vault backup: 2026-09-21 19:17:08

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/CIA Office of Security.md

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+---
+category: "U.S. Government"
+tags:
+  - Organization
+  - CIAOfficeOfSecurity
+  - CIA
+  - FamilyJewels
+  - DomesticSurveillance
+  - AssassinationPlots
+  - YuriNosenko
+  - MailOpening
+alias:
+  - Office of Security
+  - CIA Office of Security
+summary: "CIA support component that cleared employees and contractors and, by its own 1973 accounting, hired the Mafia against Castro, tapped newsmen, opened Soviet mail, penetrated Washington dissident groups, and watched reporters for the director."
+location: "Langley, Virginia"
+created: 2026-09-21
+updated: 2026-09-21
+---
+
+The Office of Security was the component of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] that investigated prospective employees, contractors, and consultants. An agency paper of 1973 described the work as "neighborhood inquiries, checks with other Government agencies, review of credit reports, and interviews with former employers and business associates," and said of the product: "The resulting files are held separately by the Office of Security and are not merged with other Agency files." Colonel [[Sheffield Edwards]] directed it in the early 1960s. [[Howard Osborn]] became director on July 1, 1964.[^1]
+
+### The Osborn Memorandum
+
+On May 16, 1973, in answer to the order of Director [[James Schlesinger]] that produced the [[CIA Family Jewels|Family Jewels]], Osborn sent the agency's management committee "summaries of activities conducted either by or under the sponsorship of the Office of Security in the past which in my opinion conflict with the provisions of the [[National Security Act of 1947]]." He began the survey at March 1959, "because I believe that the activities occurring since that time still have a viable 'flap potential' in that many of the people involved, both Agency and non-Agency are still alive." Each activity, he wrote, "was approved by higher authority." His list opened with [[Johnny Roselli]]: "The use of a member of the Mafia in an attempt to assassinate [[Fidel Castro]]." It went on to [[Project MOCKINGBIRD]], telephone taps installed on two [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] newsmen from March 12 to June 15, 1963, to the confinement of [[Yuri Nosenko]], to "Equipment Support to Local Police," and to a "Test of Specialized Equipment in [[Miami]] Immediately Prior to the Political Convention."[^1]
+
+### The Syndicate
+
+In August 1960 [[Richard Bissell]] asked Edwards whether the office had assets for "a sensitive mission requiring gangster-type action" against Castro. The director was briefed and approved. [[J.C. King]], chief of the Western Hemisphere Division, was told, and the [[JMWAVE]] station was not. [[Robert Maheu]], "a cleared source of the Office of Security," produced Roselli, who brought in "Sam Gold" and "Joe," who were [[Sam Giancana]] and [[Santos Trafficante, Jr.|Santos Trafficante]]. [[James O'Connell]] of the office was Roselli's case officer from September 14, 1960, until May 1962, when [[William Harvey]] took him over. Poison pills from the [[Technical Services Division]] went to [[Cuba]] through [[Juan Orta]] and then through [[Tony Varona]].[^1]
+
+When Maheu's men were arrested for a wiretap in [[Las Vegas]], Edwards briefed Attorney General [[Robert F. Kennedy|Robert Kennedy]]. "At our request, prosecution was dropped." On May 7, 1962, Edwards and the general counsel, [[Lawrence Houston]], briefed Kennedy on the operation itself. "If you have seen Mr. Kennedy's eyes get steely and his jaw set and his voice get low and precise you get a definite feeling of unhappiness," Houston testified. The inspector general concluded in 1967 that "the Attorney General was not told that the gambling syndicate operation had already been reactivated nor as far as we know was he ever told that CIA had a continuing involvement with U.S. gangster elements."[^1][^2]
+
+### Nosenko
+
