04-10331-10152 fen - SECRET OIM 98-000nn 13 April 1998 MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Executive Director FROM: Lee S. Strickland Chief, Information Review Group/OIM ‘VIA: Director of Information Management SUBJECT: - Pending ARRB (JFK Board) Issues * ‘ite ce 1. (AIUO) Per your request at our 1 April bi-weekly meeting, we have summarized below the significant issues which . are under deliberation and negotiation with the JFK Board. Our approach on protecting Agency equities is multi-step: e First, with the staff, we argue relevance although the statute and implementing regulations define ‘‘assassination records’’ very broadly as including @ (1) any records related to the assassination or Oswald, e (2) any records concerning the various conspiracy theories, and e (3) any records within the scope of previous investigations including the Church Committee, Commission, (HSCA) ," Pike Committee, Warren or House Select Committee on Assassinations e Second, with the staff, we argue that release would cause current damage although the exemptions under the JFK statute are much narrower than the corresponding exemptions under the FOIA, and ® Third, if we fail to convince the staff, we must proceed to a more detailed and formal presentation to the Board. 2 {(AIUO) It is the materials collected by the HSCA which are the most numerous and often the most troublesome in terms of sensitive equities. They are generally referred to as the ‘'sequestered collection.’' SECRET CL BY: 0219849). CL REASON: 1.5(c) ; DECL ON: Xi DRY FROM: Multiple
13-00000 od woo. ri - SECRET SUBJECT: Pending ARRB (JFK Board) Issues ISSUE 1 -- Unacknowledged Covert Actions 2. (8) Within records surfaced by the Ford Library is a document -~ a Helms Memorandum for the Record on a PFIAB méeting ~- which contains references to CIA 3. (S) After much negotiation, the ARRB staff has agreed to recommend to the Board that the information related to those covert actions be considered non-related and the documents designated ““Not Believed Related'' (NBR). The document..will be grouped with similar ~“NBR'' documents and be presented to the ‘Board for final action at the 13 April or 12 May meeting.- ~ ISSUE 2 -- Alias Documentation and Accommodation Addresses 4. (S) The security file of former Agency employee, David Morales (deceased -- true name already released), within the sequestered collection contains documentation on five of his alias. We anticipate similar problems as we re-review other security files within the sequestered collection. We are > attempting to work a compromise with’ the following elements but ‘details have yet to be finalized: 5. all references to Official] documents reflecting the alias social security cards, drivers licenses protect such as release items designated as pocket litter such as club cards, protect elements of accommodation addresses to avoid identifying specific locations, and lastly, make a decision to actually release or protect the alias itself depending on the timeframe and its importance to the JFK story. (S) However, disagreements on the actual implementation {e.g., protect house number but release street name of ' 2 (S) See Attachment 1. > (S) See Attachment 2. -~2- SECRET
13-00000 - SECRET _ b Si Co SUBJECT: Pending ARRB (JFK Board) Issues accommodation address) have prevented a final resolution at this -time. We are also exploring with the DO senior management~ whether the blanket release of pocket litter (whether (lawfully _) obtained might present media or operational issues today. Accordingly, we have requested that the issue be postponed until the May meeting. ISSUE 3 -- Organizational Materials 6. (S) This request (one of the earliest and known as CIA- 1) asked for organization charts on various Agency directorates and/or components for the years 1958-1968. All Agency‘ directorates provided material responsive to the request and ‘the ARRB staff has selected items for inclusion in the.JFK Cgener}e_Dbi Remaining at issue are three DO charts -- a 1961 C gener ¢ DDP organization, a 1963— generic DDP organization, anda “detaided JMWAVE organization. The DO has agreed to release the first two and remain adamantly opposed to the release of the JMWAVE chart given its similarity to current organizational plans. 7... (S) This issue will be presented by ARRB staff to the Board at the 13 April meeting where they will recommend that the DDP generic charts be accepted (good for CIA) and that the JMWAVE. chart be declared as an assassination record (bad for CIA); an actual vote by the Board will not take place until the May meeting. ISSUE 4 -- Mexico City Tapes 8. (S) This request asked for a thorough search of Agency ‘files and documents for and CIA **... surveillance ‘take’ from | Cuban and Soviet facilities in Mexico City at the time of the Oswald visit and in the immediate wake of the assassination.’ Among the items provided by the DO were five boxes containing audio tapes from telephone taps on the Cuban and Russian embassies and facilities. A number of the tapes are dated 22 * “(S) See Attachment 3. - 3 - SECRET
