Administration Is Accused of CIA Leaks : Democrat Charges Casey Wants to End Congressional Oversight

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, responding to accusations from CIA Director William J. Casey that secrets have been compromised by the panel, said Friday that the Reagan Administration is the source of intelligence leaks.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said intelligence leaks are at their worst ever under the Administration and charged that Casey and other officials want to do away with congressional oversight of U.S. intelligence activities.

“Week after week after week, we pick up the paper and read intelligence information we’ve never known before,” Leahy said.

Series of Charges

Leahy, committee vice chairman, made the remarks to reporters to cap an unusual series of public charges and countercharges by the CIA director and the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate intelligence panel.

The flap began when committee Chairman David Durenberger (R-Minn.) told reporters Thursday that the panel probably would recommend reducing the CIA director’s policy-making authority.

Durenberger said a Washington Post account of the session misquoted him. The newspaper acknowledged misinterpreting his comments.

However, Casey issued a rare public letter to Durenberger saying the congressional intelligence committees had caused “repeated compromise of sensitive intelligence sources and methods.”

Will Not Respond

Durenberger’s press secretary, Karen Doyne, said the chairman would not respond to Casey’s letter.

Leahy defended Durenberger as being unfairly attacked. “The director should not have done that,” Leahy said. “I would much rather, if he had a concern, that he come over and talk to us about it.”

Leahy said he is concerned that Casey was reflecting an Administration view that congressional oversight of intelligence activities is a burden to be eliminated.

“I think they want to go back to the ‘good old days,’ when we had no congressional oversight. When we had no oversight, we had some of the most colossal intelligence failures ever,” Leahy said, noting the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 as one example.