</s>104-10146-10127 APPROVED FOR RELEASE 1993 0LC/79-1192/2 CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW FROGEN 4 April 1979 RELEA MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD SUBJECT: 30 March 1979 Letter From HSCA Staff Director 1. The following brief comments are offered on subject letter: a. G. Robert Blakey says apparently forgotten the agreement that the HSCA draft reports and our written comments are on them to be destroyed. They were not to constitute records as a result are not subject to FOIA proceedings. This procedure was agreed and given the involvement of a congressional committee, we would assume that the arrangement of a congressional Committee, we could assume that it is still in the process of not apply to course, to the information that went into those comments on the HSCa drafts; where relevant and appropriate it can still be used in any final comments that the Agency may wish to make on the report. b. It is correct as shown page 2 I have understood that shackley had not been interviewed. Such an interview was not arranged through our staff, as required, and I last spoke with Stackley, he had made staff, and that we have the central issue. In that talking to Blakey as a "for instance" but not on the ones that were truly relevant to the disagreement that we've been the central Issue. In the case, knowledge concerning the so-called "ALASH Operation," The Committee has speak on the operation while the officers' person who were to speak on at time there were interviewed. aware at it at time time were interviewed." C. The question of their reading all of the records that were made available to them may be somewhat esoteric at this point. When I assumed my role as Agency coordinator for the HSCSA investigation in the second half of May 1978 there was considerable evidence between which I was while I was getting new priorities, in operation, I did state to the Committee people that they had failed to read, and then stated about 50% of the material made available. I had continued to remind that state of the situation available. The total volume of material made about 30% to the volume. unreviewed material dropped to 40%, and 30% and finally to about 20%, of the only although the total volume to material made available increased. The only rellevance of that fact at this Point has to do with gratitude in response to that, we have stated that this point has not been a position, in response to that. They have stated to them that they were not in a position to make that statement until they have read everything that was made available to them. They only need remove the gratuitous insult to obviate my challenge to their right to make it. 23506

Summary  
This memorandum from April 1979 details discussions between HSCA staff director G. Robert Blakey and agency coordinators regarding procedural issues in the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) investigation. Key points include:  
- Blakey notes that draft reports and agency comments were intended to be destroyed, not subject to FOIA requests, due to a prior agreement with the congressional committee.  
- There is confusion over whether Shackley (possibly a misspelling of Stackley) was interviewed; no formal interview was arranged by HSCA staff, and Blakey asserts that relevant information about the "ALASH Operation" was not fully addressed in the draft reports.  
- The document references challenges with the completeness of records reviewed by the committee, noting that only 20% of available material was unreviewed by late 1978.  
- Blakey criticizes HSCA investigators for aggressive and offensive behavior, including accusations of lying and incompetence, and highlights tensions between the agency and the committee over investigative methods.  
- The text mentions an officer with knowledge of the Martin Luther King assassination who had prior activities outside his Agency employment, though details are limited.  

Key People  
- G. Robert Blakey (HSCA staff director)  
- Shackley/Stackley (individual referenced in discussions about interviews and the ALASH Operation)  
- S. D. Breckinridge (Principal Coordinator for HSCA)  

Key Locations  
- Washington, D.C. (implied as the location of HSCA and CIA operations)  

Key Events  
- Discussions over FOIA compliance and destruction of draft reports  
- Interviews with individuals related to the ALASH Operation and Martin Luther King assassination  
- Tensions between HSCA investigators and agency personnel regarding investigative methods and record review  

Key Organizations  
- House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA)  
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)  
- Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)

MLK Declassified Files

00501557_30_march_1979_letter_from_104-10146-10127.pdf

Document Summary

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