Task Force on Greater CIA Opennesshttp://www.namebase.org/foia.html 18 November 1991 MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Public AffairsFROM: Director of Central Intelligence SUBJECT: Greater CIA Openness 1. In my hearings, I indicated my desire to continue Director Webster's policies in terms of improving accessibility to information about CIA by the public and overall openness to the extent possible, whether through background briefings for the press, public speeches by senior officials, or appearances on college campuses and elsewhere by professionals within CIA. I would like for you to appoint a task force to review these practices and see how they can be improved, and also to suggest additional proposals for making more information about the Agency available to the American people and to give greater transparency to our organization, internal control mechanisms, and steps that we take to ensure compliance with the law, actions consistent with the values of the American people, and cooperation with Congress. I invite you to include non-Agency individuals in your task force if that is appropriate and useful. 2. I would like to have your report and recommendations by 20 December 1991. Robert M. Gates 20 December 1991 MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence FROM: Task Force on Greater CIA Openness SUBJECT: Task Force Report on Greater CIA Openness REFERENCE: Memo for D/PAO fr DCI, dtd 18 Nov, Subj: Greater CIA Openness (Tab A) 1. In response to your referenced request, the Task Force addressed the following:
-- To what extent do the dramatic changes in the world situation and the needs of oversight and accountability to the American people and their representatives dictate a reexamination of policies on classification and release of records, and finally -- How can we use openness to learn from others outside the Agency in order to improve our capabilities and our people. 2. Senior officials in the media, in the Executive and Legislative Branches, in the business/private sector and in academia all shared their views on CIA openness with the Task Force. (See Tab B) We also consulted Agency retirees and employees throughout the organization. 3. Many of those interviewed said the CIA was sufficiently
open; all
thought the CIA could do more to declassify and make available portions
of
its historical archives, especially regarding CIA successes and
scientific/technical accomplishments; some said the CIA will have to work
harder at explaining the need for intelligence in a
post-cold war
world. All agreed that an effective public affairs program for the CIA was necessary and that whatever changes were made to increase openness, all would expect the CIA to keep the secrets it is charged to protect. 4. In whatever program we pursue, we should:
We should also ensure a coordinated PAO-OCA effort for this program. It will be important to get the Hill on board with the Agency's public position on various issues and to articulate the overall Agency strategy to Congress to honor your commitment re openness. 5. Before we can pursue greater openness, it is important to understand the Agency's current program in this area to put down a marker for possible change in the future. To provide some context you should be aware that while PAO grew during Judge Webster's tenure to meet the needs of increased requirements and an expanded program, PAO is now being told to downsize by about 33%. We recognize that a program of increased openness will require commitment of additional resources, not only for PAO but for other parts of the Agency. The Directorates will need to assess the resource implications of these recommendations. 6. In most of our discussions with outsiders as well as within the task force there was substantial agreement that we generally need to make the institution and the process more visible and understandable rather than strive for openness on specific substantive issues. To do this, we need to develop a strategic vision of what we want to be open about, why we want to be more open and to whom we want to be more open. Our suggestion for such a vision statement is:
