SHIFTING THE ATTACK ON LEAKS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303560068-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 1, 2010
• Sequence Number: 68
• Publication Date: May 19, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/01 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000303560068-2
ARTICLE
ON PAGE-944 -
19 May 1986
Shifting the Attack on Leaks
The CIA director hints at prosecution of news organizations
Keek-for printing details about U.S. many of the classified leaks he deplores
intelligence-gathering operations. Casey come from the Go%ernment. including his
subsequently that day met with Washing- own department. According to agency of-
ton Post Executive Editor Benjamin ficials. Casey does not truly contemplate
Bradlee and Managing Editor Leonard bringing suit against all five newspapers
Downie. He told them he was considering and magazines. but only cited them to
asking the Justice Department to take the Bradlee to underline his concern about
Post to court for. among other things. re- I publication of the Woodward piece "It
porting on messages between Tripoli and seems as if Bill Casey was shooting with
the East Berlin "people's bureau" (as Lib- an automatic weapon against the W'ash-
ya calls its diplomatic missions) that the ington Post and forgot to release the trig-
U S had intercepted. ger." says an agency official. At is not a
In his talk with Bradlee. the CIA direc- CIA-vs.-the-press campaign ''
tor did not specify what stories published Even if Casey persists. the final say
by the other news organizations aroused on prosecution belongs to Attorney
his anger. The New York Times, the General Edwin Meese. At the moment.
W h
L
gin, a ost and other
Washington Post. the Washington Times. I news organizations to court. not the least
that the paper be prosecut-
ed under the "intelligence
ministration officials. Ca-
sey apparently has in mind
Section 798 of Title 18 of
the U.S. Code. Passed into
law in 1951. the so-called
COMINT statute makes it il-
legal for anyone to disclose
classified information
about U.S. ciphers, code
breaking and other com-
munications intelligence.
Though Section 798 specif-
ically forbids the publica-
tion of secrets, it has never
before been invoked
against newspapers or
liam Casey discussed the posaG[y 5' It is not clear how serious the CIA
prosecuting five news organizations-the chief is about brin
k P
collection operation that the L' S. has con-
ducted against the Soviet Union Intelli-
gence-community officials believe that
revelation of the details will jeopardize
the operation. Although Bradlee sass that
he remains unpersuaded that the story
poses a threat to national security, he so
far has postponed its publication.
Casey told Bradlee that if the Post
printed its story, he would recommend
who are accused of pub-
lishing the leaks. In a
meeting with Deputy At-
torney General D. Lowell
carrier to a British defense
magazine. Three weeks
ago. Assistant Under Sec-
retary of Defense Michael
Pillsbury was fire or a -
legedly giving reporters de-
tails of an Administration
plan to provide Stinger
missiles to anti-Commu-
nist rebels in Angola and
Afghanistan.
At least one top Ad-
ministration official now
wants the attack shifted
from the leakers to those
't is axiomatic that every Washington
Administration is upset by leaks to the
press, but the Reagan team has seemed
especially touchy about them. During the
past year the Administration has begun to
put some muscle behind its temper. In
October the Justice Department success-
fully prosecuted Samuel Loring Morison,
a naval intelligence analyst. for selling
U.S. satellite photos of a Soviet aircraft
with a secret intelligence- Post Editor Bradlee
as ington Times. TIME
and Vewsweek were all
mystified when the Post
printed its account of the
Casey-Bradlee conversa-
tion last Wednesday.
What Casey did make
plain to Bradlee was that
the reason he wanted to
talk with him was less to
complain about past stories
than to head off one as yet
unpublished. The Post
planned to print the story
in question, written by As-
sistant Managing Editor
Bob Woodward, two days
later. The story deals
Justice Department law-
yers are cool to the idea.
this thing." says one Jus-
tice official. That lack of
enthusiasm is mirrored on
Capitol Hill by lawmak-
ers who deal regularly
with the CIA. Says Demo-
cratic Senator Patrick
j.Wy of Vermont. vice
chairman of the Select
Committee on Intelli-
gence: "When you go af-
ter press organizations,
you're treating the symp-
toms rather than the
problem." -ft jaws Kelly.
Reported by Aire Constable
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/01 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000303560068-2