LEAKS: WHYS AND WHEREFORES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100040075-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 22, 2012
• Sequence Number: 75
• Publication Date: February 7, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100040075-5
STAT
J1: i I C.E AP P D
Old Ph GI.
Jody Powell
THE WASHINGTON POST
7 February 1982
hys' a'n:d
Wherefores
DALLAS-Presidents Reagan has decided to
get tough with leakers:And with visions of wire-
taps, plumbers and. Watergate dancing in their
heads, the press has reacted with predictable dis-
may. Charges and countercharges about national
security, the public's right to know, and the First
Amendment have again filled the air in Washing-
ton. In the midst of all this, there are a few rea
sonable things to be said on both sides.
All administrations pass along to selected re-
porters information designed to reflect favorably
on the administration:_White.House staffers do it,
Cabinet officers do, it, assistants to the deputy
assistant secretary for you-name-it do it, ' and.even
presidents do it:Presidents do not consider these:-
exercises to be leaf. When presidents talk about
leaks, and sooner or later most of them. begin'
talking about them in their sleep, they mean tell-
ing a reporter something that creates problems or
embarrassment for them or their administrations.
President Reagan illustrated his point and
mine earlier last month by waving a copy of-
The Washington Post at his staff and protest-
ing that leaks about the defense budget (which',
had made the administration look bad by show
ing that the budget was too small to do all the.
thing the president had said it would do) had
run at the top of the front page, forcing leaks.
about the president's meeting with West Ger
man Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (which. made,
the administration and the-president look good}.
to the bottom of the pave
The reasons people leak embarrassugmforma
tion are almost as numerous as the people who do
the leaking. Some-'seek to' promote- their owns
point of view in an argument within the adrninis
tration. Some hope for favorable treatment from
the press in return Washington reporters: and
columnists in particular have been known to pro-
mote as well as protect their sources. Then there
is the desire to establish one's own importance in
a town where information is power and one is ex
pected to know about important things if one ex
pects to be treated as important
Occasionally, leakers are motivated by a sin-
cere and unselfish desire to serve their country,;
expose evil and inform the public: Occasionally.
All administrations get upset about leaks and:
end up trying, with something less than resound-
ing success, taliinit; if not eliiainate,.them..
President Reagan seems to have become a
little more distraught a little earlier than most,
but that doesn't mean he doesn't have some le-
gitimate reasons to be concerned. Leaks can ad-
versely affect a rational decision-making proc-
ess by limiting options. ,
A president even has a right to be concerned
about the political consequences of leaks.If he
wants to call the unsuccessful contenders for an
appointment before they read about his choice of, I
someore else in the newspaper, he's. not being un--.
reasonable in expecting his staff to keep. -t_ heir..
mouths shut until he has a chance to do that . -
Leakscan sometimes damage national security.-
I remember a case irrwhich the unauthorized dis-
closure and subsequent publication of a seem-
ingly innocuous pieceof information threatened.
to deny the U.S. government access to extremely'
valuable intelligence. However, when- a president
tries to claim that national security is his only
concern when it comes to leaks, as President Rea-
gan did with his "all we're doing is implementing
the law" comment, he is not telling the truth:.
'4f Isere are legitimate reasons for an admin.
;istration to be concerned about. leaks and to
seek to limit them, there are equally good rea-
sons not to get too carried away. ; '- '
One of the more obvious. and_effective:.ways_
to cut down on leaks is to cut down the number
of people with access to sensitive information.
But the damage done by leaks must be carefully
balanced against the damage done by excluding-
people who can contribute to the decision-mak-
ing process. ._ .f
Another approach is to surround a'president
with a' group of advisers so homogeneous in
their political philosophy that the possibilityof
dispute-and, thus, the motivation for self--
serving leaks-is minimized. -That '"can .- lie.
particularly disastrous.
Perhaps the most immediately appealing and
least effective way to deal with leaks is to try to- I:
devise a system that will control contacts with the
press and find and-punish leakers. Finding leak-.1
ens is no easy task for an administration that is"
inclined to respect the Constitution. The attempt
.itself is usually harmless, unlessimportant'offi
coals ge:t so caught up in chasing leakers that they
neglect. matters of larger import to the nation. `
In the end, about all that can be said with cer- i
taintyabout this continuing conflict between gov -'
emment and the media is that it will continue. If
they and the media manage to keep some per-,'
spective on th e problem-if the 'administration'
doesn't. get too paranoid to govern and if the
media can restrain their inclination to view even
reasonable attempts to control leaks as a mortal
danger to the First Amendment-then the rest of j
us can afford to watch all the pushing and pulling '
'with mild amusement while we worry about more
important things.:
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100040075-5