HELMS ACCUSES STATE DEPT. AIDE OF SMEAR TACTICS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130031-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 31
• Publication Date: August 5, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130031-8
Helms Accuses
State Dept. Aide
of Smear Tactics
By BOB SECTER.
and DOYLE M
lime-ssuff Writers
WASHINGTON-Sen. Jesse
Helms en Men av bitterly accused
a State Department official of or-
sh~trating a smear campaign as
the FBI beg n c ing C grass
that ^itiye intelligence data was
illi-
tarn government through Helms'
QW.
His mmmen.tA filled with sar.
casm and indignation, Helms as-
ecre rv o
S a p ~.lho t Abrams trig ere t o
invest' ation v concocting tW
Chilean to to discredit the sen-
t to leaders o
federal agents.
"Elliott crept up here in the dark
of the night and makes all these
false charges ... and then slips
back in his hole in the State
Department," charged Helms, a
North Carolina Republican and
staunch defender of Gen. Augusto
Pinochet, the Chilean dictator.
* It's poppycock. They're
(State
Department officials) trying
to silence me. They don't like the
fact I'm opposed to their little
agenda down there (in Chile),
which is to sell out the U.S."
And Helms suggested that Sec-
retary of State George P. Shultz
was aware of what Abrams alleg-
edly was up to. "Of course he
knows it," Helms snapped when
asked about Shultz.
At the State Department,
spokesman Charles Redman denied
that the agency had requested the
investigation. ifl-
cally whether the Senate Select request
for the FBI probe follow an
a earance Abrams be oretie
panel, Redman merely
smi e
en atic . A spokeswoman for
Abrams said he would have no
further comment.
The committee, which monitors
Amprican ence ag noes
generally mpetAn hid close
doors and rarely discloses details o
its delib -ra iona ut Hems
claimed that "two or three" com-
mittee members he had contacted
LOS ANGELES TIMES
~-T 5 August 1986
mentioned Abrams as the source of
the allegations, while other panel
members said they knew nothing
at all about the charges.
Administration officials said the
investigation is focused on aides to
Helms, although they did not rule
out involvement by the senator as
well Although officials have re-
fused to disclose details of the
supposedly -comp ro iced intelli-
gence operation, it apparently in-
volved the gathering of secrets
about the Pinochet regime.
The Chilean government was
believed to have learned of the
operation last month, at the same
time that Helms and his aides made
a controversial trip to Chile. During
the trip, Helms strongly defended
Pinochet against charges of repres-
sion and suggested that U.S. Am-
bassador Harry G. Barnes Jr.
should be recalled.
The conservative Helms has
waged a longstanding war with the
State Department, which he con-
siders to be riddled with liberal
career employees who frequently
sabotage President Reagan's for-
eign policy goals. On several occa-
sions, Helms, who sits on the
Foreign Relations Committee, has
infuriated State and White House
officials by delaying or blocking
Senate confirmation of top-level
diplomats.
Although Helms is not a member
.of the intelligence pan l he an gent
access to its information on Chile
through his chairmanship of the
Western-Hemisphere subcommit-
tee of the Foreign Relations Cnm_
In this latest tussle, Helms sug-
gested that Abrams and other State
Department officials were trying to
retaliate against him for holding up
past nominees and he indicated
that such a move might prompt him
to delay even more confirmations.
Referral of the case to the Justice
Department opens the possibility of
criminal charges being filed, should
the allegations be substantiated.
However, it was unclear what law
may have been violated or whether
the alleged acts would be shielded
by congressional immunity.
The case also could be referred to
the Senate Ethics Committee for
action. There, too, however, law-
makers are unsure about what
action could be taken or what
punishment meted out.
Mark Helmke, a spokesman for
Senate Foreign Relations Chair-
man Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.),
said that Senate aides must sign
secrecy agreements when they get
security clearances. He also said
that he did not believe aides are
covered by any form of congres-
sional immunity from prosecution.
Christopher Manion, Helms' aide
on the Foreign Relations Commit-
tee, said he did not know whether
he was the target of an investiga-
tion but flatly denied passing any
secrets to the Chileans. Manion is
the brother of Daniel A. Manion,
the recently confirmed federal
judge whose nomination had be-
come the center of a major battle
between Reagan and the Senate..
Clifford Kiracofe J
r. an aide who
ani a o~n e
said that no e on flie `
on senator's
? LL J
v iL
o de at this
i f b ication b the ambassador
in Chile. B rnea who - - h - 1
the
ffabmri tin don_ who took the fabrication at
.face y lisp and -=-rted it to the
intelligence committee." Kiracofe
Sala.
A Helms aide who asked not to
be identified went further.
. policy is not contra
meat and the CIA are con rolled by
ihe_New York banking interests "
ne said. 'And it's a fact that the
New York banks are running
scared, owing to their exposure in
Latin America. .. . Sen Helms is
the arrhenem of t`e New York
bankers. This is the funa^.___?-~
reason for the Statp Department
and CIA attacks."
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504130031-8