NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASKHNGTON D C 20506 Ma y 17 1989 ME M O R A N D U M FOR THE HONORAB L E WI L L I A M P BAR R Assistant Attor n e y General Legal Counsel FROM NICHOLAS ROSTOW jGBP o SUBJECT Covert Action and 48-Hour Notification We believe that any letter to Senator Cohen should make the following points in addition to any purely constitutional legal points that are desirable the President recognizes and accepts the importance of comity between the two branches the President understands the meaning of recent events and is determined to avoid a repetition and existing presidential guidance with respect to the internal Executive branch approval of special activities requires that he reconsider any decision to delay notification to Congress beyond 48 hours not less frequently than every ten days It may be that these points should be made in a letter from the President or General Scowcroft rather than from the Justice Department On the other hand I see no particular reason why a letter from Justice may not note these points in a paragraph recognizing the context in which the exchange of views is taking place This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu