BROAD INQUIRY IS ORDERED IN DISCLOSURES OF SECRETS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100100046-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 46
• Publication Date: May 24, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100100046-0
NEW YORK TIMES
ARTICLE APPEARED '\ 24 May 1986
DR PAGE .4 --1- p
Broad Inquiry Is Ordered
In Disclosures of Secrets
Spedal to Ma New York Time.
WASHINGTON, May 23 - The White ' Officials have raised the
o
ibili
p
ss
ty
House has instructed the National Se- that some news organizations might be
curity Council to begin a systematic prosecuted under the statutes, al-
Government-wide investigation into though none have been to date.
disclosing of sensitive intelligence in- "There has been serious concern
formation to determine if additional within the Administration on leaks,-
preventive measures are needed, sen- the official said. "That has manifested
for White House officials said today. Itself in growing concern about how to
The officials said the review would tackle the problem of conducting the
focus on the "whole subject," which confidential work of the Government
appeared to suggest that It would in- without it appearing in the media im-
volve not only officials engaging in mediately."
such disclosing, but also how to re-
spond to news organizations that might
publish such information.
The review is to involve the entire
Administration, including the State Do-
partment, the Defense Department
and the Central Intelligence Agency,
the officials said.
'Growing Concern, Cited
A senior White House official ex-
plained the review in the context of
He said the new investigation was
initiated at the request of senior Ad-
ministration officials concerned over
disclosures in the news media of what
they have called important secrets af-
fecting national security.
Another senior White House official
familiar with the investigation raised
the possibility that it could lead to the
strengthening of the 1950 Federal stat-
ute, which he said was one area under
review
what he said was the Administration's
"growing concern" with disclosures National Security Only
that have occurred in recent months The officials denied that the investi-
gation was desi
amid Administration effort
ned t
t
i
li
k th
hibi
h
s
o
n
e
Government of Libya to terrorism and
with newspaper and broadcast reports
about a top-secret intelligence-gather-
ing operation Involving American sub-
marines.
The official said "pragmatic" steps
under review included further discipli-
nary measures for officials making un-
authorized disclosures of classified in-
formation and measures related to the
classification of documents.
At the same time, he said that the
examination, as part of a dual strategy,
was focusing on how to prevent the
news media from reporting informa-
tion that would harm national security.
Uncertain Effect on Press
The Reagan aides who discussed the
review said it was uncertain what
recommendations would emerge in
terms of the news media. They said
recommendations could range from at-
tempts at encouraging news organiza-
tions to display what one called "more
responsibility" in reporting national
security secrets to a stengthening of a
1950 espionage law that prohibits the
publication of classified Information
relating to codes and to intelligence
gathered through intercepted com-
munications.
g
o
n
t t
e dis-
closure of information that might be
unflattering to the Administration but
that does not involve national security
secrets.
They said it was being undertaken
separately from such actions as the dis-
missal of two Administration officials
accused of disclosing information to
the news media, and the warnings by
William J. Casey, the Director of Cen-
tral Intelligence, that news organiza-
tiOns reporting secrets could be prose-
cuted. Last week Mr. Casey said in a speech
that the Administration was studying
whether new procedures and possibly
new laws were needed to deal with Fed-
eral employees who decide on their
own to disclose classified information.
The White House officials said Mr.
Reagan had not specifically authorized
the investigation. They declined to
identify the senior officials who initi-
ated it.
Public and Private Comments
Several White House officials have
defended in private conversations the
Administration's efforts to block dis-
closu{jes of secrets harming national
security or to punish officials thought
to have divulged the information.
But in public statements, while
stressing Mr. Reagan's concern about
the release of national security secrets,
they have generally said that it was up
to the Justice Department to determine
if such breaches were violations of Fed-
eral espionage laws.
The Central Intelligence Agency has
been analyzing an article about a clas-
sified intelligence-gathering operation
Involving American submarines that
appeared Wednesday in The Washing-
ton Post. The article indicated that
Ronald W. Pelton, a former National
Security Agency employee on trial for
spying, might have compromised an
intelligence operation that used a
"high-technology device" to monitor
Soviet communications.
Although Mr. Reagan has avoided di-
rect comment on the Pelton disclo-
sures, on May 10 he telephoned Kather-
ine Graham, chairman of The Wash-
ington Post Company, to urge her not to
publish the article dealing with under-
water intelligence gathering.
t/
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100100046-0