104-10331-10003 08 April 1992 MEMORANDUM FOR: SUBJECT : a. Ancillary Files - Lee Harvey Oswald, 201-289248 : b. Sequestered Files HSCA Collection 1. INTRODUCTION: In August 1976, Chief, CI Staff appointed the undersigned as the Staff representative on a Task Force established in response to DDCI's orders to the Deputy Inspector General. The Task Force's purpose was to review Book V of the. “Church Committee" 's Panal Report: cB Vv i he Assassination : Oh =F ; Intelligence Agencies, and to formulate comment's, based upon an in-depth study of information available in Agency files, on™ statements made and questions raised in Book V. Since CI Staff, at that time. held Lee Harvey Oswald's 201 file, the CI Staff chief charged the undersigned with reviewing the file and preparing papers on a series of topics drawn up by the Task Force leader. 2. It quickly became evident to the undersigned that the so-called 201 file on Lee Harvey Oswald was much more than what a 201 file should be. In addition to biographic information on Oswald, the file included radio traffic between Headquarters and the field on matters pertaining to Oswald, information on known and possible contacts abroad and in the United States, correspondence between the Agency and the Warren Committee, the “Garrison Investigation", etc., as well as internal Warren Commission documents containing Agency information. The file also includes some 500 third-agency documents (primarily from the FBI — and the Department of State). 3. In order to get a handle on the welter of disparate material - in the Oswald file, the -undersigned set up more than a few individual files to hold photocopies of documents dealing with such topics as Gilberto ALVARADO-Ugarte, Silvia DURAN, Waldemar Boris KARA-PATNITSKY,. Valeriy Vladimirovich KOSTIKOV, etc. (See attached inventory - Tab A.) The undersigned considers these ancillary files, which include 9 folders from the former Special Investigation Group of CI Staff, as an appendix to Oswald's 201 file. Its integrity should be maintained. [See paragraph 8.] 4. FIRST AND SECOND REVIEWS (October 1975 -— c. February 1977):: For the first time, in October 1975, CI Staff reviewed Oswald's 201 file to ascertain which documents could be released to Bernard Fensterwald who had requested all Agency documents on Lee Harvey
13-00000 Oswald and the assassination of President Kennedy. OGC, who was handling Fentserwald's request, considered the first staff review as inadequate and assigned a paralegal (assisted by a CI Staff officer) to do a more complete second review. At the same time, each Directorate was asked to forward to OGC any documents in their files, which pertained to the Kennedy assassination. These documents were included in the second review. 7 5. SEQUESTERED DOCUMENTS: By the time the Task Force had _ completed its report in August 1977, the House of Representatives passed a resolution setting up a Select Committee on Assassinations. Later, the House decided to limit its investigation of the assassinations of President Kennedy and Rev. Martin Luther King, III. Members of the Task Force now became involved in handling requests from the House Select Committee (HSCA). The undersigned worked closely with HSCA staff£~members and with the Agency's Principal Coordinator, HSCA. When the HSCA finished itg report on 30 June 1979 (its report did not. come out until later that year), the undersigned then moved to the Ames - Building to join a group reviewing OSS documents for eventual transfer to the National Archives. 6. By late 1981, the Agency had prepared its material gathered for the HSCA, for placement in sequestered storage in the Agency's Archives. The undersigned, though available, was not aske oO assist in this undertaking to ensure all pertinent DO material had been included in the collection. . ee 7. Later, after returning to Headquarters, at IMS‘s request to work on the many of FOIA requests for Agency documents on the Kennedy Assassinations, the undersigned recalled Oswald's 201 including the ancillary files mentioned above. 8. While preparing an inventory of these latter files, before ' returning them to IMS/Files, the undersigned discovered to his dismay, that not all pertinent files had not been included in the sequestered Collection in late 1981. Thirty-six of these documents had been clearly prepared in responsé to specific HSGA =~ requests. The undersigned made a list of these documents to show the History Staff's group reviewing the HSCA sequestered collection. The documents include, for example a. Response to HSCA Request 77-0076/4, n.d. Subject: Tab C (Unsanitized), John ROSELLI & Sam GIANCANA. b. Response to HSCA Request 77-0084/1, 30 January “1978. Subject: Evaluation of Information in the Manuscript of Federal Prisoner Antulio RAMIREZ-Ortiz.
13-00000 c. Response to HSCA Request 78-1058/2, 09 March 1978. Subject: Items in Possession of Agency before Opening Lee Harvey Oswald's 201. d. Response to HSCA Request 78-2588/1, 15 August 1978. Subject: Comments regarding HTLINGUAL Watchlist Cards. e. Three volumes of (unsanitized) documents for HSCA's use during Helms's appearance before the Committee in executive hearing. Volume I pages 0000151 - 0001873 Volume II pages 0001874 - 0002071, Volume III pages 0002104 - 0003369. Annex pages 0003520 - 0003571 (Copy 8) ee 1: oS \ f. etc. [See attached inventory; Tab B.]. 9. The undersigned had prepared the remaining material. [see paragraph 3 above] to provide background information, along with supporting documents, to the 1976-1977 Task Force. Since this material was available at the time of the HSCA review of Agency documents pertaining to the assassination of President Kennedy, it was shown to HSCA staff members either voluntarily or in response to a verbal request to the undersigned. Each file contained a *signature sheet” for the staff member to sign, thereby acknowledging he had seen it. This material, in Some thirty-five folders, includes ee a. DENIED Documents from Lee Harvey Oswald's 201. Contained in 5 vols., all reviewed. RELEASED Documents from Lee Harvey Oswald's 201. Four volumes of 16 reviewed by HSCA. b. Comments and supporting documentation regarding Ronald Kessler‘'s article "CIA Withheld Details of Oswald‘s Call", ' The Washington Post, 26 November 1976. [NB: Shown to Richard Sprague, Chief Counsel (before -G. Robert Blakey), HSCA, 01 December 1976 c. CI/SIG (soft) File No. 568: HTLINGUAL material and memoranda relating to Lee Harvey Oswald et al (3 vols). d. . Lee Harvey Oswald in Mexico City: Background : for Task Force Report, 30 August 1977
13-00000 e. Warren Commission: CIA memoranda addressed to Warren Commission ~- 19 February to 29 October 1964. [See attached inventory, Tab C] 10. It should be emphasized at this point that most, if not all, of the above files contain copies only of “original” documents found elsewhere in official files to which the HSCA had access and had reviewed. ll. PROPOSAL: In order to ensure that nothing is missing. from, or out of sequence in, the sequestered collection, the undersigned proposes that he or an assistant be granted access to at least the 34 boxes concerning information belonging to the Directorate for Operation so as to a. Check the contents of each box against the - inventory sheet contained in each box dnd note any discrepancies; . A o3 b. Make copies of the “original" documents listed in the inventory under Tab C and place the “original” documents in one or more of the 34 boxes, if there is room ~ for not all boxes are stuffed full. If there is insufficient room to accommodate all the “original” material, then the left-over material will have to be placed in extra boxes — not more than four c. If documents or folders are put in one of the 34 boxes, the subject and the number of the folder will be added to the existing inventory sheet; the folder number will follow the highest folder number on the inventory sheet. Russell B. Holmes Consultant