14-00000 I. Il. HSCA Hearings . The HSCA has scheduled public hearings for August, September, and November. The King hearings are 14-18 August, and 9, 10, 13-17, 20, 21, 22, 25-29 November. It appears that CIA is unlikely to feature in in these hearings, although this is only an impression. . The Kennedy hearings are to be on week days, 6-29 September. CIA doubtless will share the stage with the FBI. We have requested the HSCA Staff for information on the plans for the hearings, with special attention to the security considerations, (orally on 29 June and 13 July, and in writing from the DDCI on 26 July and 4 August). To date what we know about plans was acquired from The Congressional Monitor. It has been the practice of the HSCA Staff to avoid dialogues, the effect of which is to conceal much of what they are doing or thinking. The resulting frustrations of trying to cooperate with ‘- a the investigation are not important; inevitably we age cickin teiearere a teehee ecg ma A Te ete mente ote so nme!
14-00000 De 7, C3 “ ~ August 1978 Summary Points on HSCA Hearings The ESCA has scheduled hearings on the assassination of President Kennedy for weekdays, 6 - 29 September. Preliminary hearings on the assassination of Martin Luther King are to be 14.- 18 August and November. Areas Of apparent emphasis appear to be CIA coverage in Mexico City, and issues arising ‘from the questions of Nosenko's bona fides. On the Nosenko matter, __ CIA's treatment of Nosenko is also under scrutiny. The Mexico City story is essentially, in terms of Agency. coverage, one of sources~-and-methods. — Aspects of the Nosenko story also involve sensitive matters. Recent handling of restricted Agency material (press release), without checking with the Agency, may “indicate lack of concern about sensitive matters. HSCA has failed, despite repeated requests, to discuss with the Agency how to handle sensitive matters in. public hearings. Agency employees called to testify may be faced with the dilemma of violating their secrecy oath or risk- ing a contempt citation, oe The matter tends to become political, in addition to whatever legal questions there are.
14-00000 are provided partial insights into areas of interest, if not the details. The significance of the tactic, however, grows as public hearings approach, involving as they do subject matter that we view as having considerable sensitivity and importance to CIA. III. We obviously do not know all the lines of inquiry pursued by HSCA investigators. They have undertaken to reconstruct as much as possible about Oswald and the assassination of President Kennedy. They also are attempting to develop an evaluation of the performance of the intelligence agencies in the investigation. Two areas of special interest have become evident, both of which involve sensitive operational considerations: _ Mexico City @. Mexico City is considered one of the most important bases for Soviet clandestine operations against the United States. As a-result Soviet and Cuban diplomatic installations have long been the subject of CIA surveillance operations, conducted both Cuad | by CIA as well as e. Telephone and photographic coverage of. the Soviet installations is carried on, as.well as physical
14-00000 surveillance.: The| the telephone operations with us; it is| leo them to be engaged in this activity. They are aware of the fact of photographic surveillance. Because of the telephonic coverage CIA was able to provide the initial firm evidence on“Oswald's contacts with Cuban and Soviet . officials, in his attempt to obtain visas to Cuba and the USSR. CIA, limited in not being able to conduct a traditional police- type investigation, was able to suggest to the Mexican authorities that they interview at least one person known to have dealt with Oswald during his visit. However, gaps remain in’ what is known about his visit. This has attracted HSCA attention. 7 fy The reported questioning of some HSCA investigators has on occasion appeared to be developing a basis for criticizing CIA's performance in its part of the investigation in Mexico City, under its charter to evaluate the performance of the intelligence agencies. At one time, and possibly € Aine. still, they appeared to be attempting to develop a case to the effect that (1) there was photography,
34-0000 and (2) CIA must’ have suppressed it. Practically all the above CIA reporting on Mexico City involves classically sources+ and-methods material. | Nosenko . Yuri Nosenko was a KGB officer who defected in early 1964. Among the items of information 285, . . that he asserted he brought with him was knowledge about Lee Harvey Oswald, from his file in the KGB. . The bona fides of Nosenko's defection was the subject of doubts and he was subjected to extensive interrogation. He was in the custody of CIA for some five years, under laws concerning su¢h persons, some three years of which was in solitary confinement under what the Rockefeller Commission termed "extremely spartan living conditions." . Eventually Nosenko was judged to be a bona fide defector. He has proven to be the source of a wide range of information on many hundreds of KGB officers, and KGB operations abroad, as well as about the KGB. Over. the years his information has been responsible for a number, of successful | counterintelligence initiatives by either the
14-00000 U.S. or its allies. The recent book about Oswald, Legend, by Epstein, has dramatized Nosenko's defection, repeating the early doubts about him and | leaving the strong implication that he is still to be doubted. Recently the HSCA investigators seem to have shifted the emphasis of their inquiry from this issue to how Nosenko was handled; this judgment may be in error and the issue of his bona fides may return during the hearings. CIA did mistreat Nosenko. He was kept in solitary confinement, he was given a minimum diet, he was allowed few comforts, and he was subjected to intensive interrogation for extended periods of time. He ‘believes that he was subjected to drugs, but there is no record that such was the case; those who were involved say he was never subjected to drugs, although it was considered once and rejected. The question of the bona fides of Nosenko's defection could inVolve’ matters that have sensitive connotations; however, -a decision to emphasize only his mistreatment would be only embarrassing to the Agency.