424-10067-1027. AGENCY INFORMATION * AGENCY: FBI RECORD NUMBER:  124-10067-10272 RECORD SERIES: HQ > AGENCY FILE NUMBER:  105-82555-5755 ORIGINATOR: FROM: TO: TITLE: DATE: PAGES: SUBJECT: DOCUMENT TYPE: ORIGINAL CLASSIFICATION: REVIEW _DATE: STATUS COMMENTS: DOCUMENT INFORMATION FBI GRAY, R. J. JR. LEAVITT, T. W. 02/24/1978 3 NEWSPAPER, EXCELSIOR, ARTICLES, FBI, OPERATIONS, MX PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT NEW Confidential CLASSIFICATION: 06/30/1997 | UPDATE DATE: — 06/08/2001 Redact RESTRICTIONS: JFK Act 6 (1)(B) HY 50953 DBoctd: 32262612 Page 1
in ake ESS mg 18, OOo ice « - “_ ota'remr (1 cra) tortie Bok pad desks UNITED STATES GOV:-s3NM ; - Mr. J. B. Adams _ J. J. McDermott - Mr. H. N. Bassett mw Li - Mr. D liz: Moore, Jr. Mr. T. W. Leavitt 1 ’ ee 2/24/78 Memorandum ed i F : - l=- Mr. T. W. Leavitt ee 2 neta aR; 1 - Mr. R. J. Gray, Jr. Ree Mann AR FROM . PENS eee aes . a” a AF tn Ree, Mgne, j R. J. Gray, J U aatHeaeTa - Mr. J. S. beo “Sea tee cence ania ; | AIP. ; ° Teeining l=- Mr. R. ' or. Public Affe. OFF: te) | Telephone Rm,” ve : E HARVEY OSWALD gy NX FCI - RUSSIAd (52 ALG INFORMA $1 Ow Oost Bithigiy ry UNCLASSIF tgp ° N - — RCCRPY WR Om PURPOSE: . OLMMEE Sz en XQ a To highlight the need to furnish priéf Q concerning FOIA releases to Legat, Mexico City, eC LON Other LegatsJMue to delicate relations maintained by our Legal ‘ i £ i ° , ~ a : e \ Attaches with foreign Sovernments BW )/(U) | ; Loaf a8 or-ot DETAILS: z Legat, Mexico City, by teletype 12/2/77, advised that material. released under FOIA on 11/21/77 was carried as a number of headline stories by Mexico City newspapers beginning 11/23/77, and on 11/30/77, the leading Mexico City o/ daily newspaper, "Excelsior" began a series of front page “articles. The stories highlighted sensational -allegations (Mabout FBI operations in Mexico and other statements. drawn =< >from the released material. Legat, Mexico City had not ~Q° “ been furnished advance notification of the release of th 7material, and at that time strongly recommended advance g notification be made to all foreign offices when FOIA dis> . OS closures were to be made pertaining to countries within a (> 9 the respective territories of the Legats. lthough.. _. ae oS iO ' excellent cooperation in investigative matters has always been furnished Legat, Mexico City by Mexican authorities, @ the Government of Mexico is particularly sensitive about any informati being known publicly concerning this ; cooperation ta sent a courier to Mexico City with copies of the release after articles appeared in the newspapers, and Legat, Mexico City was able to obtain a copy: ENG. ce release from CIA and brief the American Ambassador. Classified h Declassify on RJO:cvh \w “ iffed by 5 si Ines Rfle c yh Date of Duclassiichi Asn indefinite oa nh sian Sok 8010-190 " Buy U.S. Savings Bonds Regularly on the Payroll Savings: Plan Ae f eh rece te PP \ AD HW 50953 Bocta: 32262612 Page 2
HY 50957 Memorandum to Mr. T. W. Leavitt Re: Lee Harvey Oswald CONFIDES TAL , In the above instance, Legat, Mexico City would not have been able,to respond to the American Ambassador in a timely nanner Kyitnout the aid of CIA. Fortunate for the Legat, CIA pladed enough importance on the release to have it flown to Mexico by courier... In this instance, the Legat's office was in real jeopardy. { The Government of Mexico will cooperate as long as the Gooperation is not made a matter of public record. The Mexican Government is very nationalistic, and makes he. ffort in’public to appear free of U. S. influence Glu Legat, Mexico City has now alerted us_of a teletype which was 1/15/78f#rom CIA Headquarters |to their Chjef of Station concerning release under the ce) -FOIA of documentS in Captioned matter. Legat, Mexico Cit expressed his concern over the adverse publicity likely’ to result and the impact on our relations with Mexico. He again cited the need to advise in advance the U. S. Ambassador f f difficult by the insufficient lead time granted in this mattersy By teletype to all SACs and Legats dated 1/16/78 notification was made that the above material was to be released 1/18/78. in Mexico City and the Legat's contacts there, which is AS) ; f e The two above-cited instances point out the necessity of prior notification and the dire’ consequences of failure to notify the host government and the American Embassy concerned. Failure to properly inform the American Ambassador in advance places our. Legat in-a most embarrassing position which could possibly be avoided. Failure to promptly provide similar in- formation to the Legal Attache could easily jeoparize our entire Legal Attache operation, taking into account ( U) sensitivities. of the host country government. RECOMMENDATION : \WGOGrnat in order to avoid placing our foreign operations in jeopardy,}) future releases effecting our Legats be coordinated in advance with the Intelligence Division. ape APPROVED: = Adm. Serv. ay benal Cau p rim. Inv. oy ' ' y Diregtor _, At Ree fine = er g4nyy bi 7s BSB, AB Adm. : Road Ed cans TA Ben AB lay aT ory ea OY 7 2 a ‘. oe Docld:32789619 Page 3 Y