HIS ETHICS GOT HIM CANNED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303200011-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 29, 2010
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: April 8, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/29: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303200011-3
NEW YORK POST
8 April 1982
1W ER Congress conveniently dis-;'
persed -for the Easter recess, the.
Justice Dept. announced early this
.-.
week that President_Reaegan had
dismissed William H:-Kennedy, the
U.3 A torney in San Diego. Is it
conceivable-that this. is 'the deadly -
end of the affair-
Kennedy's, real offense,appears
?`
to-have been an- uncompromising `
dedication to the rule of law. In the
? line of duty;;he refused to cover up
for. a- CIA "source" whom he be-:
lieve ' uilty- of.-.complicity in a
large-scale auto-theft ring;, - `_"
- Now; .Kennedy; a 51-year-old
conservative I;epublican named
to a four-year term by the Presi
-dent, last autumn:- after a -. re-
spected career as a county prose-
cutor, has-been abruptly exiled.''
His ."target --, - Miguel ? -Nassar
Haro, former head. of Mexico's
national police - is -spared the -
.threat of indictment..
- Beyond the rough treatmentf:
-accorded Kennedy and the immir-
-nity achieved by Nassar lies the
.larger Issue of 'protection, for du--
bious 'characters who. achieve- a-
.CIA connection The concept of-
privileged sanctuary is-embodied.
,in legislation recently-approved
:.by-both houses--and now await
-ing final draft inconference--
'IJnder _ the... pending .;.statute.
Kennedy. would not -only have.
been banished from- his job. -Hee
would.; himself be -subject- to
-prosecution
-'Is'that what Congress and. _e.
country want for our future?--. -
-The-behind-the-scenes Kennedy.
=battle l.` began -:last-: November.-
;soon`'=a ter, his .: appointment
Fourteen Mexican nationals had-
.-already pleaded guilty
to- partici-pation .-in , a> ruthless.,-auto-theft
gangs-arid. received long terms:
,Three had worked for Nassar in
'Mexico's security police; and two
named him as their collaborator.
` Kennedy notified Washington-he
iwas'planning_to seek-Nassar's
r-dictment Then the-CIA moved in:
-It informed the Justice Dept:: that
Nassar had,: among other -things,.
:supplied -"important information"
}about guerrillas ' operating: in'; El,
-Salvadorand-Guatemala.:K
Just-how :"important his oontri
buttons were-may+ -be a[-matter of
?dispute;:many CIA-app raisalsof
informants .have. been riotoriousl
inflated-:and` inaccurate.' ]n; any'
event,:Kennedy wa-s pi-essed
He continued to Sitf the rl h -
--
to-prosecute Nassar. "'' ..
Then; late last month, the San
Diego Union learned about the
-Justice Dept.'s high-level ob?.
structionism and confronted
Kennedy with.its.report. Instead
of-.an evasive no-comment or off--
the-record-wink," he, straightfor-
wardly confirmed it.
Publication of the story produced
-an instant- frenzy.-:Rennedy was
summoned to Washington and be-
latedly rebuked by top officials. It
was initially indicated that he
would be allowed to stay on the
job. But `three days later - word
came that Attorney General Wil-
liam French. Smith had decided to
demand that he quit. -: -
Kennedy balked. He. presum-
ably clung to the conviction that
he.had done no wrong. In Ken-
nedy's view, associates said, Nas-
sar was a crook beating the rap
because of his CIA credentials.
His tenacity, no doubt cynically
described as simple-mindedness by_
ouster was decreed. An accompa
?bis press-comments-were "highly
His comments had hardly been'
"inflammatory. In essence he had-
simply corroborated - what. the"
San - Diego ; paper- had indepen-
dently learned and added: - 'l'm`
concerned about the car-owners;
or the insurance companies that
'have-bald off claims.'!
The;implications of the firing are
y. explosive:-, The - CIA- has - aggres-
sively--pressed the= claim-that its
ciandestirie labors have .been im-
periledbydisclosure.of its agents';
identity. Certainly there was valid
reason for concern over indiscrimi-
nate. name-dropping' by ideological:
opponents That was the initial
basis for the pending legislation.
But. how far should such protec-
tiveness extend? Must-the.CIA
again become- a secure haven
for- operatives ' whose . crimes are
-` wholly unrelated to "the interests
of the United States'?` A free so-,
j ciety.cannot invite. limitless black-
-,-.mail at.the hands. of,a rapanous.
-underworld- -y, s 4, '
lBtions .. irl recent ty/Cars
8bout:ClA'and FBI abuses con-
"veyed that message. to Congress.'
:The fate-of-William-IL-Kennedy
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/29: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303200011-3