◆ SpookStack

~. Approved For Release 2008/11/06: CIA-RDP04M01816R000502010009-4 - ~:, - Although President Eisenhower passed upon many foreign intelligence projects himself, he allowed Allen Dulles to speak for him on others, and CIA personnel may reasonably have assumed that Dulles did so with regard to the East Coast Project. Presidents Kennedy and Johnson often spoke through their subordinates -- or at least appeared to do so in ·order to maintain "plausible deniability." .Any CIA personnel who discussed the matter with Attorney General Mitchell might reasonably have assumed that President Nixon acted in this respect through the Attorney General. Until various courts rendered several decisions within the past year, 'there was little or no indication from the judiciary that Pr~sidents (or their surrogates) were required to act through explicit, time-limited orders; 28/ the entire concept of "plausible deniability" taught the opposite. 28/ Indeed, even as late as 1976 the courts seemedto accept iii implied authority in the Attorney General without a writ~en delegation of authority from the President. Ehrlichman, supra. A roved For Release 2008/11/06: CIA-RDP04M01816R000502010009-4