STICKS, STONES, AND SOMETIMES WORDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000200920003-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 19, 2012
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: March 13, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000200920003-9
AfdT1d.EAFrrNEW YO kK DAILY NEWS
ow1`. ' C._-.M 13 parch 1987
Sticks, stones, and sometimes words
I DOUBT
there is any-
thing one can't
safely say
about the Pres-
ident of the
United States.
Safely say, that
is, without fear
of adverse le-
gal consequences.
The February issue of the Columbia
Journalism Review carries a fascinating
piece. Its author is identified as follows:
"David Atlee Phillips was editor and
publisher o The South Pacific Mail, in
Santiago, Chile, when he was recruited
by the CIA in 1950. He served with the
agency for 25 years; at retirement he was
chief of Latin American and Caribbean
Operations."
Now Phillips became in 1975 a "public
figure." On his resignation, he founded
the Association of Former Intelligence
Officers, aad.toured theeountry speaking
and? - ritiug about thQ.need.for_arobust.
intelligence service. He became a public
figure.
A few years later, a gentleman called
Anthony Summers wrote a book, pub-
lished by Gollancz in London, called
"Conspiracy." One of its theses was that a
man called Maurice Bishop conspired
with Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas shortly
before the assassination of John F. Ken-
nedy. And guess who "Maurice Bishop"
was alleged to be in real life? Yawp: Da-
vid Atlee Phillips.
Not only was there now a book press-
ing that thesis, the thesis was retailed in
the London-based Observer, a newspa-
per of international standing. And
McGraw-Hill published an American edi-
tion of "Conspiracy."
Things were warming up for Phillips. A
press conference was called in Washing-
ton on June 25,1980, convened by one Dr.
William F. Pepper, who was introduced
as a "distinguished lawyer, psychologist
and educator." The thesis he presented.
David Atlee Phillips; had manipulated
the..ixxxden .i--'Weski toff.-of 5alvado0
Allende's former foreign minister, Orlan-
do Letelier, and that Phillips had pro-
ceeded to steal documents from the dead
man's briefcase, rejiggered them for dis-
information purposes, and distributed
them to the world.
In November 1950, Washingtonian
magazine published an article, "Who
Killed JFK?" The thesis? Phillips was
"Maurice Bishop," the master planner of
the assassination.
That did it, and Phillips sued, and lost,
on the grounds that, as a public figure, he
needed to prove actual malice. Needed
to prove, that is, that all those people
really knew that he WASN'T Maurice
Bishop, President killer.And then Law-
rence Hill & Co. of Westport, Conn., pub-
lished a book called "Death in Washing-
ton," written by two free-lancers who
were present at Dr. Pepper's press con-
ference and were carried away by the
thesis. Henry Holt published "Reason-
able Doubt" by Henry Hurt, complete
with .tlie,Maurice.Bjshop equals David.
Atlee Phillips ykrh. And declined to per
mit Phillips to write 2,000 words to ap-
pear at the end of the book.
Things looked pretty black, but in Feb-
ruary 1986 there was a ray of light. The
authors and publisher of "Death in
Washington" published a handsome re-
traction, and paid over money (the
amount unspecified) to Phillips. Nobody
has succeeded in finding Dr. Pepper af-
ter four years of effort In London a year
later, the High Court announced a reso-
lution of a libel suit against The Observ-
er: a retraction and substantial damages.
Phillips ends his account by asking,
"Whatever happened to the Sigma Delta
Chi Code of Ethics and its `The news me-
dia should not communicate unofficial
charges affecting reputation or moral
character without giving the accused a
chance to reply'?"
ONE SUPPOSES, resignedly, that
there are those who believe that
the CIA put Phillips up to the dirty
business of resurrecting Sigma Delta
Cks,s Code+of Ethics i i- i ~ ,' t
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000200920003-9