United States Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Memorandum
Date: 3/28/79
To: Mr. Moore
From: W. D. Gow
Subject: RYMUR
Re Ingram to Moore memorandum 12/28/78, which set forth Departmental authorization for limited cooperation with House International Relations Committee (HIRC) which was conducting an independent investigation into the role of State Department in captioned matter.
PURPOSE: To report activities of representatives of HIRC in an effort to obtain the results of Bureau investigation in captioned matter.
RECOMMENDATION: None. For information.
DETAILS: On 3/23/79, Mr. [name deleted], Legal Counsel, State Department, telephonically advised SA [name deleted], FBIHQ, that a representative of HIRC asked him to obtain from the FBI the code book for People’s Temple communications. Mr. [name deleted] was advised that such books were considered evidence collected by this Bureau during the ongoing investigation of the criminal matter and that the HIRC was previously informed this fact directly by the FBI. Mr. [name deleted] was further advised that due to the nature of the code book, they could not be released at this time. Mr. [name deleted] stated that he fully understood our position and acknowledged that the committee representative had not mentioned to him that the FBI had previously declined to release these documents.
[Page 2]
Gow to Mr. Memorandum
RE: RYMUR
On 3/27/79, SA Daniel Buckley, San Francisco, advised that he was telephonically contacted on 3/20/79 by a representative of the HIRC who requested that San Francisco locate two People’s Temple members and advise the committee of their locations as well as advise the two individuals that representatives of the HIRC would be contacting them. SA Buckley was instructed to inform all representatives of the HIRC in this matter and in all future contacts that such requests should be made to the FBI.
[Handwritten addition: “3/29/79. Ivo Spalatin and Tom Smeeten of Chmn. [Clement] Zablocki’s staff met with Mr. Keuch of the Dept and FBIHQ reps in Mr. Keuch’s office. Spalatin was advised that future requests for FBI aid must be channeled through FBIHQ. Gow to Moore memo of 4/4/78 (DES:jap) sets forth substance of this meeting. – RTT”]