Analysis of JFK Documents & CIA Journalists

by Dr. Jeffrey Russell, PhD

The following is an analysis of the assortment of documents located at
https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-32403785.pdf
[Note: It is highly recommended that you open the above link in order to follow the discussion,
page by page.]

The cover letter, page 1, for this collection is dated March 8, 2005 compiled by the CIA. This
was released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 and the
release date was June 22, 2017. This was sent to Congress on June 13, 1977 under the title
“Letters: Correspondence with Members of Congress RE Allegation of CIA Use of Journalists.”
Although the document is listed as unclassified, it is also still listed as restricted at the bottom
of the page.
The second page is a cover letter from Admiral Stansfield Turner (Director, CIA) to Walter E.
Fauntroy in Congress. Admiral Turner is responding to a letter from Mr. Fauntroy related to
journalists covering the work of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. He assures
Mr. Fauntroy that no U.S. journalist is employed by the CIA. [Note: This statement still allows
the CIA to pay journalists as “contractors” to gather intelligence and also to push certain
Agency agendas in whatever media organization they regularly work in. Their “contracting”
income for the Agency could make their regular wages look paltry in comparison.]
Mr. Fauntroy suggests that the editors of journalists covering the Committee be contacted that
have worked with the CIA in the past. Admiral Turner declines to do this indicating he cannot
reveal names of anyone the Agency has worked with.
Pages 3 and 4 comprise a statement from Admiral Turner regarding the CIA’s policy of
maintaining the confidentiality of just about everyone and everything that happens under the
Agency umbrella. He refers to CIA contractors and informants as relationships [Note: Kind of
like dating, I guess]. These relationships were pursued with the intent of furthering its foreign
intelligence mission. The said relationships have not been used to influence or act improperly
on any American institution.
He goes on to state that certain people had become concerned about the Agency’s relations
with newsmen and churchmen. “The Agency does not believe there has been any impropriety
on its part in the limited use made of persons connected in some way with American media,
church and missionary organizations.” In order to allay these fears, Admiral Turner decided to
revise the CIA’s policy to govern relationships with these groups. The new policy contains three
points:
(1) “Effective immediately, CIA will not enter into any paid or contractual relationship with any
full-time or part-time news correspondent accredited by any U.S. news service, newspaper,
periodical, radio or television network or station.”
(2) “As soon as feasible, the Agency will bring existing relationships with individuals in these
groups into conformity with this new policy.”
(3) The CIA has no relationship with any American clergy or missionary and that will not
change.
The above groups may continue to provide CIA information on a voluntary basis. The CIA will
make no names available as a matter of policy.
Page 5 is a copy of the letter from Admiral Turner to Congress with hand-written changes.
Page 6 is a copy of the revised letter from Admiral Turner to Congress.
Page 7 is a copy of the Routing and Record Sheet for the above letter. The Sheet is from
“Legislative Counsel” and to “DDCI (Deputy Director CI), DCI (Director CI), and Leg Counsel.” It
is dated 6 June. In the comments section is a typed note as follows: “Attached for your
signature is a response to Delegate Fauntroy’s letter of 18 May which raises a question about
the past association of journalists currently assigned to cover the House Select Committee on
Assassinations.” This note is signed, “George L. Cary”. [Note: George L. Cary was the Legislative
Counsel for the CIA] In handwriting beneath the signature is, “To 3 Please phone me, [signed by
name not decoded].
[Note: page 7 is a Routing Sheet sent out to different people for their approval signatures.
George L. Cary who was the Legislative Counsel was sending the Routing Sheet. There were 2
typed recipients (DDCI and DDI). One recipient was written in and that was the CIA Legal
Counsel. The same person [handwriting analysis] wrote the date in at the top of 6 June, wrote
in Leg Counsel as the 3rd recipient, and wrote the note below Cary’s signature in the right
column asking the Legal Counsel to call them. The person that wrote in these 3 items is given
below the last note with 7 June beneath it. The first three letters appear to be “Ble”. The
remainder could be “win” or “wen”.
Page 8 is a Routing Slip dated 27 May 1977. Info was delivered to DCI, DDCI, DDO, Asst/DCI.