7. We have an important story to tell, a story that bears repeating. We are the most open intelligence agency in the world which is proper in our form of democracy. (In fact, several foreign intelligence organizations have sought advice from PAO on how to establish a mechanism for dealing with the public.) That said, many Americans do not understand the intelligence process and the role of intelligence in national security policymaking. Many still operate with a romanticized or erroneous view of intelligence from the movies, TV, books and newspapers. These views often damage our reputation and make it harder for us to fulfill our mission. There are steps we can take which will benefit us and the American people. 8. To increase CIA openness and signal a change in how we do business, we need to take initiatives to share our history through the declassification of old records, explain our mission and functions in a changing world through an expanded briefing program within and outside of government, and develop a strategy for expanding our work with the media as a means of reaching an even broader audience. Our major recommendations address these issues: A. Declassifying and releasing records that describe CIA's history and activities would go a long way to educating the public on the work of intelligence. Our voluntary Historical Review Program has proceeded very slowly, and recent legislation (H.R. 1415) has mandated greater access to our records by State Department historians. Presently, policy and resource constraints severely limit the amount of historical records released by the CIA. Therefore, we recommend that you: 1) Establish a senior-led, Agency-wide group to review the Agency's policy and practices related to declassification and release of records under the Historical Review and FOIA programs, as they relate to the changing international environment and counterintelligence threat, and with a view to accelerating the process. ______Approve ______Disapprove
______Approve ______Disapprove 3) Have OTE publish an unclassified version of Studies in Intelligence and make it available to the public for sale through the National Technical Information Service and have it listed in the Social Science Index.1 ______Approve ______Disapprove 4) Publish compendiums of papers delivered at conferences sponsored or cosponsored by CIA. ______Approve ______Disapprove B. Many people inside and outside of government do not understand what we do or how we do it. It is important that we increase our efforts to tell people both what we do and what we don't do. To this end, we recommend that you: 1) Commission PAO, working in concert with OCA and the directorates, to develop additional unclassified material on CIA, its mission, functions, and changing role into the next century. ______Approve ______Disapprove
______Approve ______Disapprove
1) Commission the D/PAO to develop in consultation with the Deputy Directors a media strategy for the '90s that 2 For example, an Agency spokesperson reading our statement in response to the allegations made by Nightline in summer 1991 would have been more effective than Ted Koppel's reading of it with raised eyebrows and a look of "What do you expect given the source?". increases the visibility of the DCI and the intelligence process, expands the role of the Agency spokesperson and takes a more proactive approach toward the media in general. ______Approve ______Disapprove 9. In most of our discussions we defined the audiences for
greater CIA
openness as the following: the media, academia, business, the private
sector, government and our own employees. We have used these categories
to
describe our current program related to openness which provides a
context
for offering our other recommendations. 1) Current Program: a) PAO (Public Affairs Office) now has relationships with reporters from every major wire service, newspaper, news weekly, and television network in the nation. This has helped us turn some "intelligence failure" stories into "intelligence success" stories, and it has contributed to the accuracy of countless others. In many instances, we have persuaded reporters to postpone, change, hold, or even scrap stories that could have adversely affected national security interests or jeopardized sources and methods. b) PAO spokespersons build and maintain these professional relationships with reporters by responding to daily inquiries from them over the telephone (3369 in 1991), by providing unclassified background briefings to them at Headquarters (174 in 1991), and by arranging for them to interview the DCI, DDCI and other senior Agency officials (164 in 1991). c. PAO responds to numerous requests from authors, researchers, filmmakers, and others seeking information, guidance, or cooperation from the Agency in their endeavours. Some responses can be handled in a one-shot telephone call. Others, such as Life Magazine's proposed photo essay, BBC's six-part series, Ron Kessler's requests for information for his Agency book, and the need for an Agency focal point in the Rochester Institute of Technology controversy drew heavily on PAO resources. d. PAO has also reviewed some film scripts about the Agency, documentary and fictional, at the request of filmmakers seeking guidance on accuracy and authenticity. In a few instances,
