THE CLOUD OVER JESSE HELMS NYTIMES 8 AUG

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100160042-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 23, 2012
• Sequence Number: 42
• Publication Date: August 8, 1986
• Content Type: MEMO

Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100160042-8
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100160042-8
 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100160042-8
~'' 8' A ~
The Cloud Over Jesse ~e Helms 'j A D
Hours after the C.I.A. gave a briefing on Chile
to a member of the staff of Senator Jesse Helms,
Chile's military rulers learned that United States in-
telligence had confidential information about the
violent death last month of an American teen-ager
during a demonstration in Santiago. So, at least,
runs the complaint of the State Department.
That does not necessarily mean Senator Helms
leaks national security information to foreign gov-
ernments. The State Department, engaged in a run-
ning feud with the Senator, is likely to see anything
he does in the worst light. But even in the best light,
these are serious charges. The Senate Intelligence
Committee has asked for a Justice Department in-
vestigation and the F.B.I. is on the case.
Senator Helms, chairman of a Latin America
subcommittee, charges that he is the victim of a
sneak attack by Assistant Secretary of State Elliott
Abrams. "They're trying to silence me," he pro-
tested the other day. Mr. Abrams denies accusing
Senator Helms or any staff member. He says his in-
terest is in plugging an obvious intelligence leak.
The Intelligence Committee's Republican chair-
man, David Durenberger, and Democratic vice
chairman, Patrick Leahy, agree that the evident se-
curity breach warrants investigation.
The-State Department arranged for the C.I.A.
briefing as a way of persuading Senator Helms to
give up his ugly interference with the Administra-
tion's work in Chile. To its credit, Washington has
been working to curb human rights abuses. The lat-
est is the death by burning of the young visitor, ap-
parently at the hands of Chilean soldiers.
Ambassador Harry Barnes commendably
showed Washington's concern by attending the
youth's funeral. Senator Helms, who admires Gen.
Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship for its anti-Com-
munism, was in Santiago at the time. He upbraided
Ambassador Barnes for "planting the American
flag in the midst of Communist activity." With or
without the briefing, Senator Helms continues to as-
sert that the youth set himself afire.
Meanwhile, a valuable source may have been
compromised. The source apparently enabled State
to learn that the military itself doubted the official
version of the burning. Losing that source isn't like
losing a code book but it's costly nonetheless. It
should not take the investigators long to track down
this leak. Senator Helms, who would be outraged if,
say, Nicaragua were the beneficiary of leaked intel-
ligence, should be leading the investigators, not pro-
testing the investigation.
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100160042-8
 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100160042-8
Helms Assails Many Over Chile
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By STEVEN V. ROBERTS Al
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, August 7 - Senator
Jesse Helms said tonight that the State
Department, the Central lot-Aligence
Agency and the news mec a were all
combining Co produce a "m :s> we cam-
paign of disinformation" about the
situation in Chile under the military re-
gime of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
In a speech prepared for delivery on
the Senate floor, the North Carolina
Republican said: "What disturbs me
about the disinformation campaign is
the readiness of the State Deaprtment,
the C.I.A. and the media to side with
the Marxists and the totalitarians.
There is no lie too improbable, no dis-
tortion too great, no smear campaign
too dirty for the State Department and
the media to embrace."
Mr. Helms and several of his aides
were being investigated by the Justice
Department for the possible disclosure
of sensitive intelligence information to
the Government of Chile.
The investigation has centered on
Christopher Manion, a Helms aide,
who received a top-secret briefing
about Chile in mid-July, according to
Senate sources. Within 24 hours, infor-
mation from that briefing, which de-
tailed United States intelligence opera.
tlo'ns in Chile, was received in Santia-
go, and the intelligence operation was
compromised, the sources said.
The investigators are still examining
whether Senator Helms himself, or
,several other aides, might have re-
ceived the critical information from
Mr. Manion and then transmitted'it to
Chile, the Senate sources said.
A Long-Running Dispute
Mr. Helms, who has engaged in a
long-running dispute with the State De-
partment, has denied'that he, or any-
one on his staff, conveyed the Informa-
tion to Chilean officials.
In his 20-page speech, Mr. Helms
said that Harry Barnes, the United
States Ambassador to Chile, is trying
to "disrupt the orderly transition" to
democracy in Chile. The Senator cited,
as he has in the past, Mr. Barnes's
presence at the funeral of a young man
killed in an anti-Government demon-
stration.
