INTER-AGENCY MEETING HELD ON 25 AUGUST 1978 TO DISCUSS A REQUEST BY THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS, CHAIRED BY SENATOR GEORGE MCGOVERN (D., S. DAK.) CONCERNING ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE OPERATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R000700040013-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Sequence Number: 13
• Content Type: MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD

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OLC 78-0647/4
25 August 1978
SUBJECT: Inter-Agency Meeting Held on 25 August 1978 to
Discuss a Request by the Senate Foreign Relations
Subcommittee on International Operations, Chaired
by Senator George McGovern (D., S. Dak.) Concerning
Electronic Surveillance Operations
1. [,;] Representatives of the Agency, State Department,
FBI, and e National Security Agency met to discuss problems
raised by Senator McGovern's 11 August letter to Bureau of 25X1
25X1 Intelligence and Research (INR) Director William G. Bowdler.
of OLC; OGC. The FBI
was represented by Neil Sullivan and NSA
25X1 representative were General Counsel along with
The State Department delegation 25X1
included Laurence orc an Jeffrey Smith, of the Legal Adviser's
Office, along with Ted Heavner and Richard Curl, of INR.
2. (S) There was a general exchange of information among
the agencies on their individual dealings with Subcommittee staffers
Michael J. Glennon and John B. Ritch, including the various
procedures used in making information available to the Subcommittee
and the kinds of substantive material involved. It was determined
that all the agencies, except the State Department, had formal
Memorandums of Understanding with the Subcommittee. The State
Department representatives said they saw no need for such a
formal understanding, and they pointed out that the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee was the Department's oversight Committee.
3. (S) A discussion of third agency rule procedures
basically confirmed the understanding previously worked out
between CIA and the State Department regarding procedures to
be used when the State Department encountered in its files CIA
documents related to a request for information by the Subcommittee.
Generally speaking, this procedure will work as follows with
regard to all the concerned agencies:
SECRET
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--- A list of the documents belonging to an
originating agency will be forwarded to
that agency by the agency dealing with
the particular Subcommittee request.
--- The Subcommittee will be informed that the
originating agency has been provided with
such a list, but the documents on the list
will not be specifically identified to the
Subcommittee. This is in accordance with
the NSC position that the Executive-Legislative
understanding on the third agency rule worked
out at the 3 August Senate-House Conference
on the State Department Authorization Bill
was meant to apply to both classified
documents and lists of classified documents.
--- The originating agency will communicate
directly with the Subcommittee as to whether
--.1 1....,. +1_l. ,] - ,.?+ ..- 1 1 1..-. mnAo nira i 1 n1.1 a
5. With regard to the latest oral request received
by the S Department from Glennon, the following strategy was
agreed upon:
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--- Upon receiving this request in writing, State
will consult further with the interested agencies,
with a view toward interpreting the request
narrowly and in any case responding only in terms
of the bureaucratic process involved in State's
concurrence in FBI counterintelligence surveillances.
The FBI has already briefed the Subcommittee staff
on this subject.
--- Should the Subcommittee question State concerning
the bureaucratic process involved in the approval
of foreign intelligence electronic surveillances,
particularly with respect to State's role in this
inter-agency approval process, State will reply
that this is an area within the jurisdiction of
the DCI and refer the Subcommittee to us. At that
point, the interested agencies will consult further
regarding the advisability of requesting the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence to interpose
itself between the McGovern Subcommittee and the
Intelligence Community.
6. " Other points of information that emerged during
the meeting included:
Assistant Legislative Counsel
25X1 Distribution:
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O/SA/DCI/CI
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25X1' 1 - OLC Chron
OLC:GMC:jms (29 August 1978)
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