FORD TO BRIEF FIVE ON C.I.A. ACTIVITIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP09T00207R001000020092-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2011
• Sequence Number: 92
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09T00207R001000020092-2
NEW YORK TIMES
FORD TO BRIEF FIVE:
ONI,C,I,A. ACTIVITIES
He and Kissinger Schedule
Session With Leaders
of Congress Today
By SEYMOUR M. HERSH
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18-
Secretary of State Kissinger an-
nounced today that he and
President Ford would person
ally brief five House and Sen-;
ate leaders tomorrow on the
scope of the Central Intelligence
Agency's covert operations.
"We will put it before them
in detail and ask them, 'w'hat
do you want"' Mr. Kissingeri
said aboard Air Force One as
it returned here from New
York, where President Ford ad-
dressed the United Nations.
Aclrninistration officials said
that the President had decided
to brief the Congressional lc d i
C, S ?.'c:r Li"i (soon(; de:rti :e of!
all C.I.A. covert activities in
his news conference Ivlnndayl
night. The President publicly,
confirmed then that the agency
j
had been involved in clandestine
efforts in Chile, but he de-i
picted them as having been
aimed only at aiding new?spaperi
and politicians opposing Presi-
dent Salvador Allende Gos,~ens, i
who, Mr. Ford said, was at-
tempting to suppress criticism.
Senate Study Planned
The White House's anounce-
ment followed the Senate For-
eign Relations Committee's an-
nouncement yesterday that it
had authorized a 1 l-scale
stud into Zia -been.-galled
mislea _SeStiu~eu --ia.~ Jne
Se ate o~ thecre in
e. Targets of that inquiry
are known to include, Richard
Helms former Director of Cen-
t a ntelligence; Johhn__I-Ien-
ri,es,Sey, a former Treas--ury e-
partment official, tv,UZfnurner
hi -ley. agent;-of-
fi dr sginger+{m.
se14-who testified about United
States involvement in Chilei
during his Senate confirmation'
hearings last fall.
Those invited to the briefin
tomorrow, Mr. Kissinger said
were the Senate Democratici
leader, Mike Mansfield of Mon-
tana; the Senate Republican
leader, Hugh Scott of Pennsyl-I
vania; Speaker of the House
Carl Albert of Oklahoma; the!
House Democratic leader,
Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. of Massa-
chusetts, and the House Re-
publican leader John J. Rhodes
of Arizona.
Administration officials said
that Mr. Kissinger and Fresi-!
dent Ford were confident that'
covert operations --- su:_?!! as:,
those in Chile -- could be de-1
fended on national security,
grounds. If these operationsi
were dropped, these officials in-
sisted, an "overwhelm' t q e"
could be ma e na R ~r~thei
security. of Jie y tell Sfaics I
would be increa.ti .,,. _
A Philosophical Question
One high-level official, asked
whether such beliefs on the part
of Mr. Kissinger and President
Ford amounted to an endorse-
ment of United States interucn:i
Lion 1 f rei r. :,i lint ies, lei;lieu
that the question was a philo-~
sophical one worth debating.
Concern over lack of effec-
tive Congressional oversight
has been repeatedly expressed
by ranking Senate and House
members since newspaper dis-
closures last week that the
C.I.A.. despite prior disclaimers,
had been authorized by Mr.
Kissinger and President Nixon!
to spend more than S8-million
between 1970 and 1973 in an
effort to make it more difficult
for Mr. Allende, a Marxist, to
govern.
The Chilean President w,asi
overthrown last year in a mili.
tary coup d'etat in which he
died.
Representative Dante B. Fas-
cell, Democrat of Florida, re-
newed his call today for more
effective control over the Cen
tral Intelligence Aeency after a
series of hearings that ended to-
day before his inter-American
affairs subcommittee of the
House Foreign Affairs Commit-
tee. Mr. Fascell said he was
"deeply distressed" that he and
his cnlleaeues had not been
fully informed of the agency'
activities in testimony giv
earlier this year by William
Cotter. the Director of Central
Intelligence.
STAT
STAT
00768
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09T00207R001000020092-2