CAN CONGRESS REALLY CHECK THE CIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91B00135R000701310096-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 14, 2008
• Sequence Number: 96
• Publication Date: April 24, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2008/05/14: CIA-RDP91 B001 35R000701310096-6
OPERATIONS CENTE' `CURRENT SUPPORT GtOUP
News Bulletin : WASHINGTON POST, P-Cl Item No. 2
Can Congress Really Check the CIA? 24 April 1983
STAT
k the cIA?
C;an. Co
ng'r"- ess Reby Chec If Hill oversight fails on Nicaragua, it may just be meaningless
By Jay Peterzell One of the ISA's actions, the officials, In practice, the president sends the com-
EMBERS OF CONGRESS struggling was to provide equipment and supportfor a mittees a written "finding" that an operation
Mto control the not-so-secret secret war 1981 attempt by. former special forces Lt. Col. 'f is in the national interest. This document is
James (Bo) Gritz to organize a search for 'studied by a small group of staff members
against Nicaragua are learning an unpleasant American prisoners of war thought to be stilly who are "in the compartment," and at a se-
lesson about ,their ability to monitor covert held in Laos. The organization was also.said' cret but recorded hearing members can elicit
action: the current oversight system is inade- to have conducted operations in Central details or clarifications from CIA and State'
quate even when it works, and it does not al-, America. Department officials. If the committees have'
ways work reservations about the proposal they can ask
This American intervention in Central Sources who discussed the existence of the the administistration to review it. If they are
America presents the most serious test to ISA said. they were satisfied that its illegal ac- the) ad not isatis n iati they can write a letter to are
date of the credibility of that oversight sys- tivities had ceased. still dent.
tem, which was established by a series of laws Even when Congress is fully informed,
passed during the last decade. If Congress some members say they have few effective ,That has always been where the process
proves unable to control this controversial ways to react to covert operations of which stopped. "The system works well when
covert operation, it is hard to imagine when it! they disapprove. "It is very frustrating to ,there's a consensus" between Congress and
will effectively use its oversight powers. have so little leverage over the intelligence the president, a former staff member noted.
_.But the system is neither so simple nor so community," one member noted. "You don't "It is not set up to deal with disagreements."
_
straightforward that it can be easily exploit- 1 have a veto, so you have to satisfy yourself by A parallel monitoring track is provided by
Y exP hollering inside the tin can." ed. There are ambiguities in the law that the budget review process, which includes a
hinder effective congressional oversight, and Y; ^ . ^ yearly secret but recorded vote on each covert
there are large practical problems that get'in operation. In addition to authorizing funds
the way of any attempt to curtail 7 secret In recent interviews, intelligence commit for these and other intelligence actions, the
operation overseas. Perhaps most important, tee 'members and current and former staff "committees approve reprogramming of
members and intelligence officials described money and are informed of (but do not ap-
Congress has yet to display any willingness to the current system of congressional oversight.., prove) withdrawals from the CIA's contin-
actually stand in the way of an operation that Many asked not to be identified. Their ac- the administration of the day wants to con y gency fund. This power of the purse is often,
count is necessarily incomplete, both because described as "the teeth" of oversight. But.
duct. Without congressional courage, over of the sensitivity of some aspects of the sub- committee sources admit it has never been
The
sight
never
s e begin a significant. a icant. fundamental level: 'jest and because, in the case of committee used to cut off a significant, ongoing covert
A The number er of problem members and staff f of of the House members and staff, they have no way of action.
of knowing that specific information has not;
and Senate intelligence committees say they Its important to understand what congres-
are not certain they are are even . informed of been reported to them. sional oversight does not mean, too. It does
some types of secret operations. In a series of "Congressional oversight" of covert activi- not mean that the CIA makes daily or weekly
recent interviews, they described specific in ties means that Congress is kept informed of these activities, and has the opportunity to trips to Capitol Hill to solicit approval for all
stances in which agencies had exploited loop influence them. Under the law, the executive secret activities. Nor does it mean the CIA is
holes in reporting requirements or even branch must inform the House and Senate eager to volunteer its secrets to the intelli-
evaded those requirements altogether in ways intelligence committees - in advance, except gene committees. This is often a tooth-pull-
that appeared to violate the law. in dire circumstances - of all clandestine ac- mg Process, and sometimes the dentist can't
For example, intelligence and congressional tivities by U.S. operatives or their agents to see all the teeth.
