GOP Senator Fibs, Says White House

The White House denounced as “utterly untrue” today a charge by the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee that an Administration decision to release an intercepted Nicaraguan government document was a political tactic that jeopardized sensitive intelligence sources.

White House spokesman Edward Djerejian commented after the chairman, Sen. Dave Durenberger of Minnesota, declared that the White House plan to release the document was an “outrageous” attempt to portray as a “stooge of communism” any opponent of military aid to rebels fighting Nicaragua’s leftist regime.

“Sen. Durenberger’s statement that the White House intends to make public a sensitive classified document to lobby the Congress is utterly untrue,” Djerejian said.

“At the urging of members of Congress who were given the opportunity to review sensitive classified information, the State Department this coming week plans to issue information regarding the Nicaraguan government’s efforts aimed at influencing the American political process, including disinformation efforts,” he said.

Won’t Compromise Sources

“We believe the U.S. government has the responsibility to let the American public know of this scheme of the Nicaraguan government, but we certainly will not compromise sensitive sources and methods as the senator’s statement suggests,” Djerejian said.

In a statement released Thursday, Durenberger said the decision jeopardized sensitive intelligence sources in a “transparent political tactic” intended to gain support for President Reagan’s plan to send the contra rebels $100 million in lethal and non-lethal aid.

“The real betrayal here is to the American people who look to senior leadership to live up to their responsibility to protect intelligence from political exploitation,” Durenberger said.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the intelligence panel’s vice chairman, added later that he was “as frustrated as (Durenberger) when the Administration selectively leaks classified information to bolster a policy . . . and especially when there’s a suggestion that if you don’t agree with them, you’re not American.”

‘Disinformation Campaign’

Earlier this week, the White House lobbied members of Congress by showing them a document that Administration officials, including CIA Director William J. Casey, said revealed the leftist Nicaraguan Sandinista government planned a “disinformation campaign.”

Administration officials initially refused to release the classified document to the public, but White House spokesman Djerejian said a declassified version will be released Monday.

Congressmen who were shown the document said it described a campaign by “peace advocates” that would include sit-ins, information about the success of Nicaragua’s coffee crop and flowers sent to Capitol Hill offices.