CIA DIRECTOR'S ATTACK ON PRESS INTENSIFIES EFFORT TO PLUG LEAKS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100100091-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 7, 2012
• Sequence Number: 91
• Publication Date: May 21, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/08 :CIA-RDP91-005618000100100091-0
~~~ CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
21 play 1986
CZA director's attack on
press
intensifies effort to lu 1
~ ~w.,,,,,,?u,,,, p g eaks
Stall wr+ter of The Chnatian Saence Mornlp ~~ wise, Secretary of State George P.
l
Central Intelli ence A en waahNgton
William J. Casey igs on thegatta kth~r
But rather than singling out Soviet
spies or international terrorists, the most
recent objects of Mr. Casey's wrath are
the American news media.
Casey is upset about news reports that
touch on United States capabilities toeon-
duM electronic and communications intel-
ligence gathering against the Soviets and
others.
The director of Central Intelligence is
concerned that American news stories of-
fer auseful addition to the US secrets the
Soviets are already able to collect. He is
also concerned that detailed news ac-
counts might jeopardize the sources and
methods used by US intelligence agencies.
Casey has resurrected alittle-used
19b0 law and is threatening to prosecute
news organizations or individuals who in
his view have violated it.
The National Broadcasting Company is
the latest addition to the CIA director's
list of news organizations that he says
have broken the law by disclosing infor-
mation about US electronic and communi_
cations intelligence efforts. The list al-
ready includes the Washington Post, the
New York Times, Newsweek, Time, and
the Washington Times:
The offending news stories have in-
cluded reports about the US interception
of coded Libyan communications related
to a terrorist bombing in West Berlin last
month and about National Security
Agency secrets allegedly Passed to the
Soviets by accused spy Ronald Pelton.
Administration o?cials have long
complained about leaks and the publish-
ing of classified information in the press
but had confined their efforts to actions
taloen against government employees.
Casey's recent threats to prosecute re-
I~'tet's marks a significant escalation in
administration efforts to cut off certain
types of government leaks. Earlier crack-
dmrns have been aimed at the leakers
thdnselves; now the administration ap-
pears to be targeting the news organiza-
tiona that might publicize the leaks.
`The media, like everyone else, must
adhere to the law,.. Casey said in a speech
last week.
recent
y told the Overseas Writers
Club, "I think our basic problem is that
we've last all sense of discipline....
whether you are talking about people in
government or people outside govern-
ment, there used to be a lot more restraint
on the part of the press in what they print
or publish."
Some Ftirst Amendment advocates ar-
gue that the Constitution protects the
press from government efforts to muzzle
it, except in limited circumstances a-~n
the United States Ls at war. in addition,
they maintain that despite complaints by
the Reagan administration, news execu-
tives can and doact responsibly in deter-
mining what to publish and what might
damage US national security.
In order to prosecute a newspaper or
television station using Casey's communi-
cations intelligence statute, the govern-
ment would have to prove not oNy that
communications intelligence was dis-
closed, but also that the accused news
organization was aware at the time of its
report that it was disclosing sensitive
information.
According to Jerry Berman of the
American Civil Liberties Union, the ad-
ministration may be attempting to "set
up" news organizations which have al-
ready been forewarned by the CIA of the
sensitivities of the Pelton case and the
Libyan code case.
To publish new sensitive details of
those cases now, he says, would make it
much easier for the government to prove
its case in court by showing that the
accused news organization knew of the
sensitivities of the information but went
ahead with the story anyway.
On Monday, Casey asked the Justice
~I~nent to review an NBC "Today"
broadcast for possible Prosecution under
the rnmmunications intelligence statute.
The Monday morning broadcast, by ,~
James Polk, was about the Pelton spy -,
, w lc `~"Deginning this week in Bal_
timore. It said, in part, "Pelton appar-
ently gave away one of the [National Se-
~tY Agency's] most sensitive secrets -
a project with the code name Ivy Bells -
believed to be atop-secret eavesdropping
III
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2
program by American submarines inside
Soviet harbors."
A Justice Department spokesman de-
clined to comment on the matter.
Critics of the crackdown say even
loyal Rgagan administration officials
have been prone to leak classified infor-
mation when it supports administration
policy or goals. They charge that the ad-
ministration is concerned only about anti-
administration or embarrassing leaks.
"The administration has done most of
the leaking, and intentionally so," says
Mr. Berman of the ACLU. He adds, "What
the administration is saying essentially is
that we want to control [all] leaks."
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/08 :CIA-RDP91-005618000100100091-0