HELMS ACCUSES STATE DEPT. AIDE OF SMEAR TACTICS

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130031-8
Release Decision: 
RIFPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
February 9, 2012
Sequence Number: 
31
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
August 5, 1986
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
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PDF icon CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130031-8.pdf116.28 KB
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Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130031-8 Helms Accuses State Dept. Aide of Smear Tactics By BOB SECTER. and DOYLE M lime-ssuff Writers WASHINGTON-Sen. Jesse Helms en Men av bitterly accused a State Department official of or- sh~trating a smear campaign as the FBI beg n c ing C grass that ^itiye intelligence data was illi- tarn government through Helms' QW. His mmmen.tA filled with sar. casm and indignation, Helms as- ecre rv o S a p ~.lho t Abrams trig ere t o invest' ation v concocting tW Chilean to to discredit the sen- t to leaders o federal agents. "Elliott crept up here in the dark of the night and makes all these false charges ... and then slips back in his hole in the State Department," charged Helms, a North Carolina Republican and staunch defender of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, the Chilean dictator. * It's poppycock. They're (State Department officials) trying to silence me. They don't like the fact I'm opposed to their little agenda down there (in Chile), which is to sell out the U.S." And Helms suggested that Sec- retary of State George P. Shultz was aware of what Abrams alleg- edly was up to. "Of course he knows it," Helms snapped when asked about Shultz. At the State Department, spokesman Charles Redman denied that the agency had requested the investigation. ifl- cally whether the Senate Select request for the FBI probe follow an a earance Abrams be oretie panel, Redman merely smi e en atic . A spokeswoman for Abrams said he would have no further comment. The committee, which monitors Amprican ence ag noes generally mpetAn hid close doors and rarely discloses details o its delib -ra iona ut Hems claimed that "two or three" com- mittee members he had contacted LOS ANGELES TIMES ~-T 5 August 1986 mentioned Abrams as the source of the allegations, while other panel members said they knew nothing at all about the charges. Administration officials said the investigation is focused on aides to Helms, although they did not rule out involvement by the senator as well Although officials have re- fused to disclose details of the supposedly -comp ro iced intelli- gence operation, it apparently in- volved the gathering of secrets about the Pinochet regime. The Chilean government was believed to have learned of the operation last month, at the same time that Helms and his aides made a controversial trip to Chile. During the trip, Helms strongly defended Pinochet against charges of repres- sion and suggested that U.S. Am- bassador Harry G. Barnes Jr. should be recalled. The conservative Helms has waged a longstanding war with the State Department, which he con- siders to be riddled with liberal career employees who frequently sabotage President Reagan's for- eign policy goals. On several occa- sions, Helms, who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee, has infuriated State and White House officials by delaying or blocking Senate confirmation of top-level diplomats. Although Helms is not a member .of the intelligence pan l he an gent access to its information on Chile through his chairmanship of the Western-Hemisphere subcommit- tee of the Foreign Relations Cnm_ In this latest tussle, Helms sug- gested that Abrams and other State Department officials were trying to retaliate against him for holding up past nominees and he indicated that such a move might prompt him to delay even more confirmations. Referral of the case to the Justice Department opens the possibility of criminal charges being filed, should the allegations be substantiated. However, it was unclear what law may have been violated or whether the alleged acts would be shielded by congressional immunity. The case also could be referred to the Senate Ethics Committee for action. There, too, however, law- makers are unsure about what action could be taken or what punishment meted out. Mark Helmke, a spokesman for Senate Foreign Relations Chair- man Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), said that Senate aides must sign secrecy agreements when they get security clearances. He also said that he did not believe aides are covered by any form of congres- sional immunity from prosecution. Christopher Manion, Helms' aide on the Foreign Relations Commit- tee, said he did not know whether he was the target of an investiga- tion but flatly denied passing any secrets to the Chileans. Manion is the brother of Daniel A. Manion, the recently confirmed federal judge whose nomination had be- come the center of a major battle between Reagan and the Senate.. Clifford Kiracofe J r. an aide who ani a o~n e said that no e on flie ` on senator's ? LL J v iL o de at this i f b ication b the ambassador in Chile. B rnea who - - h - 1 the ffabmri tin don_ who took the fabrication at .face y lisp and -=-rted it to the intelligence committee." Kiracofe Sala. A Helms aide who asked not to be identified went further. . policy is not contra meat and the CIA are con rolled by ihe_New York banking interests " ne said. 'And it's a fact that the New York banks are running scared, owing to their exposure in Latin America. .. . Sen Helms is the arrhenem of t`e New York bankers. This is the funa^.___?-~ reason for the Statp Department and CIA attacks." Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130031-8