(2006-1008-F) Anthony S. Harrington - PFIAB

The materials in FOIA 2006-1008-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. President William Jefferson Clinton appointed Harrington to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) in 1993. Clinton re-appointed Harrington on February 18, 1998. Harrington served as Vice Chair of the PFIAB and Chair of the Intelligence Oversight Board. Harrington was selected by President Clinton on October 29, 1999, to be Ambassador to Brazil. His appointment was approved by the Senate twelve days later and he served as Ambassador from 2000 to 2001. Anthony S. Harrington is a Morehead Scholar graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and he received his Bachelor of Laws from Duke University School of Law. Since 1968 Harrington has been a Senior Corporate Partner of the Washington, D.C. law firm of Hogan & Hartson. In this capacity he became legal counsel for the Embassy of Japan in 1971, and as a consequence had to register as an agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. His firm wound up registering as a foreign agent not only for the Embassy of Japan, but also for the Governments of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Uganda, and the China External Trade Development Company. Prior to joining Hogan & Hartson, Harrington was General Counsel for the Democratic National Convention and General Counsel for the Clinton/Gore campaign, as well as being Assistant Dean of the Duke University School of Law. In addition to his legal work, Harrington co-founded several telephone and technology companies including TeleComUSA. Harrington, as of 2010, is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Albright Stonebridge Group. In 2009, the Albright Group LLC and Stonebridge International LLC merged. Stonebridge was founded in 2001 by Harrington and Samuel Berger, former National Security Advisor. Dr. Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State under President Clinton, Samuel Berger, and Warren Rudman, former Senator and Chair of the PFIAB, are Co-Chairs of the Albright Stonebridge Group. The President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board was created by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. Executive Order 10656, signed February 6, 1956, created the President’s Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities. Eisenhower believed that this board of respected and knowledgeable citizens could provide him with unbiased and candid appraisals of United States’ intelligence activities. President John Kennedy, by the signing of Executive Order 10938 on May 4, 1961, renamed the Board of Consultants, the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Though the name was changed, the board continued to operate in much the same fashion. Executive Order 11460, signed by President Richard Nixon on March 20, 1969, again changed the name of the PFIAB to the President’s Advisory Intelligence Board. President Jimmy Carter abolished the board in March of 1977. Carter did however, retain the Intelligence Oversight Board. The IOB was created by President Gerald Ford in 1976 following a post Watergate investigation by Congress into potential illegal activities of the intelligence agencies. The IOB was tasked with reporting potential illegal activities to the Department of Justice for review. As Ford told Congress in 1976, “I believe [the changes] will eliminate abuses and questionable activities on the part of the foreign intelligence agencies while at the same time allowing them to get on with their vital work of gathering and assessing information.” President Ronald Reagan modified the role of the IOB in 1981 and re-established the PFIAB in 1985 by signing Executive Order 12537. President William Jefferson Clinton combined the IOB and the PFIAB, making the IOB a committee rather than an independent organization. President George W. Bush radically modified the role of both the IOB and the PFIAB following the creation of a Director of National Intelligence. The newly named President’s Intelligence Advisory Board was designated to oversee the intelligence collection activities of any Federal agency engaged in the collection of intelligence or the production of intelligence policy. President Barack Obama more clearly defined the role of the PIAB and strengthened the IOB with the passage of Executive Order 13516. Under President Clinton the PFIAB had between eleven and twelve members, by law it could be no more than sixteen, whose terms were established by the President. Members were chosen for their independence, knowledge, and experience. The members of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board serve as unpaid observers of United States intelligence community. Much of their work is highly secret in nature though Presidents have chosen on occasion to make the Board’s reports, or portions thereof, public. The members of the Board are appointed by the President and the Director serves at the leisure of the President. Clinton Presidential Records relating to Anthony S. Harrington and his appointment to the PFIAB consist of White House Staff and Office files, Automated Records Management [Email] and Tape Restoration Project [Email]. The majority of White House Staff and Office files related to this FOIA request were from personnel files which resulted in many closures related to personal privacy. Automated Records Management System [Email] (ARMS) and Tape Restoration Project [Email] (TRP) e-mail records responsive to this FOIA originate in the following agencies: Office of Policy Development (OPD), Office of the White House (WHO), and Default e-mails belonging to no specific agency. These e-mails are primarily administrative in nature relating to Harrington’s appointment and service on the PFIAB.