SOLICITOR GENERAL CALLS 2 AMERICANS KILLED IN EL SALVADOR 'UNDER COVER'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100070008-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 13, 2010
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: January 15, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/13: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100070008-5
ARTICLE A? NEW YORK TIMES
- 03 PAGE _- 15 JANUARY 1981
Solicitor General Call 2 Americans
Killed in El Sc lvador*.--`Under Cover'
By JUDITH MILLER
- WASHINGTON; : Jan.' 14 - Solicitor
General Wade H. McCrea Jr. said today
that two American agricultural advisers
who were killed in El Salvador this month
were-."under cover." suggesting an,as.
sociation with the Central Intelligence
Agency, but later. said that he had.been.
Mr` Mt:Cree made the statement while
arguing the United States Government's
position in a can involving the Govern-
ment's authority to-revoke the passport
of Philip Agee, the former C.IA. official
who has traveled widely exposing agency
methods and personnel: .
Du ing.tha argument, Associate Jus-
tice William H. Rehnquist of the Supreme.
Court -. posed, a, hypothetical 'question
about whether- the Secretary- of State
could defy a passport to someone seeking
to travel to El Salvador to denounce
American policies. Mr.. McCree asserted
that the Secretary had such authority
and, in an aside, observed that "the two
Americans who were recently killed in El
Salvador were under cover." There
would be moss- killings -like this,- Mr.
McCree continued, It American citizens
were free to travel throughout the world
exposing- the identities of undercover
,. ,.., ` .
C.IA agents. N;1
Asked about the statement later today,
a spokasmain for Mr. McCree said the So-
licitorGeneral's response was "hypothet.
ital." as Justice Rebequist's question
had been. The spokesman added that Mr.
McCrea recaAed'sa ? in court, "Sup-
pose the two Americans.- were under
cover." The spokesman also denied that
the two agricultural advisers were in any
way connectsdwlth the C.LA.:::;+ , z.
The MtCriii'statsment also touched oft
a flurry of. denials from laborrotflcials
and intelligence- source.. A spokesman
for tha-C.L.A.: declined to comment on
whether Michael -P. Hammer or Mark
David Pearlman.. the, two Americans
slain by unidentified gunmen in San Sal-
vador on Jan.-,3,. were acting as under-
cover agents. 'However, another intelli-
genes official firmly .denied that either
man was an undercover agent.:::. -
The Senate- Intelligence Committee
was - also .told. that the allegation was
false:-.Sources on the House Intelligence
Committee said that committee mein.
bers had not been informed about the
matter...
A spokesman for the American insti-
tute for. Free Labor Development, an
A.F.L.-C.I.O. affiliate that does contract
work in-union organization for the United
States-Agency for International Develop-
ment, said he had "no knowledge" about
whether Mr. Pearlman and Mr.- Ham-
mer, who had been employed by the insti-
tute, had any relationship with the agen-
cy. However, the spokesman added that
George Meany, when he was president of
-the A.F.L.-C.I.O., had repeatedly denied
any relationship between the C.I.A. and
the labor federation and its affiliates.
In ? "Inside the . Company: C.I.A.
Diary," Mr. Agee, who left the agency in
1989. describes the Free Labor Institute
as a "C.I.A.-controlled labor center fi-
nanced through A.I.D." He cites 19 refer.
ences to overseas activities involving the
agency and the institute.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/13: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100070008-5 ,?,_,