BRIEFING BY THE DIRECTOR OF CIA SUBCOMMITTEE OF HOUSE ARMED SERVICES - 16 MAY 1967

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00827A000900010001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 18, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 16, 1967
• Content Type: MFR

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16 May 1967
SUBJECT: Briefing by the Director of CIA Subcommittee of House
Armed Services - 16 May 1967
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1. The Director, accompanied by
met with the CIA Subcommittee of House Armed Services.
Present from the Subcommittee were:
L. Mendel Rivers
Philip J. Philbin
F. Edward Hebert
Melvin Price
0. C. Fisher
Porter Hardy, Jr.
Charles E. Bennett
William H. Bates
Leslie C. Arends
William G. Bray
Charles A. Halleck
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Both Russ Blandford and Philip Kelleher from the staff were present.
Prior to the hearing there was a sweep of the room and there was
monitoring during the hearing. The meeting commenced at 8:30 a. m.
and went through until about 9:45 a. in. As usual, no transcript was
taken.
2. started the briefing by discussing the origins
of the Agency suppor, abroad. He. pointed out the
massive Soviet effort in the late 1940s in France and Italy and later in
the underdeveloped countries. Mr. Philbin inquired the amounts of
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money expended during the early period and said this 25X1A
25X1A might be Mr. Philbin inquired as to precisely
,how the money was spent and as to the results in the 1949-1950
period. He asked if had personally handled this or had 25X1A
talked to people who were involved. stated that he 25X1A
himself was not involved at that time. He continued that the results
were in fact very good. Mr. Philbin stated he wanted a short report
on his queries based on something better than simply reviewing the
files. In response to a question, it was indicated that very little is
being spent in this field now and it is coming to an end.
25X1 C 3. In response to a general question, Mr. Helms indicated 25X1 C
that under the Katzenbach report while flexibility is limited, nevertheless
there were no prohibitions against working in these international fields
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continue to go forward.
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In fact he pointed out that the
seeing the need in the foreign field, had
come to Allen Dulles some years ago asking for help.
and that a certain amount of this work would
the latter case he pointed out the excellent work
that is being accomplished
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Mr. Hebert asked for
specifics as to who requested the Agency to get into this. The Director
-pointed out that President Kennedy personally asked the A enc to move
in stating that he did not want another Communist state 25X1 C
The Director stated that only three or four people in the State Department,
about the same number in the Agency and only one or two in the White
House were aware of this operation. He further indicated that President
Kennedy followed the day-to-day operations of this activity on a personal
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basis. Mr. Hebert said he had assumed some of this but merely
wanted the answer for the record to show the Subcommittee that
CIA's involvement in many things abroad in fact was simply
following orders of the Government.
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Mr. Philbin indicated he had read or heard the Agency had supported
some such organization and was very pleased to learn that this was
not so. Mr. Hardy pursued in some detail statement
that had come to
the Agency. He did not seem to accept the fact that a private citizen
would have developed enough knowledge and initiative to approach the
25X1A Agency itself. stated that he would check into this for
more details an a vise.
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8. Mr. Philbin asked about reports of missiles and Soviet
build up in Cuba. The Director again reviewed this situation indicating
there had been no significant changes in the picture there and that this
was a high priority topic for intelligence. Mr. Helms was queried
whether he was aware of any organized effort in the U. S. to destroy
the Agency or its credibility. The Director responded in the negative
adding that, of course, the Agency is a prime target of the KGB and
that a lot of the lines that they develop are carried either wittingly or
unwittingly by groups, individuals, or the press in the U. S. There
was considerable discussion by the members that something ought to
be done but no one seemed to present any solid suggestions as to
positive action.
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9. It was agreed to hold another meeting the following Tuesday,
23 May 1967, at nine o'clock with the thought that since there was no
full Committee meeting it could run for about two hours. Two specific
points were suggested - Subversion in Latin America and Communist
China.
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cc: DCI thru Ex Dir
DDCI
ADDP
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OLC Subject - Briefing File
OLC Chrono
OLC:JSW:mks
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