2000nn
104-10330-10100.
2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992
ER 97-4602
:
TION
ASSINATIO
ASSASSIN
REVIEW
RECORDS
BOARD
Assassination Records Review Board
600 E Street NW • 2nd Floor • Washington, DC 20530
(202) 724-0088 • Fax: (202) 724-0457
October 28, 1997
Mr. David W. Carey
Executive Director
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, DC 20505
Re:
Completing the Review of JFK Assassination Records
Dear Mr. Carey:
I would like to congratulate you on your new appointment at the Agency and wish you
the very best of success in the difficult challenges that lie ahead.
As you probably are aware, the Assassination Records Review Board has been
mandated by Congress and the President to oversee the declassification and transfer to
the National Archives of all records related to the assassination of President Kennedy.
During the past three years we have received excellent cooperation from CIA in regard
to the processing of the relevant Agency records. From our perspective, this is due in
significant part to the work of John Pereira, Chief of the Historical Review Group, and
J. Barry Harrelson, who has shouldered the extremely complicated, burdensome, and
frequently thankless task of overseeing the project. Both of them have proved to be
superb representatives of the Agency. We also very much appreciated receiving a
strong message of support from your predecessor, Nora Slatkin, who advised us in a
meeting on October 16, 1996, of her full support for the project and her willingness to
commit the necessary Agency resources to complete the project.
Because the Review Board is now in the final twelve months of its statutory tenure, I
thought it would be appropriate to advise you of our goals for the upcoming year. It is
our wish to be able to state in our Final Report to the President and to Congress that
CIA has made all reasonable attempts to locate, review, and declassify all available
records on the Kennedy assassination. We would like the Review Board to be able to
assure the American people that the Agency has been fully cooperative in this
enormous and difficult task, and that the Agency no longer retains any "secret" files on
the assassination. In addition, we are obligated to keep Congress informed, on a
monthly basis, of the status of our work and any difficulties that would interfere with
our ability to achieve our objective..
Although many important strides have been made to further our goals, we nevertheless
perceive that the pace of review and declassification of Agency records will need to be
.
BOARD MEMBERS: John R. Tunheim, Chair - Henry F. Graff • Kermit L. Hall - William L. Joyce • Anna K. Nelson
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: David G. Marwell
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Mr. David W. Carey
October 28, 1997
Page 2
accelerated in order for us to succeed. We must keep in mind that the goal includes
reviewing, processing, and transferring to the custody of the National Archives all
identified assassination records by September 1, 1998. (We do not perceive that
duplicate copies of such records need be transferred by September 1.) Many time-
consuming difficulties inherent in this project have been overcome, and we perceive
that the pace of review is accelerating. Nevertheless, we wanted to signal to you our
concern that, unless the pace of review increases further, we may not be on target to
satisfy what I hope to be our common objective.
It is our firm intention to complete our task within the congressionally mandated time
limit. If CIA is unable to pre-review and process its records consistent with completion
of this task, the Review Board will vote to release-in-full all relevant CIA records and
mandate that custody be transferred to the National Archives in a timely way. We
sincerely hope that it will not be necessary for the Board to make wholesale decisions on
unreviewed records and we will be pleased to work with the Agency to see that such a
step is unnecessary. But we are prepared to make such decisions to the extent they are
required to fulfill our own responsibilities. Although it is our perception that CIA may
wish to devote additional human resources to this project, we of course leave such
decisions to the sound judgment of knowledgeable CIA officials.
We therefore strongly urge the Agency to take all appropriate steps to complete its
review of records in an orderly and systematic manner. To the extent that the Agency is
able to satisfy appropriate deadlines, there will be no need for us to resort to any
unfortunate -- but potentially necessary -- measures to complete our own obligations to
Congress, the President, and the American people.
If you would find it helpful, the Review Board members and I would be pleased to
discuss these issues with you or others at the Agency.
Sincerely,
T. Jeremy Gunn
Executive Director
CC: Assassination Records Review Board
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20505
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
21 November 1997
CSI 97-536
Dr. T. Jeremy Gunn
Executive Director
Assassination Records
Review Board
600 E Street, NW
Washington, DC
20530
CIA SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
RELEASE AS SANITIZED
2000
Dear Dr. Gunn:
Thank you for your letter of 28 October in which you
outline the Assassination Records Review Board's goals for
the coming year. I appreciate the complimentary remarks you
made about the "excellent cooperation” that CIA has been
providing to the Board.
You raised a concern that the Agency may not be able to
increase sufficiently the pace of the review process to meet
the 1 September 1998 deadline for completing the transfer of
records to the National Archives. You also expressed the
view that if any records are not reviewed by the deadline,
the Board will vote to release them in full and mandate that
custody be transferred to the National Archives.
It is
You can be assured that we are committed to taking all
necessary steps to meet our statutory obligation to review
all of the Agency's assassination-related materials.
important that a proper review of all relevant records be
done. This will allow us to recommend to the Board what
information warrants continued protection.
We appreciate the great responsibility that Congress
and the President have given to the Board to inform the
American people about the assassination. We share the
Board's goal of declassifying and releasing the relevant
records to the fullest extent possible.
