104-10332-10020 : ane Fa " &, . a . % . SECRET ESG 95-02 14 July 1995 MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, Historical Review Group FROM: Fredrick C. Wickham, Jr. DO, Focal Point for ARRB SUBJECT: Position on Release of Information Pertaining to Mexico City Station and the JFK Assassination Records 1. At its monthly meeting on 17 July the ARRB will be addressing the issue of the Mexico City Station and its operation in light of any deletions made by the Agency to protect sources and methods. The issues of greatest concern are those rroundin teltap operations run by the Agency | official acknowledgment of which could have an impact sin foreign | relations. (We _therefore, wish to ae I, A cy a -) “existence of Mexico City Station during times outside the window which we have acknowledged when they contribute significantly to the historical record. These steps will be useful to the historic record and reveal the extent of coverage employed against these targets. We would want to continue protection of the information which identifies coverage of other countries and individuals other than Lee Harvey Oswald. 3. We also agree to release of the following: A. Pseudonyms of employees, aliases of employees, and file numbers. CL BY 624343 | DECL OADR DRV COV 2-87 SECRET
13-00000 SECRET SUBJECT: Position on Release of Information Pertaining to Mexico City Station and the JFK Assassination Records B. Cryptonyms, such as those in the LI series, potess thes-apnear if the context ; | ‘(such as LITENSOR and LITEMPO) . Cc. We need to continue the protection of the cryptonym LIENVOY. This cryptonym is used extensively throughout the collect to describe the ; from different perspectives. ndividual Sccurrences may not seem to reveal anything significant but, when looking at the cryptonym in context over the entire collection it reveals\ the | which we are trying to protect: " 4. Regarding the revelation of names of employees who retired under cover, we request the Board to table its final determination until the individuals have been contacted and informed that their name is being considered for release. This will allow the individual to consider the impact it will have and convey relevant information. The Directorate database is not set up to track individuals who were involved in specific operations. We need the assistance of the employees to know their operational involvement’s. Office of Central Cover has prepared and is coordinating a letter to be sent to the employees which will both inform them and solicit their assistance/comments. LC am, ©. 2 SECRET
13-00000 "¢ 2 * ; f SECRET September 11, 1995 WORKING PAPER Notes from meeting w/ ARRB staff Sept. 11, 1995 ARRB Attendees: Marwell, Gunn, Mary + one CIA Attendees : Barry, Ellie Issue: Inconsistency between Mexico City Chrono item #132 and ARRB document #31 Gunn proposed that the Agency release the information in document 31 that was released by mistake in the Mexico City Chrono. Otherwise, the staff would have to take the document back to the ARRB for reconsideration which they felt would undercut the credibility of the CIA and the staff. The Board will not uphold a postponement ina specific document if that information is released by mistake in another copy of the same document. ; jie's response - because the information deals with o she will have to take their proposal to a higner “level. [response needed by 16 September] They also requested a “new” highlighted version of the Mexico City Chrono which reflects all information released to NARA in the multiple copies of the Chrono and in the documents referenced in the Chrono. Issue: The three documents of concern. Marwell said that we could make an addition pitch to the Board to reconsider, but he did not think it would have any effect on their decision. PROENZA - Ellie explained that out goal here was to protect the “asset” not the method and that the deletions could be reduced to those words that could result. in the identification of the agent. Marwell said that the Board may reconsider based on the need to protect a source. Mary ask who was the asset? Was it LIRING? Ellie said she did not know (it could have been some “AM” source. SECRET
13-00000 SECRET Mary ask for more information on LIRING. “PRIVATE LINE TAP” - According the Marwell, the Board considered the issue of the “private lines” but since the paragraph dealt with Oswald, voted to release. Mary said is was hard to defend the individual released since she did not have any information on the person. We pointed out that the this release impacted on other documents which dealt with private line taps plus the Board had not limited its release to the paragraph that mentioned Oswald but released the name in other calls which had nothing to do with Oswald. Marwell said the Board may re-look at the document as part of looking at similar documents. The issue of the taps on other Bloc embassies came up. Mary said the Board was inclined to release given the. end of the Cold War. (Note: we will locate as many of the “private line tap” documents we can for special review] Issue: Removing the Proenza and Private line tap documents form the formal notification list Marwell clearly prefers not to do it at this time (said they would discuss). Has no problem with asking the Board to reconsider or giving us the opportunity to presence additional evidence since their next meeting was within the 30 days set by the law, but felt that the Board was not inclined to keep tabling documents that they had reached a decision on. Marwell asked if the Agency plans: ‘to “appeal” ; he would like a heads-up. Later, in private, Marwell said that he wanted to build into the process a loop that would handle these types of Situations. Issue: Presentation to Board at Sept. 20/21 meeting It was agreed that. “STATIONS” would be the focus of the presentation -- 10:00 am, 20 Sept., one hour. Marwell recommended providing evidence of bilateral agreements as well as identifying current harm. Said that the Board was leaning strongly toward releasing stations. Mary pointed out that there were still issues on the Mexico City station window. There are documents from the 50s, SECRET