+The [[KGB]] defector Yuri Nosenko was held from August 13, 1965, to October 27, 1967, in a specially built cell, "literally confined in a room with nothing but a cot in it." The compilation records that "this Office together with the Office of General Counsel became increasingly concerned with the illegality of the Agency's position." On the second date he was transferred to the Office of Security under Admiral [[Rufus Taylor]], the deputy director, moved to a safehouse, "and was interviewed under friendly, sympathetic conditions by his Security Case Officer, Mr. [[Bruce Solie]], for more than a year. It soon became apparent that Nosenko was bona fide." The paper called him "the most valuable and economical defector this Agency has ever had."[^1]
+
+### Mail, Dissidents, and Reporters
+
+"Since 1953, this office has operated a mail intercept program of incoming and outgoing Russian mail" at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|Kennedy Airport]] in [[New York City|New York]], [[SRPOINTER]], which "included not only the photographing of envelopes but also surreptitious opening and photographing of selected items of mail. The bulk of the take involved matters of internal security interest which was disseminated to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]." Of the agency's New York mail-opening project, [[HTLINGUAL]], which [[James Jesus Angleton]] defended as "foreign surveillance," Osborn testified in 1975: "We got no benefit from it at all. The product was worthless." At a meeting on May 19, 1971, [[Thomas Karamessines]] argued that "any flap would cause the CIA the worst possible publicity," and Osborn "stated that he thought the operation served mainly a Bureau requirement." [[Richard Helms]] continued it.[^1][^3]
+
+From February 1967 to November 1971 an Office of Security proprietary, [[Project MERRIMAC]], "recruited and handled several Agents for the purpose of covertly monitoring dissident groups in the Washington area considered to be potential threats to Agency personnel and installations. One of these Agents so successfully penetrated one dissident group that she was turned over to the FBI for handling." The office gave equipment and training to the police of [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax]] and [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington]] counties and to the intelligence division of the [[Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia|Metropolitan Police Department]].[^1]
+
+"At the direction of the DCI," it kept [[Michael Getler]] of the *[[Washington Post]]* under physical surveillance in late 1971 and January 1972, [[CELOTEX]] I, and then [[Jack Anderson]] and his assistants [[Brit Hume]], [[Les Whitten]], and [[Joseph Spear]] from February to April 1972, CELOTEX II. An observation post was taken in the [[Statler Hilton]] opposite the reporters' offices, "to attempt to determine" their sources. In March and April 1972, as [[BUTANE]], it watched [[Victor Marchetti]], who was writing a book.[^1]
+
+### Private Security Firms
+
+In November 1967 Harvey, leaving the agency for a law practice, asked the bureau's liaison, [[Sam Papich]], for reputable private investigators. Osborn recorded that Papich suggested the [[Wackenhut Corporation]] or the [[Fidelifax]] company. In July 1978 Solie certified that the staff of the [[House Select Committee on Assassinations]] had reviewed the office's Wackenhut file.[^4]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Central Intelligence Agency, "Family Jewels," memorandum of Howard J. Osborn, Director of Security, to the Executive Secretary, CIA Management Committee, May 16, 1973, with attachments, pp. 00002-00006, 00012-00014, 00023, 00026-00030, 00448. Released June 25, 2007.
+[^2]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities. *Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders: An Interim Report*. S. Rept. 94-465, 1975, pp. 133-134.
+[^3]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities. *Final Report, Book III*. S. Rept. 94-755, 1976, pp. 579, 600-602.
+[^4]: Osborn, Howard J. Memorandum for the record, November 8, 1967, JFK record 104-10133-10076; Solie, Bruce L. Memorandum, July 18, 1978, JFK record 104-10130-10450. National Archives, JFK Assassination Records Collection.

