HARASSMENT OF SPY HERO, CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATOR, IS REVEALED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000100960003-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 1, 1999
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: April 4, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

CTUCAGO Tm 3UNE
Sanitized - Approved F&FeIA@65CIA-RDP
CPYRGHT
FOIAb3b
1PYRGHT
r He ro.,,..
arassment of_$P__
Congressional In yes tiga tor,
is Reve
C)
What is their lot when, after
a life of danger in coping wit :
their communist counterparts ~
He Learns Peril
of Political
Warfare
(Chicago. Tribune Press Services
a - n, pri a
'happens to the real-life James
Bonds of tilie shadowy world of
espionage pnd intrigue when
they retire from official serv-
ice'~
in faraway lands, they ar
forced to seek mote peaceful
pursuits and a living for them
selves and their families?
One..o!' these anonymousiI
This is the story, never Lou
before, of Lt. Col. Philip J. Cor
signed to deprive him of a con
gressional committee post i
which he ."could use his vas
knowledge to assist investiga
Lions and subversions here an
abroad.
Exploits Still Secret
Ile has been subjected to
campaing. of harassment an
character assassination, de
heroes of. the United State
army's intelligence and coun
ter-intelligence corps has four
so, 49, who retired in 19G3 afte
more than two decades of.nuli
tary service which r a n g e
from Africa to'Italy to Korea
Assigned for most of thos
years to military intelligence
many of his exploits are stil
classified.
The Russians denounced hi
as a "terrorist" and his o
government loaded him wit
decorations and commend
tions. During the Eisenhowe
administration, his counsel o
intelligence problems 'was
factor in ,White House dec'
He is now finding that politi-`
al warfare on Capitol hill is
no less deadly than strife with
the masters of espionage in the-
Kremlin.
Corso is far removed from
the swashbuckling types popu-
lar in the works of Ian Flem-
ing and other purveyors of spy
fiction.
He's Mild-Mannered
The son of a Pennsylvania
steel mill worker who migrated
from Italy, early in the century,
he is short and powerful but
unimpressive in appearance.
He wears eyeglasses and his
demeanor is mild. Ile never
raises his voice.
The deceptive quality of this
attitude was impressed upon
. le
12 men, Corso remarked: e , north Africa, later to a y;
Communists thought I had. 44s a comhat intelligence of-'
That was what. counted."
When Corso left Rome in
?1947, he wag thanked by Prime
#iccr, then began his tour as
the top intelligence man in,
Rome. He is fluent in Italian,
also has a command of French
helping to restore law and or. and Spanish.
der and ' prevent a communist . Much of Corso's career re-
take-over. ! mains hidden in highly classi.
. f'hd files. The' information: he
Reds Call Him, Terrorist
communist pafter possessed was so sensitive that
The his departure, featured press, rey a aftir- for two years after he left the
army he was barred from visit-
page spread on the American ing iron curtain countries.
"terrorist." The Italian govern-
ment awarded him the war Assets and Liabilities
cross and the 0 r d e r of 'the At the age of 47, he surveyed,
Crown o# Italy. The defense de-1 his assets. He had an impres-
partment, by special order. ! sive title, deputy chief, foreign
permitted his acceptance of technology division, under Gen.
these awards. Arthur G. Trudeau, who es-,
His `17 decorations include teemed him high 1 y. He had
the legion of merit, bronze star,; remained a lieutenant colonel
and commendation medal with! for 10 years, thowever, and;
three oak leaf clusters. I further promotion would 'be
Ordered to the far east at the, slow.
outbreak of. the 'Korean . -vVar He also had a' heavily most-
he became chief of the specia% gaged home and an old car, al-
t b n h G-2 and h l d
J
h
Communists when Corso _ was
assistant chief of staff, G-2, of
he allied: command in Rome
n 1945, and thus the top Ameri-
can intelligence. officer in the'
area.
cc .. c , the he ad
and a enormous
He was informed by a high! pro
Italian official one day that his;; earned note as an expert on the; secret funds in past years. His
name and the names of severalintelligence system of the com4 bank balance was less than..
of his assistants had been"I munist enemy. His report o ! $100. He had two children of
, n?
arts communist organization a n d! high school age and an uncom-
mmunist
d b
k
p
y co
mar
e
sans in Rome for death. Vern.
fying the report, he summoned
his. counterpart in communist
intelligence.
methods in prisoner of wai?'
camps earned him a citation,)
Henry Cabot Lodge, American
ambassador to the United Nail
tions, wrote Corso a personal
letter of thanks in 1954 for ma~
terial which helped him to conic
bat Russian: propaganda in th
U. N.
"I hear you are out to get 1
me and some of myi mein,"
Corso said. "As it is, I want
you to know what will happen
if you make any attempt upon
me or my men, even if you
miss. Here is a list of 12 of
your men. Your name is at the
top. I have left orders, which
will be performed even if I'm
dead, that will result in 12
bodies floating in the Tiber. I
think ;you know that I am sere
sous."
