SAC Seattle to Director re CBS '60 Minutes' inquiries and case spokesperson
Document date 15 May 1978
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Id: Cooper-Part-121:093-094
Subject: Cooper Files: Cooper-Part-121:093-094 Document: Airtel SAC Seattle to Director re CBS '60 Minutes' inquiries and case spokesperson Id: Cooper-Part-121:093-094 Page: https://cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-121%3A093-094 What is wrong (title, date, type, which pages belong together, copies)? What does the scan show?
A person reads every report. Corrections are made by hand, to the data — titles, dates, names, which pages belong together — never to the scans, and they can take a while to appear.
FBI 164-81, Vault Part 121 pp. 93–94 (DB Cooper-55609, DB Cooper-55613), Airtel, dated 15 May 1978, serial SE 164-81-7893 (as read from the transcript) — cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-121%3A093-094
FD-36 (Rev. 2-14-74)
FBI
Date: 5/15/78
Transmit the following in _______________ (Type in plaintext or code)
Via AIRTEL AIRMAIL (Precedence)
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TO : DIRECTOR, FBI (164-2111) (ATTN: PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE, GENERAL INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION)
FROM : SAC, SEATTLE (164-81) [redacted box - b6/b7C/b7D]
SUBJECT: NORJAK MEDIA MATTERS
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ReBUtel to all Field Offices, 5/5/78 captioned "NORJAK"; Portland airtel to Bureau, 5/8/78; Seattle tel calls to Bureau, 5/12,15/78; SAC, Seattle tel call to SAC, Portland, 5/15/78.
Instant matter pertains to the most recent queries by the producers of the CBS show, "60 Minutes", who are apparently considering the "NORJAK" investigation for one of its shows. For record purposes, on 5/4/78, SAC, Seattle, received a call from NORMAN GORIN, whose business card shows him as "Producer, CBS News, A Division of CBS Inc., 524 West 57 Street, New York, New York, 10019", who indicated he was then in Portland, Oregon doing background on the "NORJAK" investigation. GORIN indicated he had permission from FBIHQ (Supervisor THOMAS P. COLL) to interview SA RALPH P. HIMMELSBACH, Portland Division, concerning this matter, and that he was intending to thereafter come to Seattle and interview me. I indicated my surprise that permission had been granted by Bureau headquarters, inasmuch as the last time
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2-Bureau 1-Portland (Personal Attention) 1-Seattle (4 [illegible, partially obscured by boxes]
[handwritten circled notation, illegible] 164-81-7893 [illegible cursive mark, possibly initials or "AJAC"]
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Approved: ______________ Sent __________ M Per __________ Special Agent in Charge
GPO: 1975 O-590-002 DB COOPER-55609
SE 164-81
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agrees that this case, as in all other cases, should have the Office of Origin as the spokesman. Therefore, and in order to avoid any further conflicts and mis-statements, it is recommended that: 1) Portland Office, if it has not al- ready been done by the SAC, specifically advise SA RALPH P. HIMMELSBACH that he should refer all inquiries regarding this investigation to Seattle; 2) that if Portland feels that this will have a detrimental effect on their credibility with the Media as noted in Portland Airtel of 5/8/78, Bureau should consider designating Portland as Office of Origin, noting that an indictment was obtained in that Division; 3) that serious consideration be given to discouraging CBS from pursuing this investigation for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is that this is a pending case, where there are a limited number of "identifiers" left which have not been released to the public and to show how we have eliminated some of the suspects (specifically COFFELT), could jeopardize the investigation. In addition we should keep in mind the manner in which "60 Minutes" treated the FBI the last time we cooperated with that program. Also, we should recognize that CBS is a "past master" of utilizing inuendoes, flashbacks, conflicting testimony, etc. to sensationalize any story.
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Seattle will continue to act as spokesman for the Bureau in this important investigation, UACB.
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5. DB COOPER-55613
Serials: 164-2111, SE 164-81, SE 164-81-7893