Released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (44 USC 2107 Hote). DATE: 11- 14- 2017 0 O Mr. W. L. Bailey Mr. J. J. McDermott Mr. H. A. Boynton, Jr. Mr. W. O. Cregar ri Ft be Pity dr. Bailey GONFIDENTIAL 6/20/79 Mr. B. P. Hexrndon Mr. W. A. Bayse - Mr. J. A. Mintz HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON ASSASSINATIONS 1 - Mr. N. F. Stames U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (HSCA) _~ = Mr. D. Ryan a ; Ty Mr. D. J. Clark Mr. J. T. Aldhizer D. Ryan Ree He PURPOSE: To record details of the FBI! Ss review of material - furnished by captioned Committee in accordance with the: 10/5/77 Memorandum of Understanding (MU) between the Department of Justice and the HSCA. - SYNOPSIS: The HSCA Material (approximately 4,463 pages) was received by the FBI on 6/12/79 and reviewed in “accordance with the 10/5/77 MU. Review by FBI Headquarters (FBIHQ) Records Management Division (RMD), Intelligence Divi- Sion (INTD), Criminal Investigative Division (CID), Labora- "tory. Division. (Lab), Technical Services Division (TSD), and Legal Counsel Division (LCD) was completed on 6/15/79. Items Of. information to: be disclosed which constituted permissible objections under the MU or factual errors were discussed with HSCA former: Chief Counsel G.. Robert Blakey on 6/15/79. Blakey resolved the matters raised by accepting certain alter-~ ‘native language. Any objections or suggestions rejected by Blakey did not go to the merit of a permissible objection under the MU. Details of the matters discussed with Blakey are set forth. Certain matters were coordinated with the Cen- tral Intelligence Agency (CIA) as required. The Department of Justice (DOJ) was advised by letter on 6/18/79 that the FBI review had been completed and that Blakey had resolved the permissible objections by accepting certain changes. The FBI review, just concluded, concentrated on information con- stituting a permissible objection under the MU or a substan- tive, factual error. This memorandum should not be construed as a definitive commentary on the HSCA material... Committee praise for the 1978 FBI: leadership is set forth, as well as two Committee quotes from Director Webster's testimony before: the HSCA. - RECOMMENDATION: For information. CONTINUED - OVER SEE DETAILS PAGE 2 Enclosures CASS. 2 EXT. BY... acevo REASON Bist eae 2.4.2 (2). ae pare Oe REVIEW 6/20/99 ~s#% a5 DIC/ITA:1£3 CK on efi. er arre "@ eora JER. _ ‘DocId: 32319586 Page 2?
Released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of DATE: ca di- 14-2017 Memorandum D. Ryan to Mr. Bailey | OF ss | Co, - Res House Select Committee on Assassinations w\ ~ RE ASSASSINATION “oF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.- SA Aldhizer. discussed ‘the following matters with | Mr. Blakey: . - Item ls On page 156, paragraph 5, the report states, o » o “the committee was able only to: ‘review the files. of the - Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The FBI objected because this wording implies the NECA. may have obtained RCMP information from PBI files. Mr. -Blakey agreed to the follow- ing ‘revised wording: .. . "the committee was able only to review the files of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) , obtained by committee subpoena from local authorities." “ Item 2: On page 159, paragraph. 6, the report states, "In a conversation with a female acquaintance later reported © to the FBI, Jerry's response to.a general question concerning © his brother s involvement in the assassination was;". The FBI objected to this passage because it tended “to identify an FBI informant. Mr. Blakey agreed to the revised wording of "in a conversation with an acquaintance, Jerry's general response to a question concerning his brother's involvement in-the assassination was:" { ~ . _ . — Item 3: On page 195, line 2, it is stated that "One of the informants was dead and the other, when contacted by. the FBI at the Committee's request, refused an interview, fearing his life would be endangered if. his identity was ‘ yevealed. (26)" The FBI objected. to this passage because . it tended . to identify FBI informants. Mr .~Blakey agreed to a substitution of this sen- a tence, which is as follows: "The informants were either unavailable or uncooperative. (26) . -~ ~~ i? - _-. CONTINUED - OVER Docld: 32319556 Page 3
Released under the-John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (44 USC 2107 Hote). DATE: 11-14- 2017 LAL ; . - Lo - . - 4 wr, 4 i S fa. -. Memorandum D. Ryan to Mr . Bailey . Res House Select Committee on Assassinations - Item 7: On page 217, small paragraph numbered 4, the report states, “The committee “identified the FBI informant a in SCLC without the assistance of the FBI. He acknowledged his former informant status in a committee interview in which. he was also asked about the nature of his relationship with the Bureaus" . The ‘FBI objected to this wording - because it. implied that the HSCA learned of informant's identity through, a - review of. FBI files. - - . |. Mr. Blakey agreed to a revised wording of this sen- tence, which is as follows: ."The committee learned of the identity of the FBI's SCLC informant when he acknowledged his former status in a committee interview. He was asked about ‘ the nature of his relationship with the Bureaus" Item 8: On page 240, paragraph 7, the report states that the FBI"s conduct was “morally reprehensible, illegal, - felonious, and unconstitutional.“ The FBI objected to this | - statement in discussing the FBI Counterintelligence Program — because the HSCA, in its report, failled to point out suffi- cient evidence to warrant such language. Mr. Blakey refused » to make any change in this statement. : + Item 9: On page 247, paragraph 1,-the report states, a "Washington inStructed the FBI legal attache in Ottawa to con- duct a similar review of Canadian passports, with-the assis=. tance of the. Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (127) " - The FBI objected to this” statement because it ‘tended - to refer to the FBI's relationship with a foreign intelligence: service. “ vO ; | Mr. Blakey agreed to. revise wording in this. para- graph, which. is as follows: “Washington requested. Canadian authorities to ‘review Canadian passport records. (127) "" re oar _ ° | CONTINUED - OVER Docld: 32319556 Page 4
Released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992? (44 usc 2107 Hote}. DATE: 11-14-2017 7 ~ ea Hy Me : i . : x . - . - . s ° Memorandum D. Ryan to. Mr. Bailey , | . Res House Select Committee on Assassinations Appendix-Volume XIII ~— MLK Item lz: . On page 117, last paragraph, the panel report, in paragraph 32, lists the results of fingerprint _ comparisons on numerous photographs. In paragraph 33, the panel report states that the HSCA panel, in examining these reports, agreed with earlier findings of the FBI. However, the report stated that "In addition, the panel determined that the previously unidentified photograph 115, developed | oe from a coupon from Eric &. Galt to Modern Photo Bookstore, _ _ bears an impression made by the left thumb of James Earl Ray." \y It was pointed out to Mr. Blakey that this sentence is misleading and incorrect in view of the fact that the FBI. initially. identified photograph 115 as an impression of Ray's — ra ieft thumb, and therefore the HSCA only confirmed this finding. % Mr © “Blakey agreed to make the following changes in the report: (1) On page 116, under photograph 115, the Q number of 326 was added in parentheses following the word “Store”; (2) on page 117, information concerning the identifi- cation of photograph 115 would be listed in the correct chrono- logical order under paragraph 32; (3) the sentence in the last paragraph on page 117, in paragraph 33, beginning with "In- addition," would therefore be deleted. : Item 2s ‘On page 127, bottom of the page, under item te), _ there appears the sentence "The FBI received this specimen — ‘from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on June 4, 1968." - The FBI objected to inclusion of this information because it disclosed the FBI's relationshipp with a foreign intelligence service. Mr. Blakey agreed to delete this sentence. HS * ae wo CONTINUED - OVER “ Docld: 32319556 Page 5