◆ SpookStack

' ,r "· Approved For Release 2008/11/06: CIA-RDP04M01816R000502010009-4 9 a memorandum to Dulles which recommended that CIA seek ex- panded access to the mails from the Postmaster General for the purpose of photographing covers; the Dir~ctor of Security also recommended that the "oral approval" of the President be obtained. In May 1954 Director Dulles, accompanied by then Chief of Operations Richard Helms, briefed Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield about the CIA's desires for expanded access and means to photograph envelope exteriors. The Chief Postal Inspector agreed to permit such photographing. A contempor- aneous CIA memorandum of that briefing makes no reference to any discussion of mail openings. The Chief Postal Inspector specifically recalled, in a 1975 interview, that DCI Dulles argued that the Soviets opened mail and, therefore, that the CIA's efforts were unfairly circumscribed by American postal practices. However, the Inspector, now deceased, recalled that he had told DCI Dulles that any opening of letters would, in his view, be a violation of postal law. Following this briefing, the CIA obtained private rooms at two New York postal facilities. Although some informa- tion suggests that a very few selected openings may have occurred as early as July 1953, available evidence indicates that the selective opening and reading of letters with some regularity began in late 1954. A roved For Release 2008/11/06: CIA-RDP04M01816R000502010009-4