HOOVER, BUGGING AND DENIABILITY

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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP81M00980R001200070026-4
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RIPPUB
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K
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5
Document Creation Date: 
December 15, 2016
Document Release Date: 
June 1, 2004
Sequence Number: 
26
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Publication Date: 
April 17, 1978
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NSPR
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Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R00120007006-4 THE WASHINGTON POST . V~k ARTICLE APPEARED 17 April 1978 ON PAGE B-11 J Anderson Hoover, Bugging and Deniahility Apparently the old television se- Obviously, this was intended to. triguing internal report was circu- ries, "Mission Impossible," was all too , persuade future historians that lated after Hoover met with then- accurate about the practice of gov- Hoover scrupulously obeyed the laws CIA chief Richard M. Helms and ernment leaders ordering unlawful he was supposed to enforce. Any evi- other intelligence - officials. The missions and disowning their underl- dence to the contrary naturally memo admitted. that the FBI was ings if caught. would 'not be left lying around. But conducting "microphone surveil- There is reason to believe, for ex- this much is known: lance" of 13 extremists, including the ample, that past presidents knew ? Under pressure from then-presi- home of Black Panther leader Huey more than the record discloses about dent Richard M. Nixon to disrupt left- Newton. It is virtually impossible to the dirty doings of the Central Intel- wing extremists, the FBI continued plant a microphone in someone's ligence,Agency. Now we have ob - its criminal trespassing and eaves- home without trespassing. tamed secret evidence that the late J.'. dropping until, Hoover's death in - ? After Hoover's death, the Justice Edgar Hoover played the same game. 1972. Department disclosed to a closed- Some of his former officials face ? Virtually nothing went on in the door Senate investigation that 14 prosecution for illegal break-ins, close-knit FBI that escaped Hoover's "subversive targets were the subject "black bag jobs" and buggings that notice. + Even veteran colleagues of at least 2 8 entries" by the FBI the powerful FBI chief may have se- feared to take any major action with- continuing until April 1968. This cretly ordered: The evidence indic- out his being informed. Almost every would have been more than a year ates he carefully covered his own paper clip had to be accounted for. . after Hoover's final disavowal. Our tracks to avoid personal embarrass- *'The late William C. Sullivan, a sources are emphatic that none of ment if his agents were caught member of Hoover's inner sanctum, these would have been initiated On the record, Hoover placed in told a federal grand jury that in 1970 without Hoover's sanction. the official files memos and orders he relayed instructions from the FBI ? When the Watergate gang came ostentatiously taking a firm stand director to field agents that they up with a proposal to crack down on against unlawful tactics. On Jan. 6, should employ "any means neces- Nixon's political enemies by violat- 1967, he notified two of his top aides sary" to bring the extremist groups ing their basic rights, Hoover was that he would not approve requests to book. He said Hoover cautiously credited with opposing the nefarious for illegal planting of listening devi- avoided directly mentioning wiretap- campaign. But a memo to then-attor- ces on private premises. ping, electronic listening and other ney General John N. Mitchell from "I have previously indicated that I forbidden acts. But Sullivan said, the FBI chief pledged cooperation. do not intend to approve any such re- within the context of the discussion, "Despite my clearcut and specific op- quests in the future," he declared, the tacit approval was so clear "it position," Hoover wrote, "the FBI is ''and, consequently, no such recom- needed no interpretation from me." prepared to implement the instruc- mendation should be submitted for Sullivan resigned in 1972 in a bitter tions of the White House at your di- approval of such matters. This prac- break with Hoover and died recently rection. Of course, we would con- t.ce, which includes also surrepti- in a hunting accident tinue to seek your specific authoriza- tious entrances of any kind, will not ? Although interdepartmental tion, where appropriate. to utilize the meet with my approval in the fu- documents attest to Hoover's disa- various sensitive investigative tech- ture." vowal of unlawful practices, an in- niques involved in individual cases." Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RbP81 M00980R001200070026-4 -Approved For Release 2004/07/08: CIA-RDP81 M0098M9d26 INTERNAL' USE ONLY STAT STAT Journal - Office of Legislative Counsel Page 9 Monday - 17 April 1978 LIAISON Betsey Keyes, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence staff, called asking for copies of the DCI's speeches in Columbus, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan. I told her that I would attempt to locate copies and get them to her. During the remainder of the day there were more calls on the subject concerning past speeches. It turns out that one of the DCI's February speeches had not been passed to the Committee, but this is being rectified and all future speeches will be forwarded to the Committee. 