CARTER WON'T GIVE DATA ON CUBANS TO FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R000600080068-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 26, 2006
• Sequence Number: 68
• Publication Date: June 7, 1978
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2006/11/01: CIA-RDP81 M00980R000600080068-4
lliRTICLE ~ ~ MW YORK TDWS
ON, PAGE' 7 JUNE 1978
Carter Won't Give Dada on Cubans
To Foreign Relations _Committeej
W- BERNARD G'WERTZMAI -
SMC1ai taTae tZew Yark Times. ....,
Ur LL UITU VA
.Administration ha y refused' to turn Direr
to the Senate Foreign Relations Commit-
tee-thadocumentary. evidence to sub an-
tiate. its`. charges that Cuba -trained: and
unsatisfied with Admiral Turner's: brief Angolan Talks.of :.Cubans
.
-.
ing. onE Friday, they can -demand fuller- UNITED NATIONS, N.Y., June 6 (AP)_
.9 staff members said. -. Angola's Forei
n Minister
P
l
J
r
g
,
au
o:
o
ge,
The Foreign Relations Committee has said today that he "can't even guess"
invasion of Zaire from Angola, AdminL- it regarded- as excessive Americana in-~
tration officials said today. i volvement -in Zaire,.-Senator Dick Clark
Rather-=than provide the raw material
.to the.-Foreign Relations. Committee, the- of Iowa, chairman of the Foreign'Rela-1
Administration decided ' to -give it only lions subcommittee on. Africa, has been !
to the Senate Intelligence Committee. The concerned. about- what he, perceived as
same pattern is being followed, on the exaggerated concern in the Administra-
House side, officials said. tion over the activity by-. Cubans. in Afri-
- Since the Senate Foreign Relations ca
;Committee.. was..-the only committee to, Admiral Turner' has- been selectively
raise questions about Cthe A uban plstra- briefing key members of Congress and
lion's assertions that Cuban had had played
,a major- role in the Zaire invasion the has elicited. statements that President
has a
provoke a sharp dispute when Adm-,
Stanfield-Turner, the Director of Central
Intelligence, testifies before the commit-
tee on Friday to back up the Administra-
tion's assertions about Cuba.
According to members of the Foreign..
Relations Committee, their - Chairman,
John J. Sparkman of Alabama authorized
!the staff to assemble: as much informa-
tion as possible about' thecharges that
Cuba was involved in preparing the.
Katangans for the Zaire' action-charges:
that Cuba has-consistently denied.
Two Requests Made -
Last week and again this morning,
committee staff members asked the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency for the intelli-
gence ? documentation so that the staff
could prepare material for the senators
i At the to have before Admiral Turner testifies.. of Senator George
Since members of Congress are usually' McGovern, Democrat of South Dakota,
occupied with a-number of complex mat-. the committee called for an inquiryinto;
Carter's.
tens, they are usually prepare for a hear- the discrepancy between - Mr.'President
ing by having staff members summarize comments and the denials of available data and suggest pertinent Fidel Castro '
questions. ' Yesterday. Representative: Edward P.
But the C.I.A.'s Congressional liaison
officials told the Foreign-Relations Com-
mittee that the `white House had decided
to restrict the data to the intelligence
committees. The official reason was hat'
the Administration wanted- only those
committees to?handle the classified mate
rial. - By implication, the C.I.A. was ex-
pressing concern about possible unau-
thorized disclosures.
The Senators' Options
But several of the members- and staff:
of the Foreign Relations Committee were
equally concerned that the, Administra-
tion was, not' providing :them with the,
information they needed to.:question. Ad-1
miral Turner because of political consid-
erations. In the interim, -the committee
has formally asked' the Senate InteHi-
gence Committee for a full report on the
information it has on the raw material.
At the moment, the committee staff I
intends to provide as much data' as 1t-
,caa in advance to the committee mem
bens, pointing out that the staff was-un-?'
able to see the actual intelligence materi
He is telling members of Congress, such
as Representative Thomas P. O'Neill Jr:,
-;the Speaker, that the Government' has
reports from African . diplomats, from
captured Katangan rebels and from
"agents" of other governments that
amount to a "preponderance of evidence"
that Cuba was involved. '
Sources Are Quesrtioned`
The Administration has also reportedly
said that it has satellite photographs that
show Cuban camps in the- vicinity of the
Katangan camps in northern Angola.. .
But: some members of 'Congress who
asked not to be identified said today that
the source of evidence supplied by Admi-
the House Intelligence Committee, said
he and his -committee were "satisfied"
. that . Mr.. Carter's assertions about - the
Cuban involvement were. "correct.": -He
and some. members of'his committee-had
received .a two-hour briefing from Admi-
ral Turner'.His committee also was given
documentation.
The issue of whether the Foriegn Rela-
tions -Committee should. have access to
the intelligence material. is- controversial.
Some members of the committee and its
staff argue that without access to such;
documentation, it is difficult to assess:
independently testimony given.-by Adinih-
istration- witnesses: But the Administra
tion contention is that the intelligence
committees, were created to guard-against
unauthorized disclosure of information
and to. provide a sophisticated panel' to
assess intelligence activities.
when the Cubans will: leave. his, country
"because their work has just begun."r -
. "The: Cubans are in my. country --for
the. simple reason that we have. two -bad
neighbors-Zaire and South Africa-.and
Cuba will. send at. many people as' we
need and they. will stay until the work.
is finished;..but1'can't evem guess whet'
that will be," Mr.-Jorge said in an inter-
-view.,