U.S. AIDES FACE 143 SUITS ON SPYING]

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01314R000100570024-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 22, 2004
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: May 22, 1977
• Content Type: NSPR

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~VASEII\ta:'ON, May ' ,iI (A;)-l,.prop-j te][i,,Pr or;n_r -:gets-
er Government spying and harassment Cy officals a ainetl defendants in suit -
are the basis For more than Si billion brought by Grove Press Inc. lira -case
in damage claims from individuals who involves thr> agency's Operation CHAOS 4 3 Ea/-(~,
have filed 1'3 Ci',-:I, SwiCS asserting that to gather information on palitiCa.l dissent-
ttreir? rights were violated, the General ers.
Accounting Oft Ce reports. (iTbe former Int?11;~cr c directors, for-
The office, an'nvestiaative arm of con mcr Attorney General 'uhn N. Mitchell tress, conducted lira study for the House
Government Operations Committee's Sub- and former postal officials in a class-ac-
committee on Government information Lion suit filed in California by a citizen,
and Individual Rights. accusing the Central Intelligence Agency
The report provides the most complete, of opening his mail. Several military
list so far of lawsuits growing out of officers named defendants in a S1.6 mil-
tine Water ;ate era and disclosures of im- lion suit brought by the Berlin Democrat-
proper and sometimes illegal spying and is Club, alleging that the Army illegally
ve_ tigation and the Central Ilitelli;ence spied on the club in West Germany,
Agency. Uormer Secretary of State Henry A.
Some of the cases, such as the Socialist Kissinger, defendant in a suit filed by
Workers Party's $40 million suit against one of his former aides, Morton Halperin,
the bureau and other Government agen- whose home telephone was tapped when
cis, have been widely publicized but Mr. Kissinger and President Nixon viera
others are less well known. trying to find who was giving information
Role of Justice Dept, to the news media. T e court ruled last
December that former Attorney General
The Justice Department represents Mitchell, Mr. Nixon and H.R. Haldeman, i
present and former G Goveernment officials former chief of staff for Mr. Nixon, must 1
stied for actions they took in the course pay nai`iagoes found that Mr. K:.. issin?
of their obs. But when those actions are , b o
j or and other defendants were not liable.
the subject of a Federal criminal investi- In addition, tine r:enartment has ar-
ation, the depart, rent pays a private ranged for private adorneys to defend
lawyer to represent the. official in the Mr. Mitchell in a suit brought by Jane
civil case. If elre official is drained with Fonda the actress. Ei.:t >he G.:t.O. report a crime ir2 that case, the department wi!1
said that the Government had not had
not represent him or pay for his own to pay any legal fees in the case- as of
lawyer in the civil suit. February.
The G:A.O. report said that, as of Sept.
21, 1976, the department had paid
$440,000, at a rate up to $75 pan hour,
to private lawyers in cases arising from
the harassment and spying campaigns.
This includas fees to two law firms repre-
senting four bureau agents sued by the
Socialist Workers.
The Government is paying private law-
yers for the following other officials: ij
4iJohn A. 'McCone, Richard Helms,
James R. Schlesinger and William E.I
Colby, all former Directors of Central In-/ -
Approved For Release 2004/10/28 : CIA-RDP88-01314R000100570024-7
Approved For Releas l7`O04l,'fi 2Sl-`CVA-RDP88-01314 F 00?- .
72 I t i\V 11,177
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