Documents / Official release
This file holds unclassified internal emails dated February 8 and March 18, 1996, from James E. Baker to public affairs and other staff, with brief replies. They give press guidance on a Wall Street Journal article and a 60 Minutes story about lawsuits over hazardous waste at the Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, which the media called Area 51. The emails report that on March 6 the district court dismissed the suit against Perry, Lake and Widnall on state secrets grounds, and they describe President Clinton's disclosure exemption for the site.
3UA443F.FIN Page 1 of 2 MSMail DATE-TIME FROM CLASSIFICATION UNCLASSIFIED SUBJECT TO CARBON COPY TEXT BODY Heads Up Please call if you need further background. I also have press briefing sheets (a few weeks old) from the USAF. The article is grossly inaccurate and appears to have been planted in response to recent rulings adverse to plaintiffs, including the dismissal of one of the two companion lawsuits. It will, however, be difficult for you to respond without knowing a great deal about the case, the Government's position, and the signficant state secrets at stake. I recommend that you refer all press inquiries to DOJ press person Jim Sweeney, 514-2008. He is familiar with the case. The WSJ on page one has a lengthy article about ongoing litigation against the Government at a classified Air Force facility in Nevada known as "the operating location near Groom Lake." The article incorrectly refers to "Area 51." We may get some inquiries, because as the article notes in the very last paragraph, consistent with the applicable statutes, President Clinton exempted the "operating location near Groom Lake" from any federal or state laws governing solid and hazardous waste that would require the disclosure of classified information. BUT NOTE: The President expressly stated in his exemption that it was not intended to "limit the applicability or enforcement of any requirement of law applicable to the Air Force's operating Icoation near Groom Lake, Nevada, except thouse provisions, if any, that would require the disclosure of classified information." Bass, Peter E. Bell, Robert G. Kreczko, Alan J. Sestak, Joseph A. 08 February 96 10:41 Baker, James E. WSG Article on Groom Lake [UNCLASSIFIED] Cullin, Brian P. Fetig, James L. Johnson, David T. Naplan, Steven J. Schuker, Jill A. Wozniak, Natalie S.
Not linked to a story yet.
Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 13 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.