REAGAN ORDERED SWEEPING FBI PROBE OF STAFF FOR SOURCE OF LEAK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100030016-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 17, 2012
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: November 23, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/17: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100030016-1 STAT
ARTICLE AP'EAF.ED
ON BAQE
WASHINGTON POST
23 November 1983
Meagan Ordered Sweeping flcuPIoe
of Staff for- Source of Leal
By Lou Cannon and David Hoffman Clark was described as "damned angry" was. unimportant because the FBI
wart, P
ir w
h
s
os
ta
riters about the leaks and -told, Reagan on the
President Reagan secretly has ordered a
Justice. Department investigation of his morning of Sept. 13 that the..news tories
senior White House staff, Cabinet officers
and foreign policy advisers about news sto-
ries that he was told had disclosed vital
U.S. military and diplomatic strategy in
Lebanon, administration officials said yes-
terday.
The officials said Reagan launched the
investigation nine weeks ago in a letter to
Attorney General William French Smith
requesting that he use "all legal means" to
find the sources of the stories in The
Washington Post and on the three major
television networks.
The stories reported details from meet-
ings of the National Security Council on
Sept. 10 and 11, in which the president and
senior officials discussed the progress of
negotiations in Lebanon and steps that
could be taken to protect U.S. Marines
there.
As part of the sweeping Justice Depart-
ment investigation, which one official said
Js "stilll red hot," the FBI has questioned
senior officials in the ?'hite House, the Na-
tional Security Council, the Defense De-
partment and the CIA, including everyone
who attended the Sept. 11 NSC meeting.
Those interviewed by the FBI include
former national security affairs adviser Wil-
liam P. Clark, White House chief of staff
James A. Baker III, Defense Secretary Cas-
par W. Weinberger, Secretary of State
George P. Shultz and CIA Director William
J. Casey.
In the first news reports that triggered
the investigation, the. television networks
reported on the evening of Sept. 12 that
Robert C. McFarlane, then Reagan's spe-
cial envoy to the Middle East, had recom-
mended U.S. air strikes against Syrian po-
sitions in 'Lebanon to protect the Marine
peace-keeping force stationed in Beirut.
The Washington Post then reported the
next morning that Reagan had authorized
air strikes against forces shelling the Ma-
rines.
had jeopardized McFarlane's efforts-to obt
tain a cease-fire in Lebanon-and possibly
endangered McFarlane's life. McFarlane
since has become White House national
security affairs adviser, replacing Clark,
who is now the secretary of the interior.
Administration officials had regarded
the Sept. 11 National Security Council
meeting, conducted under tight security on
a Sunday_ afternoon at the White House, as
extraordinarily sensitive and were
surprised and irritated to see the
reports about -it.
. Reagan, who has complained
often about news leaks whenever an
unfavorable story has alpeared, was
described as sharing the anger and
concern of Clark and others. After
watching the Sept. 12 television re-
ports and hearing a report from
Clark about The Post's article the
next morning, Reagan readily agreed
to conduct an investigation.
He assembled his senior advisers
on Sept. 13 to draft the letter that
would subject them to a federal in-
vestigation. These advisers, several
of whom had often accused each
other of being responsible for leaks,
all said at the time that they were
not the sources of the stories about
Lebanon. Then they argued about
the language of the letter.
As originally drafted by Clark and
presented to the president, the letter
authorized an investigation of the
source of the leaks by the "use of all
lawful means-including the poly-
graph."
White House chief of staff Baker,
frequent adversary of Clark on
many issues. objected to the refer-
ence to lie detector tests, according
to sources familiar with the meeting.
,}A discussion ensued in which others
contended that the specific language
would be able to u,e polygraph tests
anyway if the president determined
that national security had been vi-
olated.
-According to the sources, the final i
version of the letter declared that an
unauthorized disclosure of highly
sensitive information had ' been
made, that national security -issues
were at stake, and that the investi-
ration should be pursued by "all
legal means."
Attorney General Smith, FBI Di-
rector William H. Webster and the
principal subject.,, of the investiga-
tion all declined to comment when
asked about the investigation. But it
was learned that the FBI had ques-
tioned most members of the White
House senior staff and a number of
middle-level and junior officials.
In addition to Baker, Clark,
Shultz, Weinberger and Las ', those
questioned include presidential as-
sistant Richard G. Darman. White
House communications director
David R. Gergen and White House
spokesman Larry Speakes. Gergen
and Speakes were not considered
prime targets of the investigation.
according to the sources, because
they were not allowed to attend the
National Security Council meetings.
Those questioned by the FBI were
warned that the investigation itself
was ossified and that any disclo-
sure could` carry serious conse-
quences.
Weinberger~lik thers, also de-
clined to comment on the investiga-
tion or even to confirm its existence.
But he did confirm that there was
concern in the administration early
in September that news stories could
put McFarlane "at greater risk" and
that media disclosure of U.S. strat-
egy in Lebanon could make diplo-
macy, less likely to succeed.
Some officials took the investiga-
tion in stride and one said, "It's just
one more inquiry that %ton't find an
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/17: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100030016-1