REVIEW OF DECLASSIFICATION OF SUMMARIES OF 17 CIA DOCUMENTS PREPARED BY THE STAFF OF CONGRESSMAN ROSENTHAL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83M00914R002100160035-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 23, 2007
• Sequence Number: 35
• Publication Date: July 7, 1982
• Content Type: MEMO

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qC JUL 1.99
MV1ORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence
Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
Deputy Director for Intelligence (
VIA
Deputy Director for Operations lU/
Chairman, Ad Hoc Committee to Review Document
Declassification for Rosenthal Committee
Review of Declassification of Summaries of
17 CIA Documents Prepared by the Staff of
Congressman Rosenthal
Action Requested:
1. We recommend that you approve the release to Congressman
Rosenthal of revised summaries of 17 CIA documents to be used in
an unclassified report being prepared by Congressman Rosenthal's
Subcommittee, and sign the attached transmittal letter to
Representative Rosenthal (Attachment A)4
Basic round:
2. On 11 February 1982, you sent sanitized versions of 17
CIA documents that analyzed Arab investments and petr?o-dollai'
recycling to Congressman Benjamin S. Rosenthal, Chairman of the
Subcommittee on Commerce, Consumer and Monetary Affairs of the
House Committee on Government Operations. These documents were
then published as an appendix to the transcript of the
Subcommittee hearings that had been held on 22-23 Septembe.
1981. On 6 May 1982, the Subcommittee passed a resolution
authorizing the Subcommittee to prepare declassified summaries of
substantial portions of the CIA documents to be used by the
Subcommittee in a report on foreign investments in the United
States. Before the Subcommittee can unilaterally declassify the
documents, the resolution must be passed by the full Ccmnitee
and by a majority of the House of Representatives. On June,
the Subcommittee forwarded to our Office of Legislative Liaisor
its sunmiar i es of the 17 documents a
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3. The Comittee implied that the summaries were for our
review and consents but not for thy' CIi to determine their
classification. Nonetheless, our --Aialysts and my Committee,
reviewed the documents to determine which sections were drawn
from classified information. The summaries do, in fact, make
extensive use of detailed intelligence information that remained
classified in the original documents. The documents were
reviewed again to determine if the summaries could be further
declassified through deletion and redrafting. As a result of
that review, and following light editing to improve clarity and
accuracy, another set of summaries was produced by CIA
analysts. One copy of each set is attached: (1) Attachment 3
contains surriaaries prepared by the Subcommittee Staff with
sections bracketed in black that came from classified portions of
the original documents; and (2) Attachment C contains the
amended version of the Subcommittee Staff's summaries prepared by
DDI analysts.
4a' We believe the DDI revised summaries reflect the
Agency's analysis of OPEC investments and petro-dollar recycling
problems during the period 1974-80 more clearly than the
Subcommittee's summaries without divulging the specific detail of
our intelligence ca abilities. Release of these summaries as an
alternative to the Subcommittee's summaries would minimize damage
to our collection and analysis capability. We emphasize,
however, that even the release of the more generalized
information could be damaging to the Directorate of Operations'
ability to collect economic information from both foreign and
domestic sources. Specifically, the DO's concerns area
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5, My Committee recomrends, however, that you approve the
revised summaries for use by Congressman Rosenthal in preparing
his report. It is the Committee's judgment that if we do not
make some accommodation to release summaries of these documents,
Congressman Rosenthal will persist in his efforts to gain
approval by the full House Committee and ultimately the full
House to prepare his own summaries. Even if the attempt is
unsuccessful, more damage could result from focusing attention on
our intelligence interests over a prolonged period of months than
if this set of summaries is published and the matter dispensed
with once and for all. If you approve, we will return the
revised summaries (Attachment C) to the SubCommittee Staff as our
alternative proposal for unclassified summaries of the CIA
papers. 0
6. It is possible that the Subcommittee may not accept our
summaries and we may not be able to reach an agreement on the
release of a set of unclassified summaries that does not eidan or
our intelligence sources and methods or disrupt US foreign pciicy
objectives. My view is that we should draw the line at this
point and aggressively challenge, through legislative and/or
legal means, any further attempts to erode our position.
Attachments:
As Stated
APPROVED-
Di,rector of Central Intelligence
Di rector o Central intelligence
JUL i J?
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SUB32CT: Review of Declassification of Summaries of
17 CIA Documents Prepared by the Staff of
Congressman Rosenthal
Registry
DDI Registry
D/OEA (7D45)
- DC/EID/EUR
D/OGI
- DCI
- DDCI
- Exec
- DDI
- ADDS(: