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Re: Rockefeller Commision files



Ford Library Archivist Holzhausen has
graciously given me permission to send along
her clarifications on the status of the
Rockefeller Commission files:

Michael Ravnitzky
mikerav@mindspring.com

        Mr. Ravnitzky:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to
correct some impressions I may have given
you while speaking "off the top of my head".  I
have now had the opportunity to refresh my
memory.  Here are my corrections or
comments:

1)The original set of Rockefeller Commission
files is approximately 21 feet in size.

2) As you will find when you look at the
[Rockefeller Commission published] report,
not all the material deals with CIA domestic
surveillance.  A significant part of the
investigation had to do with developing a
history of the role and authority and the
supervision and control of the CIA.  Then they
investigated many aspects of CIA "activities
within the United States", not just surveillance
but also mail intercepts, Watergate-related
activities, collecting information
about dissident groups, relationships with
other federal, state, and local agencies,
protection of the CIA against threats of
violence etc.  So to say that all 21 feet relate to
domestic surveillance (which most people
might read as wiretapping or hidden
cameras) is somewhat misleading.

        3) It is incorrect to say that the Ford Library is
not subject to the FOIA.  Most of our holdings
are considered donated papers, rather than
federal records, and are, therefore, not subject
to FOIA.  We do have some records that are
subject to FOIA.  It would be more accurate to
say that the Rockefeller Commission files are
not subject to FOIA.

        4) To say that the staff declines to process
MDR requests from the Rockefeller
Commission makes it sound like those
records are a special case.  That is not
true.  MDR rules state that the request must
be for specific documents.  The Ford Library
policy is that to accept a request from
unprocessed materials, the requestor must
provide enough specificity for an archivist to
locate the document in four hours or less.  (I
checked back in our mandatory review records
and found that there have been two instances
in which we have responded to requests in
the Rockefeller Commission unprocessed
files, both for materials relating to Richard
Ober's testimony before the Commission.)

        5) Not that it makes any difference, but we
received many, not a few, copies of the
Commission report, not from the Commission
directly, but with the materials shipped from
the White House at the end of the Ford
administration.

        6) EO 12958 specifies a 25-year
declassification rule, not a 30-year rule,
although the deadline for some types of
material has been extended beyond that
cut-off date.

        7) To say that the review is being done
chronologically could be misleading.
Documents from presidential libraries
representing administrations antedating the
Ford administration are being reviewed prior
to Ford Library materials.  It is not
chronological by the date of the individual
documents.  (As I mentioned, the Rockefeller
Commission files contain many documents
from earlier administrations, but they will be
reviewed along with other Ford Library
materials, after the Eisenhower, Kennedy and
Johnson Library materials.)

        8) As to the scanning, our documents are
already in the "system" where they can be
accessed electronically--they do not have to
be "shipped" anywhere.

We are happy to be able to assist you.  And
thanks again for the opportunity to comment.

Sincerely,
Karen Holzhausen

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