CIA TAPES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF TAPES

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 01474406
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: August 7, 2017
• Case Number: F-2007-00094
• Publication Date: February 21, 1974

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(b)(3)
21 February 1974 Paper "CIA Tapes and Transcripts of Tapes" with
Attachment A. (Removal of Room/Telephone Recording System Offices
of DCI, DDCI, Executive Director-Comptroller)
Attachment B (Telephone Call to General Cushman from John Ehrlichman
7 July 1971; Affidavit of Karl Wagner dated 5 February 1974)
Copies to:
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21 FEB 1974
CIA Tapes and Transcripts of Tapes
I. General
A. Purpose
For many years the offices and phones of the three top CIA officials
(Director of Central Intelligence, the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
and the Executive Director-Comptroller) had the capability of recording
conversations. These recordings, done on a selective basis, served as
note-taking substitutes where accurate recall was needed. There is nothing
illegal about taping telephone or other conversations when one party is aware
that it is being taped, although telephone company rules require that a buzzer
be attached. This paper covers such recordings made subsequent to
31 December 1969.
B. Systems
1. Phone
Taping of incoming telephone conversations was handled
by secretaries in the offices involved.
Z. Room
The "room" system was capable of recording conversations
in a specific area. This system was supported by technicians in a
remote recording facility and a secretary transcriber supervised
by a technician.
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C. Current Status
The capability for recording telephone calls or office conversations
no longer exists. The last room conversation recorded and transcribed was
on 11 January 1973. We have found no records to disclose the date of the
last telephone recording. Attachment A sets forth the dates that the telephone
and office recording systems were dismantled in the offices of the Director,
the Deputy Director, and the Executive Director-Comptroller.
II. Phone Recording Procedure
A. System
A recorder was attached to individual telephone instruments. With
few exceptions, the telephone recordings were transcribed in the principals'
offices. Such recordings were for such transitory purposes as reminders
for further action by the principal, not for permanent retention. As in the
case of note-taking, recordings and transcriptions were selective--a particular
conversation may not have been recorded at all or in its entirety, nor would
there necessarily have been a transcription of all that was recorded. The
tapes and the transcriptions were maintained under the exclusive control of
that office. A backup recording capability existed at the remote recording
facility for office "A" (see Attachment A).
B. Tapes
Telephone tapes normally were erased shortly after use (within a
day or so) and reused. A careful search has failed to disclose the existence
of any such tapes.
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C. Transcripts
The on1.7- transcripts of either of the above telephone recordings
or of stenographic notes of such conversations still extant are those involving
conversations between the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, General
Cushman, and Mr. Ehrlichman and other individuals assigned to the White
House (see Attachment B). Of the ten such transcripts, only one, the 7 July
1971 conversation between General Cushman and Mr. Ehrlichman., is Water-
gate related. The transcript of this conversation was provided to the appro-
priate congressional and executive investigative bodies as soon as it was
discovered. Since telephone recording was used as a note-taking substitute,
there is no doubt that finished memoranda prepared by principals incorporated
the substance of some of the recordings. To the Agency's knowledge, all
such memoranda relating to the various "Watergate" investigations have been
made available to the congressional and executive investigative bodies concerned.
III. Room Recording Procedure
The system could be activated only in the principals' offices. The
recording took place in a remote facility. Once a conversation had been
recorded, the technician assigned to the recording facility, working under
the direction and control of the principal's office, was instructed either
to destroy, transcribe, or erase the tape. Two recordings were made of
each conversation, a primary tape and a backup tape. If a transcript was
to be prepared, both tapes were delivered by the technician to a secretary-
transcriber who worked under the technician's supervision.
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A. Transcription
The secretary-transcriber assigned to the remote recording
facility made an original transcription only. The backup tape was insurance
against a defective or inaudible primary tape. The transcriber maintained
a log which included the date of the recording, the Agency principal by
title, the number of participants in the conversation, the location of the
conversation, the completion date of the transcript, and the date the
transcript was delivered to the principal's office by the technician. The
transcriber would also mark on the tape container the date of the conversa-
tion, the name of the principal, - the name of the guests, when available,
and the duration of the recording.
B. Tape
The recording technician picked up the two tapes and the transcript
from the transcriber, delivered the transcript to the principal's office and
stored the primary tape in a safe in the recording facility, after assigning
and marking it with a sequential number. If the backup tape was no longer
reusable, it was destroyed at that time. If it was reusable, it was erased
and placed in the reusable tape file. (Prior to January 1972 the recorded
portion of the reusable backup tape was clipped from the reel and destroyed.
Subsequently, the recorded portion was only erased.) There were 38
conversations recorded during the period 1 January 1972 through 11 January 1973.
