2 BOOKS ON CIA MAY BREAK LAW, CASEY WARNS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000807560036-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 23, 2012
• Sequence Number: 36
• Publication Date: June 26, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

4
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP90-00965R000807560036-0
.EAFV
>'AGE BALTIMORE SUN
26 June 1986
2 books on CIA
may break law..
Casey warns
NEW YORK - Central Intelli-
gence Agency Director William J.
Casey has personally warned two
leading New York publishers that
separate books being written for
them about the CIA by investigative
Seymour Hersh and
Woodward may violate U.S. law.
Mr. Casey's warnings, in a serled
of personal phone calls to the pub.
usher, revealed yesterday. appear to
be part of his recent and highly urn
usual Lion of material camprevent thinks Pub a-
harm national On warning went to Random
House, which In late August is pub,
llshing Mr. Hersh's book about the
1983 downing by a Soviet jet fighter
of South Korean Air Lines Flight 007
after it entered Soviet airspace.
Reuters orted that sources
sal r. ev o o laced similar
calls to Simon and Schuster and to
Mr. Woodward last week. lnionan
Sc uster has contracted with mr,
Woodward or a book about the CIA.
A Simon and Schuster spokeswom-
an said the firm would have no for-
mal comment until it could reach Its
president, Richard Snyder. in Lon-
don.
Mr. Woodward. the Washington.
Post Investigative reporter who ex=
posed the Watergate scandal, could
not be immediately reached for com-
ment. Post assistant managing edi-
tor Robert Kaiser said he had no
comment.
Random House Chairman Robert
Bernstein told Reuters he believed
that Mr. Casey's telephone calls to
Mr. Hersh and Random editor Rob-
ert Loomis last week and to himself
yesterday might reflect "a desire to
stop publication of the book."
He and other Random House offi-
cials quoted Mr. Casey as saying that
the book might contain Information
that violated the law and that it was
his duty to uphold the law. He was
referring to a seldom-used 1950 stat_
ute on disclosing certain intelligence
information.
"Although Mr. Casey and other
government officials may be embar-
rassed by Mr. Hersh's book, I am
satisfied Its publication Is in the na-
tional Interest and is entirely law-
ful." Mr. Bernstein said Tuesday, In
The New York Times.
Mr. Hersh said he was perplexed
that Mr. Casey issued the warning
while acknowledging he did not
know the content of the book.
"There's nothing in it the public
should not know, and there's noth-
ing that will help the Russians In
any way," Mr. Hersh said.
In his telephone call to Mr. Bern-
stein yesterday, Mr. Casey also said
that he was having a recent book on
the downing of Korean Air Lines
Flight 007, "Shootdown" by British
author R. W. Johnson, checked to
see If it violated the law. Random
House said.
M~_ Casev. CIA director since
blast month warn NBC and
the Washington post that hcv
under the seldom-,
could W950-2-1111-914.
urea r otonte lw if they
released stories about Ronald Pelton
then facing trial on espionage
charges, that revealed classified in-
formation. Pelton was later con-
victed of spying for the Soviets.
The law makes it Illegal for any-
one to disclose classified information
about U.S. ciphers, code-breaking or
other communications intelligence.
It has never been invoked against
publications.
In his calls to Random House, Mr.
Casey expressed fear that Mr.
Hersh's book, "The Target Is De-
stroyed." contained material about
communications Intelligence.
According to Random's chief law-
yer, Gerald Hollingsworth, "Casey
said he has talked to a lot of report-
ers who told him Sy Hersh had the
whole works on everything the CIA
has in the Far East."
Mr. Loomis said the book "is not a
speculative work."
"It answers the questions as to
what happened, including whether
or not the plane had violated Soviet
apace on a spying mission," he
sa.
Moscow made such a claim to de-
fend the attack on the plane.
After the plane was downed with
the loss of 269 lives, the Reagan ad-
ministration released intercepted
communications from the pilot of
the Soviet jet in which he reported,
"The target is destroyed."
Random Chairman Bernstein
said, "I am Puzzled and disturbed by
what Is happening. it is especially
disturbing that Mr. Casey. who is an
attorney and head of one of the most
Powerful agencies in government.
would call an editor and exaggerate
the reach of the law he said he must
uphold.
"We find it difficult to take this
series of calls ... as anything other
than a desire to stop publication of
this book."
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP90-00965R000807560036-0