INFORMATION REVIEW & RELEASE (IRR) NEWS FOR 16-20 FEBRUARY 2004 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05578195
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: March 8, 2023
• Document Release Date: April 2, 2019
• Case Number: F-2010-01471
• Publication Date: February 20, 2004

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Information Review & Release (IRR) News for 16-20 February 2004
Executive Summary
Future Plannink Calendar
(t.w Awe) 9 March 2004: Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP): Next Liaisons'
meeting at site TBD.
(UMUTTOr 23 March 2004: Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP): Next Principals'
meeting at EEOB in Washington, DC.
(U/hari15.�1) 31 December 2006: The Automatic Declassification Date per Executive Order 12958, as amended.
Overview of IRR Activities--Last Week
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(U//A+151/) ERWG MeetsF7
(IYAMU ) On 18 February 2004, the External Referral Working Group (ERWG) held its monthly meeting at
ERWG's representative from the Information Security Oversight Office (IS00) updated 43
representatives from 18 federal agencies on its process for approving agency declassification plans. ISO() analysts
are reviewing each plan and contacting agencies to clarify ambiguous responses. This initial review will continue
until the end of March. CIA, and Mindy Roberts, Army, offered a high-level overview of their
respective agency declassification plans. Other agencies will report on their declassification plans at future meetings.
The CIA also updated members on its progress in bringing online the "Document Declassification Support System"
(the renamed External Equities Notification Database). To this end, preliminary information-gathering interviews
are being conducted through February. CIA will brief on the system's concept of operations (CONOPS) at ERWG's
March meeting.
(Di/A*1ff) FOIA Requests
(11//kIttO) Request for Records in Electronic Form
(USAIU ) On 4 March 2003, the National Security Archive (The NSA) requested an electronic copy of the CREST
database that the Agency made available at the National Archives and Records Administration during 2002. The
NSA appealed prior to receiving an initial determination. /
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(15//A-H6e) Request for ORIS Index Database
(IMAM:444 A freelance writer/journalist in Arizona is asking for a copy of any and all indexes and other finding aids
for the "Officially Released Information System" (ORIS) [supplanted in 1996 by the "Management of Officially
Released Information" (MORI) system]. Citing the "E-FOIA Amendments of 1996," the requester asks "that these
indexes and finding aids be released in electronic form and paper form. In each case, they should contain a field that
displays the full title of each document and/or a subject line describing the document.
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(U/MrH30) Request for Records on KGB Archivist
(ullorgde) A New York requester is asking for information on Vasili Nilcitich Mitrolchin, a KGB archivist who
defected in 1992 to the United Kingdom, bringing with him thousands of documents that became known as the
"Mitrokhin Archive." The requester is seeking information on Mitrokhin and "his failed and/or thwarted, bungled,
mishandled, misinterpreted attempt to defect through the U.S. Embassy in Riga, Latvia."
(U/MeI4343) Request for DDI's "State of Analysis" Speech
(UHAIU ) Just nine days after DDI Jami Misik's address to analysts at the 11 February 2004 all-hands meeting in
the CIA auditorium, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) requested a copy.
� Fully aware that the text of the speech is on CIALink, the FOIA case manager accepted the request'
(UHA*1413) CDC Declassification Center
(U/Ork130) From The Archives:
(UHATI113) DCI Potpourri
(U/htfink4) The DCI files cover a broad range of material�from the truly important, to the significant, to the
noteworthy, and sometimes to that which is just amusing. For example: 1) A letter signed by President Truman to
DCI Bedell Smith on 6 March 1951: "I have been reading the Intelligence Bulletin and I am highly impressed with
it...I believe you have hit the jackpot with this one." 2) A 1968 request from 'Representative' Donald Rumsfeld for a
CIA plaque for his office, and a January 1977 cover letter on the Defense Department Budget from Secretary of
Defense Rumsfeld to George Bush: "I am confident that... you will agree that steadiness of purpose and continuing
real growth in national defense efforts are required to counter the adverse trends of the past decade." 3) A note on a
conversation between our liaison and a Congressman who was considering putting a TASS news ticker in his office.
"The TASS representative suggested they would be happy to provide the same service to the Agency, but they don't
know who to contact."
� (U) TASS was the Soviet Union's major "news" agency at the time. It was widely credited with providing cover
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for KGB or other Soviet intelligence-types outside the country. Not sutprisingly, there is no indication in the
files that an invitation was extended to the TAS'S renresentative to install their Teletype ticker (and, no doubt, a
few other gizmos) in Agency offices
(U//A+134)Key Briefing on Vietnam for President Johnson
(UM0:71;7)- In 1968, George Carver was the DCI's Special Assistant for Vietnamese Affairs. He briefed President
Johnson on the status and outlook for the war during a two-week period that ended on 31 March 1968. On 19 April
1968, Vice President Hubert Humphrey sent Mr. Carver the following letter:
(Uilltrtte) Dear George:
I have been meaning for some time now to congratulate you on the superb job you did in briefing
the President and his senior advisors during the two weeks prior to March 31. Yours was not an enjoyable
task. You served the President well by holding your ground and telling us about the situation as you saw
it in Vietnam. It was a brutally frank and forthright analysis. The President's speech of March 31
indicated that your briefings had a profound effect on the course of U.S. policy in Vietnam. I want to
congratulate you on this and on the excellent work you have been doing as the Special Assistant for
Vietnamese Affairs. Best wishes,
Sincerely,
Hubert H. Humphrey.
� (U) Mr. Carver kept the letter. In the early 1970s, he provided a copy to the DCI for possible use in
responding to the Congress about CIA's role in supplying intelligence on Vietnam. The extensive policy review
on Vietnam referenced in the letter (above) came on the heels of the Tet offensive�a military failure, but a
political victory for the Viet Cong. On 31 March 1968, President Johnson spoke to the nation. "Tonight I
renew the offer I made last August, to stop the bombardment of North Vietnam and to begin promptly serious
talks on the substance of peace....We are prepared to move immediately forward toward peace through
negotiation.... With America's sons in the fields far away...I do not believe I should devote an hour or a day of
my time to any duties other than this office... Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the
nomination of my party for another term as your President."
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