GATES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605560002-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 10, 2013
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: February 11, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/04/10: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605560002-1
UN-11LU YKY:55 LNLLKNALLUNAL
11 February 1987
GATES
7 BY NEIL RO - L_-
WASHINGTON
Acting CIA Director Robert Gates told Congress last week that one of his
agents lied in, telling inves igators a agent and Lt. Col. Oliver North had no
role in directing arms to Nicaraguan rebels last year, sources say.
The agent; the CIA's station chief in Costa Rica known by the pseudonym
Tomas Cast s the focus of an internal probe reopened by Gates after
questions arose about the operative's candor, the sources said Tuesday. Last
week it was disclosed Castillo was recalled to Washington and would be retired
early.
Castillo worked closely with North, the former National Security Council aide
fired for his role in the Iran arms-Contra aid scandal, in coordinating four
shipments of 500,000 rounds of ammunition from a private aid network to rebels
in southern Nicaragua in April 1986, congressional and rebel sources report.
In that light, Gates told congressional investigators last week that Castillo
''lied on the first inspector general report when he said he had no involvement
in giving arms to the Contras, '' a source said.
The inspector general, the CIA's internal watchdog, began an investigation
last fall of possible agency involvement in funneling aid to the Contras at a
time when the agency was allowed to share intelligence with the rebels but all
U.S. military assistance to them was banned by law.
Castillo responded to questions from the inspector general's office ''very
narrowly and with lack of candor, said one intelligence source.
''When the inspector general asked questions about his relationship with
North, Castillo withheld information in a way that could be interpreted as
misleading,'' the source said.
North was fired Nov. 25 when Attorney General Edwin Meese singled him out in
revealing the scheme to divert money to the Contras through secret Swiss bank
accounts from U.S. arms sales to Iran.
Congressional and administration sources report Castillo kept his supervisor
and North fully apprised of his pro-Contra activities. This week, the sources
said the CIA was taking disciplinary action against Castillo to insulate
senior officials from the controversy.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/04/10: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605560002-1
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/04/10: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605560002-1
Government sources said Tuesday it remains unclear if Castillo violated any
law but Gates has reopened the internal inquiry-begun last fall to further
explore the agent's role.
Questions about Castillo's veracity during the inquiry were prompted by FBI
discovery of an electronic message from North in which he described his work
with Castillo to coordinate arms shipments, an intelligence source said.
The FBI discovered the communication in a master computer disk at the NSC and
forwarded it to the presidentially appointed Tower Commission now reviewing NSC
operations as a result of the Iran-Contra scandal, the source said. The
commission in turn, referred the message to the CIA.
Gates, nominated by President Reagan last week to succeed the hospitalized
William Casey as CIA director, is scheduled for a Feb. 17 confirmation hearing
before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
CIA spokeswoman Sharon Foster would not say Tuesday where Castillo could be
reached and added it was CIA policy not to discuss comments - such as Gates'
reported remarks made in closed session.
Administration and congressional sources said they could not understand why
Castillo did not tell internal investigators he worked with approval from his
supervisor, the task force chief in Central America, in conveying information
about Nicaraguan troop positions to the private Contra aid network. The data
allowed cargo planes to pinpoint where and when to drop weapons to the rebels.
Castillo previously was disciplined in 1984 for his role in preparing a rebel
manual that called for assassinating Nicaraguan government leaders. Casey did
not punish two senior agency officials who planned and approved the manual, Rep.
Norman Mineta, D-Calif., told United Press International last week.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/04/10: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605560002-1