</s>104-10065-10353 CONFIDENTIAL Hocultive Registry 77-6724 OLC 77-0977 15 March 1977 DD/01/23/47 MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence FROM: George L. Cary, Legislative Counsel SUBJECT: Request from Richard Sprague, Counsel to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, For Information Concerning Santos Trafficfficante 1. At about noon yesterday, Richard Sprage called to say that the Assassinations Committee has subsequent Santos Trafficante and that (Sprague) would like any information we can provide the Committee regarding Trafficfficance, including his relationships with Johnny Rossi and Sam Gianciano, plus plus information we have on his release and look into the public with both his brother and sister. I told Sprague would look into into the booth in town with him. 2. After checking with interested offices in the Agency and with the FBI and the Department of Justice, well as touching base with Hank Knoche and Commander McMahon, I told Sprague last might that our checks thus far had indicated that any information classified that there were not the participants of this request was clearances, and have signed secrecy agreements as originally anticipated, we were not in a position to grant them to however, he cited a previous instance in which Hank Knoch, as Acting Director, made a specific exception to normal security procedures so that Sprague could be given access on a one-time procedure, so that Spruce could beGiven access to one-tone intercepts of conversations in Mexico City between Lee Harvey. Oswald and the Soviet Embassy in September/October 1973. This step was taken in an effort to correct erroneous information contains in an article by Norman Kempeper pertaining to these intercept. CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM 7-23-97 RELEASE IN FULL 1997 JFK ACT Jn 1/2/3/97 RELEASE 06476

Summary: The memorandum dated 15 March 1977 details a request from Richard Sprague, counsel to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, for information regarding Santos Trafficante, including his connections with Johnny Rossi and Sam Gianciano, as well as details about his release. The author notes that initial checks by the Agency, FBI, and Department of Justice indicated no classified information was available for Sprague’s request, though a prior exception allowed access to one-time intercepts between Lee Harvey Oswald and the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City during September/October 1973. The document also references Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by Bernard Fensterwald and others leading to the release of 24 documents related to the Kennedy administration, including Jim Garrison’s 1967 allegations about CIA involvement in JFK’s assassination. The author mentions that while these FOIA releases are unrelated to Trafficante, they may interest the Committee due to their connection to JFK investigations. The text notes potential risks of press backlash if sensitive intelligence is disclosed and references ongoing inquiries into Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy.  

Key People: Richard Sprague, Santos Trafficante, Johnny Rossi, Sam Gianciano, Hank Knoche, Commander McMahon, Bernard Fensterwald, Jim Garrison  
Key Locations: Mexico City, Washington D.C. (implied via Agency/FBI/DOJ references)  
Key Events: Release of Kennedy administration documents under FOIA, access to Oswald-Soviet Embassy intercepts in 1973, House Select Committee on Assassinations investigations  
Key Organizations: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Justice (DOJ), House Select Committee on Assassinations

MLK Declassified Files

00279961_request_from_richard_spra_104-10065-10353.pdf

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