"The policy of President Reagan is to
promote the democratic transition on
an orderly schedule," Mr. Helms said.
"The policy of Ambassador Barnes is
to disrupt the orderly transition, to pro-
mote the totalitarian left that Chile
once threw off just in the nick of time,
and to defame the government that res-
cued Chile from the clutches of intera-
tional socialism."
Mr. Helms said that Mr. Barnes and
Elliott Abrams, the assistant Secretary
of State for Inter-American Affairs,
were both trying to "spread the myth"
that human rights is a "major prob-
lem" in Chile. The Senator argued that
violations of human rights were neces-
sitated by the fact that Chile is "bes-
eiged by terrorist revolutionaries seek-
ing to destroy freedom."
Earlier this week, Senator Helms ac-
cused Mr. Abrams of being the source
of the charge that he had disclosed con-
fidential information. The State De-
partment said it was not seeking an in-
vestigaion of Mr. Helms.
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100160042-8
 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100160042-8
Helms charges CIA, State
trying to destabilize Chile
By Bill Gertz 1.4a
Sen. Jesse Helms yesterday re-
newed his attacks on the State De-
partment and CIA, charging both
.agencies with waging a "massive
campaign of disinformation" to de-
stabilize Chile.
"What disturbs me about the dis-
information campaign is the
readiness of the State Department,
the CIA and the media to side with
the Marxists and the totalitarians:'
the North Carolina Republican said
in a prepared speech for delivery in
the Senate. "There is no lie too im-
probable, no distortion too great, no
smear campaign too dirty for the
State Department and the media to
embrace:'
Earlier this week, Mr. Helms
charged that Elliott Abrams, assis-
tant secretary of state for inter-
American affairs, was behind a re-
quest by the Senate Intelligence
Committee that the FBI probe the
leak of classified information about
U.S. intelligence-gathering to the
Chilean government.
A staffer on Mr. Helms' Senate
Foreign Relations subcommittee,
Chris Manion, and an unidentified
member of Mr Helms' staff are sus-
pects in the investigation, congres-
sional sources said yesterday.
"I am deeply concerned about the
massive campaign of disinformation
which is being coordinated against
the people of Chile, who yearn for an
orderly transition to democracy,"
Mr. Helms said. "A coalition of the
media, the Marxists and the State
Department is seeking to destabilize
the transition to full-fledged democ-
racy in Chile."
State Department spokesman
Greg Lagana dismissed Mr. Helms'
charges as false.
"Our policy is to support a transi-
tion to democracy, but obviously the
Chileans have to find a way to work
that out," Mr. Lagana said in an inter-
vieww
He said the State Department op-
poses all groups, Marxist or other,
that advocate violent change.
"The charge that we are somehow
supporting communism is just not
true - there's nothing to support it:'
he said. "We have condemned those
groups that wouldn't renounce vio-
lence, specifically groups on the left
that wouldn't renounce violence. Far
from supporting the communists,
we believe strongly that forswearing
violence' is a sine qua non for democ-
racy."
In the 20-page speech, Mr. Helms
said the Chilean people desire a
"fully functioning representative
democracy," one that will not "slide
back into a totalitarian regime such
as they experienced under Allende."
Mr. Helms said that a Chilean re-
search center found that only 2
percent of the Chilean people felt
human rights "was a major prob-
lem."
He said that Harry Barnes, the
U.S. ambassador to Chile, and Mr.
Abrams "are trying to cater to that 2
percent with their support of the vio-
lent communist left - at the ex-
pense of the democratic opposition
and the parties that support Pres-
ident Pinochet."
Mr. Helms criticized Mr. Barnes
for attending a July funeral of Rod-
rigo Rojas, a 19-year-old Chilean-
born U.S. resident who died of burns
suffered during anti-government
protests.
"The policy of President Reagan
is to promote the democratic transi-
tion on an orderly schedule:" Mr.
Helms said. "The policy of Ambas-
sador Barnes is to disrupt the or-
derly transition, to promote the to-
talitarian left that Chileans once
threw off just in the nick of time, and
to defame the government that res-
cued Chile from the clutches of in-
ternational socialism."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100160042-8
 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100160042-8
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100160042-8