REAGAN ORDERED SWEEPING FBI PROBE OF STAFF FOR SOURCE OF LEAK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020018-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 25, 2012
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: November 23, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020018-1
ARTICLE AF~EARED
ON P.AQE _.
WASHINGTON POST
23 November 1983
Reagan ordered Sweeping
of Staff for Source of Leal
By Lou Cannon
Pand ost David Hoffman Clark was described as "damned angry" was. unimportant because the FBI
n the would be able to use polygraph tests
Writers d ld R
President Reagan secretly has ordered a
Justice Department investigation of his
senior White House staff, Cabinet officers
and foreign policy advisers about news sto-
ries that he was told had disclosed vital
U.S. military and diplomatic strategy in
Lebanon, administration officials said yes-
terday.
The officials said Reagan launched the
investigation nine weeks ago in a letter to
Attorney General William French Smith
requesting that he use "all legal means" to
find the sources of the stories in The
Washington Post and on the three major
television networks. 11.
The stories reported details from meet-
ings of the National Security Council on
Sept. 10 and 11, in which the president and
senior officials discussed the progress of
negotiations in Lebanon and steps that
could be taken to protect U.S. Marines
there.
As part of the sweeping .Justice Depart-
ment investigation, which one official said
Js "still red hot," the FBI has questioned -
senior officials in the White House, the Na-
tional Security Council, the Defense De-
partment and the CIA, including everyone
who attended the Sept. 11 NSC meeting.
Those interviewed by the FBI include
former national security affairs adviser Wil-
liam P. Clark, White House chief of staff
James A. Baker III, Defense Secretary Cas-
par W. Weinberger, Secretary of State
George P. Shultz and CIA Director William
J. Casey.
In the first news reports that triggered
the investigation, the television networks
reported on the evening of Sept. 12 that
Robert C. McFarlane, then Reagan's spe-
cial envoy to the Middle East, had recom-
mended U.S. air strikes against Syrian po-
sitions in Lebanon to protect the Marine
peace-keeping force stationed in Beirut.
The Washington Post then reported the
next morning that Reagan had authorized
air strikes against forces shelling the Ma-
rines.
e
about the leaks an to agar ? anyway if the president determined
morning of Sept. 13 that the news stories
had jeopardized McFarlane's efforts to ob=
twin a cease-fire in Lebanon-and possibly
endangered McFarlane's life. McFarlane
since has become White House national
security affairs adviser, replacing Clark,
who is now the secretary of the interior.
Administration officials had regarded
the Sept. 11 National Security Council
meeting, conducted under tight security on
a Sunday afternoon at the White House, as
extraordinarily sensitive and were
surprised and irritated to see the
reports about it.
. Reagan, who has complained
often about news leaks whenever an
unfavorable story has alpeared, was
described as sharing the anger and
concern of Clark and others. After
watching the Sept. 12 television re-
ports and hearing a report from
Clark about The Post's article the
next morning, Reagan readily agreed
to conduct an investigation.
He assembled his senior advisers
on Sept. 13 to draft the letter that
would subject them to a federal in-
vestigation. These advisers, several
of whom had often accused each
other of being responsible for leaks,
all said at the time that they were
not the sources of the stories about
Lebanon. Then they argued about
the language of the letter.
. As originally drafted by Clark and
presented to the president, the letter
authorized an investigation of the
source of the leaks by the "use of all
lawful means-including the poly-
graph."
White House chief of staff Baker,
a frequent adversary of Clark on
many issues, objected to the refer-
ence to lie detector tests, according
to sources familiar with the meeting.
A discussion ensued in which others
contended that the specific language
that national security had been vi-
olated.
According to the sources, the final
version of the letter declared that an
unauthorized disclosure of highly
sensitive information had' been
made, that national security issues
were at stake, and that the investi-
ration should be pursued by "all
legal means."
Attorney General Smith, FBI Di-
rector William H. Webster and the
principal subjects of the investiga-
tion all declined to comment when
asked about the investigation. But it
was learned that the FBI had ques-
tioned most members of the White
House senior staff and a number of
middle-level and junior officials.
In addition to Baker, Clark,
Shultz, Weinberger and LaSQy, those
questioned include presidential as-
sistant Richard G. Darman, White
House communications director
David R. Gergen and White House
spokesman Larry Speakes. Gergen
and Speakes were not considered
prime targets of the investigation,
according to the sources, because
they were not allowed to attend the
National Security Council meetings.
Those questioned by the FBI were
warned that the investigation itself
was c sified and that any disclo-
sure could carry serious conse-
quences. -
Weinbergerr lik thers, also de
clined to comment on the investiga-
tion or even to confirm its existence.
But he did confirm that there was
concern in the administration early
in September that news stories could
put McFarlane "at greater risk" and
that media disclosure of U.S. strat-
egy in Lebanon could make diplo-
macy less likely to succeed.
Some officials took the investiga-
tion in stride and one said, "It's just
one more inquiry that. *on't find an
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answer." But others said they were
frightened by its consequences. Sev-
eral said the investigation had gone
tar beyond any previous inquiry in
its effort to stop the flow of unau-
thorized information.
Three officials said they suspected
that their telephones were tapped,
although they acknowledged that,
they had no evidence of this. Justice
Department sources said they knew
of no instance where wiretaps have
been used in trying to hunt down
national security "press leaks."
The expressed suspicions about
wiretaps and fears about polygraph
tests reflect a growing antagonism of
some senior officials toward the
press.
"There is more of a paranoia than
there used to be," said one source.
"You're dealing with an administra-
tion that thinks it is being perse-
cuted by the press and that has be-
come frustrated because its controls
on information are ineffectual."
One of these controls, which one
official described as "worthless," is
the use of telephone logs on which
officials are supposed to record con-
versations with reporters. A number
of the logs have been confiscated in
the inquiry.
The control of information has
been complicated from the beginning
in the Reagan White House by ri-
valries and power struggles among
White House staff members, in
which some have planted critical sto-
ries about each other. Reagan's aides
also have responded to his repeated
condemnation of leaks by blaming
their rivals for any press account
that displeases the president.
Some critics of Clark said he was
motivated in the current inquiry by
a desire to show up Baker, who had
been involved in a struggle for power
with the former national security
affairs adviser.
Among the 14 news stories re-
ported to be involved in the inves-
tigation is a Sept. 12 report by NBC
White House correspondent Chris
Wallace, saying, "top administration
officials have asked the president to
seriously consider ordering U.S. air
strikes on Syrian positions in Leb-
anon.
That same evening, CBS quoted
White House correspondent Bill
Plante as saying that McFarlane
"has recommencded that the be-
sieged American Marines be allowed
to use air strikes to defend their po-
sitions." ABC's Peter Jennings said
McFarlane had "advised Washington
that such air protection may have to
he employed."
The Post reported the next morn-
ing that Reagan had authorized Ma-
rines to call the air strikes "against
forces shelling their positions."
All of the accounts were quickly
confirmed by administration spokes-
men, who raised nopublc objections
that they had caused any difficulty
for American forces or negotiators.
It was assumed by senior officials
that the stories had originated with
leaks from the Sept. 11, NSC meet-
ing. But the investigation has not
proven this assumption. One official
said yesterday that the investigation
has been inconclusive despite the
many FBI interviews because it was
possible that the first leaks came
from Lebanon, not the White House.
Staff writer Bob Woodward con-
tributed to this report.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020018-1