sources said the Defense Department had influence events in foreign countries. Com-It's also important to know a little of the
conducted a number of clandestine intelli- 'mittee members can ask questions* about intelligence community's terminology. The
gence activities without obtaining a "presi- these operations but cannot veto them. The? term "covert action" does not cover all of the
dential finding" or informing the intelligence law envisions a situation in which the execu- secret activities of American- intelligence
committees as required by law. The actions, tive branch takes seriously reservations that agencies. If the purpose of some clandestine
which were said to have ended last year, were might be expressed by the committees, but in action is to gather intelligence - not to influ-
undertaken by an organization whose exist- fact the executive does not have to respond to ence events - then it need not be reported
ence has never been reported previously - congressional misgivings. To stop a covert ac- beforehand to Congress.
the Army Intelligence Support Activity, a se- tion, Congress has to cut off funds for it.
stet organization set up during the 1980 Iran
hostage crisis to support paramilitary, and
hostage-rescue operations worldwide. 9 4 a/ o t 3
y
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Overs ht of CIA. Is
Congressional
en
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an s e c an a
ug a memoran um mere y .1 . P ma acing committee''
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gua, many of the problems of congression; crime options, Rep. Wyche Fowler Jr. (D-'members besides the issue of timely notifica-
.oversight of intelligence activities are about!Ga.), the current chairman of the oversight tion. One important area, involves what
to come to the forefront on Capitol Hill., and evaluation subcommittee, said recently arnounts to a question of labeling: when is an`
The Nicaraguan operation appears to be a that he planned to conduct "a continuing re= . intelligence operation a "covert action," and
case where Congress is getting alt the infor- view of covert actions, possibly leading to., when is it something else-' for example, "in.
mation it considers relevant. "If you want the general policy guidance coming from our 'telligence collection."
gods' own truth," one intelligence committee committee as to when covert actions are ap- Committee sources, for example, cited the.
source says, "the flurry of activity about Cen-Ipropriate and when they are not." CIA's failure to give prior notice of a May
tral America is because we do have the facts." Early this month, after a trip to Central , 1981, incursion into Laos organized by the.
Nicaragua is also a case where Congress has America, Fowler said Congress should write, agency to determine if U.S. soldiers missing
expressed a strong, explicit opinion on what is such 'restrictive guidelines into :Jaw. Fowler,,in action during the Vietnam War were still
proper for the United States. This was the plans to introduce legislation this week set imprisoned there. One source recalled listen-
.Boland amendment, named for Rep. Edward ting standards for permissable'covert activi-I mg to CIA Director William J. Casey explain
.P. Boland (D-Mass.), chairman of the House 'ties and giving the committee a veto over coy why he had not informed the committees.
intelligence panel, that was passed last year. ert action proposals..:. He asserted every defense," the source said:
It bars the use of funds "for the purpose of Other members said they should be in- first that the incursion was a Thai operation,
overthrowing the government of Nicaragua or formed about covert operations even before a then that the CIA could not expect other na-
;provoking a military exchange between Nica- presidential "finding" that they are desirable. lions to do things on its behalf if it had to tell
ragua and Honduras." ; ? "I think we have to insist on more consulta- Congress, and finally that it was not a covert
An increasing number of congressmen - tion before the fact so they get a feeling' operation but an intelligence-gathering mis-
including Boland - are questioning whether.,,where they can go and what the standards i sion. "It was outrageous," the source said.
