Washington Post Spy Story Altered After Reagan Call

President Reagan telephoned Katharine Graham, chairman of the board of the Washington Post Co., urging her not to publish espionage details about accused spy Ronald W. Pelton, and the newspaper complied, the Post said Wednesday.

The Post did publish a lengthy article on the Pelton case in today’s editions but said that, because of Administration objections, including a threat of prosecution by CIA Director William J. Casey, the article was less detailed than originally planned.

Lawyers’ Concerns Cited

The article quoted Executive Editor Benjamin C. Bradlee as saying that, because the Post was “unable fully to judge the validity of the national security objections of senior officials, and because of Post lawyers’ concerns, the paper decided to print this article without a description of the technology Pelton allegedly betrayed.”

The Post said Pelton had disclosed a long-running and successful U.S. submarine operation that used sophisticated equipment to intercept Soviet communications. This was one of the gravest U.S. intelligence losses to the Soviet Union, the Post said, quoting intelligence sources it did not name.

Michael Guest, a White House spokesman, refused to comment on the Post story.

The Post said that Reagan had telephoned Graham on May 10 and urged that the newspaper not publish its Pelton article. Bradlee was quoted as saying he continued to believe that the original story would disclose nothing not already known to the Soviet Union.

Possible Criminal Charges

The article appeared two days after NBC-TV reported that Pelton had disclosed U.S. underwater eavesdropping operations to the Soviet Union.

Within hours after that report was aired, CIA Director Casey asked the Justice Department to weigh criminal charges against NBC for mentioning the intelligence program and identifying its code-name as Ivy Bells.

But government prosecutors have yet to file charges.