2000nn
104-10330-10044
2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992
SECRET
OCC-95-149
07 DEC 1995
MEMORANDUM FOR: JFK Assassination Records Review Board
VIA:
Associate Deputy Director for Operations
Associate Deputy Director for Operations/Human
Resources and Programs
FROM:
Eric L. Qualkenbush
SUBJECT:
Chief, Office of Central Cover
Proposed CIA Name Release
1. The Agency strongly objects to the release of names of
individuals presently under cover, whether active employees or
separated employees. As described below, this action would
breach Agency commitments to these individuals who agreed to work
under cover in addition to breaching our obligations to the cover
providers.
2.
Employees sign a secrecy agreement (Attachment A) upon
entering on duty with the Agency. This agreement pledges the
employee's secrecy to information which is classified and has not
been publicly acknowledged by the Agency and requires the
employee to protect such information from unauthorized
disclosure. This secrecy agreement, as long as it remains in
force by mutual agreement, obliges CIA to protect the identities
of Agency employees, our cover providers and covert activities.
3.
Because this secrecy agreement creates a moral as well
as legal bond between the Agency and the employee, it is Agency
policy to protect the names of former employees who have
separated under cover unless the Agency and the employee mutually
agree to remove the cover. Identifying as CIA those employees
who are mandated by the Agency to use a cover story,
Department of State or the "ABC" Corporation, for their entire
Agency career as well as into their years after separation from
the Agency, jeopardizes:-
the personal safety of former employees;
WARNING NOTICE
INTELLIGENCE SOURCES
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4.
the second careers of former employees;
the cover and identity of other employees who worked
with the covert employee whose name is released as
CIA; and,
the protection of sources and methods (what
individual would agree to a clandestine relationship
with American intelligence knowing the secret
association would become public knowledge?).
Examples of how identifying covert employees as CIA will
affect individuals follows:
°
•
Mr. Walter McCabe retired under Department of State.
cover and is currently working in Russia and several
Eastern European countries for a private firm which
converts "wartime" factories into peacetime use.
Revealing his name would damage his relationship
with his current employer, his position with the
firm and would be awkward at best regarding the host
countries. Attachment B is Mr. McCabe's
acknowledgement that he was aware he would be denied
as a CIA employee and Attachment C is his signed
secrecy agreement.
Attachment D is a signed ackowledgement from Mr.
John Whitten who retired under cover in 1970 which
shows that he was aware that he would be denied as
an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency from
the date he entered on duty through the date of his
departure. Attachment E is a personal letter
received from Mr. Whitten after he was notified that
his name might be released in connection with
declassification of CIA documents. Attachment F is
Mr. Whitten's signed secrecy agreement. It should
be noted that Mr. Whitten resides in Austria.
Attachment G is a Summary of Agency Employment (SAE)
written by Mr. Morton M. Palmer and approved by the
Agency. Attachment H is a certification by Mr.
Palmer that he will abide by what is contained in
his SAE and understands disclosure of other
information would be in violation of his secrecy
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SUBJECT: Memo to JFK Assassination Records Review Board
agreement. Attachment I is Mr. Palmer's signed
secrecy agreement. It should be noted that Mr.
(Palmer resides in Mexico.
5. Our relationship with cover providers would be
jeopardized if it became publicly known that they were providing
cover to CIA employees. The Department of State could very well
raise objections to our future use of State cover. Of increasing
importance to the Agency at this time is the critical use of
private sector (nonofficial) cover providers. The private sector
would no doubt drop contact and avoid future dealings with us if
we reveal a covert relationship. Identifying covert
relationships with cover providers would paralyze Agency
operations which in turn could severely damage national security.
In addition, in the past it has exposed CIA to legal liabilities
and substantial monetary damages.
6. Headquarters Regulation (HR) 240-1 is the Agency's
regulation on cover. It states that "cover is required for all
Agency operations, activities and installations abroad, including
personnel in PCS or TDY status.” HR 240-2, the Agency's'
regulation on cover after separation, states that "the
determination that an employee will retain all or a part of his
or her cover after separation from the Agency will be based upon
the judgment that separation in an overt status could result in
damage to the national security by compromising intelligence
sources, methods, activities, and/or information, or cause harm
to foreign relations. This determination will be made on a case-
by-case basis." Please note that all Agency employees who retire
abroad must retire under cover.
7. Release of names of former employees who separated under
cover will make the entire Agency cover program vulnerable and
detract from our continuing efforts to enhance cover and conduct
sometimes dangerous activities necessary to carry out thể
Agency's mission. We can accept the purpose of the JFK
Assassination Records Review Act to declassify documents for
public consumption; however, we submit that the release of true
names of former Agency employees adds no value to the documents
in addition to risking physical harm to these individuals from
our public detractors. We propose and emphatically encourage
that pseudonyms, aliases or generic job descriptions such as desk
officer be used in place of true names which would not diminish
the impact of the documents.
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8. After your review and consideration of the above
information, we would appreciate notification of your final
decision prior to taking any action.
Em Qualtenbru
<Eric L. Qualkenbush
Attachments:
As stated above
CONCUR:
Сили
Associate Deputy Director for
Operations/Human Resources
and Programs
8 Dec '95
Date
Associate Deputy Director for
Operations
8 XII 95
Date
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SUBJECT: Memo to JFK Assassination Records Review Board
DC/OCC/OSG/EMathias: lae/37076 (6 Dec 95)
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JFK Assassination Records Review Board
IMS/HRS
ADDO
ADDO/HRP
DDO Secretariat
DO/IRO
OGC/LD - (Linda Cipriani
OCC Chron
OCC/OSG Chron
OCC/OSG File 785-120-034
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