LETTER TO THE HONORABLE EDWARD P. BOLAND FROM STANSFIELD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R002700120014-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 25, 2004
• Sequence Number: 14
• Content Type: SUMMARY

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The Honorable Edward P. Boland, Chairman
The Honorable Les Aspin
The Honorable Bob Wilson
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Sirs:
The meeting we held on September 13, 1978, to discuss your letter of
July 28 to the President was extremely useful to me and my colleagues.
Such full and frank exchanges go a long way towards broadening the area
of agreement and mutual understanding between us.
As a result of our discussions I have had the entire process of
clearing covert actions restudied. I believe there is one small, but very
significant, change that we can make which will help to clarify the
situation. Henceforth, we will categorize Findings as either "specific"
or "general." Looking at the Presidential Finding iterns 25X1
A, B, C, D, E and the paragraphs under F which pertain to a network of
agents and paramilitary operational capability would be considered "specific";
other subheadings would be considered "general." 'The purpose for making
this distinction is to clarify what procedures ensue to check on the proper
implementation of a Finding once approved by the President.
a. In the case of specific Findings, the nature of what is to be
accomplished, and where and when, should be sufficiently clear in the
language used by the President; further instruction or clearance
within the Executive Branch should not be required. Clearly,
notification under the Hughes-Ryan Amendment to the appropriate
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.committees of Congress is required. Overall, this -si:Ap1.0 and -- ~
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straightforward procedure; the President makes a specific determination;
the CIA notifies the Congress; and then carries out the Presidential
Finding.
b. In the instances of general Findings, we are attempting to
foresee a need for covert action which cannot be spelled out in full
detail in advance. Accordingly, amplifying details must be developed by the
CIA prior to execution and a further clearance process within the
Executive Branch is in order.
I understand that some of your members have questioned whether in the
cases of general Findings it is adequate to rely on clearance within the
Executive Branch for approval of amplifying details rather than going back to
the President. One example cited was whether support against domestic
terrorism in a particular country should be approved by the State Department
or specifical':y by the President. It is my view that we-need note that we
can neither overburden the President-nor become so bogged down in clearance
machinery that we cannot act in a responsive manner. You will recall that
in the instance of providing assistance to
we were hamstrung by an unduly restrictive Presidential Finding and the
temporary absence from the country of the President himself.
What we do in the case of each general Finding is to obtain clearance
from the State Department and upon occasion from other concerned departments
of the Executive Branch prior to translating the general Finding into
specific action. We need some standby authorities so as to be responsive
without having to process the decision all the way to the President of the
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United States, and yet we must also have some form of check to ensure that
the proposed covert action will be in conformance with the basic foreign
policy of our country. In brief, when signing a general Finding, the
President entrusts to the Department of State the responsibility for
ensuring that the way in which the covert action is carried out meets the
standards of foreign policy which he has established and within which the
State Department operates.
With respect to Congressional involvement in this process, there clearly
is no question with respect to the specific Findings. Under the Hughes--
Ryan Amendment your committee and the appropriate additional committees
are notified in a timely manner. As far as the general Findings are
concerned, you are, of course, notified when they are approved. I recognize
this leaves you with some uncertainty with respect to the details of
execution. However, yours is certainly the right at any time to interrogate
us through the oversight process and it seems to me that-is the essence of
our relationship. If we were to inform you on a daily basis of all sensitive
collection and covert action activities, it would greatly overburden both
of our organizations for little advantage. It seems to me that I bear a
specific responsibility, however, to-identify activities which I believe you
are interested in and provide you notification, and that the essence of your
supervisory and oversight function is to buttress your responsibility for
intelligence activities by selective and judicious questioning.
In the future, when you are briefed on a covert action Finding that is
classified as "general," it will naturally and-automatically raise the
question in your committee's mind as to whether you have special concerns
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in this area and therefore want to conduct a closer oversight than with
a specific Finding perhaps.
I think we have benefited greatly from our discussion with you in September
because it has clarified the way in which we should carry cut our
responsibilities to the President and you in obtaining permission to execute
general Findings, and it has clarified, in our minds at least, how your
oversight responsibilities can be fulfilled in these same circumstances.
Your position and that of the President's, it seems to me, are very analogous
in these circumstances: each of you bears a responsibility; wants to be
involved only in that amount of detail necessary for adequate control; and wants
ensure that the system truly is responsible to the national needs within the
proper degree of control.
I am grateful for your stimulus to clarify this situation. I stand
ready to discuss this further with you at any time.
Yours sincerely,
SSTANSFIELD TURNER
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