CIA Activities in the U.S.

This is a letter dated 24 December 1974 from CIA Director W. E. Colby to the President, with annexes attached. It responds to a New York Times article about CIA domestic intelligence activity. The letter denies that the Agency ran a "massive" domestic effort. It traces a counterintelligence program on foreign links with American dissidents, which ran from 1967 until it was ended in March 1974, and admits improper actions such as mail opening, break-ins and the surveillance of reporters. The attached memoranda restrict such activities.

support to foreign intelligence operations. Care will be taken that, during the training and development period of such agents in the United States, they will not be operated by CIA against domestic targets. To the extent that incidental knowledge is gained of such matters, it may be passed to the FBI on the approval of the Deputy Director for Operations.