JOURNAL OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL THURSDAY - 24 JUNE 1954

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00682R000300040078-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 31, 2006
• Sequence Number: 78
• Publication Date: June 24, 1954
• Content Type: NOTES

Approved For Release 2007/02/08 : CIA-RDP91-00682R000300040078-3
Journal
Office of Legislative Counsel
Thursday 24 June 1954
1. Mr. Ben Brown, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Con-
gressional Relations, informed me that Pat McMahon, the newspaperman who
accompanied Cong. Killings an his trip to Latin America, had sent a copy of
his report to Mr. Kersten in Europe, and that the report was extremely
critical of Costa Rica and President Figueres, whose support the State Depart-
ment was hoping for in forthcoming OAS meetings. McMahon had cabled
Kersten urging the report's immediate release, which he claimed to be at the
suggestion of Vice President Nixon. Ben Brown talked to McMahon, at which
time the latter talked with Kersten and Killings on the trans-Atlantic phone,
and Killings stated that he wished the report to be released as his report as
a one man subcommittee of the Kersten Committee. As Killings did not go
to Costa Rica, this would eliminate that material from the report. Hillings
requested a delay until Saturday so that he could cable a forword, including a
statement that immediately upon its return to this country the Kersten Com-
mittee would launch into a full-scale investigation of Communist penetration
in Latin America. Assistant Secretary of State, Thruston Morton. has beea
in touch with Vice President Nixon, who feels thattlt~eort is quite poor and
who desired to tone it down. The Vice P+residen m A o ed this matter to the
DCI at the NSC meeting on 4 June, and instructed the State Department to send
a cable at once in his name to Killings urging that the publication of the report
be held up until Killings returned to this country. I have informed Mr. Wisner
of these developments. Mr. Wisner had suggested that CIA be allowed to review
cMahon report as publication of part of it might be helpful. However, I
have pointed out that it is largely a State Department matter and that the Depart-
ment is on top of the situation; that the only available copy of the report is in
on's hands; and that I felt it would be inadvisable at this time to approach
McMahon.
DOS review(s) completed.
Approved For Release 2007/02/08 : CIA-RDP91-00682R000300040078-3