e. PAO coordinates the preparation of detailed background materials, usually in Q&A format, on major news issues for the DCI and DDCI for their appearances before media groups, world affairs councils, universities, and business and professional groups. PAO also prepares verbatim transcripts of their interviews with reporters and their appearances before media groups. 2) Recommendations: a. Provide more background briefings, when practical, to a greater number of print and electronic media journalists. Respond more quickly to telephone queries from the media, especially on fast-breaking events. PAO should continue to work with area analysts and specialists so that PAO can respond telephonically to these questions, rather than insisting on an eventual in-person background briefings at Langley. Keep PAO as the conduit for these efforts and ensure that media across the U.S., not only those in the Washington, D.C. area, are aware of our program. ______Approve ______Disapprove b. Find more opportunities for the deputy directors to have on-the-record interviews with the media to talk about process and, on occasion, substantive issues. ______Approve ______Disapprove c. When there is a major international event that requires the attention of CIA (i.e., the Persian Gulf war), PAO should consider inviting a number of reporters to CIA Headquarters for an unclassified background briefing. ______Approve ______Disapprove
______Approve ______Disapprove B. ACADEMIA 1) Current Program a. The Agency has a wide range of contacts with academics through recruiting, professional societies, contractual arrangements and OTE. PAO has recently been designated the focal point for all information about CIA's relations with the academic community. As such, PAO is building a database of information about Agency contacts with academia -- conferences and seminars, recruiting, officers and scholars-in-residence, contracts, teaching -- and serves as the clearinghouse of such information for Agency employees. b. PAO officers also speak to approximately 250 academic audiences a year. Subject areas vary, but most focus on the structure and functions of the CIA, its role in the intelligence community, the intelligence process, and congressional oversight. PAO has developed a speakers' package for Agency officers and retirees who speak in public, including an annually updated Q&A package to aid the speaker in answering a broad array of questions. c. PAO maintains a mailing list of 700 academicians who receive unclassified Agency publications four times a year. Recipients write to praise the quality of the products and to claim that these mailings are one of the most effective ways of reaching out. d. PAO sponsors the DCI Program for Deans twice a year. This program seeks to expose administrators of academic institutions to senior Agency officials -- the DCI, the DDCI, all the DDs, and heads of independent offices -- and to give them a sense of what the Agency does, how it operates, and how it fits in and relates to American society. 3 The recent Denison University Alumni Magazine feature on Martha Kessler is a good example. (See Tab C)
a. The Officer-in-Residence (OIR) program is seen by many as an excellent means of providing a window into CIA for the academic community. The program (currently 13 participants) could be enhanced with dedicated slots and resources, under central management. At present, individual offices provide the positions and about $100,000 per officer. Such enhancement would ensure that selection of schools and officers meets our needs. ______Approve ______Disapprove b. PAO should work with OTE and OP to develop a program for CIA employees involved in recruiting to ensure that they are conversant on all issues affecting the CIA with emphasis on the intelligence process and multicultural sensitivities. Provide for periodic update for recruiters on long-term assignment. ______Approve ______Disapprove c. PAO's Coordinator for Academic Affairs should take steps to see that CIA becomes an institutional member of relevant scientific and professional societies. Agency employees should participate openly in such meetings as CIA officers. Procedures for individuals to present papers in such fora need to be updated. ______Approve ______Disapprove d. Sponsor either unilaterally or in cooperation with academic institutions or other government agencies conferences on the history and craft of intelligence, as well as on other areas of common interest. PAO will work with OTE's Center for the Study of Intelligence on these programs.4 ______Approve ______Disapprove 4 For example, PAO is currently talking with the Truman Library about a conference in late 1992 or 1993 on the origins of the Intelligence Community. A similar conference with the Wilson Center is being considered to mark the 30th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis next fall.
