NOMINEE AN EXPERT ON SOVIETS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-01448R000301260051-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 15, 2012
• Sequence Number: 51
• Publication Date: February 1, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/15: CIA-RDP99-01448R000301260051-1
V
(. PA USA TODAY
3 February 1987
N o m i n e e an e x p e r t on Soviets
By Rae Tyson. custody, Gates said the agency
USA TODAY must improve security so "they
If confirmed by the Senate,
veteran spymaster Robert
Gates, 43, will become the
youngest director of the CIA.
Though he's worked there
since 1966 in a variety of intelli-,
gence roles, Gates has shown
candor when asked about prob-
lems at the CIA.
When quizzed last year
about KGB defector Vitaly
Yurchenko, who fled from CIA
can't just walk out the door and
into the Soviet Embassy."
Gates, a Kansas native and
expert on Soviet history, has
served on the National Secun-
ty Council for six years and be-
came Casey's deputy in April.
As CIA director, he takes
charge of the CIA, the Defense
Intelligence Agency, the Na-
tional Security Agency, the
State Department's Bureau of
Intelligence, and various mili-
UPI
GATES: Suspected something
before Iran story broke
tary and FBI intelligence units.
Though his Senate confirma-
tion in April was unanimous,
Gates can expect to face tough-
er questions this time around.
Among them: Why he with-
held suspicions that profits
from Iran arms sales were di-
verted to rebels in Nicaragua.
Gates' explanation: His sus-
picions - nearly two months
before the scandal broke -
were based on "bits and pieces
of information" he didn't con-
sider "very much to go on."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/15: CIA-RDP99-01448R000301260051-1