THE PLUMBER'S GAME

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100100096-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 96
• Publication Date: May 21, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100100096-5
PATI 1 NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAGE 21 May 1986
' WASHINGTON ( James Reston
The Plumber's Game
WASHINGTON
The top Reagan officials are
miffed these days when they
read leaks in the press about
what they're doing in private, and you
can't blame them.
For if it ever got out what they were
doing, or not doing, in private, they
would really be in trouble.
"It's disgusting the way stuff leaks
out," Secretary of State hultL-gaid
the other d we ve got to find
the people who are doing it, and fire
them."
George has been around here long
enough to know that this is a silly
idea, and if he doesn't, Bernie Kalb,
his spokesman, can explain that
there's no way the official plumbers
can stop the leaks.
The executive branch is the only
known vessel that leaks from the top.
It leaks the baloney it thinks people
will swallow, and threatens to sue
anybody who publishes information it
wants to suppress.
But this plumber's game of stop-
ping the leaks can't last very long.
Too many people have to be in on the
Preident's decisions at home and
abroad, if they're to be effective.
He has to consult with Congress and
talk things over with the allies before
he acts, and in the process, everybody
talks.
Democracy at home and alliance
politics abroad is a gabby business.
There's no way to shut people up.
The allies will speak in their parlia-
ments, and bureaucrats here will
speak out if they think the people are
being deceived.
This is the point President Reagan
may have missed. He thinks that
what is popular is right, but the Re-
publican leaders in the Senate and
House disagree about his budget defi-
cits and are insisting that he compro-
mise or risk losing control of the Sen-
ate this year and maybe the White
House in 1988.
The Administration has a valid
t o t rasa c osure of covert
pom
or secret opera dons. It is put in an
awkward position when reporters
publicize its efforts to block the Com-
munist intrigues in Latin America,
southern Africa or the Middle East.
This is what bothers William Casey
at the C.I.A., who wants to ta the
rote enn
newspapers to court for
with his covert operations, and even
nuttina his spies and the sources of
his information at risk.
Here the press has to be careful,
and discuss with the Government
what is fair or dangerous reporting.
So far,. this conflict has not been re-
solved between responsible officials
of the Government and the media.
The Reagan Administration is
trying to deal with this problem by
dismissing officials who leak infor-
mation to the press.
It is even demanding that hundreds
of thousands of Federal employees
take lie-detector tests to prove their
loyalty to the Reagan Administra-
tion.
More than that, it has suggested
that grants of Federal money for
scientific research be denied to
scholars unless they approve of the
Administration's "Star Wars" pro-
tam.
The Freedom of Information Act is
now under attack, on the ground that
it is interfering with the Administra-
tion's defense of the Republic.
Strange things are happening here
in the name of security. For example,
Michael E. Pills Assistant
under 5ecrerit - o Defense for
Policy Planning, was 'dismissed on
the suspicion that he had leaked infor-
How
to stop
leaks
mation about sending U.S. Stinger
missiles to anti-Communist rebels in
Angola, and that he had flunked a lie-
detector test during the investigation.
The Administration is not kidding
about these "leaks." It wants to put
lie-detector tests on everybody privy
to sensitive security information.
It is really concerned that there are
more leaks out of this Administration
than any other in recent memory and
it doesn't understand why.
One reason may be that the Admin-
istration has not persuaded its civil
servants that it's telling the truth.
They know the dfference between
propaganda and truth. In short, they
are the inside "lie detectors" and, in
defiance of this Administration's pub-
lic relations techniques, are the
source of most of the leaks.
The President cannot really deal
with this problem by playing the
plumber's game to stop the leaks. He
cannot preside over a policy without
consulting with Congress and the
allies. They have to know what's
going on, and they will talk, not only
among themselves but to the network
of communications all over the world.
Also, even his own people here
won't play this game. Propaganda is
a self-limiting disease. If the Presi-
dent doesn't persuade his own people
that he's on the right track, they will
oppose him and leak their opposition
to the press. 0
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100100096-5