CIA OPERATOR TELLS OF 5-HOUR LIE TEST ON SECURITY MATTER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000200360003-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 29, 1999
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: August 5, 1966
• Content Type: NSPR

YL.S l~.APOLIS TRIBUNE
'- ..Y
Approved For Release 1999/09/97,, CIS gP75-00001
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1":y CLARK; MOLLENHOFF
Minneapolis Tribune Staff Correspondent
WASHINTGTON, D.C. --
ans o te, a star c an-
destine operator in the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency
(CIA), said Thursday he un-
derwent a five-hour lie de
lector test in 1956 on
securty matter.
he 55 - year- old forme
rowan said Thursday he was
"given full clearance" fol-
lowing "that . bit of sill
business" during which the
CIA questioned whether h
might have Communist lean-
ings because of long em-
ployment with the East Asi-
atic Co., a Danish trading
firm.
The CIA Security Division
had wanted him to take
five minute lie detector test
.and Tofte insisted that the
"give. me the full business.'
"WHEN THEY didn't as
the pr:;,ler questions, I eve
suggested that they ask the
nastiest questions possible,"
Tofte said. "I wanted this
w,h o I e thing gone into
thoroughly, and I waste
this lily question about.th
East Asiatic Co. cleared up."
T ofte, a native of Den
mark, declared that the East
Asiatic Co. in Denrilark "i
like General Motors, Ford
?rudential Insurance a n
General Electric all roll
iinto one, in this country."
er isnt
that there are some Commu-
nists-who infiltrate the over-
seas operations of a lot of
big firms, and I know that
there is Communist infiltra-
tion of some, of the over-
seas branches of some of
the biggest U.S. firms
today," Tofte said.
"THAT DOESN'T m 4 k e
the firms Communist, and it
certainly doesn't men n, that
everyone who works for
these firms for any extended
period of time are Cominu-
nists."
"This is some of he 5iily
business that goes on in that
agency from time to time,"
Tofte said. "I took thelie
detector tests, and I Was
cleared and went back to
my normal ,duties after a
period of suspension vtl;ile
they ran the tests." .
Tofte declared that there
have been several times in
his career when "I have been
under fire" on disciplinary
problems.
After his wartime work in
the Office of Strategic Sere
ices (OSS) in Yugoslavia; he
and several other officers
were in trouble, and."it as
a close question as. to
whether we would be cpurt
martialled or decorated f a r
bravery.,,
In that case, the proble cts
CPYRGHT
CPYRGHT
FOIAb3b
TOFrE READ CIA SUSPENSION NOTICE
Do-dyes P":_:,F .,>d Rnhhgt.0fd.Rnjr in nark
of d scipline for not. follow-
ing instructions were cast
asid because of an effective
gun- inning operation and
Toft was decorated by Den-
mar , the United States and
Yug siavia.
Osborne, director of security'
for CIA, that he would be in
Monday to discuss the prob-
1em.
He informed the agency
representative that he had
"personal things to do," in-
c I u d i n g discussions with-
T e CIA formally suspend- I Washington police in connec?!
ed fte Wednesday pending
an i vestigation of an alleged
secu ity violation in his tak-
ing + o;., : CIA papers.
H RECEIVED notification
in a letter delivered to his
horn by a.,CIA messenger,
and Lid not open the enve-
a
oodle dogs fora wak 'papers and :~aa of Tofte s
A .0
private papers from a third
ter, he informed Howard floor library.
tion with the theft of $20,000?
in jewels owned by Mrs.
Tof te.
Mrs. Tofte was inter-
viewed again by two detec-'
tive$ concerning the theft of
the'` jewels, during the , same;
weekend CIA officials visited;
the home
nd took the CIAI
Approved For Release 1999/09/07 : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000200360003-4
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