EXPERTS SAY SOVIETS LEARNED 'NOTHING NEW' FROM NBC SHOW

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605470010-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 8, 2012
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: May 21, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605470010-2
WASHINGTON TIMES
21 M 1aD
Experts ~sa Soviets learned y
nothing.
new' from NBC show
THE ASSOCIATED PRES
S
U.S. submarines have collected in-
telligence in Soviet waters for 25
Years, and NBC told the Kremlin
nothing new by reporting the under-
water eavesdropping, experts said
Yesterday.
CIA Director William Casey has
asked the Justice Department to
weigh criminal charges aginst NBC-
TV for. mentioning the intelligence
program and identifying its code-
name as "Ivy Bells."
The NBC report in question, aired
Monday on the "'Ibday" show, said
that accused spy Ronald William
Pelton, a former employee of the Na-
tional Security Agency, is suspected
of giving Russia information on
espionage-gathering by U.S. subma-
rines, which NBC correspondent
Jim Polk said may be code-named
"Ivy Bells." Mr. Pelton is on trial in
Baltimore.
U.S. subs began spying against the
Soviet Union at the end of the Eisen-
hower administration, said Amer-
ican University Professor Jeffrey
Richelson, author of books on U.S.
and Soviet intelligence.
In 1974, The Washington Post de-
scribed a similar espionage pro-
gram, which it said was called
"Holystone." That report angered
Pentagon officials, who later told re-
porters it had caused the Russians to
improve offshore security.
The following year, The New York
Times published more detailed arti-
cles on the Holystone program.
Among the intelligence coups in
Holystone, the 1975 article said, was
photographing the underside of a So-
viet E-class submarine, apparently
in Vladivostok harbor, the main na-
val port on the Soviet east coast. Also
reported was the tapping into under-
sea cables on the Soviet coast, along
which the Russians sent military
traffic too sensitive to entrust to the
airwaves.
Additionally, the article said, the
U.S. subs were able to observe
closely test firings of missiles from
Soviet submarines. They were able
to intercept not only communica-
tions from the rockets after launch,
but computations and orders
transmitted among Soviet vessels
beforehand. The U.S. subs also com-
piled detailed" signatures" of Soviet
submarines, the noises they emit as
they move underwater.
After the 1975 disclosures, Penta-
gon officials told The Associated
Press that specially equipped U.S.
submarines gathered intelligence
off Soviet shores, but denied that any
had penetrated the three-mile ter-
ritoriallimi
1~iV_Ir Richelso who de cribes the{
program in his book, "The U.S. Intel';
ligence Community," said in an inter-
view that he did not believe the NBC
report "is something the Soviets will
find valuable. The Soviets knew
about it.,,
Mr. Richelson speculated that Mr.
Casey's threat against NBC was
"pre-emptive. I think he wants to
prevent anyone from coming out
with more details of the project.'
Another expert on espiona e,
James Bamford, describe r.
Casey's threat as "the of er s oe
dropping" after the CIA director
warned earlier this month that he
would prosecute news organizations
that report secrets about US elec-
tronic eavesdropping.
Mr. Casey may have been angered
that NBC linked the submarine spy-
ing with the code name Ivy Bells,
said Mr. Bamford, author of "The
Puzzle Palace;" a history of the Na-
tional Security Agency, the organ-
ization that decodes electronic intel-
ligence for the Pentagon.
However, at Mr. Pelton's
arraignment last Nov. 27, defense at-
torney Fred Warren Bennett asked
an FBI agent whether his client had
been questioned about Ivy Bells.
which the attorney later identified
as an electronic intelligence-
gathering operation.
In a report on the arraignment
that same day, NBC correspondent.
Polk said: "There are indications'
that Ivy Bells refers to a Navy
eavesdropping operation. The Navy.
is known to have submarines outside
Soviet harbors listening to what the'
Russians say."
Mr. Casey, in his statement, said
he was referring Mr. Polk's report of
Monday to the Justice Department
for possible prosecution, but did not
mention the NBC report of Nov. 27.
Justice Department spokesman
John Russell said the department
had no immediate comment on the,
case.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605470010-2