MEMORANDUM FOR DEPUTY DIRECTOR WALTERS FROM DIRECTOR RICHARD HELMS, DATED 28 JUNE 1972, WATERGATE AFFAIR

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 01482366
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: August 7, 2017
• Case Number: F-2007-00094
• Publication Date: November 6, 1973

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(b)(3)
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20505
OLC 73-1285
6 November 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR: The Honorable Stuart Symington
Acting Chairman, Senate Armed
Services Committee
SUBJECT:
Memorandum for Deputy Director Walters
from Director Richard Helms, Dated
S-k 7
28 june 1972, Watergate Affair _Fie 7
yr} s
Recent speculation in the press and elsewhere contends that
Mr. Helms' 28 June 1972 memorandumds in conflict with his testimony
before congressional committees and Federal prosecutors on the
Watergate affair. This speculation centers around the second para-
graph of that memorandum which states in part:
"We still adhere to the request that they [the
FBI] confine themselves to the personalities
already arrested or directly under suspicion
and that they desist from expanding this
investigation into other areas which may
well, eventually, run afoul of our operations.
'I
The circumstances surrounding the memorandum and the actions
of Mr. Helms, both before and after it was written, establish a consistent
record of cooperation with FBI investigations. In this connection it will
be recalled that:
a. On 22 June 1972 in response to Mr. Gray's concern
that he may be poking into a CIA operation, Mr. Helms told
Mr. Gray that there was no CIA involvement in Watergate.
b. On 27 June 1972 in response to the FBI's earlier
request, Mr. Helms advised Mr. Gray that the FBI's
investigation of Mr. Ogarrio would not compromise any
Agency activities.
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C. On 28 June 1972 Mr. Helms informed Mr. Gray
that the Agency had no interest in Mr. Dahlberg. The
FBI was thus under no constraint against investigating
him.
d. On 6 July 1972 in a meeting with Mr. Gray,
General Walters said that he had no basis to tell him to
cease further investigations on the grounds that it would
compromise the security interests of the United States.
e. Throughout the course of the FBI's investigation
of the Watergate incident, the Agency responded to num-
erous requests for information from the FBI. (Copies
of the documentation provided to the FBI are on file with
CIA's four congressional oversight subcommittees, the
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign
Activities, and the Office of the Special Prosecutor.)
None of the information provided to the FBI by the Agency indicated
CIA involvement in the Watergate incident nor did it indicate that
investigation by the FBI would compromise CIA activities.
On 28 June 1972, Mr. Gray cancelled a meeting he had scheduled
with Mr. Helms for that day. Mr. Helms, who was about to depart on
a trip overseas, thought it likely that this meeting might be rescheduled
during his absence with his new Deputy, General Walters. On the same
day he wrote a memorandum to General Walters giving guidance for
such a meeting. He wanted General Walters to cooperate with the FBI
so that its investigation of the Watergate break-in could go 'forward,
but he wanted to discourage a fishing expedition into CIA operations.
Mr. Helms was concerned about leakage in the FBI which could
compromise sensitive Agency operations. In this connection, it will
be recalled that:
a. There had been queries from the FBI about
Messrs.. Ogarrio and Dahlberg without any explanation
from the FBI as to what these individuals represented.
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b. Despite Mr. Helms' repeated denials, Mr. Gray
persisted in querying the Agency about possible CIA
involvement in the Watergate incident.
c. On 22 June 1972, in checking with the FBI on the
progress of its investigation of Mr. McCord, the Agency
was advised that word had come down from Mr. Gray
that there was not to be any dissemination of any informa-
tion about the case in oral or written form.
In light of these developments, and particularly because of the additional
fact that there had been recent leaks of sensitive information provided by
CIA to the FBI, Mr. Helms felt it necessary to give specific guidance
for Agency officials acting during his forthcoming absence to discourage
FBI investigation into Agency operations unless specific reason or justifi-
cation therefor was offered.
On 28 June Acting Director Gray agreed to call off interviews with
Agency officers Karl Wagner and John Caswell. The FBI's interest in
talking to these officers arose from the fact that their names had been
found in a notebook belonging to Howard Hunt. The interviews had been
scheduled by the field office of the FBI which had been conducting the
initial interviews relating to the Watergate incident. It had been from
this office that the above-mentioned leaks had apparently originated. For
this reason, the Agency did not want Messrs. Wagner and Caswell inter-
viewed by this office, but it was always understood that anyone from
Mr. Gray's own office would have access to them if their testimony was
needed. Mr. Wagner had been executive assistant to General Cushman
and later General Walters, and in that capacity has submitted an affidavit
which was given to the Agency's four oversight committees, the Select
Committee and the Special Prosecutor, detailing his contacts with Howard
Hunt. Mr. Hunt's contact with Mr. Caswell arose from Hunt's interest
in an incident regarding France with which Mr. Caswell happened to be
familiar. As events transpired, however, the instruction from Mr. Gray
to cancel the interviews was not received by the field office until after
Mr. Caswell had been interviewed.
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The essential facts set forth above have been publicly and
thoroughly substantiated in testimony and memoranda before congres-
sional committees investigating the Watergate incident. Finally, as
�you may recall most of the essentials of the above were covered in my
confirmation hearings, the record of which has since been made public.
W . Colby
Director
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