THE CIA HID FROM THE WHITE HOUSE AND CONGRESS THE FACT THAT SOVIET AGENTS HAD OBTAINED COPIES OF SECRET CIA PLANS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000100050020-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Sequence Number: 20
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/06/21: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100050020-7
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE 0
Copyright 1979 by The News Journal co.
and RICHARD SANDZA
WASHINGTON --The. CIA hid
from the White House 'and Con
gress the fact that Soviet agents
bad obtained copies of secret CIA
plans, for two of America's. most
sophisticated spy'. satellite.-sys.
tems. :.
The CIA was afraid knowledge
of the losses would jeopardize Sen-
ate approval of the SALT II agree-
ment, since the U.S.' ability to,
monitor Soviet.arms buildups had
been compromised.
The CIA, ` already, . bruised by
charges of ',incompetence,-: also
feared further incurring the wrath
of President Carter, who supports
the SALT concept,;' and' who -had
sharply criticized the - CIA for
; l?
earlier security leaks.,
Through a series o#' interviews
with intelligence, . ' inilitarj' and
congressional '..sources, few_?; of.
whom wanted to be identified, the
Sunday News Journal also found
that the CIA
? Withheld vital evidence for
18 months in two federal espio-
nage cases because the informa
tion would have.: shown that- th,11
',}CIA had :lost' the: -Keyhole, . and
'Rhyolite spy satellite;systemsaoi
--the Soviet Union.: ,
~:: A Tried . in 1978" to pin'the se-
,'curity breach of the, Keyhole -.or
.KH-1i system"-=: on. a, loW-4evel
employee,. when the CIA knew the
=- tystem's.? specifications_'had:,been
-:sold td the; Russians by someone'
else a year earlier is~. ?'
.H_' Caused'an uproar in the Aus=
tralian,government when secret
CIA payments were revealed at a.
;trial of the man who sold satellite
secrets to the Russians::'
0 . Tried to -hide from? sister
:. nnelligence..agencies= at, the )De"!
NEWS JOURNA
8 April 1979
fense Department and the Nation-'
al Security. Agency-.that the CIA-1
was responsible for the loss of the'
," satellites ; . :,y, t J
i' f 4 ry.? ts. FiFf~.~
CIA. spokesman Dale Peterson
A ,
refused to comment on the cover
up, theloss' of. the 'satellite' pro;'
gram or the-Australian situation..,
"We are not prepared to say any,
- thing on this," he s4idi
The ttvo satellita..systems are
highly. sophisticated. surveillance)
F, devices. through which President;
Carter said the United States'canj
r, make sure the Soviets are comply-1
ing with the strate,~c arms limita
Lions agreements now under net;
gotiation
i: -Satellite verification is consider-:
',ed an-absolute necessity because
of ' the - Soviet.' Union's constant'
'-refusal to allow on-site-inspections
of its bases -
However, the loss of the secret
plans has given the Soviet Union
vital- technical information with
which to limit the satellites' abil-
.ity to monitor an arms build-up.
The KH-11 Keyhole system is a
sophisticated -photographic: sys-
tem. From its perch in orbit, the)
satellite cap videotape objects as;
small as a golf ball on the ground
nd -later. transmit. the -picture.
back to the U.S intelligences?
UT.
It; can :also take" photographs'
which can be recovered by the Air.
-Force::-
i The Rhyolite system is essen-
tially -an eavesdropping device. It
,Interce is . microwave transmis-
slons of telephone calls, radio traf
fic, rocket telemetry and other
messages. For example it -can
pick up phone conversations from
the Kremlin and relay them back
to U.S. intelligence agencies.
TI
'billi
TI
tiga
thre
"witt
Sen;
the:
TR\
prin
tion
prin
of
Amy
Nf
and
tren
Carl
get
(ratified by the U.S. Senate. Veri-
fication safeguards for SALT have
'been in . question since Carter
visited CIA headquarters last Au-
gust and criticized top agency offi-
cials for the security, breech that
edgeable of. the U.S. spy satellite;
program said Paisley could order;
-f requirements'=for both KU-11 i
nd-,.Rhyolite. `Requirements."
led to espionage charges'against,
-William P. Kampi3es; a CIA watch
officer. ~:. ...
On Oct;3, 1978, Carter revealed'
that the United States would rely
heavily 'on spy satellites to verify
SALT 11. That same day, a body
identified as former CIA official
John A; Paisley wag found floating
in Chesapeake Bay. ??
The CIA claimed Paisley was a
retired low-level analyst who had-1
access to few U.S. secrets. When1
the News-Journal papers revealed;
he was a senior official in the spy 1
satellite program, the U.S. Senate'
launched an investigation into the
case
The Senate probe'centered`on
whether'. Paisley's death could be i -
-related'. to,. his . knowledge- of the
satellite systems, and, what possi-'
ble bearing ' it- would have on the
L
U.S. verification capabilities.
Victor Marchetti, a'former sen-
bor CIA official, and others knowl- .
Mar tt explainedd," is_'a CIA;
By JOE TRENTG