CAPITAL CIRCUS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000200020006-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 1998
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: October 11, 1962
• Content Type: NSPR

NEW YORK O CT 1 1q62
DAILY roved For Release 2000/08/24: CIA-RDP75 00001 R990200020006-8
CPYRGHT
Washington, Oct. 10.-For humanitarian as well", as
time , e r~gress are most hg?>i- Javits Headquarters Gets
at i this e r
ant +~i~ o o t negotiations 1, or t 7 Donovan, it slowly percolated tl
he ransom release 0 1 1 ay of Pigs prisoners of Fidel hanking wholly or, a dramatic
aStro. political laurels as 9 successful
This neat silence CQpgress is understatl ble. Senators ~rat,l l' to campaign at considerable cos
epresentatives kn11*' 1 a public statement questioning the sec. + t e tt right in Cuba, so he let Javits si
peration could have an explosive kickback. It might even upset i ??ana. swing.
he present 'cliff-hanging status Seine of davits' handlers think t relea f the
But once theffort.
mum ab,
deal with Castro r ~eiholdustd to keep secret CIA
ucceeds & fails as sure as Once the has settled from
hooting the issue will be in t for the (.IA being actively eng?a,
hick of partisan politics, as itbin to be publicly discussed b)
, iii recs. As set up under the law,
idte -m elections reach
li
Already Con .. the telligenc t fi ad.
1oakCn pelled out in the
ilk when an u . r: "For the purpose of coordin
i he 'several government a eA m ol~ departmen
ongress convenes, i et- na ,;_,nal security." at W ing public funds weaccou re ere s spe m or made de m CIA Apparenfly Without
ed
vailable to meet the ransom de- l' der this broad intellig0oe-gat;
and. f+ rt:s, for the benefit of existing ini
Yet to be de is the re- r. 1 -gal 'services of common concern as
ort ihat''tfre: CI cache of 1`> 9 ,s tern ines;can be more efficiently acc
eeretly appropria A an [ k is paragraph has a certain cat
stimate(l Vo err annually) tc ing the meaning to the nth d
a open to , sppp e ransom 'are to construe it as giving tl
ands: Whether pp ~amouiit isonnive, in any kind of prisoner ra
15 million or nine' ore is not ni t}t course, since the Bay of Pi,
he issue. It is w'he er Presi- N. rina,ly Administration, throgh va
ential powers cop, 'be used to ih;it. it has a moral obligation to the
upply ransom xrSPi e at will the re. the invasion go-ahead, limited
nywhere in the wx Pt t ssidr?nt himself.
Also involvd the present s~pRYa Flit in the aftermath of the anti-(
ure James B. Donovan ~'as careful to keep the Federal G
nstan is
reeds ii a of uly
- House's boy ihortive ransom moves.' He helped
to par IT rtt g e H ` '"` committee, headed then by Eleanor R,
It waa n that when James B. Donovan, the ga-lielvW + ri Milton Eisenhower. And he urged citizr
vith Castro, was nanied.as the }ernocr'a.t1t" rhminee for the G .~c. that time the idea of the CIA or any
"enate in New York to run against Sen. Jacob Javits (R), tbi redeliberately anddofficially putting rar,
were mystery tipsy about why he would be an attractive candidfite,obnoxious.
These were along `the line that his part in a ransom deal woolcll Now th4 CIA as apparently doin
?edound to the party's benefit at a significant point in the campaign.
Attorney General Tapped Donovan for the Job
While this may be denied, Donovan is actually the agent of i'he
Vhite House in the Cuban ne-goIigiridiM Ile -vas tapped for' he
r'sdereove2' job by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy last June.
\'hether or n9ta fat fee was involved will be one of the questions
Congressional committee is almost certain to pose early newt yesir.
Juat-what part the CIA has been playing in these negoti itipos,
,here Donovan is die "froi t man, is eatrally as intriguing :,s
)onovan's"role itself.
The CIA always has made much of how it must play in th
lr d9ws. Yet in t is case it deliberately did exactly the oppos ek
t o ,tired e jpjgx lation l'.l~i"at" of dvan Senate rival, Javits, - -:as
reeei ng secret and e aiTecl bii"frogs on what was going n
ehind the scenes. It., "
The that opMe, member of Congress was getting what all
others we'tedeprived of was simply ex'j,lained: It was only fair
to the incumbent Senator that he be informed as to what his,
opponent was doing in anif out of Cuba and why.
This at least helped clarify a circumstance which had baffled
he Javits organization. Donovan was a frustrating- and phantom
rival. He turned down chances to speak in New York, evaded
Javits' effort to pin him down to a series of TV debates. This
evasion was interesting, particularly as Democratic gubernato- al
candidate Robert Morgenthau ?bvas challenging Gov. Rockefeller all
over the place.
CPYRGHT
to Pitch, of Long Last
ougli to Davits' headquarters,
ildrrp in ,which he would get
ansom negotiator. He didn't
through New York if matters
w while he was on the Miami-
e Senator made a mistake is
formation. When he accepters,
t the prisoner issue.
he present negotiations. the
d in a prisoner ransom etl'o, i
many disturbed member, If
e CIA is clearly restricted d:E
uthoritative U.S_ government.
ing the intelligence activities
and agencies in the interest
authority of Low
-ring authority, it also "per
liige'nce agencies, such ad(j)-
he National Security t ounc-ii
mplished centrally."
t-all character. But even by
,ree, no lawyer in Congress
CIA the legal right to act,
som deal.
fiasco in April, 1961, the
ous spokesmen, has agreed
Cuban exiles taken prisoner
as it was, was given by the
stro calamity, the President
vernment out of the first,
ganize the private ransom
sevelt, Walter Reuther and
s to contribute to it. But at
ether branch of government
om money on the line was
the wheeling and dealing.
Approved For Release 2000/08/24: CIA-RDP75-00001 R000200020006-8