37. LIAISON Accompanied Joe DiGeorgio, GAO International Division, to a meeting with PCS/Terrorism. The purpose of this meeting was to enable GAO to obtain hard copies of intelligence reports that they had already read in the field. The clinker is that the GAO teams that are traveling in the Latin American, European and Far East areas are regionally stationed in Panama City, Frankfurt and Honolulu/ Bangkok respectively. Logically enough they want the intelligence reports sent to the regional areas. The totality of the GAO arrangement had not been clarified previously, although there had been previous meetings with DiGeorgio and the entire program is based upon a letter (February 9, 1978) from Comptroller General Elmer Staats, GAO, to Admiral Stansfield Turner, DCI. I Iwill look into the possibility of providing copies of the intelligence reports to the GAO regional units for their review. STAT 38.1 1 LIAISON Talked to Loch Johnson, on the staff of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, about forthcoming DCI appearance before the Subcommittee on Oversight, chaired by Representative Les Aspin (D., Wis.), on 20 April 1978. He reiterated the areas set aside for coverage and I promised to send him a copy of the 13 April letter to the editor (Washington Star) by Russell Warren Howe setting forth the facts on the I case. STAT 39. EMPLOYMENT REQUEST Received a call from Carol Wilhite, in the office of Representative David W. Evans (D., Ind.), requesting an employment (professional) package for a constituent. OLC Registry was advised. -Acting Legislative Counsel Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R001200070026-4 Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R0012000 226-4 n STAT STAT 25X1 25X1 25X1 25X1 25X1 25X1 5X1 5X1 Journal - Office of Legislative Counsel Monday - 17 April 1978 Page 5 x'21. LIAISON Received a call from Jon Holstine, Minority Consultant, House International Relations Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs. He noted that he had seen an article in the New York Times of Sunday, 16 April 1978, entitled "Soviet Press Agency Says China Has Expansion Policy in Asia. " Holstine asked whether there was any foreign press play on this subject. He said perhaps he had missed it in the Daily Reports he receives. After checking with Lillian, Liaison, I called Holstine back and told him that there was a TASS news release of 14 April which would be in the 17 April Daily Report on the USSR which would be delivered to the Committee tomorrow. I also provided the page number. He was appreciative of the information. 22. BRIEFING I spoke with Ellen Miller, Senate Governmental Affairs Committee staff, concerning her desire for an unclassified briefing on patron sate support to terrorism. I explained the problems we had with such an unclassified briefing 'and suggested alternatives to follow. It was decided that she will come to the Agency for a meeting with terrorist experts with the full understanding that we may not be able to provide any information at all and may only be able to comment on the information she currently has. 23. LIAISON Called Frank Sullivan, Staff Director, Senate rme ervices Committee, and called his attention to an article in the NID concerning Panama. He suggested that since he is reading the NID on a daily basis that we need not alert him to articles in the future. He did ask that we stay attuned to the situation and call to his attention any significant items on an early warning type basis. 24. LIAISON Called Norvill Jones, Chief of Staff, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and discussed the situation with respect t staff member. I explained that in light of the allegations against that we feel the need to take some action with respect too clearances. Jones said that the matter was very sensitive to some Members of the Committee and that any action based on the general allegations that he is aware of at this point would cause problems. We agreed that since is on annual leave and doesn't currently have access to classified information that there would be no need to take affirmative action. Jones will advise me when 0 returns to work so that we can make a determination at that point. I discussed the matter with DD/Sec,,,who suggested it be raised with the Director. 71 25X1 Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R001200070026-4 Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R001200070026-4 NEWSDAY (Garden City, N. Y.) 17 April 1978 ?JEEO !A'ruth, Sometimes a Peacetime, Richard Harris, a most. thoughtful) reporter, has just published an essay on Richard Helms. Belatedly, I have ,just read 'The First Casualty" by Phil- ip Knightley. The conjunction is un- nerving. - Knightley's book is a taut account of war correspondence from the Crimean War through Vietnam. Its title is tak- 'en from Sen. Hiram Johnson, who said in 1917: "The first casualty when war comes is truth." Knightley documents the proposition again and again and again. War correspondents' have historically been hobbled by military and governmental censorship, their own patriotism, and ignorance of the true shape of great events. Richard Harris's meditation, in The New Yorker, raises the disturbing pos- sibility that truth may be the first ca- sualty in peace as well as in war. _ Last Oct. 31, Helms, the former di- rector of the Central Intelligence Agency, appeared before Federal Dis- trict Judge Barrington D. Baker in Washington and pleaded nolo conten- dere to the charge that he had refused to answer material questions before the Senate Foreign Relations Commit- tee in appearances in. February and March of 1973. This charge was a mis- demeanor. Four days later, Baker fined Helms $2,000 (which was soon there- after raised by C4A,,cplleagues at a par- ty honoring Helms) and sentenced him to one year of unsupervised probation. Helms did not "refuse and fail" to' furnish information