STUDY OF C.I.A. SET BY HOOVER GROUP; CLARK TO HEAD IT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61-00017A000200040003-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 14, 2002
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: July 5, 1954
• Content Type: NSPR

"All the News
That's Fit to Print"
Rickenbacker and Conolfy of
L;1..1 Join Clark Task Force
other inquiries Likely
z'tuiY oF c. t A1 SET
&Y HOOVER GROUP:
CLARK TO HEAD IT
Former Far East Commander
Denies Attempt to Beat
`McQarthy to the Punch
ALLEN DULLES PLEASED
Task Force ,Also Will Survey
=other'. Kindred Foreign
Intelligence Activities'
By Tiiie United Press.
WASHINGTON, July 4-For-
?.mef President Hoover announced
today that a study of the ' struc-
`ture and administration" of the
top-secret Central Intelligence
Agency would be made.
-'Allen W. Dulles, C. I. A. direc-
tor, who once blocked Senator
Josh f arthy, Republican
of iscpnsin, frgm investigating
The New York Times Studio
TO STUDY C. I. A.: Gen.
Mark W. Clark, who will
head a commission task
force that will make recom-
mendations on the Central
Intelligence Agency:
the geacy, immediately issued a ---
statoment saying that he "wel-
eofiie'd" the. announcement. Mr.
McCrarthy has said that th prob-
lem of Cominuni,t infiltration of
the agency is one of the worst in
the Government,, . ,
*r.Hoover said that den. Mark
W lark former FagEastern
___ a r, wou d tea a ' ask
force" of, , the Commission on
Organization of the Executive
Branch oI the Government that
would make recommendations on
the agency and "other kindred
foreign intelligence activities."
,The 4 former President, who is:
chairman of the commission,
added that "other personnel of
the task force will be announced'
at a future date."
The announcement gave he STUDY OF C. I. A. SET
dication of the nature of f the
stud..
the .......
:s T
ono for
or
he
Hoover C9nlniigsion has been del- 1 V
HOO
egat by Congress toP make a
flew study of ,step,, to modernize
the Ex utive Branch.
VER GRO
UP
e i a,, ~ ~ ~iiilitary school in that the Senator's "charge that
liarleston S
C, Sal t
at h
.
h
e th C I A itatd bm
e...s penerey Co-
was 'approached- by r. Hoover, munists is false."
. 11 a "close personal friend,"_ two or Mr. McCarthy, who heads the
three days ago. He accepted, he Senate Permanent S
b
i
t
u
comm
ee
t
added, "because I felt it was sal on Investigations, said that the
importa
t f
n
or the welfare of our
, country I could- not turn it
down."
-14A4, tp M4Cr th I dered his men not to testify, then
y Denied
declared that it would be up to
i
i
A
n
s
final verdict would have to de-
pend on sworn testimony. He as-
serted that Mr. Dulles had or-
fOOVER SELECTS 4
TO AID C.I.A. STUDY
WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (UP)-
Former President Hoover today
named Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker
and three others as members of
a special Hoover Commission
task force that will study the
super-secret Central Intelligencd
Agency.
At the same time, Mr. Hoover
disclosed, the task force will in-
vestigate "other major intelli-
gence activities of the Govern-
ment." It was the first official
announcement that such agencies
as Army and Navy intelligence
would come under scrutiny.
Gen. Mark W. Clark, forme,'
Far East Commander, was namede
earlier as chairman of the special
task force. Mr. Hoover said the
other members would be:
Admiral Richard Lansing Con-
oily, president of Long Island
University; Donald Stuart Rus-
sell, president of the University
of South Carolina, and Ernest
Frederick Hollings of Charleston,
S. C., speaker pro tern of the
South Carolina House of Repre-
sentatives and Democratic nomi-
nee for Lieutenant Governor.
Dulles Welcomed Inquiry
They will "investigate the op-
eration of the Central Intelligence
Agency and other major intelli-
gence activities of the Govern-
ment,"Mr. Hoover said.
The former President announced
on July 4 that his Government
Reorganization Commission had
decided to study the "structure
and administration" of the highly
secret spy and counter - spy
agency. Allen W. Dulles, C. I. A.
