CARTER IS SILENT ON HELMS QUIZ

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP09T00207R001000030040-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 5, 2011
• Sequence Number: 40
• Publication Date: March 5, 1977
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2011/08/05: CIA-RDP09T00207RO01000030040-8
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
SUN -TIMES
5 j 7,7
- 554,334
S - 667,850
By Loye Miller Jr.
Sun-Times Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON -White House press secre-
tary Jody Powell said Friday he could neither
.
w
ge at
confi m nor deny that President Carter holds the White- House had been consulted in the
the key to prosecution of former CIA Dig ctor investigation. Lipshutz? said that his office,
Richard M. Helms on perjury c urges. , was-weighing. Justice Department requests to
Powell called-a special briefing to comment." -clear classified documents for the probe be-
- or announce he could not comment - after" --cause that decision would ultimately lie with
being questioned at his regular briefing about ,Carter
a story in Friday's Sun-Tunes: Lipshutz-thus-'made it clear that the White'
The Sun-Times story said that Robert Lip House stood squarely astride the case- by con
shutz, counsel to the-President, had disclosed. . ling the information soubht by the prose-
that Carter was faced with a decision on cution.
whether to allow federal prosecutors to re- Powell did deny rumors that the White'
grand jury investigation of alleged perjury by
Helms, who headed the Central Intelligence
Agency from 1966 to 1973
According-to other. sources-close to the In-
vestigation, an Indictment of Helms for al-
legedly lying to two Senate tommittees about.-?
by *considered :.without the '. introduction of
Lipshutz denied Thursday that the Justice
Department had asked Carter's permission to.
Proceed with an indictment against Helms.
But in issuing the denial, Llpshutz did,
apparently inadvertently,
ackno
led
th
But at that point, he said he could not com-
meat further on any reports that requests for
sensitive information had been received from
",the Justice Department.--
As a matter of procedure, with reference
ceive from. the Justice: Department time to
-_ ""Caw W uculdSSSIIy mrormatton,:
now-secret government files to show what ' w`Powell-said: As _matter of policy, the White
covert U.S. operations actually took place in
Chile. - I House will never publicly admit it has-
re-'--.
A ""
c
ceived su
h requests Polld
,we sai
:Asked what the -policy would be-- toward".
granting -such"requests, Powell. said that in'.
some cases "there are facts that; due to,, the
security of this country ought to be kept sec-
ret."' But he ;refused to say. he e1. sdi
tun!- aDa wlt+l~ ee A
Other- sources indicated that the prose
cutorshave now received the evidence they' sought` from State Department or.-CIA files!
:but are prevented from proceeding because
the secret documents cannot be shown to the -
grand juzpunless .fhey are declassified. %
This would tend to confirm Lipshutz' cote-
meets, for the decision whether-to declassify
i.j w{ u,ld ,be made by the President .aft{ee,con
as *eoeftied
Approved For Release 2011/08/05: CIA-RDP09T00207RO01000030040-8