INFORMATION REVIEW & RELEASE (IRR) NEWS FOR 23 JULY - 27 JULY 2001 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
05578093
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
U
Document Page Count: 
3
Document Creation Date: 
March 8, 2023
Document Release Date: 
April 2, 2019
Sequence Number: 
Case Number: 
F-2010-01471
Publication Date: 
July 27, 2001
File: 
Body: 
001247757 Approved for Release: 2019/03/27 C05578093 CONFIDENTIAL (b)(3) (b)(5) Information Review & Release (IRR) News for 23 July -27 July 2001 Executive Summary Immediate Calendar: (UnirIVEN- 5 September 2001: Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP): Next Liaisons' meeting at Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB), Washington, DC. Future Planning Calendar: (UHAT1171) 20 September 2001: Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP): Next Principals' meeting at Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB), Washington, DC. (U/hIrfte) 20 - 21 September 2001: Next Historical Review Panel meeting at CIA (U//41.1.4) October 2001: The Automatic Declassification Date per Executive Order 12958, as amended, for unreviewed general material older than 25 years. (UHA�11113) April 2003: The Automatic Declassification Date per Executive Order 12958, as amended, for unreviewed intelligence-related or multi-agency records. Overview of IRR Activities Last Week: (U//A.14,14) FOIA Requests (U/httt7t7) Requester Wants Information on YAK-23 Test Flight Project (U//,T)-The Chairman of the Board with Accuracy in Media, Inc. submitted a request for information on CIA's involvement in an Air Force project to test fly a Soviet-built YAK-23 aircraft that, according to the requester, was surreptitiously "borrowed" by the Agency in 1953. The requester enclosed a letter from a former Air Force test pilot who claims to have test flown the YAK-23. The test pilot alleges the Air Force has declassified the project, code named Project Alpha, except for the names of individuals and the name of the country from which the aircraft was "borrowed." According to the test pilot's statement, the YAK-23, which at the time was the Soviet's state-of-the-art interceptor fighter aircraft, was being shipped in crates to an unspecified communist Balkan country. At a transshipment point in another communist Balkan country, unnamed persons offered the CIA temporary access to the YAK-23. According to the test pilot, the CIA and the US Air Force flew the crated airplane to the US, reassembled it, flew it eight times, disassembled it, recrated it and returned it to the Balkan transshipment point, where it resumed its journey to its destination. (U//7414518.) Requester Seeks Copy of Doolittle Report (U///e1+44) A Missouri requester asked for a copy of "The Doolittle Report, composed under the direction of Mr. James H. Doolittle at the request of President Eisenhower in 1954. The report was titled Report of the Special Study Group on Cover Activities and was given to Eisenhower on September 30, 1954. The purpose of the report was to create a comprehensive review of the factors of personnel, security, cost, and the efficiency of covert operations." � The FOIA case officer provided the requester with a copy of the report from the Management of Officially Released Information (MORI) database of previously released material. C NFIDENTIAI (b)(3) CONFIDENTIAL Approved for Release: 2019/03/27 C05578093 CO1247757 Approved for Release: 2019/03/27 C05578093 (b)(3) (b)(5) (b)(3) (b)(1) (b)(3) (b)(5) (11/Mr131.13) National Security Archive Continues Requests on South America (UHAITA5)-Among this week's submissions from the National Security Archive are requests for information on "the assassination of Uruguayan Colonel Ramon Trabal in Paris, France on December 19, I974;" "the arrest of retired Uruguayan General Liber Seregni on January 10, 1976 in Uruguay;" "former Paraguayan President Alfredo Stroessner's visit to Chile on July 14, 1974;" and "the VIII American Armies Conference in Montevideo, Uruguay in October 1975." � CIA accepted the requests! (U/fAl U0) Frequent FOIA Requester Tests Agencies with Fabricated FOIA Requests (U//A-liTter Frequent requester Jeremy Bigwood, self-described freelance journalist and photographer, recently submitted Ill FOIA requests on a variety of subjects. In conjunction with the processing of his requests, the CIA asked Mr. Bigwood for evidence of his eligibility for journalist status with regard to FOIA fees, a status which precludes the Agency from charging him search fees. In response, Mr. Bigwood submitted his article titled The Accidental Spy, which was published in the July 2001 edition of American Journalism Review. In the article, Mr. Bigwood indicated that he has in the past fabricated FOIA requests to "determine both the honesty and the nuances of each agency." He indicated in the article that if he received a "no records" response to the fabrications, he would "believe in the veracity of the FOIA offices (he) was dealing with.". � The FOIA case officer provided the requester with an interim response continuing his status as journalist for fee purposes, and advised him that he would receive a response shortly on his current requests. (IY/A-14160) IMS Declassification Center (11//A4440) From the Archives: NSC in 1950, "Any Publicity Is Potentially Detrimental to Intelligence Agencies" (U//kitt80)--The National Security Council (NSC), in January, 1950, issued a strongly worded notice that "any publicity, factual or fictional, concerning intelligence is potentially detrimental to the effectiveness of an intelligence activity and national security." The notice, which was recently reviewed by the DCI team at the IMS Declassification Center, was addressed to all "heads of executive departments and establishments" and was signed by the NSC's Executive Director, RADM Sidney Souers, who had previously served as DCI. In the notice, the NSC stated, "the Council has therefore authorized and directed the departments and agencies represented by membership on the Intelligence Advisory Committee to take steps to prevent unauthorized disclosure for written and oral publication of any information concerning intelligence or intelligence activities." This is a record. �Cell111'115E�N-T-1 (b)(3) (b)(3) (b)(3) �CONFTTENT-10rE Approved for Release: 2019/03/27 C05578093 CO1247757 Approved for Release: 2019/03/27 C05578093 CONFIDENT'' CC: Sent on 1 August 2001 at 08:51:39 AM CONFIutTI.AI �"Fh9S4F+14r�M-T-1,41- Approved for Release: 2019/03/27 C05578093