PLUGGING THE HOLES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100100049-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 49
• Publication Date: May 24, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100100049-7
ARTICLE APK
D
ONPAM
EDITOR & PUBLISHER
24 May 1986
Plugging the holes
Reagan administration gets aggressive in trying to find information
1E a
j
rs; fires two, threatens the media with criminal prosecution
BY JaneS
R
The Reagan administration's cam-
paign against leaks of classified infor-
mation is beginning to bite.
In less than a month, the adminis-
tration has fired two mid-level offi-
cials for giving out classified informa-
tion, threatened the Washington Post
and four other publications, and
asked the Justice Department to con-
sider criminal prosecution of NBC.
Said White House spokesman
Larry Speakes: "The position of the
White House is that anyone who vio-
lates the law should be prosecuted,
whether it be a publication or whether
it would be a member of the adminis-
tration that is leaking classified infor-
mation."
The case of NBC was referred to
the Justice Department by Director
William J. Casey of the Central Intel-
ligence Agency. He acted within
hours after the NBC Today program
reported that Ronald W. Pelton, now
on trial in Baltimore as an alleged
Soviet spy, had told the Soviets about
"a project with the code name Ivy
Bells - believed to be a top-secret
eavesdropping program by American
submarines inside Soviet harbors."
In asking the Justice Department to
consider criminal prosecution of
NBC, Casey cited a 1950 statute that
prohibits anyone from knowingly and
willingly disclosing classified infor-
mation about American communica-
tions intelligence. The Justice Depart-
ment will decide whether to pursue
the case. A prosecution would be the
first under the 36-year-old law.
Before the NBC broadcast, the
administration had given numerous
indications that it was serious about
prosecuting leaks, especially any con-
cerning the techniques or effective-
ness of United States use of commu-
nications in gathering intelligence.
Casey had personally warned
Washington Post executive editor
Benjamin C. Bradlee and managing
editor Leonard Downie Jr. not to
publish a story the paper was prepar-
ing about the Pelton case.
"I'm not threatening you," Casey
told the editors in a face-to-face
meeting, "but you've got to know
that if you publish this, I would rec-
ommend that you be prosecuted
under the intelligence statute."
Casey said he had conferred with Angola and Afghanista.,
Deputy Attorney General D. Lowell
Jensen about prosecuting "abso-
lutely cold violations" in stories
already published - not only by the
Post, but also by the New York Times,
Washington Times, Newsweek maga-
zine and Time magazine.
Casey apparently did not ask for-
mally for prosecutions in these
already-published stories, but his dis-
closure of its attitude appeared to be
at least a warning against further sen-
sitive stories about communications
intelligence.
The Washington Post decided to
hold up, at least temporarily, the
proposed story that brought Casey's
threat of prosecution.
The Post finally ran the story on
May 21, 17 days after it was originally
scheduled to appear in the paper.
Deleted from the story was informa-
tion deemed by the Reagan adminis-
tration to be damaging to national se-
curity.
The Post reported that following
Casey's meeting with the newspa-
per's editors, President Reagan, on
May 10, telephoned Post Co. chair-
man Katharine Graham to urge that
the newspaper not publish the article.
Post editor Bradlee was quoted in
his newspaper's story as stating he
continues to believe that the paper's
original story would have revealed
nothing that was not already known to
the Soviet Union.
Bradlee added that the Post
decided to eliminate from the story
the description of technology Pelton
is alleged to have betrayed because of
concerns of the newspaper's lawyers.
The government officials who were
fired for leaking classified informa-
tion were Spencer C. Warren, a mem-
ber of the State Department's policy
On the dismissal of Warren, State
Department spokesman Charles E.
Redman said: "We regret that
because of this transgression the
department is losing an otherwise
productive and trustworthy
employee, but we believe that leaking
of classified information is a serious
breach of the discipline required of all
public servants. It is essential that the
public be informed concerning the
activities of its government.
"However, we must also recognize
that the national interest often
requires that information concerning
the national defense and foreign rela-
tions be protected against unauthor-
ized disclosure.
"Officials who leak do not serve
the larger national interest by dis-
closing information, but instead may
well be undermining the process of
making foreign policy and protecting
our national defense."
At the White House before the
NBC incident arose, spokesman
Speakes resisted reporters' efforts to
suggest that some of the material that
aroused Casey had been alluded to by
Reagan before the newspapers pub-
lished it. He said the president had not
violated the bar against indicating
how the United States gathers com-
munications intelligence.
"The White House position," he
occurred ortwill occur and the (CIA)
director makes a recommendation to
the Justice Department, this would be
a matter of prosecutorial discretion,
which means the Justice Department
would decide whether to prosecute or
not.
planning staff; and Michael E. Pills- "Generally, decisions about prose.
bury, an assistant undersecretary of cutions are made by the experts at the
defense. Justice Department based on the evi-
Warren was blamed for telling the dence and the criteria for whether
Washington Post and Washington they would have successful prosecu-
Times about a cable from the U.S. tion. The position of the White House
Ambassador in Argentina complain- is that anyone who violates the law
ing that visiting congressmen had should be prosecuted, whether it be a
pressed Argentine officials to con- publication or whether it would be a
demn U.S. policy in Central America. member of the administration that is
Pillsbury was accused of leaking leaking classified information ....A
information about the shipment of gentleman at the Defense Department
stinger aircraft missiles to rebels in ended his service there rather
promptly three of four days ago."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100100049-7