Action was taken by LC (Legislative Counsel). The Slip was sent out by the Director’s Executive
Secretary, Rob Roy Ratliff, on 20 May, 1977.
Page 9 and 10 is a letter to Admiral Turner dated May 18, 1977 from Walter E. Fauntroy. This
letter is a response to the above letter from Admiral Turner. Mr. Fauntroy stated that he was
glad to see that the CIA was discontinuing the practice of employing journalists as undercover
spies. He says, “A free press, in my view, is essential to a free and democratic society. The
despicable practice in totalitarian countries of employing government-controlled journalists is
abhorrent to me as it is to the American Society of Newspaper Editors.” Please inspect the list
of enclosed names of 40 journalists and if you find any who are now covering the House Select
Committee on Assassinations for the CIA, inform the appropriate editor of your findings. Those
journalists should be relieved of their assignment. I just want to be assured that CIA-
compensated journalists are not reporting or interpreting our Committee activities. [Note:
Admiral Turner has stated he would not identify anyone that has worked with the CIA and yet
Mr. Fauntroy is telling him to do that exact thing. Not only that, he has 40 names of those
journalists.]
Page 11 is a copy of a handwritten note. It says, “Gary [This is Gary Foster from page 12],
Thanks for looking out for our interests. Setter is O.K. with me except reference to Fauntroy’s
letter of April 28 you fixed …. wrong should be 25th DCI … quick slip was 28th…. George.” [Note:
This is George L. Cary, the Legislative Counsel by handwriting analysis.]
Page 12 is an Official Routing Slip with two signers. The first signer is OLC on 5 May, 1977 and
the second is EA/DDCI on 6 May, 1977. The note says there is no record that letter was
coordinated with A/DCI for Public Affairs. Note signed by Gary Foster.
Page 13 is a letter stamped 10 May, 1977 from Admiral Turner to Mr. Fauntroy. The Admiral
says, “While I cannot vouch for the attitudes of members of the press, I can only reiterate my
assurances that there are no U.S. journalists employed by the CIA, and that you have the most
complete cooperation of the Agency with your investigation.”
Page 14 is the rough draft of the letter on page 13.
Page 15 is a press release from the CIA Operations Center by UPI (United Press International)
dated 28 April, 1977. The topic is Assassinations and the newsman is Gene Bernardt. The
release details how the House Assassination Committee had just won a $2.5 million budget to
continue its investigation into the killings of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. There
was heavy opposition from Representatives Bauman and Dent to discontinue the investigation.
Mr. Fauntroy was criticized for his comments that the Committee should investigate journalists
covering the panel to see if they were working as agents of the CIA. He cited a 1973 story in the
Washington Star-News that reported that the CIA had some 40 journalists working undercover.
Mr. Fauntroy stated that one of the identified journalists were covering the Committee
proceedings. The identified journalist was Jeremiah O’Leary, a reporter for the Star. The
newspaper said he only passed along info to the CIA during foreign assignments as a courtesy.
Mr. O’Leary was in the hospital recovering from a heart attack at the time. [Natural causes or
not?]
Pages 16 and 17 comprise an internal memo created by William Colby (DCI from 1973 to 1976)
to document conversations with two Washington Star journalists. The memo is divided into 2
points:
 (1) He spoke to Mr. Oswald Johnston to follow up a talk with Mr. Newbold Noyes on 15
November 1973. The purpose of the meeting was to clear up the topic of the extent to which
the CIA was using journalists. Mr. Colby reiterated that their relations with journalists could be
divided into 3 categories: (a) Staff journalists, (b) Stringers or Free Lance, and (c) Casual
Contacts. The corresponding numbers involved were at most 10 staff journalists, 10 or so
more related to trade or industry journals, and around 40 free lance stringers. Mr. Colby also
stressed that the CIA was in the process of terminating the relationships with staff journalists.