13-00000 SECRET references in summaries to the founding of the station and, most important, the visit by the HSCA to Mexico City. Ellie said there was the possibility of opening windows of stations when Oswald was present, however, this was a key issue for the Agency and a senior Directorate/Agency decision. She indicat would oppose expanding - the Mexico City windo As for the older documents, we pointed out that we had already agreed to the release of those documents. Marwell suggest that the 20 Sept. presentation would be a good opportunity to address the Private Line and other Tel Taps issue rather than requesting a separate meeting. After the meeting Marwell elaborated on the presentation. He said to try a avoid going over old ground (US-Mexico relationship; when possible provide specific/hard evidence (bilateral agreements carry weight); war-stories did not go over well and neither did Bill McNair. He emphasized the importance of using the language of the law. SECRET
13-00000 pot SECRET C3 September 12, 1995 WORKING PAPER Notes from meeting w/ ARRB staff Sept. 11, 1995 Issue: Presentation to Board at Sept. 20/21 meeting It was agreed that “STATIONS” Spt,, one hour of the presentation -- 10:00 am, 20 Sept. one. hour. Marwell recommended providing evidence of ‘bilateral agreements as well as identifying current harm. Said that the Board was leaning strongly toward. releasing stations, particularly those in Europe. Mary pointed out that there were still issues on the Mexico City station window. There are documents from the 50s, references in summaries to the founding of the station and, most- important, the visit by the HSCA to Mexico City. Ellie said there was the possibility of opening windows of stations when Oswald was present, however, this was a key issue for the Agency and a senior Directorate/Agency decision. She indicate h would oppose expanding the Mexico City window As for the older documents, we pointed out that we had already agreed to the release of those documents. Marwell suggest that the 20 Sept. presentation would be a good opportunity to address the Private: Line’ and other Tel Taps issue rather than requesting a separate meeting. After the meeting Marwell elaborated on the presentation. He said to try to avoid going over old ground (US-Mexico relationship); when possible provide specific/hard evidence (bilateral agreements carry weight); war-stories do not go over well. He emphasized the importance of using the language of the law especially when citing harm. He specifically mentioned Sec. 6. (B) {copy attached} which sets. a standard of “interfere with the conduct of intelligence activities” [Note: In a previous meeting with Gunn, he stressed similar themes including avoiding what he called “chicken little” arguments. He also raised the question on sensitivity of acknowledging we had a station in Moscow during the 60s/ “It would have been 1 logical to have one ‘during the Cold War.” ] SEGRET
13-00000 SECRET “OO po Central Intelligence Agency x ot Washington, D.C. 20505 FEB 0 2 1996 MEMORANDUM FOR: Director, Intelligence Coordination, Intelligence and Research, Department of State SUBJECT: Appeal of Unfavorable Determination by the JFK Assassination Records Review Board (AIUO) The JFK Assassination Records Review Board (Board) recently released documents revealing the existence of CIA stations in and boa operation with ~ and the identity of a unilateral penetration | I> It is the CIA's assessment that such releases could seriously: damage intelligence operations as well as adversely affect the foreign relations of the United States. CIA is presently preparing an appeal of these rulings by the Board and requests the support of the Department of State should these appeals be brought before the President. (S) Additionally, the Board has just released the existence of stations in }and p and in March-April, it will be reviewing a document that reveals the location of every CIA station in 1965. It-is anticipated that CIA will be preparing to appeal those releases and requests State Department's assessment as to the damage to foreign relations should the location of CIA stations be publicly acknowledged. (S) It remains essential that the U.S. Government stand by © assurances to persons and foreign governments that information they provide and activities they undertake based upon expected confidentiality remain protected for as long as necessary. These releases made by the Board seriously undermine the ability of CIA to uphold secrecy obligations it took on in the past and to make those assurances in the future. (C) CL BY 2103140} REASON 1.5(c) DECL Xl; X5 DRV LOC 3-82 DRV LIS 3-82 SECRET
