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The above listing of 12,700 documents has been generally unavailable until now. Thanks to DC-area researcher Michael Ravnitzky, we can now see the titles of—and request copies of—material from the 1975 presidential commission that examined CIA misdeeds. (Instructions for requesting are below.) This material includes information on CIA domestic mail surveillance, human experimentation, assassinations of leaders, and the Agency's other "family jewels," plus depositions from Henry Kissinger, William Casey, and other spooks and powerbrokers.

These records are housed in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, located on the first floor of the Madison Building. Here is an introduction to this listing, entitled "United States Commission on CIA Activities Within the United States: A Register of Its Records in the Library of Congress":

The records of the Commission on CIA Activities Within the United States span the years 1941-1975, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1956-75. The ad hoc commission, created by President Gerald R. Ford via Executive Order 11828 on 4 January 1975, and known as the Rockefeller Commission after its chair, Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller, was charged with determining whether the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) conducted domestic surveillance and other activities. Its final report on 6 June 1975 found that the CIA had committed unlawful acts within the United States that included infiltrating dissident groups, opening private mail, testing behavior-inducing drugs on unknowing citizens, and subjecting foreign defectors to physical abuse and prolonged confinement.

The records of the commission in the Library of Congress, a culled version of originals in the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, were created by Rockefeller as a set of proceedings and reference materials. As such they do not contain files regarding the day-to-day functions of the commission. They include testimonies and staff interviews with witnesses regarding the full range of subjects covered by the commission's final report, as well as many of the CIA's most sensitive internal documents, or "family jewels." In addition, the records include files regarding the assassinations of foreign leaders, a topic studied by the commission but not included in its final report. The collection is organized into two series, a Reference File containing the original source material and background information used in authoring the commission's final report, and a Transcripts of Testimonies File containing depositions of major witnesses appearing before the commission....

Six sets of these records were produced, of which this set, the Ford Library set, and a set in the custody of the Rockefeller University Archive Center at Pocantico Hills in North Tarrytown, N.Y. are the only ones known to be extant. The original "family jewels" files remain in the custody of the CIA.

The final report of the Rockefeller Commission is here.

Many of the documents in the listing remain classified. To ask for them, you'll need to file a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) request, not a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Just use the following form letter and mail it to the address listed at the Library of Congress:

[your address and phone]

[date]

Office of the Librarian
The Library of Congress
LM-608
101 Independence Ave, S.E.
Washington DC 20540-1000

Re: Mandatory Declassification Review request

Dear Sir or Madam:

Under the provisions of Executive Order 12958, as amended by Executive Order 13292 (entitled National Security Information, section 3.5), I hereby request a Mandatory Declassification Review of the following document:

[list the name of the file, its Container number, and its File number (if there is one)]

This file is listed in "United States Commission on CIA Activities Within the United States: A Register of Its Records in the Library of Congress," prepared by Bradley E. Gernand, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, 1997.

Thank you for considering my request.

Sincerely,

[signature]

[name]

Some Things to Consider

1) Make your request(s) as soon as possible. It wouldn't be surprising if the CIA were to demand these documents be returned. Filing an MDR request will increase the likelihood of the documents being made public. We can only hope the Library of Congress stands up to any bullying from the Agency.

2) We recommend that you file a separate MDR request letter for each portion of the material you want.

3) The Library of Congress generally doesn't copy and mail documents. You'll have to make arrangements to review or pick them up in Washington, DC.

4a) If your MDR request is rejected (i.e., they won't entirely declassify the document), you can appeal the decision to ISCAP. More information on this is below.

OR

4b) If you don't get a final judgment one way or the other within one year, you can appeal directly to ISCAP.

Appealing to ISCAP

The Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) handles appeals of MDR requests that are rejected or fail to garner a response within a year. To appeal, send the following letter to the address listed:

[your address and phone]

[date]

Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP)
c/o Information Security Oversight Office
National Archives and Records Administration
700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 500
Washington, DC 20408

Re: Mandatory Declassification Review appeal (ISCAP appeal)

Dear Sir or Madam:

On [date of original request], under the provisions of Executive Order 12958, as amended by Executive Order 13292 (entitled National Security Information, section 3.5), I requested the Library of Congress perform a Mandatory Declassification Review of the following document:

[list the name of the file, its Container number, and its File number (if there is one)]

This file is listed in "United States Commission on CIA Activities Within the United States: A Register of Its Records in the Library of Congress," prepared by Bradley E. Gernand, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, 1997.

[Depending on circumstances, use one of the following:]

This request was rejected on [date of rejection letter].

[or]

It has been over one year since I sent my request, and I have not yet received a final decision.

Therefore, under the same provisions, I hereby appeal this response and ask that you declassify the document.

Thank you for considering my appeal.

Sincerely,

[signature]

[name]

Online contact info for ISCAP:

email: iscap@nara.gov
Webpage: www.archives.gov/isoo/oversight_groups/iscap.html

You can also contact ISCAP through the Information Security Oversight Office:

phone: (202) 219-5250
fax: (202) 219-5385

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