ALLEGATIONS OF CIA DOMESTIC ACTIVITIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): LOC-HAK-509-5-9-2
• Release Decision: RIPLIM
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: January 11, 2017
• Document Release Date: July 27, 2010
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: January 3, 1975
• Content Type: MEMO

No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/07/27 : LOC-HAK-509-5-9-2
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
TOP SECRET/SENSITIVE/NODTS
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
PARTICIPANTS:.
President Ford
William E. Colby, Director, Cer~.tral Intelligence
Agency
Philip W. Buchan, Counsel to the President
John O. IvTarsh, ,7r. , Counsellor to the President
Lt. Gezxexal Bxent Scowcroft, Deputy Assistant
to the President for National Security Affairs..
DATE AND TIME: Fariday, J'axxuaxy 3, 1975
5:30 p. m.
PLACE: The Oval Office
'The White House
= SUBJECT: :Allegations of CTA Domestic Activities
President: I asked Phil and Jack to analyze the [Calby~ repast for m.e,
but fa.~rst, why don't you tell xn.e whexe ire are.
.Colby; We have a. couple of problems -- one within the agency and one
with Congress. :Already the two Armed Services cvsnrriittecs, the twa
Appropriations committees, and Muskie w:nt me to testify.
T think. we hake a 25-year old institution which has doxxe sorrxe thi~a:gs i.t
shouldn't have. On the dissidents, the major effort way to check if
there were any foreign chm~.ections. But we halal it so class there
was unease within the Agency -~ was it reall done for the .forei xi 25X1
connections or was it anti-dissident?
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e passe a axz arxna on
to the FBT.and they passed in?azzn.ation to us. But what happened irk we
would file the reports the F'BT ,gave us. That, together witty our re~~orts .
froxxl, overseas,, axnaunts to about 10, 000. So we can't deny that, beat T
will haue to try to clarify it.
TOP SECRET/SENSITNE/NUDTS
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/07/27 : LOC-HAK-509-5-9-2
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/07/27 : LOC-HAK-509-5-9-2
TOP SECRET/SENSITIVE/NODIS
President: V9i'hexx were the n.a.xnes gathered?
Colby: k3eginxzingzn '67. It was formally terminated in March '?4.
President:.When. was the Schlesinger dixective?
Cow In May 19?3. Schlesinger was concerned when things popped.up--
the, psychological prafil:es, and letters fxoxn McCord about CIA anal
Watergate, So, to find everything, he'put out this directive, My
report has some of it; I will cover the others now. I briefed Ned~i
ixx July I973; I ,gave. Stens.-.is a: general briefing and Symington a
detailed one.. [He showed the President a looseleaf book. ] .
Presidents What 'clid the three say?
C~alby: I said. "Here it is; we are x~rrt going to do it again. " I then gave
specific instructions to the Departzxeen.t. In March 1974, vJe stopped the
program and Iput it together with the dissident program and treated
them. as oxze. He mentions mail apenin.g. We did have a. New York. anal
Los Angeles pragrazn in the a0's of opening firstwclasa airmail fzom
. the t7SSR.
Co].b~r: Foxxner employees.
r-.
Presx.den.t: Had they been fired?
Co, lby; One.had just let"t -- he wasn't fixed.
P~esiden:t: Wha would approve such operations?
Cofby: I,would think only the Dixectar, but possibly at these titn.ae
Pxesidentr Were these.forrxa.er exraployees, or people on the payroll?
the T.lirecto~c of the Office of Security.
The third area is the fact that we surveilled. some people to ftad out
why they had classified infctirmatian, Some of the' na.xxa:es axe nett
hot. ~He rxi.en.tio~.ed a couple of reporters, ]
Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/07/27 : LOC-HAK-509-5-9-2
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 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/07/27 : LOC-HAK-509-5-9-2
TOP SECRET/SENSITIVEJNC)I}IS
Co~.by: I said at ~ar~.y confi.rxn.atiox~. that I have the duty but not the authority,
I ~rvuld go to the FBI r~x soxx~ewhex~e like that.
TGP SECRET/SENSI'T'IVE/NOI7IS
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/07/27 : LOC-HAK-509-5-9-2
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/07/27 : LOC-HAK-509-5-9-2
TOP SECRET/SENSITIVE/NODIS
["The President leaves.3
Buchen: The last directives are undated. Why? '
Colby: ''T'hey were all issued at the .same .time.
Marsh: T'h.ey will try to get this all linked w3.th Watergate. ~-o you
think. there 9.s a. COALteCtiC7n?
Colby.. Watergate i.s a code ward. Only that concern about dissidezzts
anal leaks may have been hypoed by political concerns.
[Bta.chen .anal Marsh asked a ,series of questions. The President t}sen. returi~ed. ~
Press:dent: Is counterintelligence work suffering bec~.u~e ~f a lack of
coordixa.a:tion with the FBI?
Colby: No. We are eoope~ating very well.. I think NSCID g will ~oxemall~r
xegulari~e the axraxagexn.ent we've had w;.th the FBI si~.ce 19b6.
TOP SECRET/SENSI'TSVE/NODIS
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/07/27 : LOC-HAK-509-5-9-2
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/07/27 : LOC-HAK-509-5-9-2
TOP SECRET/SENSITIVE/NODTS
President; We plan to do three, things: One, early next week, all the'
Izatellige~a.ce chiefs will come in .and Z will say "You knave what 'the xaw
is and I e~-pect you to obey. " Two,, Y'xn going to appoint a Blue Ribboxa
Camnzittee to look into all of this. Three, I axn going to suggest to
the Hill that a joint committee is the .best way far them. to ga to inves-
tigate.
We dari't want to destxoy but to preserve the CIA. But we want. to make
sure that illegal opearatiorn.s and those outside the charter don't happens,.
Colby: We have run operations to assassinate foreign leac~ez?s, 'il1Te
have never succeeded. [He cited Castro, Trujillo,. General Sneider
of Chile, et a1~
There's another skeletons' A defector we suspected of being. a double
agexxt we kept confined for three years.
There is one athe?r very messy problem: After the ITT-Chile Cangx?essiona~:
..investigation, there was an allegation that our testimony 'c~was not all kosher..
I don't think there was any cxirninal action, but there was some skating ;
an thi3x ice. There as an old rule that tc~ protect sauirc~s and irafvr~uatioxr:
you could stretch things.
But the White House hasn't been told about my book of skeletoxzsd
TOP SECRET/SENSITIVE/NODIS
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/07/27 : LOC-HAK-509-5-9-2