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MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD

Event: Telephone Conversation with Janet Reno


'Type of event: Follow-up to interview
Date: January 9,2004
Special Access Issues: None
.Prepared by: Barbara A. Grewe
'Team Number: Front Office
Location: Commission office - Reno home
:Participants - Non-Commission: None
Participants - Commission: Barbara A. Grewe

During the Janet Reno interview on December 16, 2003, she was asked about her Guidelines
issued on July 19, 1995, regarding the sharing of intelligence information between the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) Criminal Division. Before
addressing the questions on this issue, Ms. Reno asked to see a copy of the document. She was
provided one at the conclusion of the interview and promised to get back to us after reviewing
the document. She contacted us on January 9,2004, to provide answers to our questions. She
apologized for taking so long to get back to us, explaining that she wanted to make sure it was
acceptable for her to talk to Jamie Gorelick before giving her response and Gorelick was out of
town over the holidays.

The Guidelines Reno had issued contained procedures goveming contacts between the FBI and
the DOJ Criminal Division during investigations in which FISA surveillance andlor searches had
been conducted and ones where there were no FISA materials involved. She was asked why
there were constraints placed on contacts where no FISA material was involved as the FISA
Court's opinion did not control such situations. Ms. Reno indicated that she had spoken to
Former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick and former DOJ attorney Richard Scruggs who
she believed had been very involved in the issue. She said that the reason for controls in cases
where no FISA information was involved was to establish a record of such contacts in case FISA
warrants were later obtained in the matter. She indicated that they wanted to be able to

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demonstrate the primary purpose for the ensuing FISA warrant was still intelligence so any
contacts with the Criminal Division needed to be recorded.

The FBI had subsequently decided to erect similar walls between designated intelligence agents
and designated criminal agents within the FBI as opposed to having a wall solely between the
lBI and the Criminal Division. Ms. Reno was asked whether the FBI's policy was based on any
direction from her or whether this was an FBI directed decision. She believed that it was an FBI
directed decision to erect a wall between agents. She said her guidelines did not and were not
intended to erect any internal FBI walls. She indicated that we needed to speak to Scruggs, and
Jim McAdams, and Fran Townsend to get their views on this issue.

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