JFK Assassination System Date: 8/27/20] Identification Form Agency Information PFeleased under the John F. Fennedy AGENCY: ROCKCOM G OCKC Lesassination Records Collection RECORD NUMBER: — 178-10002-10095 bet of 1992 (44 Use 2107 Note). pases: NW 53244 Date: 06-13-2017 RECORD SERIES: ©GELLHORN-CARGILL-HARDY FILES AGENCY FILENUMBER: = G-C-H (III-B) OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL Document Information ORIGINATOR: ROCKEFELLER COMMISSION FROM: HARDY, TIMOTHY TO: FILE TITLE: INTERVIEW WITH JOHN WARNER, GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE CIA DATE: 03/17/1975 PAGES: 5 SUBJECTS : WARNER, JOHN CIA ASSASSINATIONS, FOREIGN LEADERS DOCUMENT TYPE: PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT CLASSIFICATION: — Secret RESTRICTIONS: —1C CURRENT STATUS: — Redact DATE OF LAST REVIEW: — 07/01/1993 OPENING CRITERIA : COMMENTS : v9.1 107 HW 53244 Docld:32204967 Page 1
COMMISSION ON CIA ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES 22 ie Washington, OC 20500 Gio” 10 178-10002-10083 March 17, 1975 178-10002-10095 From: Timothy Hardy Sabject: INTERVIEW WITH JOHN WARNER, | me GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE CIA Mr. Warner was interviewed between 2 p.m. and on March 13, 1975, in his office at the CIA. - 3230 p.m. I. THE OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL (0GC) : The Office of General Counsel has 14 lawyers... All the Lawyers except for one had been recruited from ‘within the rest of the CIA organization. There are a few . other- persons in the Agency who handled legal functions outside the Office. of General Counsel: one OGC lawyer is. detailed to logistics, three work in project MUTUAL, and a lawyer works within the personnel office. Once a man is assigned to the OGC, he normally stays there for the rest of his CIA experience. Mr. Warner and one other lawyer are the only men in the office who have been detailed elsewhere in the Agency. The OGC is not divided along directorate lines. Some lawyers have specialties, but they are functional specialties. The OGC is required to be consulted in a number (1) it is consulted on all Section 7 alien —— immigration cases; (2) it reviews all procurement contracts; (3) it approves all administrative plans; (4) it approves all liquidation plans; and (5) all regulations must be approved by the OGC. Within recent years, it has reviewed NSCID's and DCID's,. but there are no requirements for such reviews. of areas: The OGC has been consulted more regularly on management decisions within the: past couple of years than was true under previous DCI's. Mr. Colby consulted the OGC for guidance on all the directions that went out after TH:clb cc: Mr. Belin Mr. Gray Mr. Gellhorn SECRET HW 53244 Docld:32204967 Page 2 AUWdGIT GYOd “HM aTWUAD AHL ROU AdODOLOHA
a Collection of the Family Jewels. wr. Colby has an under~ Standing of law because he went to law school, but he has told Warner a number of times not to let him practice law, There is no occ regulation which requires operational units to consult it on propriety of planned activities. activities should be Cleared through oGc might lead to less checking, rather than more. . The OGC maintains bound Copies of all its legal Opinions back through OSs days. They have been indexed since 1966. The OGC staff is now collecting all relevant legal opinions for the Commission. The Commissien should “receive them next week. The OGC staff is not finding much On activities that had questionable propriety. II. THE LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE CIA ACTIONS a a ee EH CLA ACTIONS Mr. Warner was in the Office of General Counsel in OSS. He stayed on to work with the CIG and then on the legal staff of the cra. He and Mr. Houston were ‘in separate offices. Warner worked on the 1949 Act; Houston, on the 1947 Act. , , Mr. Warner suggests that the Commission talk to Walter Pforzheimer. He was the legislative liaison for the CIG. He is retired and now lives in Washington. Mr. Warner would guess that the original Donovan plan for the CIA*to conduct "subversive Operations" was not included in the Statute because officials were reluctant to use such words in law in that era. They were Similarly HW 53244 Docld:32204967 Page 3 AUVdGIT Guod “uy atwuao HHL WOWd AdOOOLONG