CHILE REPORT LEAK IRKS SENATORS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP09T00207R001000020087-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2011
• Sequence Number: 87
• Publication Date: September 18, 1974
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09TOO207RO01000020087-8
WASHINGTON STAR
18 SEP 1974
Ch'I'le nKl'o'eport Leak Irks Senators
By Jeremiah O'Leary "It's nonsense. But if the inger -as ambassador to
Stw-Nan Staff RMbe President and the Senate Britain after January.
The Senate Foreign Rela- want me to testify, I will." The committee's problem
Meanwhile Kissinger met with the Levinson report
tions Committee has as- with President Ford yester- seems to be that at least
sumed charge of the investi- day and the White House some of the hitherto secret
gation of the CIA-Chile con- said later the secretary of
troversy and is expected to state was assured that he
come up with a much more would not be replaced as
bland viewpoint than that of principal presidential
the multinational corpora- adviser on national securi-
tions. subcommittee legal ty.
staff. As assistant for national
Many members of the full security Kissinger, among
committee reacted with out- other duties, directs the
rage at the "confidential" interdepartmental 40 Com-
report from Jerry Levinson mittee, whose approval is
to Subcommittee Chairman required before the CIA can
Frank Church, D-Idaho, undertake a major covert
which was leaked to the operation.
Star-News, The Washington
Post, and The New York Committee members,
Times at least 24 Hours be- reacting to the Levinson j
fore most of the senators recommendation, seemed
had seen a copy. united in expressing their.
It was difficult to detect concern over the leak.
whether the indignition was "I'm too mad to talk,"
directed at the leak or the said Sen. Hugh Scott, R-Pa.
contents of the Levinson re- Even Church, whose'
port. Levinson's recommen- " criticism of the U.S. policy
dations had the flavor of an toward Chile is unqualified,
indictment, charging Secre- acknowledged, "We all felt
tary of State Henry A. Kis- indignation' about the
singer with deceit and, call- leaks."
ing for reopening of his con-
firmation hearings; former
CIA Director Richard Helms
and former Assistant Secre-
tary of State Charles A.
Myer with perjury and
recommending a contempt
citation against former
Ambassador to Chile Ed-
ward Korry.
Kissinger said last night
at a party honoring retiring
Sens. George Aiken and
Sam Ervin:
information about activities
of the CIA in Chile,
authorized by the "40 Com-
mittee" at the White House
under Kissinger, had been
told to committee members
long before public disclo-
sure of the details last
week.
It was developed in the
Levinson report that Kiss-
inger gave some details of
the Chile operation against
Marxist President Salvador
Allende last September that
were previously held in
secrecy.
The deleted.part of Kiss-
ingek's testimony that is
part of the committee tran-
script reads, "The CIA was
heavily involved in 1964 in
the election, was in a very
minor way involved in the
1970 election and since then
we have stayed absolutely
away from any coups. Our
efforts in Chile were to
strengthen the democratic
political parties and give
them a basis for winning in
1976, which we expressed
our hope was that Allende
could be defeated in a free
democratic election (sic)."
LEVINSON'S report
found this Kissinger state-
ment misleading and con-
tends. there was more than
minor involvement. Fur-
thermore, CIA Director Wil-
liam Colby testified before
the Western Hemisphere
subcommittee of the Ful-
bright committee last
November and evidently
admitted the CIA had done
more than merely keep
alive a democratic political
opposition in Chile.
The delimma for the full
committee is that it already
had received testimony to
some extent of CIA activi-
ties in Chile and could hard-
ly react as indignantly as if
it was hearing this for the
first time in the letter of
Rep. Michael J.'Harring-
ton, D-Mass, detailing. these
activities.
FULBRIGHT and Church
left no doubt that they find it
difficult to exercise restraint
on the CIA. Fulbright said
he agreed with Harrington
that there should be a joint
committee to oversee CIA
activities but admitted there
were not enought votes to
establish this system.
President Ford tried to
field the CIA-Chile ball at
his press conference and
fumbled. He said the U.S.
effort was to prevent Al-
lende from destroying oppo-
sition news media. The fact
is that Allende, much as he
might have wished it, never
managed to put a . single
newspaper out of business.
Since the Sept. 11, 1973,
military coup, which result-
ed in Allende's death, every
opposition newspaper in
Chile has been eliminated..
Correspondents in Chile
during Allende's nearly
three years well remember
that the press, both for and
against the regime, was
wildly free to the point of
total irresponsibility once
they got over their appre-
hension about Allende's
ability to molest them.
00761
Approved For Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09TOO207RO01000020087-8
WHILE DENYING that
the committee had stripped
the subcommittee of its
mandate to pursue the CIA-
Chile Chile affair further, Church I
said, "The "committee has.!
set aside those conclusions
(of Levinson) and voted to
conduct an investigation of
its Own.-
Sen. J. William Fulbright,
D-Ark., the lame-duck
chairman of the full com-
mittee, said the panel order-
ed its staff to gather ally
relevant material and re-
port next week. Fulbright
said committee staff chief
Pat M. Holt would be in
charge of the investigation.
Fulbright, too, was critical
of the leaks and said the
staff of the subcommittee
has no business putting out
such a document.
Fulbright said the com-1
mittee will decide whetherl
it wants to recall Kissinger)
for another round of ques-
tioning on CIA operations in!
Chile after it receives the)
Holt Report. Fulbright said,
it would cause him no prob-i
lem to preside over a hear-!
ing with Kissinger in the''