THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON

INTELLIGENCE OVERSIGHT BOARD

Hay 7, 1976

Dear Dr. Cook:

VW have determined some of the procedures by which the

Intelligence Oversight Board will fulfill its responsibilities under Executive Order 11905. The purpose of

this memorandum is to request your cooperation.

(1) Scope of the Board's Review 

The Board ischarged with reviewing activities of the

Intelligence Community that raise questions of legality

or propriety. The responsibilities of the Intelligence

Community are covered by Section 4 of the Executive Order.

If activities may reasonably be considered of either

questionable legality or .propriety, agency and department officials assigned to report such activities to the

Board are not relieved of their responsibility to make

reports solely because they determine the activities to

be legal and proper.

The activities to be• reviewed by the Board are those

conducted by the Intelligence Community as part of

Government business. The Board is not to review illegal

or improper personal activities of Government employees.

The Order requires all Inspectors General and General

Counsels in the Intelligence Community to "formulate

practices and procedures designed to discover and report to the Oversight Board activities that raise

questions of legality or propriety." This obligation

relates to the foreign intelligence activities assigned

in Section 4 of the Executive Order and is imposed on

each inspector general and general counsel only with

respect to the activities of his own agency. At the

same time, however, inspectors general and general

counsels are directed to report to the Oversight Bdard

any questionable activities of any foreign intelligence

agency that "cone to their attention."
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The term legality, as used in this Order, means the

United States Constitution, statutes, Executive Orders,

regulations (including internal agency regulations), and

state common law and statutes. Issues of compliance with

treaties or other international agreements should be referredto the Operations Advisory Group as part of its

normal deliberations or be pursued through normal

departmental actions.

Questions have been raised about the scope of the term

"propriety" in the Executive Order. The Board's jurisdiction . includes more than possible illegal activities

for a number of reasons:

(i) All'zeferences to law in the Executive Order

are to United States law. Activities of U.S. foreign

intelligence agencies overseas may not violate U.S. law,

but, because they may violate foreign law, may raise

questions of propriety. This would be particularly true

of activities which go beyond normal intelligence functions in allied countries. For instance, inducement of

a person to embezzle funds from a Canadian bank would be

of questionable propriety.

Some activities, although not illegal, may

extend beyond the normally accepted role of U.S. foreign

intelligence agencies. For instance, it may not be illegal

for most U.S. foreign intelligence agencies to compile

dossiers on the domestic activities of American citizens

derived from public sources, but such an activity would be

questionable.

(iii) Some activities, 'although not illegal under U.S.

law, may be contrary to accepted norms of American society.

For instance, under most circumstances torture of persons

anywhere in the world to elicit information would raise

questions of propriety.

No definitive explanation of propriety is possible. The

term encompasses standards of conduct that derive from

the shared moral values of the United States which form

the basis of a free society, basic concepts of right and

wrong, and general understandings of the role of

intelligence.
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(2) Reports to the Board 

The Executive Order imposes several reporting requirements:

Beads of intelligence agencies or departments are

to report periodically to the Board any activities of their

organizations that raise questions of legality or propriety.

(Sec. 6(c)(1))

Inspectors General and General Counsels are to

transmit to the Board reports of any activities that come

to their attention that raise questions of legality or

propriety. (Sec. 6(b)(1))

(a) Inspectors General and General Counsels are to

report periodically, at least quarterly, to the Oversight

Board on their findings concerning questionable activities,

if any. (Sec. 6(b)(2))

Although the Executive Order thus speaks of separate reports from heads of agencies, inspectors general and general

counsels, single departmental or agency reports signed by

all three officials will be adequate for Board purposes.

Submission of such joint reports, however, is not required,

nor will such submission relieve any of the three officials

specified in the order of their individual obligations to

report questionable activities not covered by the joint

reports.

The Order also makes a distinction between periodic reports

in Sections 6(c)(1) and 6(b)(2) and immediate reports in

Section 6(b)(1). Activities that should be reported under

Section 6(b)(1) would include any major or significant

activities that raise serious questions of legality or •

propriety. In particular, ongoing activities or planned

activities should be reported immediately, rather than only

in periodic reports. Activities that have been completed

or terminated can normally be reported in periodic reports.

Periodic reports should also indicate the scope of investigative activities conducted by the responsible official

since the previous periodic report.

The responsible officials need not report mere allegations

of questionable activities. They are, however, obligated

to investigate such allegations expeditiously and report

them if their investigations determine that there is probable

cause to believe the facts alleged and that these facts raise

questions of legality or propriety.
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In reporting to the Oversight Board, no particular format

need be followed. Summaries of findings of the responsible

officials will be adequate, provided that all relevant

facts are included. The reporting officials will be responsible, however, for providing all background information

requested by the Board or its staff.

True names of covert employees, sources, agents or other

persons whose identities are considered sensitive need not

be reported to the Board in initial reports. Should the

Board request further information, however, the department

or agency shall be prepared to furnish such names.

The first quarterly reports from Inspectors General and

General Counsels should be submitted by the dates indicated

on the attached schedule.

(3) Reports from Individuals 

Outside Government 

The Oversight Board was not established to act as an

investigator of citizen complaints. If, however, serious

allegations are received by the Board from private citizens,

it will in appropriate cases follow-up on the allegations

to see if they lead to discovery of questionable activities.

Intelligence agencies are obligated under the Executive

Order to cooperate fully in response to any inquiries from

the Board that are prompted by citizen complaints.

Inside the Government 

The Executive Order does not explicitly establish a

system by which employees of the Intelligence Community

will report to the Board. The Board was not established

to substitute for the normal Inspector General functions

of receiving complaints and allegations from employees.

Nonetheless, the President has made it clear that he

expects the Board to accept information from individual

employees. Although the Board does not feel an obligation

to investigate all allegations received, it will as it

deems appropriate follow-up on serious allegations received from employees. Employees in each agency and

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department of the Intelligence Community should be made

aware that they have the ability to report directly to

the Board.

Your cooperation in getting this important assignment

underway will be appreciated.

Very truly yours,

Robert D. Murphy

Chairmen

Dr. Charles W. Cook

Deputy Under Secretary (Space Systems)

Department of the Air Force

The Pentagon

Washington, D.C. 20330

Enclosure