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Domestic Contact Service.md

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+---
+category: "U.S. Government"
+tags:
+  - Organization
+  - DomesticContactService
+  - CIA
+  - ClayShaw
+  - DomesticCollection
+  - ChurchCommittee
+alias:
+  - Domestic Contacts Division
+  - Domestic Collection Division
+  - DCS
+summary: "Overt CIA office that interviewed American businessmen, academics, and travellers for foreign intelligence from 1946, moved in 1973 into the clandestine directorate, where its contacts served to open doors for recruitment operations."
+start: 1946
+location: "Washington, D.C."
+created: 2026-09-21
+updated: 2026-09-21
+---
+
+The Domestic Contact Service was one of two overt collection components of the [[Central Intelligence Group]] of 1946 and of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] after it. It "solicited domestic sources including travellers and businessmen for foreign intelligence information on a voluntary basis." An agency paper of 1973 described it: "The Domestic Contact Service establishes discreet but overt relationships with American private citizens, commercial, academic and other organizations and resident aliens for the purposes of collecting on a voluntary basis foreign intelligence information or soliciting their cooperation in assisting the Agency to perform its mission overseas. Records of the individuals and organizations cooperating with the Agency are maintained as a necessary practical element of this process."[^1][^2]
+
+### Transfer to Operations
+
+"Until 1973 the Domestic Contact Service was part of the Directorate of Intelligence. It was placed under the Directorate of Operations to enable the CIA to provide better support for the Foreign Resources Division. Because the Domestic Contact Service has contacts with leaders in all walks of life it possesses a unique capability to open the door for the clandestine services." Renamed the Domestic Collection Division, it "now has many clandestine services officers assigned to it." In 1976 it "maintains contact with tens of thousands of American citizens" and "operates from 38 offices around the [[United States]] and lists itself in local telephone directories, although it conducts its business as discretely as possible." The [[Church Committee]] recommended that Congress consider returning it to the intelligence directorate and that "DCD's overt contacts be informed when they are to be used for operational support of clandestine activities."[^1]
+
+### Contacts
+
+[[Clay Shaw]] of the [[International Trade Mart]] reported to the [[New Orleans]] office "on 33 separate occasions" between 1948 and 1956, without pay. After his arrest by [[Jim Garrison]] in 1967 the office's chief, [[Lloyd Ray]], advised that the general counsel, [[Lawrence Houston]], be told.[^3]
+
+In [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]] the service's officer [[J. Walton Moore]] was in contact with [[George de Mohrenschildt]], the friend of [[Lee Harvey Oswald]].[^4]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities. *Final Report, Book I*. S. Rept. 94-755, 1976, pp. 101, 438-442.
+[^2]: Central Intelligence Agency, "Family Jewels," memorandum of Howard J. Osborn, Director of Security, to the Executive Secretary, CIA Management Committee, May 16, 1973, with attachments, p. 00448.
+[^3]: Holland, Max. "The Lie That Linked CIA to the Kennedy Assassination," *Studies in Intelligence,* vol. 45, no. 5, 2001.
+[^4]: House Select Committee on Assassinations. *Appendix to Hearings,* vol. XII, staff report on George de Mohrenschildt. Government Printing Office, 1979.

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Laguna Beach Police Department.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ tags:
 summary: The Laguna Beach Police Department employed Ron Lister, a former officer who became Danilo Blandón's partner in drug trafficking and weapons procurement with claimed CIA connections.
 location: "Laguna Beach, California"
 ---
-The Laguna Beach Police Department employed [[Ron Lister]], a former officer who became [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]]'s partner in drug trafficking and weapons procurement with claimed [[Central Intelligence Agency]] connections. When investigators later sought Lister's personnel files, they discovered the records had been purged.[^1]
+The Laguna Beach Police Department employed [[Ronald Lister|Ron Lister]], a former officer who became [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]]'s partner in drug trafficking and weapons procurement with claimed [[Central Intelligence Agency]] connections. When investigators later sought Lister's personnel files, they discovered the records had been purged.[^1]
 
 ### Ron Lister's Background
 

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office.md

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ When the Torres brothers began revealing details about Blandón's connections to
 
 ### The CIA Intervention
 
-A cable from the CIA's [[Los Angeles]] office marked "Immediate Director" stated that "Three individuals claiming CIA affiliation have been arrested by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on narcotics related charges." After the raid, the investigation was shut down from above. Seized evidence was returned to Blandón and [[Ron Lister]] within days. Documents disappeared. Blandón was released without charges. The LASD's investigation was effectively quashed by CIA intervention, preventing the exposure of Contra-connected drug trafficking on the West Coast.[^3]
+A cable from the CIA's [[Los Angeles]] office marked "Immediate Director" stated that "Three individuals claiming CIA affiliation have been arrested by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on narcotics related charges." After the raid, the investigation was shut down from above. Seized evidence was returned to Blandón and [[Ronald Lister|Ron Lister]] within days. Documents disappeared. Blandón was released without charges. The LASD's investigation was effectively quashed by CIA intervention, preventing the exposure of Contra-connected drug trafficking on the West Coast.[^3]
 
 ### Footnotes
 

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/NSC Special Group.md

@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ The Special Group mechanism persisted through subsequent administrations under v
 
 The Kennedy administration retained the NSC 5412/2 Special Group structure but significantly expanded its operational scope. Following the Bay of Pigs failure in April 1961, General [[Maxwell Taylor]] submitted a review recommending stronger oversight, and in November 1961, President Kennedy authorized [[Operation Mongoose]], a major covert program aimed at overthrowing [[Fidel Castro|Castro]]. Operational control was entrusted to a Special Group (Augmented), which consisted of the standard Special Group membership plus [[Attorney General]] [[Robert Kennedy]] and General Taylor as chairman. The Special Group (Augmented) functioned from November 1961 to October 1962, with Robert Kennedy serving as the "principal motive force" and informal link between the group and the President.[^11] The formal Kennedy-era Special Group was chaired by McGeorge Bundy as the President's Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, with members including Deputy Under Secretary of State U. Alexis Johnson, Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric, DCI Allen Dulles, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Lyman Lemnitzer.
 
