Fraud Coverage

Your news columns (Calendar, May 5) and an editorial (May 8) both tarred the Wall Street Journal with the same brush you used to criticize ABC-TV for alleged errors in a news story. Merely because, one presumes, we both covered the same story--the loss by investors of millions of dollars to a fraudulent investment house that relied for much of its business on its very real affiliation with the Central Intelligence Agency.

The statements and sources you particularly criticized in ABC’s coverage did not appear in the Journal. The Journal’s piece was documented in detail, and relied not just on the documents your reporter says he saw, but on many sources, most of whom were named and none of whom has been discredited by the CIA or anyone else.

Still, without specifics, you said the Journal “misreported” the story, and attributed this anonymous generalization to “individuals close to the . . . case.” You didn’t offer the Journal any rebuttal to this anonymous charge. Nor did you inform your readers that we continue to stand by the accuracy of our story, as Jonathan Kwitny, who wrote the Journal account, told your reporter in a long interview, during which he responded fully to all questions.

Given these facts, I found your references to the Journal’s coverage both unfair and ironic, coming as they did in pieces criticizing journalistic methods.

STEWART PINKERTON

Deputy Managing Editor

Wall Street Journal

New York