LETTER TO MR. DAVID A. WEATING FROM LAWRENCE R. HOUSTON

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00793R000300050001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 18, 2001
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 3, 1973
• Content Type: LETTER

Approved For ReIe 2001/11/16 : CIA-RDP75-00793R00 000050001-1
GTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY-
3 May 1973
Mr. David A. Weating
1119 Haverston Road
Lyndhurst, Ohio 44124
Dear Mr. Weating:
The Department of Justice has just sent me a copy of
your letter of March 25th to the National Security Council
concerning the information you want in connection with your
research paper on espionage and counterespionage. This is
a very ambitious project on a very complex subject. Just to
suggest some of the complications, I refer to your numbered
queries.
1. Information is gathered in a remarkable
variety of ways, some of them as simple as reading
foreign newspapers and some of them through
complicated technical operations, such as U-2
photography.
2. Its importance can be critical, such as
information on Russian ICBMs or the placing of
offensive missiles in Cuba by the Russians.
3. As noted above, the methods employed
vary from most routine to very complex.
4. Some information is procured almost
instantaneously, such as the intercept of foreign
broadcasts. In other cases the process may be
very time ccn suming.
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5. Defected agents are not of particular interest
unless they have some really important information,
and in some cases, such as Penkovskiy, the information
may be of the highest interest.
6. The primary action taken by the National
Security Council is to issue the directives which govern
all the activities of this Agency and the U. S. intelligence
community.
I enclose a packet of information which gives some description
of this Agency and its function, and I also enclose a short bibliography.
Most of the books listed therein can be found in the average public
library. In addition to those listed, you may want to try to get
The Penkovskiy Papers by Oleg Penkovskiy, New York, Doubleday &
Company, 1965, and a recent book on overhead reconnaissance
called Spies in the Sky by John W. R. Taylor and David Mondey,
London, Ian Allan, 1972.
I trust this material will be helpful to you in your effori TATINTL
Lawrence R. Houston
General Counsel
OGC:LRH:jeb
OGC chrono
subject ESPIONAGE Not Indexed
Approved For Release 2001/11/16 : CIA-RDP75-00793R000300050001-1