254. Memorandum from Coyne to Bundy, January 151
[Facsimile Page 1]
Enclosed is the draft directive from the President to the Director of
Central Intelligence which I discussed with you on January 11.
The draft directive was approved by the Attorney General on January 12,
based on a memorandum of analysis (attached) prepared by Assistant
Attorney General Katzenbach. The
draft directive had been approved earlier by the Secretaries of State
and Defense.
It is my understanding from the staff of the Budget Bureau that the
Director of the Budget will suggest certain changes in the draft to you.
In essence, his suggested changes involve deletion of the phrases which
I have bracketed in the draft directive. It is my view that Budget’s
suggestions are sound. Accordingly it is recommended that the draft
directive, as revised by Budget, be submitted to the President for
approval at an early date. Mr. McCone is anxious for the directive to be approved and
issued prior to his confirmation hearing on January 18.
[Typeset Page 922]
Addendum:
Because Mr. McCone is out of
the City, I have not discussed with him the changes suggested by
Budget. If you wish, I will discuss them with him when he returns to
Washington tomorrow.
[Facsimile Page 2]
Attachment
Memorandum for the Attorney General
RE
-
Draft Presidential Memorandum to Director of
Central Intelligence on his duties.
As you requested, I have examined the attached draft memorandum from
the President to the Director of Central Intelligence and I believe
that it does not contain any legal problems.
This draft is a revised version which was forwarded by Mr. McCone’s explanatory memorandum of
January 11th, also attached. The revised version is exactly the same
as the previous version which you sent me, except that the following
sentence has been added at the end of the first paragraph:
“In fulfillment of this task I shall expect you to work
closely with the heads of all departments and agencies having
responsibilities in the foreign intelligence field.”
Mr. McCone’s memorandum
explains that the above sentence was added to meet the State
Department’s fears that the President’s memorandum might interfere
with its statutory responsibilities. I do not believe that a
Presidential memorandum of this type, in either the revised or the
previous versions, is intended to or does deprive any Department of
its statutory responsibilities.
The memorandum outlines in general terms the responsibilities of the
Director with respect to the federal government’s foreign
intelligence activities, and describes the Director’s relationships
with the President, the National Security Council, and other
governmental organizations and officials concerned with these
activities.
The memorandum, in my opinion, is within the statutory authority of
the President as head of the National Security Council [Facsimile Page 3] (50
U.S.C. § 402), and is consistent with the statutory organization and
functions of the Central Intelligence Agency, which is under the
Council (50 U.S.C. § 403 et seq.).
Nicholas
deB. Katzenbach
Assistant Attorney General
Office of
Legal Counsel