______Approve ______Disapprove f. PAO, CPAS and FBIS should examine ways to continue or enhance the program to disseminate unclassified publications (highly valued by all we talked to) to ensure that the Agency is receiving maximum benefit for its efforts. ______Approve ______Disapprove g. Encourage the establishment of intelligence studies programs at academic institutions. ______Approve ______Disapprove C. GOVERNMENT 1) Current Program: a. The Agency has a broad range of contacts throughout government and provides product, briefings, and exchanges to both Executive and Legislative Branches. PAO is an active participant in briefing the military and other government agencies on the CIA, its mission and functions. This year, PAO provided more than 70 briefings to groups from the National Security Agency, Foreign Service, Pentagon, Defense Intelligence College, and the United States Information Agency. 2. Recommendations: a. OCA should seek additional opportunities for the DCI to appear before congressional committees in open session when such a session helps to educate the public about the role of intelligence and the relevance and accountability of the CIA. ______Approve ______Disapprove
______Approve ______Disapprove c. The DDI and DDS&T in coordination with OCA should reassess the Agency's relationship with CRS and OTA.5 ______Approve ______Disapprove d. PAO should work with PCS to look for ways to reach broader military audiences with information about our programs. ______Approve ______Disapprove D. BUSINESS 1) Current Program: a. The Agency currently has three types of basic relationships with the US business sector. First, business is an important source of intelligence information via NR collection activities. Second, the US corporate sector is involved in the vast bulk of the Agency's contracting efforts. Finally, business receives selected briefings by the Agency -- talks on the counterintelligence challenge, counterterrorism and other presentations at business-oriented conferences organized by groups such as SASA. Given the emphasis on economic security for the United States in the '90s, the business sector is looking to the potential contributions the Intelligence community can make in this area. 5 Hill staffers rely heavily on OTA and CRS products. Moreover, active interaction with these congressional support organizations can provide invaluable insights into issues that key House and Senate committees and individual members believe are important, as well as what legislation is under consideration or in the conceptual state. Some Hill staffers have suggested that CIA assign officers to act as liaison through OCA for relevant OTA projects, as the military services do. For example, OTA is now focusing on two projects of particular interest to several congressional committees, proliferation and economic analyses of other nations as they relate to U.S. industrial competitiveness.
c. PAO participates in providing briefings on the CIA to participants in AFCEA's biannual "Intelligence Community" course, attended by nearly 200 industry and government representatives. 2. Recommendations: a. Establish a program with appropriate guidelines for providing unclassified, off-the-record (or on background) country-specific briefings (similar to those given to journalists) to corporate leaders. NR should act as the focal point for this effort to consider the potential gain for the Agency in providing such information. ______Approve ______Disapprove b. Host groups of CEOs at the Agency for day-long programs similar to the DCI's Program for Deans. ______Approve ______Disapprove c. Task the DDS&T to take the lead in a program to consider declassifying the relationship between CIA and many of its contractors that have historically been classified. Many benefits could be derived by the Agency and by the contractors if these relationships and perhaps the general nature of the work involved were revealed. ______Approve ______Disapprove E. PRIVATE SECTOR 1) Current Program: a. PAO officers this year made presentations about the CIA to members of more than 60 civic and service clubs. Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs in particular have been the recipients of this service. PAO took steps to establish a speakers' bureau last sprint to increase the number of presentations that the Agency could provide.
2. Recommendations: a. Assign PAO the resources to fund and manage its speaker's bureau to develop a group of effective Agency speakers who can talk about the intelligence process and the role of CIA in a changing world. ______Approve ______Disapprove F. INTERNAL AUDIENCE 1) Current Program: a. Every business day PAO produces Media Highlights, a 50-75 page collation of newspaper articles, editorials, and commentaries on the Agency and intelligence-related subjects. The staff produces 172 copies of Highlights for distribution throughout the Agency. Modified versions of Highlights have also been prepared and forwarded to the DCI during his trips abroad. b. In addition, PAO posts "Agency views" on the Public Affairs bulletin boards throughout the Agency. These are compilations of statements by the DCI, DDCI, and PAO spokesmen on the Agency or intelligence-related issues of the day. c. PAO also publishes a newsletter quarterly called The Public Eye to inform employees about the activities of PAO and the Agency issues which are being discussed in the media. PAO ensures that transcripts of selected DCI speeches are made available to employees through employee bulletins, on line and in the library. 2. Recommendations: a. PAO should work with OTE to develop a training course for employees to better understand our relationship with the media with particular emphasis on the rules for background briefings.