13-00000. PA SO . SECRET _ ob SUBJECT: Pending ARRB (JFK Board) Issues November 1963;_ many others are dated 23 November 1963 through December 1963.° a a 9. (S) This is one of the most complex requests because of the following facts: *® at one time, there was a tape of Oswald in existence but it has since been lost or erased; ® the relevance of these tapes is argued to be only to prove that no tape in existence today contains the Oswald conversation; oo wich the Mexican Government; /~~ ” ® there is a confidential request from the ARRB ito {to the Mexican {to the Mexican {Government} for any (copies of the actual/Oswald conversation they may possess; and, ® quite obviously, the sensitivity is not so much the mere fact that we possess such tapes but our confirmation of the extent and our release of the actual conversations captured. 10. (8S) The good news, at least at this time, is that the ARRB staff has agreed to postpone Board consideration until May and, in the interim, the Agency will have an opportunity to review (i.e., listen and transcribe) and determine the sensitivity and provide detailed arguments in this regard. oan ISSUE 5 --_ Protection of (i {L-9 11. “() STTAMIL-9) was a CIA penetration of the c ‘uban_) | Embassy} Unfortunately, his identity was indirectly and inadvertently released in 1993 and, as a result, (he was 7 (identified in true name as a CIA agent in John Newman's book ( Oswald and the CTA) As of 1993, (LITAMIL-9/ was.still alive and ‘living in| | with family in(Cuba. ) To date, the ARRB Board has agreed to protect his identity and crypt and delay. the release of his 201 file until the Agency could make some judgments about the potential damage created by the release on 5 (S) The scope of this request is quite significant; it includes five boxes of 185 tapes from operations against both the Cuban and Russian Embassy. -~ 4 - SECRET this was not an unilateral operation but rather a joint oppration : 4 Se aye % are 2 +
13-00000 * SECRET 5 SUBJECT: Pending ARRB (JFK Board) Issues additional documents with his name/crypt in them. ‘That will now occur at the May meeting of the Board. It is, however, umlikely that the Board would agree to delay release until 2017, however, there is precedent for delaying release of records on individuals for shorter periods or until death. ISSUE 6 ~- {Richard Gibson ( sset) 12. Ss ichard Gibson, who presently lives in England, A lett wing journalist who was associated withthe Fair Play For | Cuba Committee (FPFCC);, an entity to which Oswald wrote. zletters // -and claimed to be a member. Gibson did not become an Agency, asset urtil after the assassination, however, he had been-of: \interest to the FBI when he headed the FPFCC. Unfortunately, —~ (Combination of previous reléases-Tead-to press reports in i 1994/1995 about his relationship with the CIA. At that time, (oe ticers weré dispatched to advise him about the possible compromise and promise him the very best attempt at protecting (the relationship. — 13.. (S) Since then, the (RRB has agreed to aelay the. elease of any additional information until the Agency. and FBI chad determined the full extent of the files on Gibson and the potential damage. The issue is scheduled for ARRB action at the (May meeting and. our objective is to release Gibson's role in the JFK assassination story while protecting his relationship with , {the Agency; however, the. FBI has a four volumes file which covers {both FBI interest and Gibson's relationship with the Agency. We will be working in detail with the ARRB staff and the FBI on this ‘approach. ISSUE 7 -- Certain Files of CIA Officials 14. (8) This is a major request encompassing **... the office files of the individual occupying the following positions during the period 1959-1964." , The Office of Deputy Director of Central Intelligence General Charles Cabell 1953-1962 General Marshall Carter 1062-1965 The Office of the Deputy director for Plans Richard Bissell 1958-1965 . Richard Helms 1962-1965 - 5 - SECRET
13-00000 ce - SECRET 4 i : : SUBJECT: Pending ARRB (JFK Board) Issues ® The chronological files of C. Tracy Barnes, 1959-1964 e® Office of General Counsel, Lawrence Houston, 1959-1964." ® Operational Diaries of William Harvey 1962-1963. This request will by its very breadth require significant time on the part of the directorate (and DCI) IROs. While it may appear overly broad, we have developed a methodology. with the ARRB staff which provides the access required by the Board but guarantees that their review: is focused: In sum, we work from shelf lists with the ARRB staff; if material requested is particularly sensitive, access can be limited to the ARRB Executive,Director .or. members of the Board. This effort will continue for some ‘time. . a Conclusion ’ 15. (AIUO) At the present time, over 40 persons are involved .in the JFK records review and we anticipate that this level of effort may increase by 25% in the coming months as we near the statutory end of the Board (30 September 1998). However, even if the Board is not extended (and it has been extended previously), there are statutory tasks for CIA which will extend 12-18 months beyond the end of the Board's existence. Your continued support is critical. Lee S. Strickland ~ 6 - SECRET