U.S. TIES 'KLAN' OLYMPIC HATE MAIL TO KGB

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000200860005-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 24, 2010
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: August 7, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/24: CIA-RDP
ARTICLE APPEARED
IPA ?AGE
-. _ J
WASHINGTON POST
7 August 1984
U.S. Ties `HIan' Olympic
Hate Mail to KGB
By Fred Barbash
' Washington Post Stall Writer
CHICAGO, Aug. 6-The govern-
ment has hard information that the
Soviet intelligence agency, the
KGB, sent forged racist letters in
the name of the Ku Klux Klan
threatening Olympic athletes from
20 Asian and African nations, At-
torney General William French
Smith and FBI Director William H.
Webster said today.
The Soviets acted in an effort to
gain support from non-Communist
bloc countries for their boycott of
the Olympics, Smith said, but "for-
tunately, none of the nations that
received these letters succumbed
to the attempted intimidation." He
made the statement in a speech to a
thousand members of the American
Bar Association about the commu-
nists' "threat to the international
rule of law."
Lawyers and judges from about
30 foreign nations, including Afri-
can and Asian nations, were in the
audience as Smith spoke to the
ABA's convention. Webster, who is
also attending the meeting, con-
firmed Smith's comments after-
wards in an interview. .
Reports of the letters surfaced in
early July. They were reportedly
mailed from U.S. locations, includ-
ing Prince George's County and
northern Virginia, and threatened
violence to athletes. At the time,
the Soviet Embassy in Washington
and KKK leaders denied involve-
ment.
Smith said today that the letters
were "openly racist and disgusting,"
adding that ".a thorough analysis-
including linguistic and forensic
techniques"-had revealed the
source of the letters as the KGB.
Neither Smith nor Webster
would say more about evidence of
KGB involvement, saying they did
not want to compromise sources or
help the Soviets improve their forg-
ery techniques.
"We're entirely satisfied" that the
KGB is responsible for the letters,
Webster said.
Asked if the government was
basing its conclusion on hard evi-
dence, rather than inference, Web-
ster said "that's right."
Last month, the State Depart-
ment released a copy of a letter that
had been sent to the Olympic com-
mittees of various African and As-
ian countries-Malaysia, Zimba-
bwe, Sri Lanka and South Korea-
in the name of the Klan with a post-
mark of Prince George's County. It
was headlined, "Olympic Games for
Humans, Not Apes."
The letters, Smith said in his
speech, "were not produced or sent
by the Ku Klux Klan. They were
instead manufactured and mailed by
another organization devoted to
terror: the KGB.
"Although I cannot detail all of
what we know about these docu-
ments for fear of helping the au-
thors to refine their efforts, a thor-
ough analysis-including linguistic
and forensic techniques-reveals
that they are classic examples of a
Soviet forgery or disinformation
operation," Smith said.
"They were intended to aid the
Soviets in justifying their boycott of
the Olympics and to gain the sup-
port of non-Communist bloc coun-
tries. Through this plot, the Soviet
Union, employing cynical falsehood,
struck at both the Olympic ideal and
the rule of law.
"It is not, however, unique,' he
sal "The plot is an example of
at the intelligence community
refers to as an 'active measure.' By
an active measure the Soviets
mean an operation intended to in-
fluence or affect another country's
policies."
Smith said, "These forgeries are
deserving of worldwide censure and
should serve as a warning of Soviet
efforts."
Smith also reported to the ABA
what he said were efforts by Cuba
and Bulgaria to use drug-trafficking
to finance terrorism and by Nica-
ragua -to use drug sales to finance
"revolutionary efforts."
-. He said three recent federal in-
dictments supported this conclu.
sion. "Just last week, a federal
grand jury in Miami indicted 11 per-
sons on drug-trafficking and con-
spiracy charges involving a major
cocaine shipment smuggled into
this country via Nicaragua," he said.
"One of those defendants-Fre-
derico Vaughan-has been identi-
fied in court documents as an aide
to the Sandinista minister of the
interior."
"Any coming together of terrorist
or insurgent groups and drug-traf-
ficking must be viewed as an ex-
tremely serious threat to law and
society," Smith said.
Tuesday the ABA is to consider a
resolution criticizing the United
States for refusing the International.
Court of Justice's jurisdiction over
covert U.S. activities against Nic-
aragua..
A second critical resolution, at-
tacking denials of visas to politically
objectionable foreign speakers, also
will be before the association's
House of Delegates. That resolu-
tion is expected to be deferred for
further study.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/24: CIA-RDP90-00806R000200860005-0