C.I.A. SLEUTHS JUST FRIENDLY FOLKS ASKING 'WHAT'S NEW?'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000300500013-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 2, 1998
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: February 15, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

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CHICAGO - The Contrail "We try to avoid as much
Iiitelligence Agency - that l publicity as possible."
"invisible gov-
~~ by
'isn't so invis CHICAGO DAILY calls from
ib
W e 1 1, I people who think they have
s
the solutions to all the world'
least not on
the surface.. troubles.
One hour later a rcportcr-
In Chicago, L ~I._~.-- _iphotographer team stepped
r 4r 4.
friendly m a n NEVIS SERVICE
who works for the C.I.A.
will tell you they're
t"ust friendly folk who go
around talking to people just
back from abroad, and ask-
ing. "What's now?"
Tap telephones? Over-
throw Castro? Poison . the
crops? Eavesdrop on foreign
diplomats?
"Not us," says Bill Mc-
'Carthy who works for t h e
local branch of the spy
agency. His job is secret, and
his age is, "classified."
Contrary to what you might
believe, the C.I.A. isn't hard
to find.
They're in the telephone
book, page 1590, wedged be-
E.tween "census bur" and "civil
rights-U.S. common."
i- They're rather r e t i c e n t
off the elevator in the anti-
septic corridors of the Feder-
al building on the 26th floor,
headed for room 2660..
The corridor wail directory
people act? were nult; .01Y
guns around?
Maybe someone saw a new
machine tool being manufac-
tured. What was it? Could it,
for instance, affect agricul-
tural development?. Fertilizer
output?
Sometimes, t h e C. I. A.
doesn't even have to ask.
People call up, and say, "I've
been to so-and-so and thought
you'd be interested in ..."
"Aren't you guys in the
James Bond business?"
doesn't say C.I.A., or anything . "Those are 'defective', stor-
like that. It says "M. Situp-lies," McCarthy said.
'
with , an arrow under-
son
neath.
Walk around the corner,
past the "electrical wire
closet," past "Men," past
"Women," past two more
closets, turn another corner,
and there is 2660.
A lonely door . at the
end of the corridor. You
can't just walk in. Press the
buzzer at the side.
A pretty ? girl opens the
door, and McCarthy holds
out his hand in greeting.
'
. "We have absolutely noth-
ing to do with that sort of
thing. When I walk in to see
someone, I positively identify
myself, and make absolutely
sure he- knows . and under-
stands. who I am.
"No telephone tapping,
even? No steaming open let-
ters?
"That is not done in Chi-
cago," replied the even-
I'll mored, McCarthy. "That's
the hardest thing to convince
people."
As the reporter-photogra-
pher team left, three lights
were seen flashing on the
ceiling near a row of cubicle-'
like offices,
"What are those for?"'Mc..'
Carthy was asked. '
"Oh," he said,. "that's to'
tell people here we've got
visitors in the office."
t long in
McCarthy isn
warming to his topic, and the
place isn't "bugged," he says.
"Go ahead look for your-
self," he adds.
"We try to operate as
quietly as we can," he re-
peats. "We collect informa-
tion as to what's going on
outside the contincnta~ limits
of the United States.
:about it, so they're in light
type, not heavy, 'bold capital
letters like the "defense de-
partment," or even the "in-
ter-agency board of U.S. civil
service examiners."
If you telephone "022-
1014," or "922.1191."
"I-cello, C.I.A.?"
"'Can I help you?"
"Where are you located?"
"I'm sorry, I'm not allowed
to tell you."
"This is the. Daily News.
There is lots of international
business carried on here. Chi-
scago has the largest foreign-
born and second-generation
population of any city in the
world, government authori-
ties say. Chicagoans travel
abroad, write to kin abroad.
We'd like to come over and
visit.',
"You can't. Is there any
particular reason you want
to"What does the C.I.A. do in
Chicago?';
"I can't ... one moment,
,l'h connect you with some
,one who probably can give
you a plausible reason."
Silence. More silence.
"Hello, this is Mr. McCar,
thy,
"I-Iello, Mr. McCarthy. This
is the. Daily News. What do
you do in -Chicago?"
The C.I.A. collects that int
formation from people wtu-
ing to talk about their experi-
ences and passes it on -to
Washington.
`They are just good, loyal
patriotic citizens, interested
in helping their country,"
says McCarthy.
What kind of information?
All kinds. What was the po-
litical situation in the coun-
try they visited? How did the
75-00001 R000300500Q 13-6
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