______Approve ______Disapprove c. The Task Force on Internal Communications is addressing the subject of communications with our own employees, which is the responsibility of Agency managers at all levels. Current and former Agency officers emphasized, however, the need for a program of increased CIA openness to be part of our corporate strategy. That is senior managers must be on board and the employees informed that we are increasing the openness of the Agency and how we plan to do it. To this end we recommend that you: ______Approve ______Disapprove 10. In recommending ways to increase CIA openness, we also wanted to come up with some means to measure the results of these efforts and to make changes in course, as appropriate. Since these are not programs or initiatives that lend themselves readily to quantifiable impact, we need to rely on an evaluation of how the perception of the Agency has changed. This can manifest itself in many ways including: a friendlier, more cooperative working environment for our officers, more interest in employment, more accurate reporting on our activities, etc. To this end, we recommend that you: a. Task all NR Station Chiefs to provide an annual evaluation of our openness program as it
______Approve ______Disapprove b. Establish an advisory group of senior business, academics, and government leaders to provide advice on and evaluation of CIA efforts to explain the role of intelligence in the '90s. ______Approve ______Disapprove
The Task Force Members received views on Greater CIA Openness from the following: [one page deleted] 6 January 1992 MEMORANDUM FOR:
Deputy Director for Intelligence Deputy Director for Operations Deputy Director for Planning & Coordination Deputy Director for Science & Technology Director of Congressional Affairs General Counsel Director of Public Affairs Comptroller FROM: Director of Central Intelligence SUBJECT: Task Force Report on Greater CIA Openness 1. The task force has done a commendable job of examining the challenge of greater CIA openness and presenting a number of useful recommendations for implementing such a policy. Before addressing specific recommendations, it is important to establish policy and strategy. 2. I endorse the statement in paragraph 6 of the report that our objective is to make CIA and the intelligence process more visible and understandable rather than to seek inevitably incomplete or unattainable openness on specific substantive issues. In short, we are trying to help people understand better what this Agency does and how it does it. 3. The idea of a strategy or "vision" statement has merit but it should be short -- something to the effect that "CIA's approach to public affairs grows out of our belief that it is important that CIA should be accountable to the American public as a law abiding organization comprised of talented people of integrity whose role supporting national security policymakers is important in an increasingly complex and often dangerous world." The Executive Committee should consider such a strategy statement, revise it as appropriate or desired, and submit it by 1 February for my approval. 4. I believe that CIA, whatever the level of its public affairs effort, will find it difficult to win recognition as an "open" institution. What we should do is strive where we can to be as forthcoming, candid, informative, and helpful as possible to the public, the media, and academia consistent with our mission and the protection of sources and methods. My decisions on specific recommendations have been made in this spirit. SUBJECT: Task Force Report on Greater CIA Openness 5. Reference paragraph 8.A.(1) and (2) of the report: The Executive Committee should establish a senior-led Agency-wide group to review CIA policy and practices related to declassification and release of records under the historical review and FOIA programs with a view to accelerating the process. Additionally, this senior-level group should examine the initiation of a program in the near term to declassify historical materials on specific events as suggested by the task force report -- a suggestion that I am inclined to support. (Further to this issue, see paragraph 18.a.) At the same time, this group should identify what additional resources would be necessary to augment our efforts in both of these areas. 6. Reference paragraph 8.A.(3): The editorial board of Studies in Intelligence should intensify its efforts to find a university prepared to publish unclassified or declassified articles from Studies in Intelligence. If no university has made a firm commitment by the end of May, OTE should begin publishing compendia of unclassified articles from past Studies. These should be made available in the same way as other unclassified CIA publications. 7. Reference paragraph 8.A.(4): We should not publish compendiums of papers delivered at conferences sponsored or co-sponsored by CIA. However, when such conferences are unclassified, we should indicate to participants that we have no objection to their publishing their papers -- with appropriate disclaimers -- and referencing a CIA conference. The choice should be up to the scholar. 