Date

Oct 1, 1989

Description

In this memo to the President a frustrated Scowcroft laments that “We have attempted for over five months to negotiate the text of a letter that would satisfy Senator Cohen while accommodating our need to avoid defining ‘timely notice’ in a way that would put you in violation of the statute if you exercised your constitutional authority to withhold notice of covert actions from Congress when required to do so by considerations of national security.” Given the continued disagreement, Scowcroft recommends “that you veto the bill if approved containing Senator Cohen's amendment.” Finally, Scowcroft advices Bush to sign the attached letter for Senator Cohen which promises that the President will “provide notice ‘within a few days’ in all instances except where you have constitutional authority to withhold it, and explaining why we cannot fully embrace Senator Cohen's view of the ‘timely’ notice requirement.”

Source

George H. W. Bush Presidential Library, Bush Presidential Records, National Security Council, Nicholas Rostow Files, Subject Files, Folder, “Covert Action: Notification of [1].”

Document published in following posting(s):

What the CIA Tells Congress (Or Doesn’t) about Covert Operations: The Barr/Cheney/Bush Turning Point for CIA Notifications to the Senate

Feb 7, 2019

Memorandum for President George H. W. Bush by Brent Scowcroft, “Letter to Senator Cohen Setting Forth Our Position on the Statutory Requirement of ‘Timely’ Notice to Congress of Covert Actions,” with an attached draft letter from the President to Senator Cohen. c. October 1989.