DCI STATEMENT ON REFERRING NBC NEWS ITEM TO JUSTICE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100120067-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 3, 2012
• Sequence Number: 67
• Publication Date: May 19, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/03: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100120067-5
STAT
19 May 1986
DCI STATEMENT ON REFERRING NBC NEWS ITEM TO JUSTICE
Director of Central Intelligence William J. Casey today released the
following statement:
"We believe that the assertions, if true, made by James Polk on the NBC
'Today' show this morning violate the prohibitions in 18 USC 798 against
publishing any classified information concerning the communications activities
of the United States.
My statutory obligation to protect intelligence sources and methods
requires me to refer this matter to the Department of Justice."
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/03: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100120067-5
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/03: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100120067-5
U
1/ The full statute reads:
S 798 Disclosure of Classified Information
(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates,
furnishes, transmits, or* otherwise makes available to an
unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner
prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States
or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detri-
ment of the United States any classified information --
(1) concerning the nature, preparation, or use of
any code, cipher, or cryptographic system of
the United States or any foreign government;
or
(2) concerning the design, construction, use,
maintenance, or repair of any device, apparatus,
or appliance used or prepared or planned for
use by the United States or any foreign govern-
ment for cryptographic or communication intel-
ligence purposes; or
(3) concerning the communication intelligence
activities of the United States or any foreign
government; or
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 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/03: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100120067-5
(4) obtained by the processes of communication
intelligence from the communications of any
foreign government knowing the same to have
been obtained by such -processes --
Shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not
more than ten years, or both.
(b) As used in subsection (a) of this section --
The term 'classified information' means information
which, at the time of a violation of this section, is, for
reasons of national security, specifically designated by a
United States Government Agency for limited or restricted
dissemination or distribution;
The terms "code," "cipher," and 'cryptographic system"
include in their meanings, in addition to their usual meanings,
any method of secret writing and any mechanical or electrical
device or method used for the purpose of disguising or conceal-
ing the contents, significance, or meanings of communications;
The term "foreign government" includes in its meaning
any person or persons acting or purporting to act for or on
behalf of any faction, party, department, agency, bureau,
or military force of or within a foreign country, or for or
on behalf of any government or any person or persons purport-
ing to act as a government within a foreign country, whether
or not such government is recognized by the United States;
The term "communication intelligence' means all procedures
and methods used in the interception of communications and
the obtaining of information from such communications by other
than the intended recipients;
The term 'unauthorized person" means any person who, or
agency which, is not authorized to receive information of the
categories set forth in subsection (a) of this section, by
the President, or by the head of a department or agency of
the United States Government which is expressly designated by
the President to engage in communication intelligence activi-
ties for the United States.
(c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the furnishing,
upon lawful demand, of information to any regularly constituted
committee of the Senate or House of Representatives of the
United States of America, or joint committee thereof.
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/03: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100120067-5
 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/03: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100120067-5
TRANSCRIPT OF NBC TODAY SHOW NEWS ITEM ON PELTON CASE
(Monday, 19 May 1986)
T
ANNOUNCER: In this country jury selection begins today in one of the
most important espionage trials in years. James Polk has this report.
POLK: In the National Security Agency's super secret world of
electronic spying and eavesdropping on the Soviet union, no ex-employee may
ever have done greater damage than Ronald Pelton in selling secrets to the
Russian KGB. A man described as a brilliant but broke, Pelton is accused of
telephoning the Soviet embassy in 1980, a phone conversation wiretapped by the
FBI who never knew who the caller was until the KGB agent on the other end of
the line--flipflop defector Vitaly Yurchenko--tipped them off five years
later.
Meanwhile, prosecutors say Pelton flew twice to Vienna,
Austria, staying inside the Soviet ambassador's private residence, telling the
KGB what he knew.
Pelton apparently gave away one of the National Security
Agency's most sensitive secrets--a project with the codename IVY BELLS,
believed to be a top secret underwater eavesdropping operation by American
submarines inside Russian harbors. If convicted, Pelton will face life in
prison. His trial should last about one and one-half weeks . James Polk,
NBC News, Baltimore.
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/03: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100120067-5