REPORT TO REAGAN AIDES URGES ENDING MANY RESTRICTIONS ON U.S. SPYING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505420066-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2010
• Sequence Number: 66
• Publication Date: November 21, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/16: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505420066-5
FAGE
02 _
7f PAGE
NEW YORK TIMES
21 NOVEMBER 1980
Report a .~ Urtes Ending
Many Restrictions on U.S. ., yin I
ByJUDiT}i{ MILLER -= __
SpecWm'rb NowYortMom':T.X.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 A - report
prepared for.national securityadvisers to
President-elect Ronald Reagan calls for
"sweeping changes: in intelligence prac-
t ceet and the elimination of many restric-
tions on the intelligence community.
? ,. .The 97-page report, prepared under the
auspices. of the. Heritage Foundation, a
conservative research organization here,
concludes:that in order to revive, the na-
tion's intelligence capabilities, "agencies
must be rebuilt through a combination of
legislation; executive orders, administra-
tive actions and Presidential leader-
ship.". It suggests separating clandestine
operations from.the. Central Intelligence
,Agency, hiring- more and better-trained,
agents, establishing- competing sources;
of intelligence analysis and changing
laws that restrict intelligence activities.
The report characterizes the current:
intelligence apparatus as being "in the
worst condition since before Pearl Har
bor" and blames not only President Car-
ter but also three previous Administra-
tions for politicizing Intelligence gather-
ing and analysis. - - . J,
Officials. stressed- that. key Reagan
aides had only begun to think about how
intelligence should be reshaped, and the
report, they said, is only a tentative list of
ptions open to a Reagan administration.
As one indication of the tentative na-
ture ofthe options, J. Willlam.Midden-
dorf, former Secretary of the Navy andI
acting head of the transitions task force.
on intelligence, and other members of the
task force, met today for the first time!
with Adm. Stansffeid Thrner, Director of~
'Central Intelligence. ? ... .
However; officials dose to the Republi-
cantransition ef`artin intelligence said it
was likely that several of the proposals in
the report would be pursued by a Reagan,
administration and the new. Republican
majorityin the Senate.
The officials said that Mr. Reagan had
not yet chosen a Director of Central Intel-
ligence but then William J. Casey, the
Reagan campaign director, was known to
be the front-runner. Mr. Casey Is known
to support a much more aggressive ap.
proach to intelligence operations.
Moreover, many of the report's propos-
als resemble portions of a now-dormant
legislative charter, introduced last sum-
mer by Republican Senators, that would
restructure intelligence agencies and
relax restrictions on domestic spying.
Many of the changes advocated in the
report are bound to be-resisted by civil
liberties groups, which have fought for
years for the laws and executive orders
that now limit intelligence activities and
protect individual liberties. Other struc-
Many of the report's recommendations'
would not require legislation. For exam-
ple, it urges the revocation of an execu-
five order that governs intelligence struc
ture and provides operational guidelines.
'and restrictions for the intelligence agen-i
cies.
The report recommends that "Ian_,
guage training, as well as adequate mill
tary and political instruction" should be.
standard for agents.. -
tural recommendations are bound to ben
controversial, since they would require
an overhaul of the current intelligence l
scheme. They stem from an assumption;
that the. organizational 'setup is, largely:
responsible for what the report contendsi
is the poor quality of intelligence.
The report accuses the Carter Adminis-
tration of weakening American intelli-
gence "through mass dismissals of C.I.A.
officials and partial replacement of them
by inexperienced employees," a charge
that agency officials have denied.
"Presidential leadership must play a
role in rebuilding our intelligence serv-
ices, which have not been so weak since
Pearl Harbor, and can instigate not only;
administrative reforms, but also promote;
legislation and give the intelligence com-!
rnunity the moral and political supportt
necessary to fulfill its mission,".the re
port concludes.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/16: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505420066-5