LETTER TO MR. MITCHELL FROM DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01554R003400070035-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 13, 2005
• Sequence Number: 35
• Publication Date: August 30, 1978
• Content Type: NOTES

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 The Director of Ccntr3l Inieflieence
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1~`atihirr~t r D C 20505
1 September 1978
Dear Mr. Mitchell:
Thank you for your invitation to participate in the
William 0. Douglas Inquiry Into the State of Individual Freedom.
Although I would be pleased to participate, I am uncertain as
to whether I am the person best suited to your needs.
First, the title gives me no small problem. "Freedom and
the Investigative Agencies" not only specifies investigation but
connotes investigation of Americans. The Central Intelligence Agency
is not an investigative agency, and any connection that we have with
the investigation of American citizens is a carefully controlled
incidental by-product of collecting foreign intelligence. If the names
and activities of Americans appear in the course of our collecting
foreign intelligence, stringent rules prescribe how this information
is to be handled and require that it be made available to the proper
investigative authorities of the government. Consequently, the
Attorney General's office or the FBI are more appropriate to address
the topic that you have outlined.
Noting that you have asked two other people with basically
intelligence backgrounds to participate, Mitchell Rogovin and Bill Colby,
I wonder if a more appropriate and still germane title might be
"The Individual and the Intelligence Function." I would have no
objection to participating in a forum on that topic- I would be
reluctant to do so on one titled "Investigation Functions" since that
would imply that my duties involved investigations of Americans.
Alternatively,-perhaps a broader rubric such as "The Individual and
Governmental Intrusion" might be satisfactory. This would allow for
consideration of alleged and real intrusions into the rights of American
citizens by intelligence agencies in the past.
Secondly, I am somewhat concerned-at the composition of the panel,
As I have noted, two of the panelists are associated with intelligence,
not investigative functions. I assume that the former Attorney General,
as moderator, will not actively participate in the discussion. Therefore,
it seems to me that if you intend'to cover the broader question of
governmental intrusion, including the investigative function, we need
someone on 'the panel who can speak with authority for the.Department of
Justice or the FBI.
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Finally, I have some concern as to the ultimate balance
of the panel. I had the privilege of participating as a panelist
in Pacem in Terris 11 in 1973. Both speakers and all panel members,
save myself and one other (who was almost totally silent), represented
one viewpoint - the opposite extreme from that which I was called
upon to represent. I am sure this was a matter of who did or did not
accept your invitation to participate. Nonetheless, the imbalance
was extreme and-made the serious examination of all relevant sides
of the issue very difficult. I am anxious, therefore, for assurance
that you will persevere and obtain a balanced representation on
this panel.
I know you will understand my raising these several issues
of detail. There is a risk of intrusion into the privacy of American
citizens by nearly all agencies of government, the CIA probably no less
than others. I would be pleased to have the opportunity to explore
that risk-publicly and explain how it is being handled today to the
net benefit of the citizen. However, the error of fact conveyed by
the panel's present title biases, I believe, any reasoned discussion
of the issue.
I am most interested in the purpose and scope of your meeting
and hope that it will be possible for me to accept.
Mr. Maurice Mitchell, President
The Center for the Study of
Democratic Institutions/The Fund for the Republic, Inc.
Box 4068, Santa Barbara, CA 93103
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