CIA, JUSTICE DEPT. DIFFER ON DATA DISCLOSURE CURB

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404030024-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 31, 2010
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: January 31, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/31 :CIA-RDP90-005528000404030024-6
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THE WASHI~GTOiV POST
31 January 1980
By Geor^e Lardner Jr.
\~'s_ :inaton ?ostSwtf tvrte_r
The CIr\ opened ; a congressional
drive to regain its Cold?tt'ar'vigor yes-
terday and was promptly chided-by_
tiie Justice Department among others
-for beginnin ; with a bill that may
be unconstitutional.
Tite intramural bickering within they
Carter administration came to light at
a hearing before the .House -Intelli-
gence Committee on a bill thai would
make it a crime to disclose informa-
tion-even when obtained from public
sow?ces-that serves to identify U.S.
intelligence o p~e r a.t y e s working,
.abroad. _ __ : , .~
CI:\ Deputy Director ~Fraiik C:' Cary,
lucci acknowledged that the proposaF'
could under .certain .circumstances
:outlativ the publication--on unclassified ;
information obtained 'from unclassi-
.fled sources. But he insisted that the
measure had been carefully drafted
and described it as essential ?`to the
maintenance.'of~ an"effective foreign.
intelligence service "
' Voicing the =Justice Department's
reservations, Associate Deputy Actor-
ney General Robert L. heuch warned
that the bill would have "a chilling ef-
iect" on freedom of speech. He stop-
.pad short of flatly labeling the meas-
ure unconstitutional but other critics,
outside the government, were more
outspoken. - , ... .- .. ~?
The hearing reflected the start of a
determined drive.by the CIA to gain a
freer hand for its activities' on ..the
heels of the crisfs-in Iran -and the So-
vlet invasion of Afghanistan. After
-years of discomfiture brought on by
congressional investigations of the
mid-1970, the agency is pressing fora
'greater measure of secrecy- and "oper-
atiorial fPexibility;' including repeal of
current legislative' controls of its co-
vert operations. ~ ~~?- -
milder `vers`$on of; the so-called
~elligence ~, Identtttes - Protection
.Act"_ aired before the FIouse commit-.
tee is expected to .be included in the
'administration's lobe-delayed charter .
'for the CIA..biembers of .the Senate
_~ntelligence Committee met at the J
tiVhite Houses with President. Carter I)
'yesterday, to' discuss the~? omnibus
.measure-, and,.:. according, to-? Sen:l
Charles ~ tiIC.tilathias "Jr. ~ ; (R-iVid ),
reached "a' very large measure of~
agreement =on.outstandIng. issues..
The charter proposal,.which may be j
introduced nest..-week,would also. j
make it a crime to disclose the names !
of CIA operatives or.sources, but only'j
for past or present government ;ffi-?
. vials who. have had "authorized" ac.~
cess to such information. The CIA bill!
'would' also provide for-the prosecu-~
tion and conviction of outsiders,. such
as -journalists, wha make such infor-
mation public if the government can
.show they intended to :`impair or im-
? pedethe foreign intelligence activities
of the tinted States." ,
Under:questionin; by Rep. Robert
11icClory (R-Ill.).. Cari;.icci said he
thought it vital to~siibject .outsiders to
prosecutions.'. "It~ is imperative," he ~
testified, "that a .message be sent that
the unauthorized disclosure 'of intelli-
;gence identities is intolerable."
' -The main targets of `.he proopsal
are avowed anti-CIA'publications such
as the. Covert Action Information
Bulletin and Counterspy, which regu-
larly publish the names of CIA station
chiefs and officers working abroad.:
But the- Justice Department empha-
sized that. the impact would be muci-'
broader.
The measure the CIA .wants, intro-
duced by all 14 members of the House
.Intelligence Committee last fa'l,
"would cover disclosures of publicly
available information, made by ordi- i
nary citizens who claim no' special e:c
'peruse in intelii~ence affairs ai:d
have not -held special positions of
trust nor associa?ed with others who
hare," I~euch testified.'
He said -that even "conversational
speculation about whether;, foreign of-.
ficials may have been aCIA -source
and tivhether we nays covert. oprr:~
'tives m~ country '~ could come chili
singly close to criminality+"-.under th~r
::terms' of "the bill: ~He s~iid journalivi.
;;could alsq~find.-~ctZtical stc?i?ies.or eve~,'
;remarks about-?~tile'-EI:\ used against
`.`tli~iri:~rater'at 3 ~clm7nal"triat'as evi
dence.of'?an ' Fn.c:nt to `impede' f ~r-
seign intelligencc'arti4ities "::~_ .
,~ ? '.Carlucci ~ sou;;a_ to' emphasize -the
='ilamage :done , by naming names. ;\s
former ambassauor to?-Portugal, he
said tie was iri Lisbon several year; '~?
ago when a "so-:ailed expose" of the
CIa personnel ,in the U.S_ Embassy
there came complete with names, ad-
dresses and: even directions .such as
`.`second apartment to the right as yon
get. off th@ :elevator." _ _., _ ,,. ,,
"It vas a clear incitement to' vio-
lence," Carlucci protested: "lVe had to
move people -'out of the country.
Sources were .-hying up" ?
In? an-,exchange with Rep. Wyche
Fowler ~"(D-Ga.), Carlucci said "it `
would be -virtually impossible" 'to
prosecute a reporter from, say, The
1:'ashington Post or The New York
Times-because of the difficulty of
proving intent-"unless t}:e journalist
went around town boasting he was on
a_vendetta against the agency:"
Keuch obsen?ect, however, that "the
I~ irrst. r\mendment is intended to, pro-,
tect a wide ranee o[ people, far he=
~.~-ond"The 1~'ashington:Post and The'
New~York Times." .- , _? ? :..,
Carlucci maintained that ?it takes
"specialized knowledge and=substa,~=?
tial effort" to dean the identities of
CIA personnet i'com publicly available
documents--such as old State Depart-
ment biographic resisters (the new
ones; are classified}-but other wit
riesses such as American Civil Liber=
ties Union spokesman R4orton Halpe-
rin said this was far easier to do-.than.
.Carlucci suggested.
IVew York lawyer Floyd Abrams,
-who represented The yew lock Times
in the Pentagon Papers case; attacked.
the bill as "flatly unconstitutional" in
its efforts to subject outsiders, includ--
~ing members of the press, to criminal
penalties. He said every newspaper
.that printed the name of U2 spy plane-
pilot'.Francis Gary Powers in 1960
when he was shot down by the Rus:
signs but before the White :Iouse ac-.
knowled~ed he workev for the govern:
ment would have Seen subject to pros-
ecution if the bill had'b_een law- back.~~
then,-... ? ..:.+'. ? .:.-~f~.?~,,'
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/31 :CIA-RDP90-005528000404030024-6