CIA Activities in the U.S.

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

c. Development of paid informants among construction workers at the time of construction of the Agency building (1960-1961) to protect against the placement of electronic taps therein.

d. During the period 1967-1971, agents were also developed to monitor dissident groups in the Washington area considered to be potential threats to Agency personnel and installations, and Agency security field officers in the US also collected information on similar dissident groups, to advise the Agency of potential threats to its personnel and installations.

e. A list of individuals suspected of particular offenses considered to pose a security vulnerability was collected over a number of years prior to 1973. This practice was terminated and the file destroyed in 1973.

f. From May-September 1971 a long-time CIA source was under surveillance in the US in connection with a reported plot to assassinate or kidnap Vice President Agnew and the DCI. The individual covered was a Latin American revolutionary, but the surveillance expanded to cover several American citizen contacts in New York and Detroit.

A final category of questionable activity identified during the 1973 survey was related to the Agency's mission to collect foreign intelligence. In some cases the Agency exceeded proper bounds or its activities were subject to misconduct as being aimed at purposes outside its charter. The following examples, for instance, may be related to the charges made in The New York Times article, although they have no connection with the program first discussed above:

a. Records were made of the identities and addresses of individuals exchanging correspondence between the United States and certain communist countries, as an aid to determining possible leads to potential operations. This program included the surreptitious opening of certain first-class mail to extract positive intelligence or data valuable for the development of foreign intelligence operations against the communist country. This program was initiated in 1953, and from its inception was fully coordinated with the FBI, which received much of its product. The operation was approved by three Postmasters General and one Attorney General. The program was terminated in 1973.

b. We obtained names and addresses of persons telephoning a communist country so that we could follow up for possible operational leads.