'THE RAMPARTS' NEED WATCHING
Document Type:
Collection:
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
CIA-RDP75-00001R000200320008-3
Release Decision:
RIPPUB
Original Classification:
K
Document Page Count:
1
Document Creation Date:
November 11, 2016
Document Release Date:
October 15, 1998
Sequence Number:
8
Case Number:
Publication Date:
April 18, 1967
Content Type:
NSPR
File:
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
CIA-RDP75-00001R000200320008-3.pdf | 128.11 KB |
Body:
CPYRGHT April 18, 196jPYRGHT
:o decide that random victims should
.-/ For several months official committees and unot1:c:a: -a s c .
publicists have been telling us what to do ' about into traitors" and a third on purported CIA opera-,
CIA. We suggest that at least a passing thougi be bons in the trade union movement.
given to the question, what to do about Rampo. 's? Some of Ramparts' CIA material, false and true,
It's all very well to shrug and say, "CIA" deservec, is,being written or supplied by persons who worked
wi;,__ hal.~~ened to it." That is true enough. CIA wcs or or with CIA. Such persons sign an oath of
technically incompetent, and it is no surprise ,when secrecy, and under existing laws are subject to
tc,: ru.ic:;: c. n'ipetence leads, sooner or later, to an fines (up to $10,000) and imprisonment (up to ten
acciGei.t. CIA was politically incompetent in putting years) for violating their oaths. In the case of.
its r,...,.z nets, :n the psywar game, on a presump- Ramparts' CIA informers, Richard Helms, CIA's Di-
tively :,-,on-Communist Left: not merely attempting rector, stated that "CIA would take no action against
,o in ue ce ieitish organizations, which was proper,
Oct conceiv..:J; them as prime bulwarks against Com-
munist a,:V-1ces; counting on individual leftists to
concu:.t .Iic :,c_,i-Communist' battle, bringing leftists
into circle of "the witty" who knew what was
wha recruiting them into "The Company." In truth,
course, many leftists were already present in
CIA-among them CIA's chief paymaster to the
Left,VCord Meyer Jr., founder of United World
Federalists, a CIA officer since 1951. It was inevit-
them. Why not., Is CIA Mr. Helms personal pre-..
serve, so that if he feels permissive about the poach- :
ers he may forgive-them? What is in question here.
are crimes against the public law, against "the people'
of the United States." It is the business of the Justice.
Department to prosecute-for such crimes, whether
or not to the "personal taste of Richard Helms-or
Lyndon Johnson. But further: would it not seem
that in obtaining these illegal accounts and pub-
licizing them, Ramparts is presumptively guilty of
i
ring to break the law? Why should not Ram-
able that in a serious political and moral squeeze consp
such as the Vietnam war has brought about, the parts also be prosecuted? (Its action in this matter
"non-Communism" of many of this type should is entirely different from that of reporters who dig
prove less compelling than their leftism. It was out facts from public records or general gossip.)
silly for CIA to give money to "Juan Bosch, Norman But whether or hot. Ramparts should be prose
Thomas, the NSA creeps and such-like, but it was cuted, surely it should be put under.public, scrutiny.'
moronic to trust them. For having done so CIA' Ramparts is an expensive job, printed on glossy
does indeed deserve what it has-got. paper, using many. color-pages and buying massive
But the matter can't end there. CIA' is not just t` paid. promotion' far beyond anything usual in its
somebody else's child; it's our baby too, a part of ..modest circulation range. It carries little paid ad-
the American household. We can blame it for having vertising.Where does all the money come from to
engineered its own fall, but its fall concerns, and ? . meet its deficits, which by now are unquestionably
hurts all of us; badly. On that point let there be well into seven figures? In attacking. CIA, Ramparts
no misunderstanding. The entire CIA organization- has made a great fuss about sources of money. Why
all its operations and hundreds or even thousands not the same fuss from, someone about the money.
of its officers, agents and contacts-has been gravely that has gone to Ramparts? There have been several;
hurt. This means a grievous injury to our country's stories naming individuals (including Ramparts' pub-
security and interest, an injury that will be a lisher, Edward M. Keating) who have allegedly given.
long; dicult, and expensive time healing. Indeed large sums. The total, however, is not nearly enough."
it is hard to imagine an " episode that would bring-- ",And must we not, in our new sophistication, inquire,
more goy to the Kremlin, Peking and Hanoi than ? in the case of any donor, whether he has given from
the CIA blowup. To cripple, at a .single strike,' the his own pocket or acted as a "conduit" for a hidden
entire intelligence and psywar- apparatus of the source?
enemy: Not in -their most -optimistic dreams could Some of Ramparts' multiple links with Communists:
the Ccn.munists have foreseen so shattering a break. ' and Communist causes have already been written
"is episode, however much it was prepared for by
CIA's technical and political derelictions, was trig-
gered by Ramparts.
The March issue of Ramparts, featuring the NSA
expose, was actually the fourth of its anti-CIA cam-
paign. The new April issue-announced as usual by
full-page ads in the nation's most expensive ne,was-
papers-carries three more articles one by a former
about; some are, in fact, quite open. Jessica Mitford,
identified under oath as ? a Party member, is listed'.
as a contributing editor. Managing' Editor Robert
-
Scheer was active, like several other Ramparters,
in the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, visited Cuba
in defiance of State Department regulations, and
made a secret trip to Prague only this February
'
(on the eve of the " NSA expose). A member of
d-1'4 .2--01,-1,9
Approved For Release 1999/09/07: CIA-RDP75-00001 R00 .nue~l