Skip to main content

Activity Related to Domestic Events

7 May 1973

MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence

VIA: Deputy Director for Intelligence

FROM: Director of Current Intelligence

1. In late 1967 OCI participated in the preparation of several short intelligence memoranda dealing with the foreign connections of US organizations and activists involved in the anti-war movement. The main purpose of these reports, prepared at the request of the White House, was to determine whether any links existed between international Communist elements or foreign governments and the American peace movement. The conclusion reached was that there was some evidence of ad hoc contacts between anti-war activists at home and abroad but no evidence of direction or formal coordination.

2. In October 1967 President Johnson expressed interest in this subject and ordered a high level interdepartmental survey. In response to his personal request to the DCI, Mr. Helms asked the CI Staff to collect whatever information was available through our own sources and through liaison with the FBI and to pass it to OCI, which was directed to prepare a memorandum from the DCI to the President.

3. A book message requirement was sent to all stations to report whatever information was on hand relevant to this subject. Although agent reports on Communist front operations overseas were of some value, the primary source of information on the activities of US activists--and that was quite limited--was sensitive intercepts produced by NSA, which had been similarly tasked by the White House.

4. A draft memorandum was jointly prepared by OCI and CI Staff and forwarded to the DCI. He passed this typescript memo, dated 15 November 1967, to the President personally. The White House copy is now in the files of President Johnson's papers at the library in Austin.

5. Brief follow-up memoranda were prepared and forwarded to the White House on 21 December and 17 January 1968. According to our best recollection, no further finished intelligence reports on international connections of the peace movement were produced.

Richard Lehman
Director of Current Intelligence

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MKULTRA Proposal - Subproject 133

Proposal entitled [redacted] Submitted on behalf of [redacted] June 1962 DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY June 14, 1962 Purpose of Study: The purpose of this proposal is a request for financial support to continue an investigation of microbial action on marine manganese nodules and terrigenous mineral sulfides, which the principal investigator has been pursuing since 1958. Very intensive work on these materials is being carried on by him, with fruitful results, during the current year, 1961-62, under a grant from the [...] of Stanford University, California. Since relatively little is known about microbial mineral transformation, and in view of current academic and practical interest of microbiologists, geologists, mining engineers, soil scientists, oceanographers, etc., in the subject, this research should make a valuable contribution to science. Summary of Past Work: a. Bacteriology of mineral sulfides. Attempts were made to evaluate the microbial flora isolable from unsterilized, crushed sulfi...

CIA Domestic Activities Timeline - July 1971

1 July 1971 "Carver noted that Secretary Laird had requested that our printing plant assist in reproducing the forty-seven-volume secret Pentagon study on Vietnam for distribution to the press and others this morning. This request was aborted by the President." (DDCI in the chair) 2 July 1971 "DD/S said that in the absence of [...] attended a meeting at the White House yesterday of the interagency group which is reviewing classification and declassification policy. The President spent an hour with the group and said that he wants: ... and (6) the revocation of all clearances and the return of all classified material held at Harvard, Brookings, Rand, and Cal Tech, as well as the withdrawal of Q clearances held by the Regents of the University of California. A brief discussion followed, and the Executive Director noted that DOD has asked us to provide information on all our contracts with Rand, as well as all clearances held by Rand personnel for our purposes. Acting Direc...

Further Reading: CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties

For readers wanting to dive into topics covered in the fascinating CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill with Dan Piepenbring, here is a compendium of books used as sources as part of this 20-year investigative effort. It makes for a great reading list for those interested in the 1960s, FBI, CIA, the counter-culture and the history of the United States of the past century. Choose a topic (organized here by the CHAOS's chapters and each book's first appearance therein) and dive in further down the rabbit hole. CHAPTER 1: The Crime of the Century Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders   by   Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry, 1974 Will You Die For Me? The Man Who Killed For Charles Manson Tells His Own Story  by Tex Watson as told to Chaplain Ray, 1978 My Life with Charles Manson   by Paul Watkins with Guillermo Soledad, 1979 CHAPTER 2: An Aura of Danger Heroes And Villains: The True Story O...