CIA WEIGHING PROSECUTION OF POST FOR PELTON ARTICLE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100100070-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 70
• Publication Date: May 22, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100100070-3
WiMfEBALTIMORE SUN
22 May 1986 CIA weWiing prosecuiIn01Post
for Pelt~n article
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency is reviewing
an article published yesterday on the
Pelton spy case to determine wheth-
er to seek prosecution under a law
barring disclosure of intelligence se
crets. said the White House spokes
man, Larry M. Speakes.
The Washington Post, in an arti
cle on secrets that Ronald William
Pelton allegedly sold to the Soviet
Union for $35,000. said it withheld a
description of betrayed technology
after iI-esident Reagan, CIA Director
William J. Casey and other adminis-
tration officials urged the newspaper
not to publish the material.
The Post's executive editor, Ben-
E amin C_ Bradlee, when asked
whether the newspaper had deleted
all the material requested by the ad-
ministration, said: "I am sure we did
not. We deleted what we felt appro-
priate, after discussion."
The article reported that U.S. offi-
cials believe Mr. Pelton "compro-
mised a costly. long-running and
highly successful U.S. operation that
used sophisticated technology to in-
tercept Soviet communications."
A "high-technology device" was
sed in the operation. which also in-
James Bamford, an intelligence
xpert. said that the device might
work with which he said U.S. au-
thorities monitor ship traffic in sen-
sitive waters.
Mr. Speakes said the Post article
"is presently being analyzed by the
CIA to see if they have any specific
problems with it. They have not in-
dicated either way."
Mr. Casey also is asking the de-
partment to prosecute NBC in con-
nection with a report *1 the Pelton
case, under a 1950 law against the
disclosure of intelligence gathered
through the interception of commu-
nications. No news organization has
ever been indicted under that law.
A CIA spokeswoman. Kathy
Pherson. asked why the government
sought to block publication of mate-
rial allegedly obtained by the Krem-
lin, said the agency could not be sure
that the information transmitted by
Mr. Pelton was the same as that col-
lected by Post reporters.
"In this business, I don't know
that you presume the information is
the same." she said. She said she did
not know whether Mr. Casey would
refer the Post report to the Justice
Department.
A Justice Department spokes-
man, Brad Marman, commenting on
the NBC case, said, "We have re-
ceived the referral and are reviewing
it."
The White House spokesman
said that Mr. Reagan telephoned the
Post's publisher. Katherine Gra-
ham, May 10 "to communicate to
her that some of the matters that we
were discussing with the Post were
very serious and that publication of
them would do irreparable harm to
our national security."
The Post article said some details
about U.S. intelligence had been de-
leted before publication. although
Mr. Speakes said that the final ver-
sion was not reviewed by the White
House.
The article said the president
called Mrs. Graham at the request of
Mr. Casey. who, at a May 2 meeting
with Post editors, threatened to ask
the Justice Department to prosecute
the newspaper if it disclosed details
of what the Soviets allegedly ob-
tained from Mr. Pelton, a former Na-
tional Security Agency employee
whose espionage trial began in Balti-
more this week.
After the meeting with Mr. Casey.
the report said, the newspaper post-
poned publication of a more detailed
article scheduled to appear in May 4
editions.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100100070-3