C.I.A. WEIGHS ACTION ON WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000100410025-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 23, 2011
• Sequence Number: 25
• Publication Date: May 22, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/03/23: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100410025-1
ARTICLE AP 11~ NEW Y0R? TIMES
ON PAGED.. 22 May 1986
C.I.A. Weighs Action on Washington Post Article
By PHILIP SHENON
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, May 21- The Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency is considering
whether to take action against The
Washington Post for an article about a
classified intelligence-gathering opera-
tion involving American submarines,
the White House said today.
"It is presently being analyzed by the'
C.I.A. to see if they have any specific
problems with it," Larry Speakes, the
White House spokesman, said of the ar-
ticle.
The article, which appeared in the
Wednesday issue of The Post, indicated
that a former National Security
Agency employee on trial for spying,
Ronald W. Pelton, had compromised
an intelligence operation that used a
"high-technology device" to monitor
Soviet communications.
The article provided some new detail
about Mr. Pelton's purported activi-
ties. It said that, according to unnamed
sources, the interception device pur-
portedly used against the Soviet Union
had been retrieved by the Russians and
that the United States had discovered
"physical evidence" that the intelli-
gence operation had been compro-
mised. But much of the article re-
peated information readily available in
court records.
Debate Wfore Publication
? In its article today, The Post said the
paper had decided not to print a de-
scription of the interception device.
The decision was made because of con-
cerns of Post lawyers, and because the
paper had been "unable fully to judge
the validity of the national security ob-
jections of senior officials" in the Rea-
an Administration, the article said.
Benjamin C. Bradlee, executive edi-
or of The Post, said in an interview
that editors had removed the equiva-
lent of about two or three paragraphs
describing the interception device.
"We took out certain details," he
said. "The details of the operation, the
readers won't know about."
Asked if the editing had affected the
article's value, he said: "It depends on
what your attitude is. It may have been
significant to you." Asked the reaction
of Post staff members to the editing, he
said, "Some people are disappointed,
and others are pleased."
More Reporting Foreseen
details in the article when The Post
sought their comments before publica-
tion. They "strenously objected to its
publication, arguing that it would seri-
ously damage national security," the
article said.
A Phone Call From the President
Mrs. Graham described a telephone
conversation on May 10 with President
Reagan, who urged her not to publish
the article. "He just emphasized that
he knew about the discussions under
way and that he felt very strongly sup-
portive of the people who were talking
to us," she said of the President.
Mrs. Graham said the President
noted that the Administration would
consider prosecution. of The Post
should it publish the article.
"He mentioned it in the same way
that it had been mentioned in other con-
versations," she said. "It was a very
civilized, low-key conversation."
The C.I.A. had no comment whenf
asked if it would request that the Jus-
tice Department, prosecute The Post.
"What we've said all day is that it's
in the hands of the lawyers," said.
Sharon Foster, a C.I.A. spokesman.
In recent days, Mr. Casey has threat-
ened news organizations with prosecu-
tion under an espionage law barring
publication of information about com-
munications intelligence and the ma-
chinery used to code and decode secret
messages. Leaks of information about
communications intelligence have
threatened national security, he said.
Justice Department officials have
said privately they are not enthusiastic
about prosecuting newspapers.
The department said today it would
have no comment unless the C.I.A.
made a formal request for criminal
charges. A department official who
asked not to be named said that it ap-
peared that The Post would escape
prosecution because the article had ap-
parently been "carefully crafted" to
avoid violations of the espionage law.
Publication of the article followed
long discussions between the paper and
Administration officials who asserted
that news accounts about the Pelton,
case could violate a Federal law bar-
ring disclosure of communications in-
formation.
The Central Intelligence Agency said
it would have no comment until after
The Post's article had been reviewed
by Government lawyers.
Earlier this week, William J. Casey,
the Director of Central Intelligence,
asked that NBC News be prosecuted for
a report on the Pelton case.
He said reporting on the story would
continue, although he doubted the in-
formation left out in the article today
would be included later. "What we kept
out today, we will keep out tomorrow,"
he said.
Bob Woodward, one of two reporters
n the story, said, "There was a lot of
material we did not use, including de-
tails that we never considered publish-
ing because of their sensitivity and
some matters that were in earlier
drafts."
i Katharine Graham, chairman of the
board of The Washington Post Compa-
ny, said she did not believe the editing
had affected the article's value. She de-
scribed the editing as "proper - we
handled it well."
The article described extensive Ad-
ministration efforts to block publica-
tion earlier this month of a more de-
tailed article on Mr. Pelton and what
he supposedly told the Soviet Union.
The officials apparently learned of
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