LETTER TO THE HONORABLE TOM CORCORAN FROM GEORGE L. CARY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80M00165A000700140037-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 20, 2004
• Sequence Number: 37
• Publication Date: October 5, 1977
• Content Type: LETTER

,. .Approved For R ."@`2MU77P63M '`talALF P80MW1 70014003 { tl,
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20503
Office of Legislative Counsel
OLC 77-3500/b
5GcT1977
Honorable Tom Corcoran
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Attention: 'Mr. Jay Meisenhelder
Dear Mr. Meisenhelder:
In your letter of 18 August 1977, you requested
specific information regarding the identities of any
institutions in Illinois at which Project MKULTRA
experimentation was conducted and any other details
which we felt were relevant.
The Agency is precluded from disclosing the
identities of specific institutions by the Director's
obligation to protect confidential relationships,
and by the Privacy Act of 1974 since such information
would tend to constitute an unwarranted invasion of the
privacy of individuals involved in these activities.
As the Director stated in his testimony to the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Human
Resources Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research
on 3 August 1977,
...We should certainly assume that the researchers
and institutions which cooperated with CIA on a
witting basis acted in good faith and in the belief
that they were aiding their government in a legiti-
mate and proper purpose.
I believe that we all have a moral obligation to
these researchers and institutions to protect
them from any unjustified embarassment or damage
to their reputations which revelation of their
identities might bring. In addition, I have a
legal obligation under the Privacy Act not to
publicly disclose the names of the individual
researchers without their consent.
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and that this is a matter for-the institutions themselves
to-decide. ]Further, the Justice Department is now
studying the issues associated with-attempting to identify
victims of these research activities. Since Agency
records contain no information regarding the identities
of subjects of such activities,'any affirmative program
to notify these individuals will require close cooperation
between the Government and the institutions with heavy
This is especially true, of course, for those
researchers and institutions which were unwitting
participants in CIA-sponsored activities.-
The Agency has notified those institutions which were
involved in these activities. These institutions have been
advised that the Agency will not make public their identities
may have been associated with Project MK'ULTRA. You may,
as an alternative, wish to approach the particular
institutions in?question directly for the information
desired.
Given these circumstances, the Agency is unable at
this time to provide information to. third parties
regarding the identities of specific institutions which
reliance upon the institutional records.
We appreciate your interest in this regard.
Sincerely,
George L. Cary
Legislative Counsel
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