plaintiffs  were approached by a British solicitor, Charles J. Deacon, who presented a  business proposition on behalf of one John Patrick Savage. Mr. Savage was  supposedly a high level agent of the United States' Central Intelligence  Agency (hereafter "CIA" or "Agency"), operating in Europe. The CIA needed  money to support certain covert projects being undertaken in Europe, code  named "Ultima" and "Bluebook," but for undisclosed reasons could not use  its own funds directly. Mr. Savage wished to borrow money in order to fund  his activities on behalf of the United States Government.


5
Following subsequent negotiations, Monarch in October 1989 paid to Savage  and Deacon $5 million, and in April 1990 a further $3 million. On April 26,  1990, insubmitted  affidavits from Government officials in support of its motion.


8
In due course, the trial court denied both the Government's motion to  dismiss and a subsequent renewal of the motion for summary judgment. The  latter was accompanied by two affidavits from then CIA Director John M.  Deutch. The first, for the public record, explained why to promote national  security the CIA had a firm policy of not disclosing any information that  would tend to either confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence of any  relationships or contacts between individuals and the CIA. The affidavit  invoked the common-law state secrets privilege, as well as certain  statutory privileges. The second affidavit from Director Deutch, submitted  in camera for the exclusive use