as the criminal in- formation alleged. He had furnished misinformation, lying like a trooper, when he denied that the CIA had fun-I neled money into Chile to try to keep' Salvador Allende Gossens, a democrat ic Marxist, from becoming presiden and, once he was elected, from govern ing his country. From 1969 to 1973 the CIA had invested $8 million in these, enterprises, as, ,Helms' successor hash since testified. President Carter's ';usti:yepLart Casualty ment had broken precedent to keep th press from learning in advance of Helms' Oct. 31 court appearance. Grif' fin Bell, -the attorney general, has. since contradicted Carters claim that the Helms deal was put together with- out Carter knowing anything about it. ' -And, as Harris has taken the trouble to .q 'demonstrate, virtually every journalis.? , tic organ in the country with anything approximating a national audience has agreed that letting Helms cop his plea was a wise act in the national interest. There had, of course; never been any. decision by the American public that Allende should be overthrown. -There has never been a true national debate on the issue. The decision seems to have been -made by Henry Kissinger- with the concurrence of Nixon. Almost about the case is this: "If we have an inner, secret government that cannot be controlled, has our political system been basically altered without our knowledge or approval'?" I wish he had spent more time on this question. It is the key to the situa. . tion. If Helms had no direct monetary or other mercenary interest in dump- ing Allende, he had an ideological in- terest, and others who concurred in his decision did have monetary interests. Harris notesthat,the-milita ..jwita that succeeded Allende (after he had died in the takeover) paid $125 milion to International Telephone and Tele. graph for a-telephone system that All lende had seized without compensa- tion. Dozens of other big corporations were threatened by Allende and re- everything the government has said on lieved by his death. The U.S. govern- the subject since can confidently be ment has since, in effect, reimbursed dismissed as- lies. I Chile's military govenment with mil- These lies protect two profoundly im--i lions in military and other aid, and in portant- decisions, the decision to get! credit. rid of Allende, the democratically, What, if anything, ITT was owed for elected chief of a sovereign state, and the decision to avoid accounting to Congress for the overthrow. The second is the more fundamental, for the ex- ecutive branch and the intelligence agencies it supervises are accountable to no one if not to Congress. If lying on the Helms scale is only a misdemeanor, deserving of a suspend- ed sentence and of a modest fine that Helms' old associates are proud to pay, then lying to Congress by a high execu- tive official is a less serious offense than stealing a filing cabinet. The Helms case is not like Water- gate. Helms did not -set about the overthrow of Allende for reasons of personal gain or aggrandizement. He { did not lie to Congress to save his own skin, for there was originally no issue of personal culpability or of criminal prosecution: Getting rid of Allende was government policy. He lied to protect the policy, which was still in effect when he testified. One of many( questions Harris asks the telephone system is a perfectly le- gitimate question. So is what role, if any, the United States should play in assisting ITT to obtain compensation. 'But these quesions have hardly arisen on the national agenda. Instead, the! U S. government cast its lot with those, who disliked Allende because of his politics and with those who had.Yvest- ments to lose if Allende prevailed. This decision, despite the vastness of f its consequences, was never publicly debated either. The U.S. role was de- nied even as it was being implemented. And it is still being denied, by an ad- ministration elected after explicitly re- jecting such interference in the affairs of other nations, Despite his eminence, i it is possible to we Helms as the fall guy in the scenario. He was following ,~ orders. But central to his defense, in -and out of court, is that some govern- ment officials have a larger obligation than truth-telling, even to the Con- gresss, and thus an obligation so large and unspeakable that lying and the evasion of accountability are warrant- ed in its execution. This is a stunning claim to find favor in a democracy in' time of peace. It raises unavoidably the Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R001$Q# 6,0Z &Alose interests are served I wby. federal~a~entaBlaced bove t} g law. NEV YORK MAGAZINE RT.ICLE AP ARE.Approved For Releasel70 7YD$-9'1A-RDP81 M00980R001 200070026-4 Don't Call Us, We'll You Several employment offices of a rather unusual nature have opened recently in New York. They cater to a distinctly special category of job seekers: former CIA an- alysts and agents who have been axed over the past few months by Admiral Stans- field Turner. Saudi Arabian government representatives quietly opened a small office in Manhattan and let it be known they were looking for security specialists to train Saudis in protecting oil, in- stallations. Meanwhile, over at the Iranian Consulate, an office has been set aside for discreet interviews with for- mer spooks who might be in- terested in training troops and SAVAK agents for the shah of Iran. Somewhere' else in the city, certain Rho- desians have recruited sev- eral former clandestine agents for work in paramilitary units now engaged in the guerrilla war against African nationalists. The Rhodesian recruiters call themselves the "Crippled Eagles "They are not listed in the phone book. Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R001200070026-4