CASEY APPOINTED A MAN HE TRUSTED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020057-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 57
• Publication Date: July 14, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020057-8
STAT
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE
Case- Arpoin Zed
A Alan He T ted
By Lou Cannon
WashfngWn Post Staff -"ter
When CIA Director William J. Casey ap-
pointed Max Hugel. as the nation's chief
spymsster, the action so astonished top-
ranked White House officials that Casey
wrote a l~tter to President Reagan explain-
ing his unusual selection.
"It was a coup _by Casey," a well-placed
White House aide said yesterday.
If there was anyone in the White House-
who wasn't surprised by that action, which.
was made public in mid-May, he couldn't
be found yesterday- One well-placed official
said that the president's top triumvirate of
aides - chief of staff James A. Baker III,
deputy chief of staff. Michael Is.. Deaver
and counselor Edwin Meese III.- were ail-:
caught off guard by Casey's decision.
There was an immediate outcry
from intelligence officials as well as
those who worked with. Hugel in the
1980 Reagan campaign. Hugel's job
i s deputy CIA director- for opera-
tions is one of the most sensitive and
important in the government.
-. The response prompted Casey to
defend his selection. In his letter to
Reagan, the CIA director argued
that Hugel possessed valuable man-
agerial skills and had proven himself:
in the Reagan campaign. Casey also,
claimed that Hugel's campaign work
organizing ethnic groups was similar
to organizing covert operations..
Casey said in his letter that he
had known and trusted Hugel for 20
years and wanted someone from out-
side the intelligence- community to
prevent in-fighting for the job.
; "Does the white House know
about this?" was the first response of
Stuart K Spencer, Reagan's chief'
1980 campaign strategist, to Hugel's
appointment
? Despite such warning signals,
which included strongly voiced pri-
vate objections - from prominent'
members of the intelligence commu-.
nity, the White House did not over
rube Casey. High-placed officials,,'deplored the choice.but said it was;
Casey's to make....:-.:..:::~~:
THE WASHINGTON POST
14 July 1981
Yesterday, Casey declined to com
ment on his reasons for pickin
Hugel, who went into the CIA wit'
him Jan. 21 as a special assistant
and then was promoted to deputy.
director of administration, before
being chceen to head the operations
directorate. .
? But others in the administration
tried to explain Casey's reasoning.
"Max had done a lot of overseas
work," Meese told The Washington.
Post last week. "That's been a large
part of his 'professional career as an.
:Overseas marketeer. Also,- Bill ad-
mired his ability to manage things in
the campaign and felt he would be
the right person to put in that job.
"He. restructured that particular
'segment of the agency by having, in
essence, a lay administrator, a non-
career administrator, and then had
two career specialists in charge of
the two halves, which they had not
had before ... He was interested:
in having; as part of his total man-
agement plan over there, someone he
could rely on 100 percent."
Such explanations have failed to-
satisfy CIA Professionals. _
A former deputy director of op-
erations for the agency said yester-
day that Hugel "substitutes profan-
ity for thought" in a job that- is one
of the most important in the CIA.
,This person is. in charge of as-
signments and judgments in the
field of covert intelligence, picking
station- chiefs and deputy station
chiefs in foreign countries, making
the final decisions on covert oper-
ations and on personnel," this former
official said. "This is the man who
decides on whether or not a covert
action is practically feasible. There is.
no substitute for experience in that l
area" ,
Another high-ranldng career CIA
expert questioned the wisdom of ap--
pointing anyone with a stocks-and-
bonds background to be deputy di-.
rector of operations (DDO).
"There is no wayaDDOcanbe in
stocks or commodities because sure
as hell you're going to be accused of
insider information, given the -char-
acter of people you deal with and
this
the information you receive,"
:CIA expert said.
ail cluvalv-.7
ground for the DLO job,i it is nec-
essary to understand the relation
forged between Reagan and Casey in
the presidential campaign.
The 68-year=old Casey, chairman
of the Securities Exchange Commis-
sion during the Nixon administra-
tion, joined Reagan in February,
1980, when the Reagan campaign
was spending money so fast the can-
didate feared. he would be bankrupt
long- before the Republican 'conven-
tion. Casey introduced strict spend-
ing controls, and Reagan was so
grateful that Casey became one of
his most trusted, aides, enjoying a
position usually reserved for long-
time Reagan insiders.
When Reagan won the New
Hampshire primary two weeks later,
-he fired. campaign manager John
Sears and installed a collective lead-'
ership - the - forerunner of the
present collective leadership in the
White House - consisting of Casey
and Meese. Later, Spencer and Dea-
ver became -the chief operatives on
the Reagan campaign plane, in effect
sharing the campaign leadership.
Hugel, 56, already was part of the
campaign when Casey arrived, but
his role was a small one.-- He was
Nashua town chairman in the Newt
Hampshire primary, as the result of'
a recommendation of William Loeb,
the influential publisher of the Man-
chester Union-Leader.
In a front-page editorial that in-
spired snickers among some Reagan
campaign operatives,- Loeb credited
Hugel with a vital role in the. elec-
tion, calling him "the man with the
answers."
Actually, there is.- support. for
Loeb's view by some campaign vet-
erans. One knowledgable member of
the campaign team said that Hugel'
'did "a competent job" in. organizing
ethnic voters in the national cam-
-paign. Another aide who spent a lot of
time on the campaign called Hugel
"a political idiot" who tried to over-
schedule Reagan into'minor events
and who needlessly irritated political)
workers.,. ..:",:a.._
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020057-8