CONGRESS, AGENCIES CLASH OVER COUNTERINTELLIGENCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000403940045-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 22, 2010
• Sequence Number: 45
• Publication Date: August 4, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

'STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000403940045-4
WASHINGTON POST
4 August 1985
Congress, Agencies Clash
Over Counterintelligence.
Lawmakers Call Administration Efforts Weak
By Chsdss R. Bsbooc
w.r:w. neee west wets.
. I n the spring of 1984, Sen. Mal-
colm Wallop (R-Wyo.) received a
certificate naming him an "honorary
counterintelligence specialist" in
the Central Intelligence Agency.
The award was said to be in recog-
nition of his efforts to establish a
core of career
counterintelligence (CD specialists
in the agency.
Wallop. then chairman of the
Senate intelligence budget subcom-
mittee, was neither honored nor
amused
'The CIA ridiculed the career
specialist by giving me the award,*
be said in an interview. "It was de-
signed in total cynicism, with little
boys laughing behind doors."
So he wrote, and Congress ap-
proved. language in the classified
' intelligence agencies' authorization
bill report for fiscal 1985 requiring
the CIA to reestablish Cl as a ca-
reer service. It still has not been
done, he and other intelligence
sources say.
Doing something about counter-
intelligence has been a hot topic
since accusations in May that al-
leged spy John A. Walker Jr. and
others for years had passed U.S.
Navy secrets to the Soviets. To
Wallop and other critics, the Rea-
gan administration's inaction on the
"CI specialist" mandate reflects a
broader lack of comnmitment to im-
proving the nation's ability to pro-
tect secrets from foreign agents.
"This country," Wallop said, "has
virtually sero counterintelligence
capability."
He argued that the CIA's coun-
terintelligence system is inadequate
because the officers now working in
it will someday rotate out to work
for other officers whom they may
have investigated or whose oper-
ations they may have challenged.
The result, Wallop said, is a too Ca-
sual effort. in which the tough ques-
tions are not asked about the cred-
ibdity of agents, operations or even
technical systems.
Although few others are so crit-
ical, interviews with current and
former intelligence officials suggest
that the Reagan administration's
strong words about counterintelli-
gence have often been matched
only by half-steps.
President Reagan said in a radio
speech in June that "we've devel-
oped a list of things to be accom-
plished in the counterintelligence
and security areas." He has signed
two secret directives to study and
act on the counterintelligence prob-
lem, but little of substance has been
accomplished because of bureau-
cratic resistance. several sources
said. A separate directive to re-
vamp personnel security policies
has been languishing without action
for more than a year. .
Funding for more FBI counter-
intelligence agents-who are re-
sponsible for counterespionage op-
erations in the United States-has`
been added to recent budgets, but
only over the objections of admin-
istration budget officers. There are
now about 1,200 Cl agents in the
FBI. sources said. But they are still
outnumbered, and squads of inex-
perienced clerks have been used for
years to help keep track of potential
foreign agents in at least four major
cities.
Administration spokesmen de-
clined to speak on the record about
the counterintelligence issue. But
several members of Congress did.
Rep. Lee Hamilton(D-Ind.). chair
man of the Permanent Select Com-
mittee on Intelligence, said "some-
times it takes a strong blow across
the snout." such as the Walker can.
to get
gress
iticia
spondit
The
intelli
nation'
tions a
etratio
counte
of spy
trying
cruitin
in plac
The between the CIA, which keeps
track of foreign intelligence agents
overseas, and the FBI. which does
the same in the United States.
Hamilton and Sen. Patrick J.
-Leahy (D-Vt.), vice chairman of the
Select Committee on Intelligence.
said long-term solutions are ? re-
quired, in addition to the increased
use of polygraphs and the imposing
the death penalty on military per-
sonnel for peacetime espionage, the
two measures passed by Congress
so far.
Hamilton said the least expensive
and most important step to protect
national secrets would be enforcing
the "need to know" policy. "A secu-
rity clearance shouldn't entitle any-
one to see- anything. Someone
should have access only if he needs
it for his job.-
A theme in much of the criticism
is that counterintelligence is not
viewed as a path to career promo-
tion at the CIA or FBI, or the State
Department, where security has
long been a low priority.
Rep. Dave McCurdy (D Okla.).
chairman of the House intelligence
oversight subcommittee that has
been holding closed hearings on
counterintelligence, said he feels
the biggest security problem is at
the State Department. He said CIA
Director William J. Casey had ac-
cepted a recommendation by an
internal CIA commission to give
more independence to the Cl staff
there. "It's fine-tuning at CIA."
McCurdy said. "It's trying to stop a
flood at State."
He cited recent reports of
bugged typewriters in the U.S. Em-
bassy in Moscow and the hiring of
WW
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000403940045-4