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The Agency has in its possession 36 erased, 10-1/Z inch reels of tapes
which are believed to have been used as the backup tapes for these
recordings. All identifying information on the backup tape containers
was removed and destroyed. Short of an intensive technical investigation
(which may or may not prove productive) the Agency has no way to
determine whether these tapes carry any recapturable information or
whether they relate to any particular conversations or principals.
C. Transcripts
The transcripts were completely controlled by the principals offices.
A review of all available records of meetings that were recorded reveal that
most covered meetings with foreign intelligence personnel or individuals
having business related to foreign intelligence. The only one of the transcripts
related to Watergate was the 22 July 1971 Cushman/Hunt conversation.
IV. Destruction of Office Tapes
A. From 31 December 1969 to 22 January 1973
The technicians assigned to the remote recording facility prepared
two separate listings for destruction at different times. The first list
consisted of tapes #1 through #185 and was submitted to Mrs. Elizabeth
Dunlevy, secretary to Mr. Helms, during the last quarter of 1970. The
second list covered tapes #184 through #237 and was submitted to Mrs. Dunlevy
during the first quarter of 1972. The lists served as the basis for telephonic
advice from Mrs. Dunlevy to the technicians to destroy various tapes. The
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technician's log notes that tapes #1 through #54 (recorded during the period
22 September 1964 through 3 May 1965) were destroyed on 21 January 1972.
Another notation indicates that tapes #55 through #183 (recorded during the
period 3 May 1965 through 5 June 1970) were destroyed sometime prior to
January 1973.
B. 24 January 1973
All other nonerased tapes of conversations recorded between
31 December 1969 and 24 January 1973 (except for tape #214 of the Cushman/
Hunt conversation of 22 July 1971) were in storage in the recording facility
on 24 January 1973 and were destroyed at the instruction of Mrs. Dunlevy.
Included were tapes #184 through #275 (recorded during the period 23 June
1970 through 11 January 1973, the last recording made). The fact that tape
#214 was in the possession of Mr. Colby's secretary, Miss Barbara Pindar,
was called to the attention of Mrs. Dunlevy and was exempted from the
destruction procedure. The destruction commenced 24 January 1973 and
ended several days thereafter. In this and the previous destruction, the
tape containers were also destroyed.
C. Transcripts
As a part of office routine Mrs. Dunlevy, in the process of preparing
the office for Dr. Schlesinger (who was confirmed on 23 January 1973
to succeed Mr. Helms) received permission from Mr. Helms to destroy
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transcripts kept in a safe locked in a vault in the immediate office of the
Director. She has stated that none of the transcripts contained any
information related to Watergate.
In December 19 71 General Cushman's papers were reviewed after he
left CIA to become Marine Commandant. Aside from the tape and trans-
cript of the 22 July 1971 Cushman/Hunt conversation, referred to previously
and hereafter, the only transcripts retained were those concerning
General Cushman's telephone conversations with members of the White
House staff (see Attachment B).
The recording of conversations in the office of the DDCI was discon-
tinued after General Cushman left CIA in December 1971.
There was only one recording of a conversation in the office of the
Executive Director-Comptroller during the period in question. It
occurred in June of 1970 but it concerned internal Agency affairs only and
it was in no way related to Watergate.
V. Records
Based upon a reconstruction of information available in the logs and
other supplementary material, and from interviews, there is no evidence
of a recording of any conversation relevant to "Watergate" except as
previously noted above.
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VI. Summary
A. Mr. Helms has stated that, "I never destroyed any tapes or
anything else having any remote bearing on 'Watergate'. "
B. It is the recollection of Mrs. Dunlevy, who maintained complete
control of the transcripts for Mr. Helms, that none of the transcripts she
destroyed were in any way related to "Watergate. "
C. There is no indication in Agency records that any recording or
transcript of an office conversation relevant to "Watergate" was ever
destroyed. A transcript of the 22 July 1971 conversation between General
Cushman and Mr. Hunt has been made available to all congressional and
executive investigating bodies concerned. The primary tape of the conver-
sation is currently in the possession of a congressional committee.
D. There is no indication in Agency records that any recording,
stenographic notes, or transcript of a telephone conversation relevant to
"Watergate" was ever destroyed. A transcript of the stenographic notes
of the 7 July 1971 conversation between General Cushman and Mr. Ehrlichman
has been made available to all congressional and executive investigating
bodies concerned.
E. The Agency has made available to all congressional and executive
investigating bodies concerned memoranda and information relevant to
"Watergate." Some of the memoranda and information is or may have
been the product of the recording of office or telephone conversations.
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F. There is no indication in Agency records that any relevant
transcripts or tapes exist except as identified above.
G. Agency records on office conversations recorded include sensitive
information involving intelligence sources and methods which the Director
of Central Intelligence has a statutory responsibility to protect.
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