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104-10331-10062 JFK Assassination Records Archives 1 (2/27/1995)

handle is hein.jfk/jfkarch19115 and id is 1 raw text is: 104-1033110062



                                                          New  Note


              NOTE  FOR:                         DCI
              FROM:
              DATE:          02/27/95 06:02:46 PM
              SUBJECT:    JFK Records

              This is in response to your request that I review ASAP the proposed regulations by the JFK
              Assassination Records Review Board.

              I see Sheryl Walters hand very much in evidence here. I see from the attachment that she is the Board's
              GC.

              Like you, I am very concerned about the breadth of the reg's definitions. The key to keep in mind is the
              statutory authority for the Board. I would argue that the definition of assassination record in the statute
              (44 U.S.C. section 2107 note; section 3(2) of the Act) is more limited than the reg. The statute defines an
              assassination record as one related to the assassination of JFK. Thus, when section 140O1.2 (d) and (e)
              of the reg authorize Board access to organizational charts of governmental agencies and recordd
              necessary and sufficient to describe the agency's records policies and schedules, filing systems and
              organization, and storage facilities and locations, I would argue that such information is way too far afield.
              There is no way we can allow the Board to have access to this information, which in any event is
              prohibited by section 403g from disclosure notwithstanding any other law.

              The same issue arises with respect to section 1400.7(d) of the reg that proposes to include in the
              definition of record any records for a person by another name or personal identifier. This would appear to
              authorize Board access to all information about an agent who may have only been tangentially involved in
              the assassination but whose crypt is given in many other unrelated documents about unrelated
              operations. Talk about your camel's nose under the tentl

              Finally, section 1400.5 of the reg raises an old. dog of an issue. The.National Security Archive (Sheryl's
              old employer) has been fighting for a long time in FOIA litigation that the FOIA refers to records and that
              therefore all information in a responsive record must be released unless otherwise exempt. There is no
              FOIA exemption, they argue, for non-responsive material in a record. This is a big problem for multi-topic
              documents, such as the NID. We, of course, argue that agencies are only required to proces that which
              is asked for and delete non-responsive material as unrequested. The proposed reg would mean that the
              Board would have access to all information in a document about several unrelated operations or events if
              that document even mentioned the assassination or anything related to it. Again, the camel's nose.

              CC:                             @    DCI


New  Note

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