MARINES SAY CIA HAMPERED THEIR INQUIRY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706070001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 7, 2011
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: April 18, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

ST AT
Declassified
in Part - Sanitized wCopy Approved for Release 2011/12/07: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706070001-4
ON PAGE - , '= LOS ANGELES TIMES
Marines Say
CIA Hampere
Their Inquiry
By GAYLORD SHAW,
Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON-The Marine
Corps' investigation of the Moscow
embassy sex-and-spy scandal has
been hampered because the State
Department, Central Intelligence
Agency and National Security
Agency "have been less than total-
ly cooperative,." according to inter-
nal military documents disclosed
Friday.
"We must expect that civilian
embassy officers/employees will
be implicated as the investigation
continues," said an April 7 memo
from the acting director of the
judge advocate division to Marine
Corps Commandant Paul X. Kelley.
The Justice Department and FBI
"have Sot to become directly in-
volved now," the memo said in
urging creation of a joint Defense
Department-Justice Department
task fora.
'Nee Takeo $erla~'
"We need the 'clout' which the
FBI and attorney general can pro-
vide in dealing with the State
Department. CIA and NSA. which.
to this point have been less than
totally cooperative with our inves-
tigation and prosecution efforts,"
the memo added. "We are not
taken seriously, since our jurisdic-
tion is limited rather than plenary:'
Kelley, questioned at a news
briefing about the documents ob-
tained by the MacNeil/Lehrer
NewsHour, said the assertions
were "quite correct" when he en-
dorsed the memo and forwarded it
to the secretary of the Navy on
April 8, but "today I would not
write that memorandum.... We
now have full cooperation of ev-
erybody in, town."
Two former Marine guards at the
Moscow embassy, Sgt.' Clayton J.
18 April 1987
Lonetree and Cpl. Arnold Bracy,
have been charged with espionage
for allegedly allowing KGB agents
to roam through secret areas of the
U.S. government's most sensitive
diplomatic installation.
"Given the rapidly unfolding
events and disturbing revelations
of recent days, we can anticipate
that NSIC [Naval Security and
Investigative Command] efforts
will disclose additional suspects,"
said the three-page memo signed
by M. E. Rice, who is acting direc-
tor of the division handling prose-
cution of the cases.
"Some of these suspects will still
be on active duty, but in view of the
widening scope of the investiga-
tion, we must assume that others
will now either be retired or dis-
charged, and thus no longer ame-
nable to military justice process,"
the memo said.
Because "we must expect that
civilian embassy officers/employ-
ees will be implicated,". it added,
the FBI and Justice Department
should become involved. "The FBI
is the proper law enforcement
agency to pursue these cases, and
only the Department of Justice has
jurisdiction to prosecute them," it
said.
Blunting Criticism
The memo said a joint military-
civilian task force "would take the
focus off the Marine Corps as well
as put some distance between us
and the investigation/prosecution.
Thus, we could blunt any criticism
that we were not vigorously pursu-
ing the cases. This may become
more important if officer cases are
developed."
No specifics were given in the
memo to support the assertion that
other agencies were not fully coop-
erating. However, it said: "For
example, the CIA has already tried
an end-run.... We still are not
receiving the full cooperation of
the CIA."
Kelley, asked at the Pe tagon
briefing about this reference the
CIA, said "that situation d s not
exist" now. "I don't have the
specifics on. an end-run as such,"
he said when pressed by reporters.
The Marine commandant ac-
knowledged that "we had some
seams between agencies" when the
investigation began but that they
"were smoothed over. At the pres-
ent time I am absolutely confident
... we now have full interagency
cooperation throughout the entire
federal government."
In an April. 10 memo to his
aides-a document also obtained
Friday-Kelley said Defense Sec-
retary Caspar W. Weinberger ap-
proved the proposal for a joint
military-civilian task force "the
same day it was forwarded," and
that he expected Atty. Gen. Edwin
Meese III to approve it "at the
appropriate time."
A Pentagon spokesman said later
Friday that the proposal is still
under consideration.
At his first news conference
since the Marine guards were ac-
cused of espionage, Kelley said the
Soviets are attempting to use the
case to "degrade and humiliate"
the Marines and pleaded with the
American people to maintain their
faith in "the finest and most unique
fighting organization in the world."
"We honestly thought our sys-
tem was working well," Kelley said
of the 40-year-old practice of as-
signing Marines to guard U.S. em-
bassies abroad. "But, obviously,
something went wrong in Mos-
cow." He added: "Fix it we will, and
that's a solemn promise."
The four-star general, whose
four-year tour as commandant
ends when he retires in June after
38 years in the Marines, said he was
at first shocked and then angei'ed
by allegations that Marine guards
allowed' KGB agents to roam
through secret areas of, the Moscow
embassy.
"We are a very close-knit or-
ganization. It borders on, with us,
being a religion," Kelley said. "We
are a proud corps. And we must
press on. We cannot allow the
actions of a remote handful of
individuals .. to destroy our
morale."
In criticizing Soviet statements
about the case, Kelley said he was
confident that Americans would
"address this subject with balance,
with fairness and with objectivity."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/07: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706070001-4 1