Please convey my regards to Chairman Tunheim and the
other Board members, and assure them of our continued
cooperation.
Sincerely,
David W. Carey
David W. Carey
DCI
EXEC
REG
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SECRET
Dave -
CSI
answers to
your questions
on JFK project.
I forwarded them to Comptroller, too.
CL BY: 0185904
CL REASON: Section 1.5 C
DECL ON: X1
DRV FRM: COL 1-82
1/ Comptroller provided additional background, also attached.
NOTE FOR:
FROM:
OFFICE:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Rebecca V. Strode
John F. Pereira
CSI/HRG
11/06/97 11:38:33 AM
CSI Resource Request regarding JFK
CC: Gina
In Brian Latell's absence, I am providing the following response to the Exdir's questions regarding the
request for additional resources for review of JFK documents:
1. What is the size of the JFK declassification problem? How much work remains to be done?
-
An additional 40-50,000 pages of CIA records remain to be reviewed by 30 September
1998.
A large volume of documents are being referred to CIA by other agencies for review,
including the FBI, State, and Presidential Libraries. The documents are either CIA-originated
or contain CIA information. No figures are available, but we estimate at least 40,000 pages.
- The JFK Board has also asked CIA to re-review approximately 130,000 pages of material that
we released earlier to the National Archives. The reason is to determine whether
information deleted earlier can now be released.
2. How many people do you have working on the JFK project now?
- Following are dedicated to the JFK project:
--
- One staff officer (Project leader Barry Harrelson)
- 13 independent contractors (work 3/4 days per week)
- The DO unit detailed to CSI to coordinate the review of JFK records recently added two
contractors and may add more.
3. What difference would X more make?
-
The additional resources requested would allow us to increase the pace of the review of
CIA documents and third agency referrals. Unless the pace is increased, it is highly unlikely
that the Board's requirement to complete the review and declassification of all JFK-related
records by 30 September 1998 could be met.
SECRET
13-00000*
SECRET
CC:
Brian S. Latell,(Patricia F. Duryee, Rodney A. Snyder}{Rex H. Latham-C-, (Robert E.`
(Leggett, J. Barry Harrelson
Sent on 6 November 1997 at 11:38:33 AM
SECRET
:
13-00000
SECRET
CL BY: 0693020
CL REASON: Section 1.5 C
DECL ON: 6 November 2007
DRV FRM: FIN 7-82
TO:
FROM:
OFFICE:
DATE:
Rebecca V. Strode
Cynthia R. Bower
COMPT
11/06/97 12:09:41 PM
SUBJECT: Re: CSI Resource Request regarding JFK
Some background information for you:
(S) First, although Congress authorized and appropriated $5.5 million for classification management, it is
unlikely that CSI will receive the full $5.5 million. Why? Congress levied a tax on DoD procurement that
will have a significant impact on CIA's program because of the fact that our entire budget is incorporated in
DoD's budget as Other Procurement Air Force. As a result of that tax, CIA has to take about a $49 million
reduction across all programs (per SAC direction). This will impact on all activities -- including new adds.
Each activity can expect to lose about 1% of its resources. We will identify specifically how to take this cut
at Friday's offsite.
(C) In addition, CIA has a large FY98 unfunded bill (about $143 million). On Friday, we will determine how
to reduce and/or pay that bill. One of the proposals on the table for paying that bill is to use some of the
Congressional add money -- obviously, we would have to work this with the Hill, but the bottom line is that
some of the declass money may be redirected to other priorities.
(C) Finally, we may decide to use some of the adds to prepay some FY99 shortfalls. We are already
aware of a shortfall in FY99 of about $180 million.
(U) So, the bottom line is that no one should count on getting the full amount of their add until we have
finalized our decisions on FY98 and FY99 unfundeds.
(C) All that said, if CSI does receive some or all of the money added by Congress, they do have the
flexibility to allocate that money to other priorities. However, they should attempt to meet the spirit of the
language in the Authorization Act. Specifically, the language reads, "The Senate bill added $5.5 million to
enhance declassification efforts, with a particular emphasis on those documents relating to
Guatemala and Honduras. The House amendment added $8 million for classification management. the
conferees agree to provide $5.5 million for declassification and classification management and request
that the Director of CSI report to the Congressional Intelligence Committees on progress in declassifying
documents of historical significance, the volume of documents involved, the mechanism for review, the
anticipated date of completion of this effort, and how the process can be improved."
(U) Hope this helps. CRB
CC:
Mary K. Sturtevant
SECRET
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NOV 07 '97 10:31AM
P.1
AIVO
Classification of Material Transmitted
HISTORICAL REVIEW GROUP.
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF INTELLIGENCE
Phone # 703-613-1806
PLEASE DELIVER IMMEDIATELY
EXDIR.