this language is still being respected. Their are," said Rep. William F. Goodling (R-Pa.)., Others familiar with the incident said they
doubts have been reinforced by the fact that Others thought it is essential to react to the thought there was some justice in Casey's last
the administration is also seeking' more proposals before "`the tilt" of bureaucratic claim because the law does not require the
money for the operations. Congressional momentum made them impossible to stop. CIA to give prior notice of intelligence collec-
sources report that the administration's 1984 tion operations. But, Huddleston said, "Some
intelligence budget proposes a major increase. ^ ^ of us believe sensitive collection operations
in funding for-paramilitary actions by Nicara- should be treated like covert action because
guan exile groups. Most committee members and staff inter-
viewed said their access to information about, the risk can be as great or greater."
One official noted further that total pro- The CIA has resisted this interpretation,'
posed funding for covert operations had risen:covert intelligence operations is adequate if 'though the agency does occasionally inform
they are willing to press the agencies - and if
more sharply than the CIA budget as a whole the committees of such operations in ad-,'
- even allowing for' large, non-operational they ask the right questions. e -
outlays to rebuild weapons stocks and other; Relations between the committees and the vance- More frequently, the committees are
? intelligence community did not improve on told about types of sensitive intelligence cot
infrastructure expenses. this score, as many expected they would, with lection, but not given details. "We'd tell them
Frustration over the Nicaraguan operation passage of the 1980 Intelligence Oversight we've got so many presidents on our payroll,
has led several members of the committees to Act The act reduced from eight to.two the but we wouldn't tell them which ones," a sen-
begin examining ways to strengthen congres- for intelligence source said.
sional oversight. number of committees that are informed of g
A March 23, 1983, smemorandum pre- covert actions. It also brought agencies other Another matter of labeling creates, a differ-
paredr R3, Lee staff Hamilton memorandum pre- than the CIA under the approval and report- ent loophole through which. the executive
pared steps p. LeeH ember can -In .) ing system and established a firm require- I branch can slip unreported clandestine activi-I
s a a committee
to take in. have ment that the committees be, given prior no- ties. It involves the arms export control act'
respds
gone nse to covert actions memt r control. Many of that seem these m steps to have tice of covert operations except in extraordi- governing transfers of U.S.-made arms be-f
nary circumstances. It directs the intelligence' tween other countries.
never been used or seriously considered. For agencies to "furnish any information" the This law permits the president to authorize
example, the memorandum notes, members, committees request.
can move that the committee: "When other nations that possess U.S.-made military
? Inform the Foreign Affairs committee Congress collapsed from eight to equipment to transfer up to $50 million
two committees, many of us believed there worth to third parties without first informing
about the operation (presumably, it would be would be a new day of openness and trust," a committee in Congress. Thus a country like
inclined to react more aggressively than the said Rep. Charlie Rose (D-N.C.), who headed Egypt could transfer $49 million worth of
intelligence panel); the oversight subcommittee until this year. U.S. equipment to opponents of the Marxist
? Disclose the operation to the full House :"That day never came. It was foot-dragging
Y regime in Ethiopia, and no member of Con-
in a secret session, perhaps with a recommen.and obfuscation as usual."
datin to adopt new legislative restrictions on Most of those interviewed said the gress.would know about it.
the activity; CIA had This loophole isn't as hypothetical as it
think on most with the ltr of the law. might seem. In October 1982, then-Israeli
? Officially disclose the operation to the "generall
operations dre geambassador Moshe Arens confirmed press
re- ling a prior notification," said Sen. Walter D.' ports that Israel had sold U.S.-made military
Require by give Huddleston (D-Ky.). He said the notice was equipment to the Ayatollah Khomeini's army
advance approval for covert actions; . "sometimes very, very close to the initiation in Iran. Arens termed this as an attempt to
? Formally restrict the types of covert ac- of the activities."
tiles the president may authorize. help "bring down the Khomeini regime" by
bolstering the army as a potentially indepen-
dent institution. He said the sales were made
in coordination with the U.S. government "at
P4 ye o~ 3 =almost the highest levels."
