UCI PROF ASKS CIA FOR FILES ON LENNON
Document Type:
Collection:
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
CIA-RDP91-00587R000100370002-1
Release Decision:
RIPPUB
Original Classification:
K
Document Page Count:
1
Document Creation Date:
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date:
April 28, 2011
Sequence Number:
2
Case Number:
Publication Date:
June 25, 1984
Content Type:
OPEN SOURCE
File:
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
CIA-RDP91-00587R000100370002-1.pdf | 73.13 KB |
Body:
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/04/28: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100370002-1
COSTA MESA DAILY PILOT (CA)
25 June 1984
prOf JCI asks CIF
fnr fi on Lennon
.By ANDREA ADELSON
'A UC `1m'ilne professor asked. the
'IA .for aU it~'docuintnts-ori'former
43eatkJ6hnLennon Saturday'aterk
previously secret memo revealtd the
agency monitored the late rock star's
anti-Vietnam war activities in 1972.
According : to Jon Weiner, the
heavily censored memo, among
documents he obtained under the
Freedom of Information Act, shows
.the agency asked the FBI to gather
information on whether the British
superstar would participate in anti-
Vietnam war protests at the 1972
LRepublican National Convention.
The documents were turned over
in mid-May to Wiener, who made
them public Friday and filed the
request the next day. -
"The government has consistently
claimed that Lennon's activities were
somehow relevant to national secur-
ity considerations," Wiener, 39, said.
"We maintain that nothing Lennon
did, planned to do or talked about
doing, in any way threatened the
national security of the United States.
At most, it threatened the,,reelec-
tion of President Nixon," he said.
"But there's no legal , reason ? for the
CIA t6 $e' involved in protecting
Nixon from threats to his reelec-
tion.... I don't see why the CIA should
have anything to do with political
protests in this country."
A political researcher, Weiner is the
author of "Come Together. John
Lennon in His Time," a Random
House book that should be released
today. He said the publishing house
has agreed to a second edition with
inserts about . the newly released
documents.
- National security' justified main-
taining the confidentiality of material
,that was blacked out, Dube wrote.
"The affidavit is "a much more
satisfactory explanation of why" onl
censored documents were released,
Weiner said. But because it's unclear
whether the CIA is . withholding
further information, the histpry
professor said he filed a request ut r
the Freedom of Information Act Lror
all CIA documents related to Lennon.
Lennon's song "Give Peace a
Chance" gave -the anti-war move- .
ment its anthem. He "is an important
figure to a whole generation and his
battle with the Nixon administration
is sort of a forgotton chapter," Weiner
said.
The professor obtained copies of
five documents from FBI files, -in-
cluding one that originated with the
CIA. The FBI referred the documents
to the CIA for review before releasing
them.
Weiner is awaiting word this week
on a court ordered explanation from
the FBI on why they too censored
Lennon documents. The FBI sub-
mitted. ? its reasons for withholding
two-thirds of a 281-page file in a brief
to a federal court last week.
Nis attorneys hope to schedule a
conference with the federal judge and
Justice Department attorneys this
week, Weiner said. '/
CIA spokeswoman Patti Volz de-
clined specific comment on the
4ocuments, but noted that in the
mid-1970s the Serrate Select Commit-
tee on Intelligence Activities reported
that the CIA had been "involved in
some domestic activities at the behest
of the President."
"It was inappropriate, and from
that came several rules and regu-
lations curtailing the agency's ac-
tivities," she said Friday.
An accompanying affidavit to the
,documents, 'signed by CIA Infor-
mation Review Officer Louis J.
Dube, acknowledged that the agency
obtained information appearing in
the documents, all of which have been
censored.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/04/28: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100370002-1