MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): LOC-HAK-509-5-12-8
• Release Decision: RIPLIM
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: January 11, 2017
• Document Release Date: March 2, 2011
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: May 27, 1975
• Content Type: MISC

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MEMORANDUM
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MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
PARTICIPANTS:
OSD, FBI, DOJ
Reviews Completed
DATE AND TIME:
ON-FILE NSC RELEASE INSTRUCTIONS
APPLY
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
President Ford
Dr. James R. Schlesinger, Secretary of Defense
William E. Colby, Director, CIA
Amb. Donald Rumsfeld, Assistant to the President
Amb. Robert S. Ingersoll, Deputy Secretary
of State
Lt. General Brent Scowcroft, Deputy Assistant
to the President for National Security Affairs
Tuesday, May 27, 1975
5:00 - 5:55 p.m.
The Cabinet Room
The White House
The President: That was a nice ceremony at Arlington. But the people25X1
doing it were pretty dippy.
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The President: Have you asked counsel how to proceed?
Secretary Schlesinger He was reluctant to do so last month but it is
clear this is a violation of the law.
Director Colby: There was -an article in the New York Times in June
1974 which was similar but without detail. It'seemed to come from the
Marchetti book. The Supreme Court refusal" to review the Marchetti
case is good news. In the Marchetti case we had to prove the material
was classified. It was made available to the defense counsel. The
quotation in the Sunday paper was a direct quotation from the sanitized --
not the unsanitized version.
We took this up with Justice today to see if we could get a contempt
citation against the Marchetti lawyers.
With respect to Section 798 of the Espionage Act, it is true that
publication is a crime, but there has been only one conviction under it,
and it was a guilty plea. We are trying to get an indictment against Agee
on it. He is out of the country, though.
General Scowcroft: The real problem is not the press. The real problem
is the people who are leaking the material to the press. They are the
ones we have to go after.
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The President: I don't think we can let this go by without an internal
investigation, at least internally, and perhaps by the Bureau. This is
a most flagrant violation. I think each of the Departments should
initiate it.
Secretary Schlesinger: May I .-suggest that the FBI do it? They are
better equipped to do the right job.
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[The President decided to go the FBI route.]
Secretary Schlesinger: I think most of this comes from former employees.
How do you get at them?
Director Colby: We need better legislation. Our protection of secrets
is lousy.
Secretary Schlesinger: The Murphy Commission Chairman said he would
recommend tougher laws in this area.
The President: We are sending up a crime bill with recommendations for
revision of the criminal code.
In a communication to Justice, we ought to ask for their action
and for recommendations in this case under the law
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Mr. Rumsfeld: If this is as cold a curse as Jim and Bil a a be art
of the process of initiative should be formal notification 25X1
CIA review committees, etc., to put them on notice that we are 25X1
taking it very seriously.
Secretary Schlesinger: If we turn off the I I you should 25X1
consider a search warrant. That would lead to those providing him the
information. It could also be given to a grand jury.
The President: Let's get the best people in Phil's [Buchen's] office and
Justice going on it. Also, Justice should look into the alternatives of
getting at
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