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The State' Departn' claims theUnited One congressional-sow, 'recalled that,
States never authorizes these Israeli sales to'.under an earlier finding authorizing the CIA
Iran. The congressional intelligence commit-~'to support the Shah of Iran against domestic
tees were not notified about them, committee: unrest, the agency had conducted propa-
sources said. It remains unclear exactly whatlanda and other covert actions to bolster the
happened, but that arms transfer appears ml short-lived Bakhtiar government that re-
be related to joint U.S.-Israeli covert opera-1placed him. ``The operations continued even
pions against Khomeini that were reported by though there was a new government, and
The New York Times last year. seven though by that time it was the agreed
"It's a loophole," one source said rof the judgment of the analytic people in the CIA
arms transfer problem. "Where does the issue that the Bakhtiar government had no chance
fall? The intelligence committees? The for- of survival," the source said.
?eign policy committees? The armed services: When the committee raised the issue of
committees? It's an issue people have consid-!:limiting the time for. which covert action au-
ered and say `it's not my job."' Ithorizations are valid, he said, the CIA "went
ape. The findings never do run out, and the
_CIA regards that as desirable."
Another factor impeding effective congres-) In the final analysis, the administration
sional oversight of covert operations is the in- can only waltz through loopholes, violate re-
telligence agencies' apparent freedom to'porting requirements, and ignore the con-
change the size and even the nature of an on-.cerns of intelligence committee members as
:going covert action in ways not anticipated or ong as congress and the intelligence commit-
explicit in the original finding. "Some of theme allow it to do so. Whether these problems
.go on' after the original conditions have* solved by reforming the oversight system
changed," Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt)f or by more vigorous use of the system now in
noted. "It is a matter of concern to me that place, the issue boils down to one of congres-
there be some automatic turnoff." _ sional will. A show of that will now is essential
-if effective oversight is to have a future.
What Is the Army's ISA Up to?
-W HAT IS THE Intelligence Support Activity, and what has it been up to?
~/ ~/ Until now, the existence of this component of the U.S. Army has never been
disclosed. But according to a number of well-informed sources, the Intelligence Support
Activity has been responsible for a number of illegal clandestine intelligence activities
conducted without either a presidential finding or a report to the intelligence commit-
'tees.
'
Early in 1982, the congressional intelligence committees learned of the ISA's actions
which they declined to enumerate - and conducted an investigation. Subsequently,
the matter was referred to the Intelligence Oversight Board, an executive committee'
:charged with examining questions of legality.
Although the organization came to the attention of Congress because of its involve-
ment with Bo Gritz in 1981, apparently after the CIA's own unsuccessful operation in
.Laos, the Gritz mission was said to be "just a small part" of the ISA's activities. Several
sources said the CIA had objected to 'the actions, which were approved and conducted
;outside normal channels. The sources said the ISA has undertaken a number of opera-
tions worldwide, including secretly providing equipment to foreign governments. The
organization is now said to be involved in covert operations in Nicaragua. Its current ac-
tivities are said not to violate the law.
Rep. Charlie Rose (D-N.C.), who was chairman of the House oversight subcommittee.
last year, declined to comment on the ISA's activities. But he said he was concerned.
that after the 1980 election "word went out that now Reagan is president and covert ac-
tion is okay. There are lots of guys sitting around in the intelligence bureaucracy saying,
`Wouldn't, it be nice if we could get one of those, too?' So the committee has had a hard
time keeping an eye on an ever-expanding frontier."
Congressional sources said the Defense Department had made an effort to create yet
another clandestine intelligence organization last year. They-said Pentagon officials had
argued that the CIA was not sufficiently responsive to their needs and that traditional.
military intelligence units were too visible. They requested funds in the 1983 budget to
set up a new, secret intelligence organization with worldwide authority to conduct
"human intelligence" espionage operations. The sources said the request had not been
granted, in part because the experience with the ISA had created doubts that the new
agency could be controlled. -JAY PETERZELL
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