CASEY ACKNOWLEDGES BACKLOG IN SECURITY RECHECKS FOR INTELLIGENCE WORKERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404660012-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 29, 2010
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: May 30, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/06/29: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404660012-0
ASSOCIATED PRESS
30 May 1986
CASEY ACKNOWLEDGES BACKLOG IN SECURITY RECHECKS FOR INTELLIGENCE WORKERS
BY '1ICHAEL J. SNIFFEN
WASHINGTOW
CIA Director William Casey acknowledges that, despite rising concern over
intelligence s, every U.S. intelligence agency he oversees is behind
schedule in reinvestigating its employees for security risks.
Casey blamed a recent spate of intelligence leaks an "a breakdown in
discipline in the government, primarily." But he said to solve the problem
officials need for news organizations to exercise restraint in publishing
secrets leaked to them, while the government tries to get its awn house in
order.
Casey spoke with The Associated Press in a unique joint interview at CIA
headquarters on Thursday. Appearing with him were Lt. n
director of the National Security Agency, and CIA Deputy Di ecaorRob
Gates. ert M, ,J
During the interview, the..officials played down their recent threats of
criminal prosecution against news organizations which print secrets about the
gathering of communications intelligence and even backed off slightly from a
warning they had issued only the night before to reporters covering the
espionage trial of former NSA communications expert Ronald Pelton.
Casey said, "We recognize that the first line of defense is to increase
discipline within government itself, to control the flow of sensitive
information within the government."He was asked whether the U.S. intelligence
agencies he supervises as director of central intelligence, which includes
virtually all of them, were years behind schedule in conducting routine r rew
polygraph tests and background checks of~their employees.
"I think they're behind schedule, yeah. But it varies how far," Casey said.
Odom responded: "That's the kind of question I don't want to pursue."Last
year, the government admitted in federal court that Larry Wu-tai Chin, a Chinese
communist spy inside CIA for three decades, had taken only one polygraph
test after he was employed, although CIA tries to redo them every five years.
Chin passed the test, even though he had amassed extensive personal holdings
that could have been picked up by a reinvestigation.
Nevertheless, Casey said, "We're adding resoures right along. Lt's a long
process. You've got to train polygraphers."The Pentagon, which trains the
largest number of government polygraph operators, has testified that it can only
manage to conduct 3,500 additional tests each year. There are 4.3 million
federal employees with access to classified information.
"It's not something we can do overnight," Gates said. "But efforts are under
way."Casey said he and Odom had taken extraordinary steps in the last several
weeks to dissuade news organizations from publishing intelligence secrets
because: "Every method we have of obtaining intelligence our agents, our
relationships with other intelligence services, our photographic, our
electronic, our communications capabilities nave been damaged. Everyone of
them has been severely damaged by disclosures of sensitive information that lets
our adversaries defeat those capabilities and to literally take them away from
US.
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"This is costing the taxpayers billions and billions of dollars and, more
importantly, Americans' and our national security are at risk ."Casey and Gates
both said there were agents who had not been heard from after their
intelligence-gathering operations had been disclosed in this country. Tht-y
declined to provide details.
Complaining that news organizations had unfairly accused the government ?f
trying to restrict freedom of the press, Gates described what the intelligence
officials were seeking.
"What we're after is . an acceptance of the notion that the media does nave
a responsibility to the country to be careful about these kinds of things.
"And second, to convey to you all that when you hear these things which we
are trying to stop coming out of the government
consult with us. Hopefully if it is a serious problem we can persuadeigouon
use it at all. But if you insist on going ahead-... to try to develo y of `o
conveying what you want to say that minimizes the damage and the risk towourof
sources."The interview came as administration sources, insisting on anony
mit
described the Justice Department as extremely reluctant to comply with Case ys
recent request that NBC News be prosecuted for reporting that Pelton told the
Soviet Union about an expensive technical method of eavesdropping involving the
use of American submarines.
The Justice Department has used the law only'
against government employees who
spied and never against a news organization, and the sources said Justice
believed it would be very difficult to convict a news organization.
A day earlier, Casey and Odom had cautioned reporters at the Pelton trial in
Baltimore against speculation and reporting details beyond the information
actually released at trial."Legal experts inside an: outside the rgovernmE.nt
quickly pointed out that the government had no power to regulate "speculation"
by news organizations.
Although they complained about the criticism of their statement, both Casey
and Odom tempered the remarks a bit on Thursday.
"If I had it to do over again, I might riot use that word,"Casey said. "I
might use 'extrapolation." 'Odom added, "There's nothing in there that says we,r
going to try to prosecute anybody based on speculation."White House spokesman
Edward Djer'ejian told reporters today, "Speculation is a very loose term and in
no way do we mean to imply by the use of speculation prior press censorship or
in any way infringing on the freedom of the press to report information and
?vents. I do 39ree that a better word than speculation Could have been
found."Casey ini Odom were asked why in the Pelton trial the government
attempting to rrotect information that is widely known to U.S. reporters and
widely belie,ec '_o be known to the Soviet Union such as the wiretapping by
U.S. agents if _elepthones at the Soviet Embassy here.
Odom said tine government was faced with the danger of giving up a series of
seemingly innocuous pieces of information "fact by fact until you cross through
the line without ever knowing it, and the accumulation of facts adds up to a nt~,
body of information."
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