INTELLIGENCE PANEL CONSIDERS A NEW PROBE OF MONDALE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000504840007-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 11, 2010
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: September 10, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/11: CIA-RDP90-00552R000504840007-5
a new probe of Mond
Ex-Carter official tied to loss of spy
NEW YORK TRIBUNE
10 September 1984
teffigence panel ~ cons
Political interference
cited in 1980 inquiry,
By Bill Gertz
NEW YORK TRIBUNE STAFF
01984 New York Tribune
WASHINGTON - The Senate
Intelligence Committee recently
weighed a congressional request to
reopen its ultra-sensitive 1980
probe of Walter Mondale's top for-
eign policy adviser.
The committee denied the
request despite charges that the
investigation was obstructed by
political tampering and unwilling-
ness to air explosive, top-secret
information, according to intelli-
gence sources and congressional
documents made available to the
New York Tribune.
The investigation 4 years ago
reportedly cleared the Mondale
aide, David Aaron, of charges he
revealed information that led to the
loss of a deep-cover American spy
working in the Soviet Foreign Min-
istry in MMoscow.
At the time, Aaron was Pres-
ident Carter's deputy national
security adviser. He is currently a
close adviser on foreign affairs to
the Democratic presidential nomi-
nee.
Aaron, in a telephone interview,
would not comment on the allega-
tion. He confirmed that there was
an "extensive investigation;' but he
denied that it was "an investigation
of me" He referred questions to
the office of Sen. Barry Goldwater,
R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee.
"He's the man who made the
decision;" Aaron said of the com-
mittee's recent determination not l
to reopen the 1980 probe. Gold-
water could not be reached for'
comment.
A spokesman for the Mondale-
Ferraro campaign refused to com-
ment on the report. Aaron, who has
been described as Mondale's most
David Aaron, left, was investigated by the Senate Intelligence Committee, u%
chaired by Sen. Barry Goldwater, after the loss of a key CIA agent in Moscow.
important foreign policy adviser,
earlier served as his staff assistant
on the Senate Intelligence Commit-
tee when it was headed by the late
Sen. Frank Church. He recently
returned from Israel where,
according to a report in the New
York Times, Aaron attempted to
improve both Mondale's and his
own relations with the Israelis.
In October 1983, the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence
was first asked to provide records
of the Aaron investigation by the
House Post Office and Civil Serv-
ice subcommittee on human
resources. A letter from subcom-
mittee Chairman Don Albosta,
D-Mich.; and the subcommittee's
minority leader Dan Crane, R-Ill.,
requested records "relating to the
possible compromise of highly
classified information" involving
"high-level personnel of the
National Security Council at that
time [1980]:'
Report on leaks
In May, the subcommittee.
released its report on unauthorized
disclosures during the 1980 elec-
tion, specifically covering the
transfer of former president
Jimmy Carter's debate notes to the
Reagan campaign. The leaks were
traced to Carter's National Secu-
rity Council (NSC).
According to congressional
sources close to the investigation,
"numerous allegations" of Carter
NSC leaks during the subcommit-
tee probe were ignored. The sub-
committee's final report was
described as "highly partisan" and
incomplete. The report mentioned
Aaron as the person responsible
for preparing the foreign policy
section of the purloined Carter
briefing book.
A House staff member who pur-
sued the NSC leaks on behalf of ,
Crane was told by Intelligence
Committee staff director Rob Sim-
mons last June 22 that committee
records were "too extensive to per-
mit perusal -by.6utsiders;' includ-
ing investigators with top-level
security clearances. Simmons did
not see the subcommittee's Octo-
. ber request from Albosta and
Crane, sources said.
Intelligence Colmittee Chair-
man Goldwater, in a reply to Crane
pnt4'nu a
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