13-00000 SECRET SUBJECT: Appeal of Unfavorable Determination by the JFK Assassination Records Review Board (AIUO) stations, the identity of the asset, and The release of the identities of the remaining stations must be resolved over the next two weeks. We request your comments and expert opinions regarding the impact such releases would have on the foreign relations of the United States, and hope to cite State Department's support as we finalize our appeal. (S) We have a critically short nnn per issues concerning the release of and/Thé) g ‘ i 4 oy 4 a a: Acting Deputy Director for Operations CIR-316/ 00293-96 2 SECRET
13-00000 = oe SECRET SUBJECT: Appeal of Unfavorable Determination by the JFK Assassination Records Review Board (AIUO) ~ -C/IMS/ESG/F.Wickham/tdn/x44448/2Feb96 Distribution: Original '- Addressee 1 - DDO/Reg 1 - AC/DDO . 1 - DCI/CSI/HRG 1 - oGC 1 - EUR/LGL 1 - LA/LGL 1 - C/IMS 1 - IMS/IRO 2 ~ ESG 3 SECRET |
13-00000 por ADMINISTRATIVE - INTERNAL USE ONLY From the Desk o__ ___ NOTE FOR: FROM: DATE: — 03/18/96 06:24:14 PM SUBJECT: JFK Mesting today After speaking with you tonight about the results of the meeting today, Jeremy Gunn called me and relayed his concerns about the Board's understandings (or misunderstandings) of CIA's position. [tend I discussed what happened at the JFK meeting and the following is our impression of what resulted. Basically|__|did not commit himself on any specifics on these issues, but expressed his willingness to cooperate with the Board: 1. {____}Station [—}was more willing to negotiate this one, but does not agree to its release. CIA wants to present more information. as not under the impression that this station was to be discussed today so he did not come prepared to present new information on it. CIA should de this for the Board at the next possible opportunity. 2. Open Period for Stations greed that the staffs of the Board and HRG should work out the exact time period. He had no problem with i a and opening it up t the Oswald file. He did not make any firm commitment on the dates to the Board, saying that the statis should come te an agreement on this. 3. Substitutions for tations - Although{ __ buggested ‘____}station” as a substitution, he clearly prefered something less revealing ike pEuropecn station 1, 2, etc.)". Using the former term has far less plausible deniability. The latter option basically gives up what we want to protect. - Once HRG hears ce to what his understandings are, then someone needs to speak with Jeremy Gunn ASAP on Tuesday morning before the Board leaves. Jeremy said that unless we correct the Board on its mistaken i impression a about the above, they will leave assuming we have come to:an agreement and will refuse to revisit this at a latter date. Let me know if you need me to help out in any way on this. FYI, [ will be in meetings at TOAM and 2pm {Win Scott settlement discussions! !!).tomorrow. Ce: John F. Pereira Eieanor Neiman @ 00 ADMINISTRATIVE - INTERNAL USE ONLY
13-00000 ° % » oR 8 SECRET From the Desk of\Linda C. Cipriani NOTE FOR: Fredrick Wickham @ 06 @o0 Eleanor E. Neiman @ 00 FROM: 5 DATE: 03/29/96 11:52:57 AM SUBJECT: JFK release c tation(S) | just spoke. with EA legal and informed her about the latest release by the JFK Board of, _|station and the fact that we have a letter from the Ambassador objecting te the release. She indicated that would be a good candidate to go down to speak with the . Board at their next meeting (what.are the dates?) to request that they reconsider. It might also be more persuasive if we could arrange for a State Department perso desk) to come to the Board with us and present the Ambassador's letter. (S) | would appreciate hearing your thoughts on this course of action. If we plan on doing this, we need to arrange it with Marwell and then brief the appropriate people in the D0 and State Department as soon as possible. (S) cL By@224130 3 CL REASON 1.5(c) DECL ON X1 5 DRV FM LOC 3-83 . Barry Harreison SECRET o
13-00000 JFK PROJECT WORKING PAPER SUBJECT: Policy Guidance--"Atsugi”“and “U-2” ~ 1. References to “CTA base/Station/representati Atsugi, Japan” in the U-2 context is. asable. 2. Information relating to ‘the [ and Agency representatives elsewhere*in to be protected. 3. The issue was ‘coordinated. with. he DSéT \ ‘Eon ‘DO : i Captain Thomas Rock) and the Department of State (Nina Noring) i activities. J. Barry Harrelson ;- File: .G:\HRG\JAPOL.DOC SECRET
13-00000 SECRET pD/O 2525057 ~ 7 fue 1995 MEMORANDUM FOR: Chairman, JFK Assassination Records Review Board FROM: . David Cohen. Deputy Director for Operations SUBJECT: Release of JFK Documents i. I understand the JFK AARB is presently considering the release of documanta which would identify CIA stations to the public. I am opposed in general to revealing the locations of our atations and would prefer instead to substitute the station: name with a regional designation, e.g. European Station vice Brussels. I would ba willing, however, to open certain stations during a specific window of time if they are substantively ‘relevant to the assassination investiaatian - and provided that the documents in question are sanitized _/|7 ua _ jw _ — cL BY (9695930 > CL REASON: 1.5 (C) DECL ON: XL DRV FRM LOC 3~-82 SECRET
13-00000 ane eee we _ fo. ca SECRET SUBJECT: Release of JFK Documantes
13-00000.. ww. e. -- SECRET SUBJECT: Release of JFK Documents SECRET
13-00000 - a rrr’ o cw" BECRET SUBJECT: Release of JFK Documents a2 onen SECRET