HELSM IS FACING INQUIRY ON CHILE AND US SPYING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90B01390R000100080040-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 40
• Publication Date: August 4, 1986
• Content Type: MEMO

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/09: CIA-RDP90B01390R000100080040-7
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Helms Is Facing
Inquiry on Chile
b And U.S. Spying
~? - By STEPHEN ENGELBERG
Special to me NN York Timm
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 - The Fed-
eral Bureau of Investigation is seeking
to determine whether Senator Jesse
Helms or one of his aides passed sensi-
tive American intelligence information
to the Chilean Government, according
to Congressional and Reagan Adminis-
tration officials.
The officials said the inquiry 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
Continued on Page 25, Column 1
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
ec
d ii
o
M 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 con perttswhjle In a foreign
country.,.. tea.
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
"p anted the American flag in the
midst' of a' Communist activity" by
'going to the funeral..
'State Department officials ana' White
H
s on 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 Chile Helmstiassailed 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
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 investiation of disclosure of in.
tell ence 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-
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:
leakinghear so , but, to the much
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."
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Helms should havebeen' told; A
about probe, colleagues say
TIMES
Some Republicans on Capitol Hill
say they are surprised that Sen.
Jesse Helms did not learn in ad-
vance of an apparent FBI investiga-
tion into allegations that he or one of
ts aides passed information to the
hilean government regarding U.S.
ntelligence-gathering.
"Durenberger should have talked
o Helms before starting an inves-
igation:'said a GOP source close to
In Helms. "Helms didn't know till a
eporter called him:'
Sen. Dave Durenberger, Minne-
ota Republican, is chairman of the
,enate Intelligence Committee.
The source called it a "terrible
reach of Senate courtesy for one
republican chairman not to talk to
pother chairman."
The source also noted that Mn
elms is vice chairman of the Sen-
te Ethics Committee, "where this
sue will be settled if it turns into a
ng-term thing."
Another Republican, Sen. Warren
Rudman of New Hampshire, is
airman of the Ethics Committee;
In Durenberger and Mr. Helms are
& only other Republican members.
The Senate Intelligence Commit-
e told Senate leaders it was asking
,e FBI to begin an investigation, ac-
irding to a story that appeared yes-
rday in The New York Times.
The investigation apparently be-
n last week. Senate rules bar
embers and staff from divulging
formation that is classified or pre-
nted in closed sessions.
How the senator or someone in his
information about Chile was unclear. Reagan aamtnistration efforts to get
Though not a member of the Intelli- Gen. Pinochet to restore democratic
gence Committee, Mr. Helms is vice "instituti.
- It's just plain wrong, anyway, if
chairman of the Senate Forei
n R
g
e
lations Committee and chairman of you criticize rt you ofown to govepubrn-
-
its Western Hemisphere subcom- ment's policy toward a foreign coun-
mittee. try while you're visiting that
"The State Department and the
Central Intelligence Agency are a sship in Co gress said GOP don't
constantly trying to discredit me, know what's come over Jesse."
and they're not b
oin
t
b
g
g
o ea
le to do
it:' Mr. Helms was quoted as saying.
"The real need is for the State De-
partment and the CIA to clean up
their acts:'
He accused his enemies in the
State Department or the intelligence
agency of leaking information about
the investigation to the newspaper.
Mr. Helms angered fellow Repub-
licans last month while on a visit to
Chile, where he publicly denounced
the U.S. ambassador to Santiago,
Harry G. Barnes Jr., for having at-
tended the funeral of a young man
who died of burns suffered during
anti-government protests.
The Santiago government ap-
pointed a special prosecutor to look
into allegations that the victim, Rod-
rigo Rojas de Negri, 19, a Chilean
who had been living in the Washing-
ton area, was burned, either on pur-
pose or accidentally, by Chilean
authorities in uniform.
Mr. Helms' statements on this and
other Chilean issues rubbed many
conservatives the wrong way be-
cause, they said, it gave the impres-
sion he was defending the rule of
Chilean strongman Augusto Pino-
chet and was therefore undermining
say Mr. Helms' criticism of the State
Department and his defense of the
Pinochet government, especially re-
garding the Rojas incident, have
played into the left's hands.
"It may have been an anti-
democratic leftist who was fooling
around with Molotov coctails, but
that didn't give the Chilean soldiers
the right to burn him to death, if
that's what in fact happened:' said a
source close to Mr. Helms.
Nor did Mr. Helms' statements
from Chile help him with other con-
servatives. "Well, you don't exactly
see people stampeding to his de-
fense:' said a foreign policy source
on the Hill who normally agrees
with Mr. Helms.
For his part, Mr. Helms has ex-
pressed frustration over what he
sees as U.S. mishandling of the Rojas
issue. Though Mr. Barnes, the U.S.
ambassador, attended the young
man's funeral, no representatives
from Chile's democratic- center at-
tended. "The only people who were
present were representatives of the
Community Party"and other parties
of the totalitarian left,. ivlr. Helms
said.
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