Released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (44 USC 2107 Hote} DATE: 11-14-2017 | wo C = . St a | + (MBAS) a mo rn rn _ FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION Precedence: ROUTINE: ot i i Date: 03/17/1997... | To: Criminal Investigative Attn: | Mr. ‘Divers, Rm. 4944 -_ ore ce a - Attn: Mrs. Barhre; Rm: 4944 Approved By: Collingwood -J Keeley Carol Case ID #: 62-HQ-1029205 (Pending) . Title: _OFK Task Force : Synopsis: Future electronic communications from the. JFK Task Force (JFKTF) to Criminal Intelligence Division (CID) , National Security Division (NSD), and the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) will be to advise what information the Assassination Records Review Board (the Board) released at their last meeting. ‘OPCA rarely will be seeking recommendations for appeals, since the FBI withdrew the foreign counterintelligence appeals in December 1996. - Fs Details: The Board began reviewing FBI documents with postponed information in July. 1995. The ;JFKTF provided evidence to justify. the redaction of information baséd on a conservative approach to. the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 ' (the Act).. The Board members. were briefed by FBI experts. in the. areas covering informants, assets, technical devices, and foreign counterintelligence information. However, once the Board began their review and advised the FBI of their decisions, it -was obvious that the standard legal arguments and claims would not suffice. The Board made it quite clear that they interpreted the Act liberally, they were to disclose as much as possible, and they would be held accountable by the research community. for their decisions. _ CO . The Board supported the position that the postponed information had to be justified on a singular basis for each informant/asset as to current harm. They opined that the pertinence and importance to the assassination outweigh any current harm to the individuals or the FBI/United States foreign * relations, informants or operational aspects. Their research documented releases of information from the same types of — categories, with no noticed harm to individuals or operations. f - a , ne : eof y ms “2% are a eg Jf Bot fF ows “ ’ t i . oat. fd a Me +8 . . ) Docld:32319689 Page 2?
Released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 19927 (44 USC 2107 Hote).. DATE : 11-14-2017 To: Criminal Im _itigative, National securil. oftice of the General Counsel From: Office of Public and Congressional Affairs Res 62-HQ-1029205, 03/17/1997 After a thorough review of the information available to the public, the FBI reviewed its prior position and dropped the appeals in December 1996. Therefore, there are very few and/or limited issues significant enough for appeal. For now the JFKTF will continue to provide evidence for all informants/assets whether living, deceased or no record found. Unless an unusual situation arises the Board’s decisions will be managed the same way, as was decided in the Fall of 1995, with no appeal of their decision. To be consistent with the FBI’s December 1996 decision to drop the appeals, the JFKTF will ‘be declassifying documents related to the same issues. That material still requiring classification will continue to be justified to the Board. Therefore, future electronic communications (EC) to CID, NSD, and OGC will be for information purposes, unless noted differently. The EC will continue to document the information (ie names, Singular information, source numbers, information from foreign sources, etc.), but the photocopies of the documents will no longer be attached. If you have any questions about the information or documents, please contact Carol L. Keeley at extension 4-9494, Barbara L. Hatch at extension 4-9482, or Carl Valentine at extension 4-9476. - Mr. Campbell, Rm. 7338 - Ms. Buckleitner, Rm. 7975 Ms. Hatch, Rm. 6362 / - Mr. Valentine, Rm. 6362 PREP i Docld:32319689 Page 3.