(2) Mr. Colby stated that he was concerned with Mr. Johnston building toward a story. He
also said he telephoned Mr. Noyes to try and dissuade him from such a story. Mr. Noyes was in
the hospital and eventually ended up with Mr. Kraslow. Mr. Colby indicated he was concerned
over a possible adverse impact on individuals around the world who would be suspect or even
abused by unfriendly governments. He told him to seriously consider the value of the story
compared to the harm it could do. During the course of this conversation, Mr. Colby corrected
the numbers he had given as follows: (a) Three staff journalists actively used by CIA, (b) Two
staff journalists used by CIA known to their management, (c) Eight staff journalists of trade
journals, not necessarily known to their management, and (d) 25 stringers or free lancers used
in varying degree by CIA, from full use to occasional support. There is another category of
journalists who are not compensated by the CIA but submit information voluntarily. Mr. Colby
said that the Star journalists that was covering the Committee was in this last category. Mr.
Kraslow indicated he would probably run the story and Mr. Colby stressed they cannot source
their information back to him or the CIA. Mr. Kraslow said they wanted to run a favorable story
of CIA intentions regarding journalists. Mr. Colby reiterated his concern that such a story would
only do harm to the people the CIA work with. Then, Mr. Kraslow said his personal view is that
the CIA should stay out of all categories. He then talked about future informal association with
Mr. Colby who was very cool to this idea.
Page 18 was a transmittal slip to “Ex. Reg.” (Executive Registry) The rest of page was either
blank or redacted. Most likely goes with the Memo on page 19.
Page 19 is a Memo prepared for DCI and through DDCI from Herbert E. Hetu (Assistant to the
Director for Public Affairs) dated 3 May 1977. The Memo references Mr. Fauntroy’s Letter of 25
April 1977. Mr. Hetu lists 4 overall points in the Memo:
(1) In connection with newspaper clippings forwarded by Mr. Fauntroy, a Memo of 4
December 1973 is attached explaining how the journalists affiliated with the Agency became
public. The Memo outlines the attempts by Mr. Colby to get the Star to defer making the info
public.
(2) DDO has a list of 51 persons which was prepared for Mr. Colby, dated 16 October 1973.
This list includes employees, agents, and collaborators.
(3) Mr. Fauntroy’s letter makes it clear he is referring to past associations with the Agency.
 (4) Therefore, Mr. Hetu remarks, only a brief acknowledgement should be sent, if indeed Mr.
Colby feels one is required at all.
[This Memo indicates that a few top Directors were deciding how best to reply to Congress to
cover their ass.]
Page 20 is a special DCI/DDCI Routing Slip indicating that 3 people were in the loop: DDCI, LC,
and DDO, sent by Asst/DCI and stamped 28 April 1977. One remark was left from DCI to
Asst/DCI saying, “Herb: Do you know what journalist he is referring to? Perhaps we should
clarify with Congressman Fauntroy. Please draft acknowledgment in coordination with OLC and
others as appropriate.”
Pages 21 and 22 comprise a letter from Walter E. Fauntroy to Admiral Turner, dated 25 April
1977. Mr. Fauntroy begins by making it clear he is not referring to the present CIA in his
statements. He goes on to specify two newspaper reports on 30 November 1973 and 1
December 1973 which specify some 40 journalists who doubled as undercover contacts. He
goes on to say that one of the named journalists is covering the Committee which is
investigating assassinations. He says, “…I am concerned that some of the news reports have
been unfair and without bases. [Note: This comment describes the daily activities of nearly all
MSM today.] Some of the reports, it seems, have been designed to discourage the probe by
the House. I simply want to be certain that there is no connection between the manner in
which news is reported, and the past relationship of certain journalists to the CIA.” Mr.
Fauntroy also remarks that it is a sad situation when the news delivery system is distorted by
journalists with personal interests at stake. [Note: This is important. The CIA was paying a
Washington Star-News journalist to basically spy on the House Committee that was
investigating the assassination of JFK. Not only that, but Mr. Fauntroy was aware of news
stories by this same journalist that portrayed the Committee and its activities in a negative
light.]
Page 23 is a clipping from the Washington Star-News dated 30 November 1973 referenced in
the preceding letter which indicates that the CIA was using about 40 journalists in their
operations.
Pages 24 and 25 is a clipping from the Washington Post dated 1 December 1973. A few veteran
CIA employees were interviewed, and they said they were shocked or surprised by the number
of journalists involved. It seems the insiders thought is was just a handful. One important
excerpt is, “In 1967, the agency was wracked by a massive series of disclosures that it was
underwriting activities of book publishers, magazines, student and cultural organizations, and
trade unions, including the American Newspaper Guild.” The article goes on the say that there
are a large number of CIA agents operating overseas under the cover of being journalists.
