◆ SpookStack

'. u : .: ( Approved For Release 2008/11/06: CIA-RDP04M01816R000502010009-4 - 45 - e?M"'~ If documentary evidence reliably establishing authorization or lack of authorization existed, or if documentary evidence establishing personal responsibility ;for the scope or duration of the East Coast Project could be found, it might be possible to prosecute successfully despite the deaths of important persons. But: the concept ,,1;;i£~;of 'lplausible deniability" led the principals to act without making a "paper trail" that could be used to reconstruct e e ~. their acts. The absence of documentary evidence was intended to frustrate enemies or potential enemies and to protect Presidents; in practice, at least in this case, it also has the effect of frustrating the Department's . ability to prove critical facts beyond a reasonable doubt in court. Whatever use this practice may have had, the understanding of the present state of the law articulated here by the Department of Justice requires that it be eliminated for reasons discussed in part III below. The gaps and ambiguities in the evidence available in 1977 also would make it difficult to overcome a defense of mis- taken reliance on what appeared to be proper authorization. In 1953, when the East Coast Project was begun, and for at least a substantial portion of the period of its operation, there was an acute consciousness on the part of the public and the government alike that serious foreign threats -- of both overt aggression A roved For Release 2008/11/06: CIA-RDP04M01816R000502010009-4