'POLITICS' AT CIA FEARED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000100010151-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 21, 2007
• Sequence Number: 151
• Publication Date: November 5, 1975
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/08/21 : CIA-RDP99-00498R000100010151-6
THE ?IASIIV'GT ON
5 Nove.alh er 19
` 5
cpolitics' at CIA Feared:.
s yWalterPincus and Laurence Stern
S'lasn nylon ?dst Stmt :Yrirers -
Warnirgs that the- ap- kno:tlet!?e of-his background
rn:-;'.rnent of George Bus;! and ext -riercei^ this field.
multi lead to election-year. He said Bush's appointment
manipulation of the sup could well "compromise the.
posedly nonpartisan .Cer.tral independence of the CIA.;'
Intelligence-' Agency were
s~~irc ed yesterday-on C1pi!ol- Bush, interviewed in Peking
Hill ar,d.withia theintelligence by Reuter, inadvertently may
con, munit have added fuel to the con-
ryas the comment . of Sen .
Frank Church_.(D-Ida:.o) : appointment meant his
political career was over..
"Once they. wedsto give for-.. Bush currently heads the U.S..
mer national party.-chairmen liaison otfice'in China.
pcctm-ister generalship -t;:e :President. Ford in his press..
lnost:'. ohtrcah_ and ,.least . _
p conference Monday night alsos:
sensitive, job in-governrr_r:;. fed. the.corcern with the, ob-_
Now- they have: given. =`s servation that he did not think..
former party chairman either Bush. or Dn
o ald
most sensitive: and: less
political agency.
Church, chairman
Senate CIA 'invests=__:
committee, said he we--'_ obliged to vote again : .
confirmation of - Bush. GO'?
national chairman during :Je
19-,21 presidential: camc_iz'
"based on my presen_-
Rumsfeld, his nominee as
-Defense Secr etary, could be .
eliminated from "con-
sideration by anybody" for the
vice presidency. - - .
An illustration - of the -
specific- sort oft worry the
appointment has generated - -!
was provided -tr.' c?re Senate
intelligence investigator. -
"Richard Helms (former
CIA director) kept- sa in; 'no...
to overtures from the White
House in June, n, t - t the
CIA assist in the--cover--up in
the Watergate case. Whatever
else you may say about nim,2?
Helms refused. -SW"hat- do -you
suppose George Bush would
have said to thePresident?
The CIA has always been
uneasy-with directors ap-
pointed from outside the in- -
telligence field. but as one-
experienced CIA man said-
yesterday. "We thought they,
would have gone civtside-the-
political arena. at least until
e
ated
after; he election. bv.. Congress and the ad-
'He said there had been some'-
thought that David Packard,`
who recently resigned -:as
President Ford's finance
chairman, might have made a
better choice than Bush.
. A-top Senateaideraisedthe
question of how much in-
telligence information critical
of-admintsti-adcn policy will -- top job was held by as out-
conflict over the politically
controversial ABM Safeguard
system as well as Soviet
missile strength during the
early years of the Nixon ad-
ministration.
go to Capitol Hill Once Bush
takes over.
In recent years, CIA -has:
been available for. briefings
and has supplied its daily,
intelligence summaries to key
committee members and
staffs- "A professional in
telligence agency can do
that," the aide said, "but Bush
is a member of the ad-'
ministration -team in. an
election year and is not a
professional intelligence
man." .
Illustrative of the issue of
the CIA's integrity in in-
telligence reporting was the
CIA assessments were
sharply at odds . ._: those of
t're Nixon i~t't?ite Now -e a rd the
Defense Departmenft. Helms
was willing to testify- on
'Capitol 'Hill-saga-inst then-
Deferze Secreta,r.. Melvin R.
Lair - - '~
Colby risked t~ e ire of the
Ford - Whiite' House and
Secretary. ofState Henry A.
Kissinger by going before
congressional comm;tte,~s and
testifying about past excesses
of the CIA.
The impending Senate
Armed Services Committee
hearin -s . on i3ush'-
nor; ination are e:~Dected to
become the forum in which the
issue of the CIA's political
independence will he d
b
Iinstration -
-The position' of deputy CIA
director takes on new im-
portance with the ap-
pointment of a non-
professional outsider tike
Bush. In the past the No. ?~2
man has been a CIA insider
and taken a strong hand in
running the agency when the
Lt. Gen. Vernon Walters,
the current deputy and?a .
political appointee of former-,
President - Nixon, said
yesterday he intended to
consult the White House to
find out if President Ford
%,antshimtostay. -
Approved For Release 2007/08/21 : CIA-RDP99-00498R000100010151-6