[Note: This substantiates the later claim in 1977 that the Agency was in fact using journalists,
both domestically and overseas, as not only informants but to effect a distortion in what they
were reporting to the general public.]
Page 26 is a letter from Admiral Turner to Daniel P. Moynihan dated 25 April 1977. In it, he
thanks Mr. Moynihan for bringing the newspaper article containing Mr. Fauntroy to his
attention. He also thanked him for his contribution in another Congressional Hearing.
Page 27 is a letter from Admiral Turner to Walter E. Fauntroy dated 25 April 1977. Admiral
Turner says, “I read in yesterday’s Washington Post that you believe it possible that some U.S
journalists are in fact CIA agents and engaged in a conspiracy to frustrate the work of your
House Assassinations Committee. Let me assure you that there are no working U.S. journalists
employed by the CIA.” He also admonishes that he will not tolerate any actions by any
members of the CIA to impede your investigation.
Page 28 is a routing and record sheet dated 25 April 1977 for the letter on page 27. As you can
see, 4 different department heads signed off on it. [Note: This must be a highly sensitive topic
to require all of these approvals]
Page 29 is a copy of a memo dated 27 April 1977 from B.C. Evans to Admiral Turner suggesting
that he distribute his response in page 27 to the listed people in routing sheet on page 28.
[Note the hole punched over Turner’s name at the top]
Page 30 is a copy of a short note which is “No dict …….ER-only”. This seems to say, “No
dictation ……eyes only”. Note that there is a circled “6” in the top right corner with a hole
punched there for attachment to another document. This note was attached to the top of the
memo from page 29 as the holes line up perfectly to make the edges square.
Page 31 is a Routing and Record Sheet dated 25 April 1977. It appears to be the same
document as on page 28 but it is not. The punched holes are in different locations. The
Executive Registry number, 77-4700, is the same but the whole document was redone for some
unknown reason. [Note: If you can determine why this was redone, we will put your name in
the CIA hall of fame]
Page 32 is a rough draft of the letter from page 26.
Page 33 is a rough draft of the letter from page 27.
Page 34 is documentation dealing with the letter on page 26.
Page 35 is a short memo from Debbie Geer to Gay stating that a copy of the letter should have
been attached to Senator Moynihan’s letter [Note: normal office mix-up]
Page 36 is the original draft of Admiral Turner’s letter to Senator Moynihan. Note that the
middle paragraph was deleted and then the letter was rewritten.
Page 37 is a handwritten note to Admiral Turner from Mr. Hetu in Public Affairs dated 25 April
1977. This note admonishes Admiral Turner to revise the letter and has even sent him the
revised edition. [Note: It seems Public Affairs has a lot of power to send a rewritten letter to
the Director and tell him to send it out instead of the letter the Director wrote initially.]
 Summary of Analysis
This collection of documents which is part of the JFK collection was recently released in 2017
more that 54 years after John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas under very suspicious
circumstances. One might wonder why these few simple letters and memos from 1977
between the Director of the CIA and a member of Congress have been kept under wraps for so
long. The facts that show up quite clearly after tracing through the maze of paperwork are the
following:
(1) There was a massive disclosure in 1967 which showed that the CIA was underwriting
activities of book publishers, magazines, student and cultural organizations, and trade unions,
including the American Newspaper Guild. All of these institutions were in the United States.
Again, the question begs to be answered why the CIA was engaged in these activities, especially
within the U.S.
(2) Again in 1973, newspaper stories revealed that the CIA was using journalists as agents.
(3) In 1977, while the House Select Committee on Assassinations was diligently trying to
uncover the truth of the JFK assassination, we again find the Agency using a paid journalist to
spy and report on the Committee. And we also find that journalist to have a negative agenda in
his reporting with respect to the Committee proceedings and its members, according to
Senator Fauntroy.
(4) The internal documentation, letters, and memos of the CIA during this time indicate this
issue with Agency journalists was highly sensitive—one innocuous single-page letter required
the signature/OK of no less than 5 executives at the highest levels.