NEW CIA PRESSURE FOR SECRECY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100250017-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 11, 2010
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: April 13, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/11: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100250017-5
ARTICLE A~ ~"
ON PAGE
any in of rria i n as n proper y given a
o
a
ee
secrecy classification or any information that would because of adm.___
disclose sources and methods of intelligence "There is a perception, on.the part
collection. Nor did he say that, in practice, virtually sources that we may not he able to hold the line under
no one has received information from the CIA in-10 the Freedom of information Act," he said-"So fat, we
days have not lost a case. But if you are going to put your
k h l d b k rt th
t t
t
WASHINGTON - Adm. Stansfield Turner, Another adverse
director of the Central Intelligence. Agency, told force the relea
newspaper editors last week that the Soviet sources and m et
ambassador, under an American law, can ask for Turner, rat.,
information from CIA files and get a response within says the proble
reigi
10 days. si. minds of foreigt
what Turner did not say was that the CIA does not Surprisingly,
have to give the Soviet ambassador, or anyone else, had on
ecret
f security secret
f t'
t ti b
th
s
P e docu.-rent, but i
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
13 APRIL 1980
By Richard Badman { Last year,- a
at Iv Washin ton Bureau Chief make public tl
Post-1)i
and some members of Congress to exempt most of the
agency's files from--provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act. Other efforts are--under way to grant blanket
exemptions for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
and the Federal Trade Commission.
The Freedom of Information Act was enacted in
1966 and strengthened in 1974, at the height of the
Watergate scandal. It was intended to establish a
framework for giving citizens access to government
files. It -never has been popular with government
visnUng editors, was. part of a campaign by the CIA
s wt
e rose, o you wan
o an on cou
nec
Turner's remark,; possibly intended to shock the on
unpredictable judges and court procedures? Of course
not'.
A strong supporterof the Freedom of Information
Act, the privately financed Center for National
Security Studies, sees no. reason to doubt the CIA
contention that some friendly intelligence services
and sources are leery about cooperating with the CIA
because so much information has been made public
about the agency in the last few years -. in some
cases without the CIA's consent.
But, says the center in a report last week, the act is
not the leading cause of the problem. Other sources of
t the
A
t
form
io
s
agencies, although they generally have responded to I n ladei
,
other offi
als,
inten
se I
requests in good faith , while making full use of the. damage. actions against the CIA or individual
at
broad exemption provisions. I officials, memoirs written by former:: CIA officials,
A.......n ?{.o ....l.l:e. .~l:~..l..e........ ?l...s L....... x,.....1....7
from requests under the act are the CIA's spying on
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther. King, the agency's
wiretapping and mail-opening programs, aspects of
its Bay of Pigs fiasco, the agency's infiltration of
lawful political groups in the United States, its secret
behavior-control and drug-testing programs, and its
attempts to keep the Glomar Explorer incident out of
the press.
Now the pendulum has swung away from reform
toward a new emphasis on national security. The
drive to dismember the act has gained strength from
the humiliation of the U.S. defeat in Vietnam and
other more recent- foreign policy setbacks.
Turner, in his appearance before the editors, said
the agency was seeking only "limited relief" from the
Freedom of Information Act. His main point was that
foreign, intelligence agencies and prospective U.S'
undercover agents abroad see the act as a security
threat. "How do you persuade someone to risk his life for
our country if he fears that I may be required by law
to reveal his name in public?" Turner asked.: .
He did not dispute the fact that the working,of the,,
act never has forced the CIA to make public any
information that was classified or that would disclose
intelligence sources or methods.
and possible disclosures of information provided to
the Senate and House Oversight Committees, although
neither house has yet taken such action.
The report said the CIA had hurt its reputation for
protecting its agents by several recent instances. in
which it has pulled out of relationships and left agents
exposed.
For example, in the U.S. exodus from Vietnam in
1975, the 'CIA not only failed to. take along the
Vietnamese who had cooperated with "the agency
under a promise of protection, but it also left behind
records identifying them to Hanoi as CIA
collaborators, according to the report. It quoted
former. CIA agent Frank Snepp's- book,.: "Decent
Interval," as a source.
The, center's .report told how the. Freedom of
CDTT].IIJ EJJ
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/11 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000100250017-5