CIA TO TRIM 800 WORKERS IN CLANDESTINE OPERATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000100110035-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 20, 2007
• Sequence Number: 35
• Publication Date: August 10, 1977
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100110035-3
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the CIA. An employee and an accomplice admiral his Naval Academy classmate ,'?
were convicted of spying in Los Angeles in -budget and task-setting authority over
April. In June, a former CIA staff member the whole intelligence establishment. This
here was sentenced to life imprisonment was comidered a victory for Admiral
for attempting to sell the names of Tamar over } asold Mown, t .',e iecrerary
hundreds of covert personnel to.Soviet of Defense, his rival for domination of the
agents. :. national spy machinery. But the admiral
Admiral Turner said both those cases' described it yesterday as a "middle-
had done "very considerable" damage to ground solution" of intelligence reorgani-
the intelligence program. As an example za.tion-
of a damaging news leak, he referred to He predicted that in coming years ef-
reports that Jordan's King Hussein had re- fort will be directed toward more econom-:
ceived payments from the CIA for many. -.1c information and proportionately less
years for his help in the Middle East. about Communist nations. -
A number of people already working Asked whether the CIA had eaves-
for the agency abroad have said, "I can't dropped on President Park, the admiral
work for you if my name is going to be in declared that he spoke for the entire intel-
the press tomorrow," the director assert- ligence community in saying no. He avoid-
ed. This news leak has "done some perma- - ed elaboration. - -
neat damage"? and is likely to cause more,. ' - During the congressional investigation
he said. - ? ? of the Tongsun Park story, there have
Admiral Turner told reporters that he been reports that such eavesdropping had
was trying to tighten control of secrets by linked President Park with Tongsun Park,
pushing more material into the unclassi- who left this country as the probe was be-
fied category, making it available to the ; ginning. _
public, and thus theoretically creating a Admiral Turner said he is notifying all
more respectful attitude toward properly universities involved of their unwitting a&.
classified matter. He also said he was con- sociation with the secret MK-ULTRA pro-
sidering administrative, civil and criminal': gram, which included testing drugs on hu-
sanctions against those who illegally dis- man subjects. But he said that the great
close secrets. majority'of the 149 projects on. that list
Last week iPresfdent Carter gave the were ones in which children could safely
C IA to trim 800 workers
in c a s s tine operations:
Sy ERNEST B. FURGURSON
Washington Bureau of The Sun
Washington-Adm. Stansfield Turner,
newly granted greater authority than any
intelligence director in American history,
disclosed yesterday a wholesale cutback
in the Central Intelligence Agency's clan-
destine operations division.
The director also said he has ordered a
high-priority crackdown on news leaks
and security lapses in the nation's spy
apparatus.
In addition, the admiral said flatly that
the U.S. intelligence community has not
bugged South Korea's "Blue House" or
taped conversations by its president, Park
Chung-hee. Such allegations have been
made in connection with the bribery scan-
dal surrounding the Korean businessman,
Tongsun Park.
Admiral Turner made known that the
CIA would undertake a "major slimming
effort" by letting go more than 800 em-
ployees. in the super-secret directorate of
operations, which lie described as "the
heart of the agency."
They will be laid off mostly by normal
attrition, he said, rather than by firing.
The admiral explained that the opera-
tions division had grown tremendously
during the Vietnam war and that its field
staff already had been reduced. Now the
directorate headquarters staff will follow.
This reduction is believed to involve about
15 per cent of the entire operations divi-
sion's payroll.
Admiral Turner did not connect the re-
duction with any of the recent controver-
sies in which the agency has.been em;
broiled. `
At breakfast with reporters, the admi;'
ral said that not only espionage but inten-
tional and accidental leaks of information
already have done "permanent damage"
to the national intelligence effort.
He disclosed that he had started a se-
ries of surprise investigations of security
practices at private firms 'working under
contract with the CIA-and found faulty
procedures for handling secret material.
In the future, he warned, those intelli-
gence contractors had better realize that
their contracts 'depend on. their obser-
vance of security rules.
The agency does business with defense'
industries as well as with private "think
tanks" and universities, among others.:
The admiral did not specify individual:
firms that had been investigated.
. One recent espionage case involved
sale of secret data to the Russians by em-
ployees of TRW Systems, Inc., a major.
supplier of reconnaissance --ton;aw f^.
Approved For Release
BALTIMORE SUN
10 August 1977
be involved-
2007/10/19: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100110035-3
STAT