The "deliberately d r a in a t i c
threat proved effective. No at-
tempt to harem American in-
telligence officers was ever
made in Rome. Asked if hejiad
Agent by Accident
,Corso became an intelligence
expert by accident. He grew up
Pa., 30 miles southwest of.Pitts reaping the results of enmities
burgh, and was studying to be jgained .in 'his long years of
a technical engineer when the
draft' took him as a private. He
was to remain in uniform 21'
years.
Commissioned a second lieu
tenant in 1942, he was ordered
to military intelligence training
school where his talents were
indeed ordered the death of quickly,, app$rent. Ile was sent,
plaining wife.
When Sen. Strom Thurmond'
iR., S.. C.1 offered Corso a post
as- staff assistant, he decided'
to retire from the army. Thur-
mond wanted his assistance in
an investigation of the defense
department's censorship pol-
icies. This became knoxn. as
the "muzzled generals" hear-
In g.
- Whether Corso stepped on the.
toes of powerful persons in that
Con iriuo'
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000100960003-6
 CPYRGHT
01
gcnce is not known.
Campaign Is Revealed
The campaign to destroy his
usefulness as a congressional
investigator emerged into the
open early this year after Cor-
,so, with Thurmond's reluctant
;assent, accepted a post offered
by Rep.. Michael A. Feighan
I [D., 0.1, chairman of a House
judiciary committee on immi-
gration and nationality.
s- !I later informed Co rso
Feighan wanted Corso's a The FBI
that it considered the incident
sistance in handling a potential-~
closed.
ly explosive investigation of an
international black market fea- The major - "crime" lodged'
turing the sale of American against Corso, it finally devel-
visas to refugees behind the oped, was that he had testified
iron curtain. The justice de before the Senate internal se
partmcnt is opposed to his in curity subcommittee in. 1961,
quiry. It fears an administra-' giving information c over i n g
tion scandal. ' government policy and policy
The subcommittee, regarding
Corso's credentials with awe,
voted. unanimously to confirm
his appointment as a staff
member. Chairman Emanuel
Celler, (D., N. Y.), who is also
"NIP""(FlPed, 'CYnTatb9~M MY 'Y-
l
c(,
were that Corso, solicited for and is awaiting a hearingpea
wformation in connection with: Corso thus far has retained
the Warren commission in- , his committee job. Feighan is
quiry, reported that a certain proceeding with his investiga-
Conununist in Texas was tion which may strike person:;
spreading the rumor that Os- in the government. Celler. has.
wald was an FBI.agcnt. 1not changed his
The information was passed ;Corso is unaccept iblc but has
on to the FBI which had at= not insisted upon his discharge.
ready denied that Oswald ever Corso may occasionally long
worked for the FBI. The FBI for the comparatively peaceful
asked Corso for the source of years when the only enemy'
his information. He refused. was a c communist spy,,
implications for a 10-year peri-
od.
Testimony Kept Secret
The testimony was never
never made public because it
covered "sensitive" national'
sec
it
il
t
ur
y counc
mat
ers. Corso
'.lion',, objected to the a oint-
pp , -f had been a staff member of
Asked for Reasons
Asked for an explanation, he
the operations coordinating
board in the White house from
1954 to 1957.
Thus, I+'eighan told Celler,
porting to be from Atty. Gen.- the major issue bearing u
Nicholas Katzenbacli, w hi c h, Corso 's suitability for a stmt '
cited reasons why Corso should appointment was:
not be employed. "Should any individual who
has beepp called before a coin-, charge against Corso mit.tee 6f the Senate or House,
was that he had prepared for with full approval and authori
Gen. ' Trudeau, then , chief of ty of his superiors, be penalized
army intelligence, a list of or put under suspicion as a
names in connection' with Unit- shady or undesirable charac-
ed States policy from 1947-1955. ter?
Corso was alleged to have 1 "A serious legal and morale
stated that this list was the key issue. arises when an unofficial
to so-called Fabian-Socialists in and wisigned report [a 'refer-;
the government. ence to the memorandum from Katzenbach ` to Celled on an
Turdeau gave the. list to J. individual from any branch of
Edgar Hoover, director of. the the executive department is
Federal Bureau of Investiga- considered as trustworthy In
tion:.The list was later placed formation.
in the files of the Senate in
ternal security subcommittee; Called Rights Violation
with the authority and" ap-; "Such procedure opens the .
proval of the, defense depart-,' door to character assassina-?
ment. lion of loyal and able citizens;
It has never been made pub- who have no recourse' or reme-'
lie and the charge a g a i n s t dy. It violates their civil rights,
Corso failed when it was shown
that the report made no men-
tion of Fabian-Socialists but
merely showed the positions
held . by people influential in
making policy.
Another Rumor Bared
Corso was also alleged to
have said that Lee Harvey Os- was discharged in 1963 from
wald, assassin of Presidcet his post. because 'he testified.
Kennedy, was an agent for the before the internal security sub-:
central intelligence agency.,
Sanjsd ~4B9DvedFor Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000100960003-6
hostile to Feighan's investiga-
in a most serious manner. A
practice of this type is destruc-
tive of our institutions and vio-
lates every reasonable proce-
dure."
Another government em-
ploye, Otto F. Otepka, a veter-