLUS CC 2
Indy
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