HELMS IS FACING INQUIRY ON CHILE AND U.S. SPYING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000201830050-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 50
• Publication Date: August 3, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

! i ILLL1Ij1~111 L 1 I~ _W111 11J VG 11I~II~LLII111L UIJ il_ _ICI I I
Declassified
and Approved For Release 2012/01/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201830050-6
Inquiry on Chile
And U.S. Spying
Helms Is Facing
ON PAGE
By STEPHEN ENGELBERG
Spatial to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 - The Fed_
eral Bureau of Investigation is seeking
to Senator Jesse
Helms or one of his aides passed sensi-
tive American intelligence information
to the Chilean Government according
to Con ional and Rea an Adminis-
tration officials.
The officials said the ins try was
focusing on charges that the Chileans
had been tipped off about a covert
American intelligence-gathering
operation.
They said the Senate Select Commit-
tee on Intelligence asked for the inves-
tigation after reviewing evidence from
the State Department that there had
been a leak of information to Chile, pos-
sibly by Senator Helms, a North Caro-
lina Republican, or one of his staff
members.
Helms Denies Any Disclosure
Senator Helms, who is a vocal critic
of the State Department's policy to-
ward Chile, said today that neither he
nor his staff had provided any classi-
fied material to the Chileans. He said
he was not aware of the F.B.I.'s inquir-
ies but said they appeared to have been
politically motivated.
"The State Department and the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency are constantly
trying to discredit me, and they're not
going to be able to do it," Mr. Helms
said in an interview. "The real need is
for the State Department and the C.I.A.
to clean up their acts."
"If they want to play the game of in-
timidation, of harassment and of leaks,,
we'll meet them right in the middle of!
the field," he said.
The allegation that Senator Helms or
a staff member was involved could not
Nl'J YORK TIMES
3 August 1986
be independently verified. One Con-
gressional official familiar with the
evidence said it pointed to a "Helms
connection" with the incident rather
than to any specific person as the
source of the unauthorized disclosure.
The official added, however, that per-
sonal involvement of Senator Helms
could not be ruled out.
A second Congressional official
placed less weight on the information,
saying it came from "third or fourth-
hand" sources whose veracity had not
yet been proved.
One Administration official said
C.I.A. officials were angered by the
disclosure to the Chileans because it
posed a threat to the agency's sources
and methods for gathering information
on Chile. An intelligence source, char.
acterizing the C.I.A.'s reaction to the
incident, said: "This has really caused
a problem. Whoever did this did an
awful thing."
Kathy Pherson, 'a spokesman for the
C.I.A., said the agency would have no
comment.
Senator Can Get Chile Data
The F.B.I. investigation began in the
past week, according to an Administra.
tion official. Congressional sources,
who asked not to be identified, said the
Senate Intelligence Committee had in-
formed the Senate's leadership of its
decision to request the investigation.
Mr. Helms is not a member of the In-
telligence Committee, but he is given
sensitive intelligence on Chile in his
post as chairman of the Western Hemi-
sphere Subcommittee of the Foreign
Relations Committee. He is the second-
ranking Republican on the Foreign
Relations Committee.
In recent months, Mr. Helms has
made a series of critical statements
about the Administration's relation-
ship with Chile, which he views as hav-
ing one of the few anti-Communist gov-
ernments in the region and thus deserv-
ing of strong American support.
Ambassador Draws Helms Fire
Visiting Chile last month, Senator
Helms assailed the American Ambas-
sador, Harry G. Barnes, for his deci-
sion to attend the funeral of Rodrigo
Rojas de Negri, a 19-year-old perma-
nent resident of the United States who
was fatally burned in anti-Government
protests. Witnesses said Mr. Rojas and
an 18-year-old student had been doused
with flammable liquid and set afire by
men in military uniforms. The army
denied responsibility.
On arriving in Santiago, the Chilean
capital, Mr. Helms criticized the State
Department for pressuring Chile to re-
store democracy and investigate Mr.
Rojas's death. He said Mr. Barnes had
"planted the American flag in the
midst of a Communist activity" by
going to the funeral.
State Department officials and White
House officials defended Mr. Barnes,
saying his attendance at the funeral
was approved in advance. They also
said Senator Helms had been wrong to
make his comments while in a foreign
country.
A Senate Prohibition
In the interview today, Senator
Helms questioned the motivations of
the officials who disclosed the investi-
gation of him or his staff. "What I say
about the C.I.A. and the State Depart-
ment, I say publicly, while they dodge
around in dark corners and leak to The
New York Times," he said.
The investigation of disclosure of in-
telligence information relating to Chile
was initiated under a Senate rule that
bars staff and members from releasing
classified information or material pro-
vided in closed sessions of Congress or
Its committees. Under Senate Resolu-
tion 400, committees informed of possi-
ble violations can refer cases to the'
Justice Department for investigation
and a report. Congressional officials
said investigations under the rule are
infrequent..
In the executive branch, a similar
procedure is followed for investiga-
tions of unauthorized disclosures.
Agencies refer cases to the Justice De-
partment, which in turn decides
whether further investigation is war-
ranted.
Administration and Disclosure
The Intelligence Committee's deci-
sion to refer the case to the Justice De-
partment came after several months in
which committee members sharply
criticized Administration officials for
unauthorized disclosure of intelligence
information.
For instance, at the confirmation
hearing on the nomination of Robert
Gates as Deputy Director of Central In- i
telligence, Senator Sam Nunn, Demo-
crat of Georgia, said:
"I think somebody at the highest
levels of Government has got to get this
under control. When you start reading
things that lead directly, or could hypo-
thetically at least, to sources and meth-
ods of a sensitive nature, I think it is de-
plorable."
Alluding to disclosure of intelligence
data on Libya, Senator Nunn added:
"We hear so much about Congress
leaking, but, to the best of my informa-
tion, Congress hasn't even been briefed
in these areas, which means these
leaks are definitely coming from the
executive branch. And I think it is
going to cause a lot more difficulty over
the next few months."
TI; : Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201830050-6