48. Memorandum of Conversation1
PARTICIPANTS
- CIA—Messrs. Reber, Smith, Webb, [name not declassified]
- State—Messrs. Barnes S/S, Manfull S/S–R, Trueheart R
SUBJECT
- CIA Daily Summary
In opening the meeting, Mr. Reber stated in substance that: 1) After consultations with the President, CIA had decided to continue to publish its Daily Summary but to recast the publication in the form of a true “Intelligence Summary” rather than a mere summary of telegrams; and 2) CIA desired to obtain from the Department an additional copy of all S/S telegrams for a new Office of Current Intelligence, which will be established to publish the new Daily.
Mr. Barnes2 stated that while the Department had always desired to keep the CIA Director and the analysts in the Office of National Estimates fully informed of current developments of a sensitive nature, we had always had certain reservations regarding the Daily Summary, particularly with respect to its distribution. He pointed out that the CIA Daily Summary had never been an “Intelligence Summary” as such and that we have been concerned at times in the past regarding the use of sensitive and operational S/S telegrams in that publication, particularly after the distribution of the Summary had been extended to include persons not normally receiving S/S–R telegrams.
Mr. Reber expressed the view that the distribution of the Summary was an incidental question; that it was necessary in the first instance to determine the intelligence need to be met by the new Summary; and that it was necessary in any event for the new Office of Current Intelligence to receive all pertinent information, including S/S telegrams, in order to do an adequate job.
At this point there was a long and inconclusive discussion of whether it was necessary for the editors of the new Daily to have access to all sensitive and operational materials in order for them to select intelligently the significant items for reporting and whether it was feasible to publish a true “Intelligence Summary” on a daily basis. In [Page 92] this connection, there was a divergence of opinion among the CIA people themselves as to whether they could publish on a periodic basis the type of “Intelligence Summary” they apparently had in mind.
Mr. Barnes explained the various channels through which CIA received Department telegrams and expressed doubt that the Office of National Estimates and Office of Current Intelligence in CIA required equal treatment with respect to S/S telegrams. He stressed in this connection overall responsibilities of S/S concerning the distribution of sensitive material to other agencies and the relationship of the CIA Daily Summary to this problem.
It was finally agreed that: 1) CIA would develop and present to the Department more concrete proposals with respect to the type of publication they had in mind, the distribution it should receive, etc, in justification of their request; and 2) in the interim, Mr. Smith was authorized to make available to the editor of the new Summary copies of “information only” S/S telegrams on a trial basis in order for CIA to determine its possible future need for this type of material in connection with the new Summary.