REAGAN'S SECRECY CAMPAIGN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100030045-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 45
• Publication Date: September 26, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sal ,Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100030045-9
ARTtrLE '.Pf E.h n D
C PA. E -R 7
NEWS WEEK
26 September 1983
Reagan's Secrecy Camp --*g
As he settled into Washington, nothing
irritated Ronald Reagan more than
the press leaks disclosing his secret poli-
cies and deliberations. Since then, Reagan
has issued new rules pressuring the custo-
dians of federal secrets to take polygraph
exams, forcing them to sign secrecy con-
tracts and compelling them to grant the
government veto power over their sensitive
writings-and the public debate-for a life-
time. Reagan's rules of silence pose a classic
confrontation between free speech and na-
tional security, and last week Congress
added its voice. In the extreme, warned
Republican Sen. Charles Mathias of Mary-
land, the rules consign "some of our most
talented and dedicated citizens to a virtual
vow of silence uncruciai national issues.
The broad scope of Reagan's secrecy
campaign became clear only recently,
when the Justice Department actually pro-
duced the detailed new contracts that se-
cret holders are expected to sign. The more
controversial document restricts employ-
ees cleared for "Sensitive Compartmented
Information"--distributed on a strictly
need-to-know basis. This secrecy elite
may not go public with articles, books
(even fiction) or letters to the editor
on any classified matters until after a gov-
ernment review of the material. Even un-
classified information on intelligence, ac-
tivities is subject to approval. The rule
restricts at least 100,000 Defense Depart-
ment officials alone-both on the job and
in retirement.
Administration officials see more than
enough reason to crack down on leakers.
Loose-lipped insiders have turned Reagan's
Central America offensive into a parody of
covert warfare. Lesser-known compro-
mises are just as rankling: when a ground-
level photo of a Soviet bomber appeared in
the journal Aviation Week, Washington
worried that it helped Moscow confirm a
U.S. intelligence penetration. In all, the
steady drip-drip-drip has prompted CIA
Director William Casey, White House
counselor Edwin Meese III and national-
security adviser William Clark, a former
judge, to endorse a hang-'em-high policy.
But even granted that leaks can be damag-
ing, the question is whether Reagan's reme-
aces are extreme. l^'or one thing,
his sanctions cover intelligence
breaches that are relatively mi-
nor. Earlier this year, for exam-
ple, the FBI investigated a
Canadian reporter's dispatch
on the widely distributed Pen-
tagon report, "Air Force,
2000," whose secret passages
proved uniformly innocuous.
An example: "Soviet military
forces will continue to mod-
ernize and place strains on:
their domestic economy." FBI
agents approached Canadian
newspaperman Donald Sellar
and asked him to identify his
sources, but ultimately accept-
ed his refusal to cooperate. Jus-
tice Department officials insist
that they have no plans to pros-
ecute the Canadian. (Several
U.S. publications also obtained
copies of "Air Force 2000," and
NEWSWEEK easily obtained its
own last week.)
Rights for `Consumers': The
threat for leakers is much
greater than for the leaked-to.
At last week's Senate hearing,
former Carter White House
counsel Lloyd Cutler urged
that Reagan stick largely to present policy,
which already requires that CIA agents and other "producers" of secrets submit to
prepublication review; intelligence "con-
sumers" such as the secretary of state and
other policymakers should be free to pub-
lish as they see fit, Cutler said. The admin-
istration insists that it will act responsibly.
It is investigating only 15 to 20 leak
cases-about the same number as two
years ago. If Reagan's sanctions are de-
signed more to scare off potential leakers
than to clog the courts with them, the
president may'iave made his point-but at'
the risk of a controversy that could reach
constitutional proportions.
STEVEN STRASSER with ELAINE SHANNON,
THOMAS M. DeFRANK and ELEANOR CLIFT
in washipln~
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100030045-9