◆ SpookStack

Approved For Release 2008/11/06: CIA-RDP04M01816R000502010009-~ 16 persons knowledgeable of government intelligence practices as a possible explanation for the absence of any written records of presidential knowledge or authorization for the East Coast Project. With the inception of Operation CHAOS, designed to determine the extent of hostile foreign influence on domestic " . -·.~:· .·~ . - '. unrest, the East Coast Project assumed a new intelligence- related purpose. In addition to Operations CHAOS, the project sought to develop positive foreign intelligence, such as information on Soviet crop and living conditions and popu- lation movements. Moreover, operational support intelligence was sought such as information on the.postal censorship and secret writing techniques of the USSR, and there was a counter- intelligence purpose to assist the United States in meeting and neutralizing Soviet intelligence activities. In July 1969 the CIA Inspector General's staff examined the East Coast Project and recommended that, although President Eisenhower apparently had authorized the project, if the CIA were to continue to administer the project, senior officials within the Nixon Administration should be briefed. In 1969 William Cotter, a former CIA employee aware of the East Coast Project, was appointed Chief Postal A roved For Release 2008/11/06: CIA-RDP04M01816R000502010009-4