U.S. BACKING OFF ON PRESS WARNINGS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505380018-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 12, 2010
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: May 30, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/12 :CIA-RDP90-005528000505380018-3
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE _-1---
BALTIMORE SUN
30 May 1986
U:S. backing off on press w
Justice, White House shun issue
J Hy Lyk Deoo>titon sad R~ob~rt Tfmbee~
5 Washitrgtotr Bateau d The 9uo
WASE>IIVGTON -The Juatloe Department. keepatg
itself out of the Campal~i d the aattoa's top fatdll~peloe
afticial to atop fife peas from publlaWrig or er+~ spssu-
latirrg about ~ecrtmet>t aecnh. hr no plans - a yet
- to proseettte any rreers aeg~nfaratbn,
The White House. whlk acholag the aAlcW's w-arrting
to reporters. alw V trying to keep the lssste at arm's
tryftrg~W assess the natues ~ threat natlorral
dome rt~t~ by P~ drelouaes sad erhat should be
Oflldals at the Jurlloe Dap~it, efi11e taldag case
not to discredit the efforts of CU Di-
William J. Caney, say they are
baffled about some of the tactics to
his ht~ly visible campaign - espe-
cially is unusual warning Wednes-
day to reporters covering the Balti-
more trial of an accused spy, Ronald
W. Pelton.
Their strongest effort, it appears,
is to make tt clear that the depart-
ment is not involved. '"This is not our
turf, this Is not our baWwick," saki
one department aide.
"We are obviously a critical play-
er" in the government-wide effort to
crack down on the leaking of govern-
ment secrets, a department aide
said. Bui he agreed cautkxraly with a
reporter's suggestion that the de- .
partment generally does not think
much of the idea of going after a
news organization in a criminal
cax.
Although he stressed that there
was no firm, general policy against
starting a criminal cax against a
newspaper or broadcast outlet and
that the department wW "take each
cax at a time" when secrets have
been published, he said that "an in-
ference" could be drawn from the
faM that no case has yet been start-
ed.
So far as is known, no federal
~ssocu-~ anESs
WII,LIA1[ J. CA8>sY
Regrets choice of words
prosecutors or grand ~uriea have
even been asked to look into any
specific instance of publishing x-
creta.
The department's top official on
criminal matta'a, Assistant Attornry
General Stephen S. Trott, has saki
several times that he belltvp federal
laws designed to protect official x?
crets could be used against news or-
ganizations, if a proper cax came
~Trghe aim appears to be to leave
the option open, perhaps as a kind of
check upon news organizations'
willingness to receive government
secrets from official sources.
At the Justice Department. the
inclination now fa to support efforts
in the g ernment to find govern-
ment at~a~ la or empk-yep who leak
secrets to the press, and have them
fired. One department aide noted
that his agency thinks that the State
Department and the Defenx Do-
partrtrecrt "took the right approach"
when they recently fired two skies
for having leaked to the press.
At the White House. aspokes-
man. Fdw-atd P. DJee+eparr, publicly
expressed support yesterday for Mr.
a~warning to the press on the
However. a senior akk said that
while there was a consensus among
President Reagan'a tap advisers that
unauthorized disclosures in the na-
tional security area are a problem,
the seriouanesa ~ the problem had
not yet been determined. He said
there was even leas a~eement
among senior skies on what to do
about the leaks if and when it is
established that the situation re-
quires official action.
Regarding Mr. Casey's activities.
which he referred to as the "Caxy
initiative." the official said it would
be "premature" to say how much
support the CIA chief had within the
White House.
"There's not universal endorx-
ment," the official said. "But that
doesn't mean there won't be. People
are open and waling to listen."
On that same point, another se-
nior Reagan aide said it would be
correct to describe the White House
as taking an arm's-length position.
but added, "I think it would be mis-
taken to think that Casey's position
is without support here."
The second official, who said he
personally was convinced that the
administration had a serious prob-
lem with unauthorized disclosures,
was asked whether he would go
along with the creation of a special
FBl unit to ferrt out leakers, a sug-
gestion said to be contained in a list
~ P~~ actbns oomplled by a Na-
tional Security Coundl staffer.
"I think we ought to ...use what-
ever legitimate methods and means
we have to run them down and get
these people out of here." he replied.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/12 :CIA-RDP90-005528000505380018-3