Director, promptly
the inquiry.
Mr. Dulles, a brother of John
3i'oster` Dulles, Secretary of State,
previously had blocked a proposed
investigation of the C. I. A. by
Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. The
Wisconsin Republican subsequent-
ly said during the Army-McCar-
thy hearings that the C. I. A.
was "one of the worst situations
we have" as far as Communist
infiltration was concerned.
Mr. McCarthy Mlater said he
y/ould burn over toGeneral Clark
idata his staff had gathered on
the C. I. A.. There has been no
word whether Senator McCarthy
has done so. Mr. Dulles has de-
nied McCarthy's charges against
nal study of Government- re-
organization several years ago,
suggested the desirability of a
Congressional "watchdog" com-
mittee for the C. I. A.
Senator Mike Mansfield, Demo-
crat of Montana, has introduced
a bill to provide such a commit-
tee of eighteen members, to be
called the Joint Committee on
Central Intelligence. Twenty
other Senators are co-sponsors of
the measure.
Mr. Mansfield told the Senate
that there had been no Congres-
sional check on the agency since
it was set up in 1947 as the Gov-
ernment's top clearing house for
intelligence from all over the
world. Unless a special commit-
tee is set up, he said, "we will
have no way of knowing whether
we have a fine intelligence serv-
ice or a very poor one."
alt of Eastern Airlines. During
World War II he carried out spe-
cial missions for the Secretary of
Dar to nine foreign' countries. He
holds the Medal of Honor.
Awarded Navy Cross
Admiral Conolly served at sea
throughout World War I and He
awarded the Navy Cross.
commanded a destroyer division
Wnrla W" 14. served in the
office o the chief of Na`vai Oper-
ations and on the staff of the
Commander in Chief of the Pacif-
ic Fleet.
He also commanded landing
craft and bases in Africa and the
Pacific and served as president
of the Naval War College.
Mr. Hollings, a lawyer, is a
graduate of Citadel Military Col-
lege and the University of South
Carolina. During World War II
he served in the African and
European theatres.
Mr. Russell, a native of Spar-
tanburg, S. C., also is a lawyer.
A former member of the old War
Department's Price Adjustment
Board, he held high posts in the
World War II Offices of War
Bobilization and Economic Stab-
ilization. He also has served as
an Assistant Secretary of State.
The task force will study the
"security" machinery of the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency as well
as whether it is doing its job
effectively.
However, John B. Hollister, ex-
ecutive director of the Hoover
Commission, has said that it is
not likely to make public finding
on individual cases within the
C. I. A. This would conform
with the commission's work and
findings in other Government
agencies it has investigated for
effioigncy and business-like meth-
ods.
But Mr. Hollister said that if
the C. I. A.'s "machinery is loose
-hn 'any way in recruitment or
checking on people the task force
would probably say so."
ed
f
iie ,con
ini
pion in- Congress to decide if the agency
quirt' was a move to "beat Sena- officials were "exempt from tes-
tor McCarthy to the punch," tifying."
General Clark replied: 'Watchdog" Group Urged
' "I think it has nothing to d l Military experts said that Mr.
With McCart at all. It is mere- Dulles, backed by the White
` House, took the stand that he
ly `part of the Hoover commis-
Sion's job of effectively reorga- nelhisosubordinates Ciintthe free-
nizing agencies of the Executive swinging fashion that had
Branch of the Government," marked the Senator's past in-
The General said that he ex- quiries.
pected to come here in about twq However, some officials 'have
months to confer with Mr, Hoo- maintained that the agency, es-
,'ver, then 'start work. He added pecially because of its necessary
secrecy
needed some kind of
,
that his job would be to give "watchdog" overseer, such as the
guidance to a working commit- Joint Congressional Committee
"W 1,],, q., ogee a A national security task force
of the Hoover Commission, when
month or ;o, the group was making its origi-
Gen.eral Clark said that he
probably had been chosen for the
job because of his previous con-
tapts with the intelligence agen-
cy. He recalled that he had
healed agcret mission_tg North
Africa that paved the way for the
---Mlied invasion of Africa in World
that he was studying alleged
"Communist infiltration into the