D/EXDIR
Comptroller
DCC Plans
CLASSIFIED FAX
SUBJECT:
FROM:
JFK
John Pereira X31805
SENDING FAX NO. 703-613-3060
DELIVER TO:
Becky Strode), EXDIFICE
RECEIVING FAX NO. 703-734-1819
DATE TRANSMITTED:
11/7
PAGES TRANSMITTED: 5-
(including cover sheet)
TRANSMITTED BY:
Barbara
MESSAGE:
info you
JFK
Becky, this is
requested.
on
AIVO
Classification of Material Transmitted
13-00000
NOV 07 '97 10:31AM
31 October 1997
Request for Additional Funds for the JFK Assassination
Records Review Project, through 31 September 1998.
Reference: Ltr. to Executive Director form J. Jeremy Gunn,
Executive Director, Assassination Records Review Board
(ARRB), copy attached.
Background.
1. The ARRB will go out of business on 31 September
1998. Before that date, it has a statutory obligation to
complete its review of all records held by the U.S.
Government which relate to the assassination of President -
Kennedy, determine those which are relevant to the
assassination story and ensure that the same are transferred
to the National Archives. As the board begins its final
year, it has become increasingly concerned about the pace of
the review and transfer process. Referent letter is the
latest of a number of exchanges dealing with that concern.
2. CSI/HRG has carefully reviewed its current position
with respect to its ability to meet the deadlines imposed
and has concluded that it cannot fully do so without
additional resources, at least through 30 September 1998.
This conclusion is based in large measure on three changed
circumstances:
A. The ARRB has recently exercised its statutory
authority and designated additional CIA records to be within
the JFK collection (to date approximately twenty cubic feet
or 40,000 pages). Additional records may be identified as,
the ARRB staff continues its review of Agency files.
B. Over the past three months we have received an
increase in the number of "Assassination Records" referred
from third agencies which include both Agency documents held
by another agency or third agency documents which must be
reviewed because they contain CIA information; and
C. The ARRB itself has established a deadline which was
not anticipated. All agencies had understood that the
review process and ARRB action would have to be completed by
30 September, but it was widely assumed that final
processing and transfer of the documents to the National
Archives could occur after that date. However, the Board has
now mandated that all relevant records which are not
duplicates must be transferred to custody of the National
Archives before it goes out of business.
P.2
13-00000
NOV 07 '97 10:32AM.
Additional Resources Requested.
3. The following estimate is based on our understanding
of the ARRB requirements at this time.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Review of records: equivalent of 2 man-years (3
contractors average daily contractor cost
$270);
Preparation of documents for National Archives:
equivalent of 1.5 man-years (2 contractors
average daily contractor cost $180);
Indexing: approximately one-man year of overtime
($25 hourly rate);
Reproduction: approximately one-man year of
overtime ($25 hourly rate).
Estimated cost FY98: $300,000
P.3
13-00000
.NOV 07 '97 10:33AM
2
Request for Funds for Declassification of Korean Documents
1. Background. In December 1995, the Director of.
Central Intelligence drafted a Policy Directive calling for
the implementation of a community-wide systematic
declassification program under the leadership of the Center
for the Study of Intelligence (CSI). The Community
Historical Review Advisory Committee (CHRAC), chaired by the
Director of CSI, was formed last year to implement the DCI's
directive and to select and prioritize topics for
historical declassification review by the Intelligence
Community. At the October meeting of the CHRAC, the agency
representatives approved the review of materials related to
the Korean War as the first topic for historical
declassification to be done collectively by the Intelligence
Community.
2. The Korean Project. Funds are requested for the
Agency to fully participate in this project. With funding,
CSI, in cooperation with the Agency's automatic
declassification program (OIM/IRG/ADD), will review for
possible declassification intelligence records related to
the Korean War period (1 January 1950 through 27 July 1953).
The review would be done concurrently with the rest of the
Intelligence Community. The joint effort will be
coordinated by CSI.
3. The Project's Cost. Preliminary research done by
CIA's History staff indicates there are approximately 100
boxes, about 150,000 pages, of material that will have to be
reviewed from archival material belonging to several Agency
directorates. The following costs would be incurred during
such a review:
Document Preparation (select pertinent documents for
copying and organize them for reviewers)
for 50 days ($13,000)'
• Copying Expenses
-
-
One contractor
One copier, at 75 pages per hour for
2000 hours ($50,000)³
Document Review (contractor document review to make
declassification determinations with guidance supplied by
staff supervisor) One contractor doing 2 reviews of
each document at a rate of 200 pages per day ($390,000)
Contractor is approximately $270 per day.
Copiers are approximately $25 per hour.
P.4
Not
IA conti

13-00000
NOV 07 '97 10:34AM
Document Massaging (input of staff supervisor, time for
outside coordination, and preparation of final copies for
NARA) Approximately 1/3 of a staff officer's time for
1 year and 2 contractors for a total of 384 days
($135,000)³
-
TOTAL COST
$588,000'
The total is a conservative estimate that could escalate depending
upon the complexity of the project and the need for outside
coordination. Costs not included in this total are paper, cost of
equipment maintenance, ADP support, document coordination expenses of
other directorates, share of cost of CSI support personnel and cost of
putting finished declassified documents into MORI.
P.5