ARE U.S. OFFICIALS COVERING FOR ANDROPOV?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000403950002-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 16, 2010
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: February 12, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/16: CIA-RDP90-00552R000403950002-0
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Are U.S. Officials
Covering for Andropov?
Rep. Larry McDonald (D.-Ga.) has called on`,
President Reagan, CIA Director William Casey.
and the Congress to investigate charges that U.S.
officials have discouraged American journalists
and Italian authorities from- investigating Soviet
involvement in.the plot to murder Pope John '
Paul II.
The charges were made by NBC correspondent
Marvin Kalb at the end of an updated repeat 9f the
program, "The Man Who Shot the Pope: A Study
in Terrorism," which aired January 25. Kalb said
CIA officials were trying to cover up the matter.
because evidence of KGB involvement in the plot
would "shatter hopes for detente, trade and arms
agreements" with the Soviets.
But the evidence, developed by NBC television,
Reader's Digest, and the Italian authorities, al-
ready implicates the Soviet Union in the attempted
assassination of the pope. According to Kalb,
the evidence shows that "the Russians hatched the
plot against the pope as one desperate way of con-
STAT
taming the crisis in Poland or, at a minimum, they
knew about it and did nothing to stop it."
Indeed, former Secretary of State Henry Kis-
singer and former National Security Adviser
Zbigniew Brzezinski have both said that the well-
established Bulgarian connection of Mehmet All
Agca, the man who shot the pope, leads directly to
the Soviet Union and dictator Yuri Andropov, who.
was then head of the KGB. "It had to be the
?6oviets," Kissinger said. `"The Bulgarians had no
interest in coming after the pope."
In a letter to President Reagan, Rep. McDonald
said, "In your most recent press conference, you,
were questioned about-the KGB connection, but.%
indicated that you had no more information on tbs
attack against the pope Shan did newsmen in the
audience. Frankly, one finds that hard to believC, ..
given ,:the resources of the CIA and other U.S.
iatelligeaoeagencies."
"O.e Matt ask," be west na to W,
"whether a deliberate t Is being nude
at the highest levelsof oarsovernmeat top.
. press the XGB's Involve:aent in the assassins-
lion attempt to preserve nonexistent `detente,'..
arms control talks and trade. -I sincerely hope
and pray that this is not the case."
McDonald requested that the President order
the CIA and the State Department to cooperate
fully with Italian authorities in their investigation
of the case. "Further," McDonald said, "I
respectfully ask that you immediately tell the
American people on nationwide television about
the evidence compiled to date, regarding the KGB
connection, and what steps the Administration is
taking in retaliation against the Soviets."
McDonald has also asked that CIA Director
William Casey respond to the charges of a cover-
up and that Rep. Edward P. Boland (D.-Mass.),
chairman of the House Intelligence Committee,
schedule public hearings on the matter.
Responding to Kalb's charges, the State Depart-
ment said, in part: "It is certainly pt United
States policy to discourage journalists or the Italian
authorities from investigating this case."
But a number of stories published after the
NBC report was aired strongly suggest that U.S.
officials are downplaying the evidence, for the
reasons that Kalb mentioned.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/16: CIA-RDP90-00552R000403950002-0