SHIFTING THE ATTACK ON LEAKS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303560069-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 1, 2010
• Sequence Number: 69
• Publication Date: May 19, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/01 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000303560069-1
AKTIULt w I 1 Mt
ON PAGE 4W- - 19 May 1986
ers
o t ose Though Section 798 specif-
ho are accused of pub- ically forbids the publica-
ishing the leaks. In a tion of secrets. it has never
eeting with Deputy At- CIA's William Casey before been invoked
orney General D. Lowell against newspapers or
ensen two weeks ago. CIA Director Wil- j magazines.
.... aiw~K anlrte?
From the l munications intelligence.
eak
t h
"?? .. aa. III IVI Ills llun
At least one top Ad- about U.S. ciphers. code
nist rebels in Angola and "?"` . 3aaLUIC III4KCS It It-
s ti rebels legal for anyone to disclose
.. s.wc.
plan to provide Stinger raz-vu into
law in 1951, the so-called
le edl ' 7 FF . uuy uab in aorta
g y giving reporters de- Section 798 of Title 18 of
tail, ^f - A
... Pula. uc Nlvacwl-
magazine. Three weeks
Shifting the Attack on Leaks
The CIA director hints at prosecution of news organizations
't is axiomatic that every Washington collection operation that the U.S. has con-
Administration is upset by leaks to the ducted against the Soviet Union. Intelli-
press, but the Reagan team has seemed gence-community officials believe that
especially touchy about them. During the revelation of the details will jeopardize
past year the Administration has begun to the operation. Although Bradlee says that
put some muscle behind its temper. In he remains unpersuaded that the story
October the Justice Department success- poses a threat to national security, he so
fully prosecuted Samuel Loring Morison, far has postponed its publication.
a naval intelligence analyst, for selling Casey told Bradlee that if the Post
U.S. satellite photos of a Soviet aircraft printed its story, he would recommend
It is not clear how serious the CIA
chief is about bringing the Post and other
news organizations to court: not the least
of Casey's difficulties. of course. is that
many of the classified leaks he deplores
ngton Posr and forgot t h
to release t the trig-
ger. says an agency official. "It is not a
CIA-vs.-the-press campaign."
Even if Casey persists. the final say
on prosecution belongs to Attorney
General Edwin Meese. At the moment.
mainly, and in great detail, -f, i
r
with a secret intelligence- Post Editor Bradlee
Washington Times, TIME
and Newsweek 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
P
In his talk with Bradlee. the CIA direc-
tor did not specify what stories published
by the other news organizations aroused
his anger. The New York Times. the
.
intelligence-gathering operations. Casey come from the Government. 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- 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 Wash-
ya calls its diplomatic missions) that the i
US had interce red
prosecuting five news organizations-the
Washington Post, the Washington Times,
the New York Times, TIME and News-
week-for printing details about U.S
Justice Department law-
yers are cool to the idea.
"We're not hot to trot on
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 Sen~ator_P_atnck
l ahy 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." -By lams K.1y.
R.patt d by Am. Constawe
and GI~!~!a Wishb~fan
V",
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/01 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000303560069-1