-President Kennedy also established a separate Special Group (Counterinsurgency) by NSAM No. 124 on January 18, 1962, to coordinate military and police aid, anti-guerrilla operations, and security programs distinct from the NSC 5412/2 covert operations mechanism. This body included Agency for International Development officials, [[United States Information Agency]] representatives, and Robert Kennedy; when Taylor moved to the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairmanship on October 1, 1962, Robert Kennedy sought to assume the chairmanship of the Special Group (CI) but was instead succeeded in the chair by U. Alexis Johnson, with Michael Forrestal taking over as White House representative. The Special Group (CI) was abolished by President [[Lyndon Johnson]] in 1965.[^12]
+President Kennedy also established a separate Special Group (Counterinsurgency) by NSAM No. 124 on January 18, 1962, to coordinate military and police aid, anti-guerrilla operations, and security programs distinct from the NSC 5412/2 covert operations mechanism. This body included Agency for International Development officials, [[United States Information Agency]] representatives, and Robert Kennedy; when Taylor moved to the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairmanship on October 1, 1962, Robert Kennedy sought to assume the chairmanship of the Special Group (CI) but was instead succeeded in the chair by U. Alexis Johnson, with Michael Forrestal taking over as White House representative. The Special Group (CI) was abolished by President [[Lyndon B. Johnson|Lyndon Johnson]] in 1965.[^12]
 
 The NSC 5412/2 Special Group was renamed the [[303 Committee]] by NSAM No. 303, issued June 2, 1964. The name change was initiated after the publication of David Wise and Thomas B. Ross's book "The Invisible Government" made the "Special Group" designation public; an NSC staffer recommended the replacement name be "something utterly drab and innocuous" to deflect attention. The NSAM 303 change in name did not alter the committee's composition, functions, or responsibilities. Between January 1967 and June 1968, the 303 Committee considered 23 projects for Africa, 33 for [[Latin America]], 15 for Europe, 14 for Asia, and 2 for the [[Middle East]].[^13]
 

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Office of Strategic Services.md

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ end: 1945-10-01
 location: "Washington, D.C."
 ---
 
-The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the United States wartime intelligence and covert operations agency established by Executive Order 9621 on June 13, 1942, under the direction of General William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan. It replaced the earlier Coordinator of Information (COI) office established July 11, 1941. The OSS coordinated intelligence gathering, ran covert operations behind enemy lines, conducted psychological warfare, and analyzed foreign intelligence. President Truman dissolved it by Executive Order 9621 on September 20, 1945, effective October 1, 1945. Much of its personnel, methodology, and organizational culture transferred directly into the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], created by the National Security Act of 1947.[^1]
+The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the United States wartime intelligence and covert operations agency established by Executive Order 9621 on June 13, 1942, under the direction of General William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan. It replaced the earlier Coordinator of Information (COI) office established July 11, 1941. The OSS coordinated intelligence gathering, ran covert operations behind enemy lines, conducted psychological warfare, and analyzed foreign intelligence. President Truman dissolved it by Executive Order 9621 on September 20, 1945, effective October 1, 1945. Much of its personnel, methodology, and organizational culture transferred directly into the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], created by the [[National Security Act of 1947]].[^1]
 
 Figures like [[Oliver J. Caldwell]] were former OSS officers who later became involved in intelligence activities related to psychic research, illustrating the continuity of personnel and interests across successive intelligence organizations.[^2]
 

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/United States Army Intelligence Support Activity.md

@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ ISA specializes in clandestine intelligence gathering and operational support, f
 2. SIGINT Squadron
 3. Mission Support Squadron
 
-Headquarters located at Fort Belvoir, VA; squadrons scattered across Maryland/D.C./Virginia area.
+Headquarters located at [[Fort Belvoir]], VA; squadrons scattered across Maryland/D.C./Virginia area.
 ### Connections to Other Organizations
 - Operates as a tactical arm of the [[NSA|National Security Agency]] (NSA)
 - Works closely with JSOC, SOCOM, and other intelligence agencies