TESTIMONY REGARDING UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE GIVEN BEFORE A HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP86B00337R000100150003-5
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
S
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 21, 2016
Document Release Date: 
October 21, 2008
Sequence Number: 
3
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
March 14, 1984
Content Type: 
MEMO
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PDF icon CIA-RDP86B00337R000100150003-5.pdf42.34 KB
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Approved For Release 2008/10/21 :CIA-RDP86B00337R000100150003-5 DDS~T-208/84 14 MAR i?84 MEMORANDUM FOR: FROM: ice o egis ative Liaison R. E. Hineman Deputy Director for Science and Technology SUBJECT: Testimony Regarding Unauthorized Disclosure Given Before a House Subcommittee 1. I have read with alarm your memorandum asking us to review the unclassified summaries of examples o eats use in Congressional testimony on 7 February. I believe that the public release of such inf ormation would be a dumb thing to do. 2. If we were to go ahead and provide such examples to the Congress to be used in unclassified testimony, the press would inevitably make inquiries to Congressional staffers asking what each one of these examples is all about. Even if the staffers believe they are 'n answering such inquiries, the utterance of just one word could enable a 25X1 clever reporter to piece together the entire picture of a classified and sensitive operation. This, in effect, would amount to "leakage by successive approximation." Furthermore, the public release of such information could be cited by future leakers as justification for even more leaks of classified inf ormation on these subjects. I do not see how it would be in the best interest of the U.S. Government to permit this to happen. 3. I believe Congress is just as concerned about leaks as we are and would accept my reasoning on this issue. We have provided the Hill with background information on past leaks. I believe what we have already done is sufficient and comprehensive enough. . E. Hineman S E C R E T Approved For Release 2008/10/21 :CIA-RDP86B00337R000100150003-5