JUSTICE DEPT. PROBING FIRED DEFENSE OFFICIAL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504870023-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 23, 2012
• Sequence Number: 23
• Publication Date: May 1, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504870023-6
Z'
SIP
WASHINGTON POST
1 May 1986
Justice Dept. Probing
00
icial
Fired Defense Off
Investigators Seeking Source of News Leak
By Joanne Omang
Washington Post Staff Writer
The Justice Department is inves-
tigating Defense Department ex-of-
ficial Michael E. Pillsbury, who was
fired for allegedly leaking classified
information to the.. press knowl-
edaeable officials Said yesterday
The decision to probe further
into the Pillsbury case is the latest
development in an apparent crack-
down by the Reagan administration
on the steady flow of unauthorized
information from the government.
Pillsbury, a political appointee,
was dismissed Monday from his job
as assistant undersecretary of e-
fe_nse for po icy planning after he
i not pass a o rah test ac-
cording to Pentagon sources. The
sources said the test was part of an
effort find N e source of a leak o
e Was ngton os as m-- 5-50F
about a Reagan administration de-
cision to supply hand-held Stinger
ground-to-air missiles to anticom-
munist rebels in Angola and f-
hanistan.
Although officials yesterday de-
clined to comment further about
the Justice Department investiga-
tion, some pointedly recalled the
case of Samuel Loring Morison, a
former Navy intelligence an
who was sentenced in December to
two years in prison for sending clas-
sified satellite photograp s tot e
British magazine ane's Defence
Weekly. He was the first person
criminally convicted of lea king c as-
sified information to the media.
Pillsbury was unavailable and the
Justice Department declined to
comment.
Morton H. Halperin, director of
the American Civil Liberties
Union's Washington office, said the
ACLU regards the use of criminal
penalties for unauthorized leaks as
unconstitutional and inappropriate.
"A probe [by the Department of
Justice] would be consistent with
their interpretation of the law in the
Morison case, but we think the rel-
evant statutes relate to espionage
and not to release of information to
the press," he said.
Although the government has the
right to fire employes for unautho-
rized disclosure of information, Hal-
perin said, "we object to the use of
polygraphs" because they "are not a
reliable indicator."
Responding to a series of espi-
onage cases, the Reagan adminis-
tration last November authorized
polygraph tests for all individuals
with access to highly classified in-
formation, but narrowed the scope
of the order after Secretary of State
George P. Shultz said he would re-
sign if asked to take the test.
President Reagan has complained
about the relatively free flow of
data from his officials, most recent-
ly in a speech to the American So-
ciety of Newspaper Editors earlier
this month when he said the White
House "is the leakiest place I've
ever been in."
The administration and Congress
also have exchanged charges about
which branch of government is
most responsible for unauthorized
disclosures.
The Defense Department in
1981 tried to fire John Tillson, a
civilian executive in its manpower
and logistics office, after he failed
three polygraph tests regarding the
leak to The Washington Post of a
Pentagon briefing on the possibility
that Reagan's rearmament program
could produce a $750 billion cost
overrun over five years.
Tillson fought successfully to
keep his job and later was recom-
mended for an outstanding service
award. Washington Post reporter
George C. Wilson later said publicly
that Tillson was not the source of
his report.
Leaks are common sources of
news articles from every branch of
government.
!/
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504870023-6