HILL PANEL SAYS HELMS' CHARGES ARE 'OVERSTATED'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000302620041-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 20, 2010
• Sequence Number: 41
• Publication Date: May 10, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/20: CIA-RDP90-00552R000302620041-5
ARTICLE APGPEAREDD
UN PAGE ;,
Hill Panel Says
Helms' Charges
Are `Overstated'
By Joanne Omang
Washington Poet Staff Writer
Members of the Senate Intelli-
gence Committee said yesterday that
claims by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.)
of CIA involvement in the recent
presidential election in El Salvador
have been "overstated," but added
that they will seek further informa-
tion from the CIA on the degree of,
that involvement-
Helms charged Tuesday that co-
vert CIA action "bought the election"
for former Salvadoran president Jose
Napoleon Duarte, who is the appar- .
ent victor by a narrow margin in un-
official returns. Helms said the CIA
has helped Duarte for the past two
years.
"Jesse overstated anything I.
beard" during a briefing on the elec-
tion from CIA officials last week, one
senator said.
Another senator who is a frequent
critic of the Reagan administration'
said Helms' charges "were more de-
tailed" than the briefing the commit-
tee received, "but if he's trying to.
make the point that the United
States was involved in controlling'
the way the election came out, that's
absolutely so." . ..
This senator, noting reports last
week in The Washington Post of
U.S. aid to Duarte, said Helms' re-
marks bordered on calling on the
Salvadorans to repudiate the elec-
tion results.
"There's a lot of regrouping going
on at the White House" because'of
Helms' remarks, the senator said. He
noted that President Reagan's tele-
vised speech last night included only
a* brief reference to the Salvadoran
election, which Reagan previously
hailed as an inspiring example of
democracy in action.
WASHINGTON POST
10 May 1984
'?I'hat indicates they felt they got
hit hard by Helms and he's damaged
them down there," the senator said.
A third senator said there were
discussions among committee mem-
bers yesterday about the source of
the details in Helms' charges, and
added that the CIA had been re-
quested to brief the committee on
the subject again today. The CIA
already had scheduled a briefing for
the senators to deny charges in a
recent Christian Science Monitor
article that the agency has been sup-
porting military units involved in
torture.
At a news conference in El Sal-
,vador yesterday, Duarte's rightist
opponent, former major Roberto
D'Aubuisson, cited Helms' remarki
but added that there was no ""tan-
gible" proof of the claim.
Helms described D'Aubuisson as a
man "who openly espoused the prin
ciples of the Republican Party in the
United States." He.called Duarte "a
socialist." .
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/20: CIA-RDP90-00552R000302620041-5