8. Reference paragraph 8.B.: PAO, in cooperation with other appropriate elements of the Agency, should develop additional unclassified material on CIA, its history, mission, functions, and changing role. The Agency's briefing program for the full range of potential audiences should be expanded as opportunities arise. 9. Reference paragraph 8.C.(1): The current role of the Agency spokesperson is satisfactory but I would welcome views from the Executive Committee on greater use of television by the DCI and DDCI. 10. Reference paragraph 9.A.(2): PAO should be prepared to provide more background briefings to the media as opportunities arise and be prepared to respond to telephonic queries from the media. Careful records should be kept of such contacts. I endorse having the Deputy Directors, the General Counsel, the Director of Congressional Affairs and the Director of Public SUBJECT: Task Force Report on Greater CIA Openness Affairs provide both background and on-the-record interviews about intelligence process. CIA should not give groups of reporters unclassified background briefings when there is a major international event. Any exception to this should be approved by the DCI or DDCI. I do support the idea of individual profiles of people in the Agency that highlight the quality of our people, the diversity of our work force and that personalize the work of intelligence. 11. Reference paragraph 9.B.(2): The Officer-in-Residence program, which I support, should continue to be administered by individual Directorates and Offices. I agree that PAO should work with OTE and OP to develop a program for CIA employees involved in recruiting to ensure that they are conversant on issues affecting CIA, with emphasis on the intelligence process and multi-cultural sensitivities. I gather that this would simply give structure to informal guidance to employees from all Directorates who go on recruiting trips. I support participation of Agency employees in relevant scientific and professional societies and approve the recommendation for updating procedures for individuals to present papers in such meetings. I am not persuaded that CIA should become an institutional member of these societies. I support conducting more academic conferences at Langley, examining ways to continue to enhance the program of disseminating unclassified publications, and encouraging the establishment of intelligence studies programs at academic institutions. 12. I believe that the co-location of our Coordinator for Academic Affairs with Public Affairs confuses two related but separate functions. The Executive Committee should examine and provide me with a recommendation by 1 February on moving the Coordinator for Academic Affairs and associated functions to the Center for the Study of Intelligence. In this connection, I endorse the recommendation that the Center should sponsor either unilaterally or in cooperation with academic institutions conferences on the history and craft of intelligence. 13. Reference paragraph 9.C.(2): I am satisfied with the present and planned arrangements. Accordingly, none of the recommendations are approved. 14. Reference paragraph 9.D.(2): I am not persuaded that recommendations a. and c. are workable and therefore they are not approved. On the other hand, recommendation b. seems a worthwhile undertaking and I believe the Executive committee should direct the development of a program along these lines, perhaps beginning with CEOs of companies that have been cooperative with NR. SUBJECT: Task Force Report on Greater CIA Openness 15. Reference paragraph 9.E.(2): I support continuation and strengthening of the Agency Speakers' Bureau for addressing outside audiences about the intelligence process and the role of CIA in a changing world. Home components should pay the expenses of an expanded list of non-PAO speakers. 16. Reference paragraph 9.F.: I support the idea of PAO working with OTE to invite more members of the media to speak to CIA groups either in the classroom or at off-sites/seminars. PAO should brief employees authorized to give background briefings on pertinent guidelines and rules. I prefer to reserve decision on recommendation c. pending completion of the task force on internal communications. 17. Reference paragraph 10: I do not believe we will soon see any marked effect on all of the programs we have had underway and are now undertaking. I believe this will be a cumulative process and that all of us in the Agency simply should keep our eyes and ears open for feedback, from whatever quarter, on the success of our efforts. 18. I received a number of useful comments from several of the addressees of this memorandum, as well as a number of others in the Agency. As the Executive Committee considers the actions assigned to it above, as well as additional ideas for greater CIA openness, I commend to you:
SUBJECT: Task Force Report on Greater CIA Openness
Robert M. Gates |
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