MEMO: PRIORITY REQUEST FROM CHAIRMAN, JFK ASSASSINATION RECORDS BOARD
Originator: CIA
From: JOHN F. PEREIRA
To: WITHHELD AND  FRED WICKHAM
Document date: 09/25/1997
Document type: PAPER - TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

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1704-10337-10187

2023 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F CREEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992

(DRAFT)

CSI 1997-444

25 September

1997

MEMORANDUM FOR:

FROM:

SUBJECT:

(Thomas Pallas,

DO /LA

Fred Wickham,

DO/IMS

John F. Pereira

Chief, CSI/HRG

Priority Request from Chairman,

JFK Assassination Records Board

1. (S) The purpose of this memorandum is to advise you of a

priority request from the Chairman of the JFK. Assassination Records

Review Board (ARRB).

The request concerns records related to Lee

Harvey Oswald that may be held by the Mexican Government.

2 .

(S) At his initiative, I met recently with the ARR

Chairman, Judge John Tunheim. He

said the reason for the meeting was

to ask that CIA assist the Board by making inquiries (to liaison) to

determine if the Mexican Government has certain records related to

Oswald's activities in Mexico in late 1963.

Of particular interest

to the Board is whether the Mexicans have copies of tapes from joint

(tel-tap operations, including coverage of Oswald's telephone calls

to the Soviet Embassy.

He said that locating such records is "the

highest priority of the Board." (The attached letter from the

ARRB's General Counsel explains the Board's interest.)

(S) Earlier this year, the Board sought unsuccessfully

to obtain information about Oswald from the Mexican Government

via the State Department. (See attached cable.) Mexico responded

by providing copies of the same material that had been made

available to the Warren Commission in 1964.

The problem for the

Board was that, in making the request to Mexico, it did not want

to reveal information about tightly-held joint operations that

the Board knew of from CIA records. Being sensitive to the

Agency's request to protect this information, Tunheim would like

the Agency to contact (Mexican liaison directly on the Board's

behalf.

CL BY 0185904

CL REASON 1.5

(b,c, 8ed)

DECL BY X1

DRV FRM LIA 2-82

SECRET

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13-00000

SECRET

SUBJECT:

Priority Request from Chairman,

JEK Assassination Records Board

4.

(FOUO) During the meeting with Tunheim, I said that we

Agency.

In view of the priority that Tunheim places on this

matter,

I recommend that our JFK Project Leader (Barry Harrelson)

and I meet with you or other appropriate DO representatives soon

to discuss possible

options for

responding to the request.

John Pereira

Attachments

CL BY 0185904}

CL REASON 1.5 (b, c, &d)

DECL BY X1

DRV FRM LIA 2-82

SECRET

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