CIA Chief Reportedly Warns Book Publishers, Two Writers

Authors and publishers of two forthcoming books on U.S. intelligence said Wednesday that CIA Director William J. Casey has warned them that they could be violating the law if their books include any secret “communications intelligence.”

Casey issued the first warnings in telephone calls to the writers last Thursday. He called Bob Woodward, an assistant managing editor of the Washington Post, who is writing a book on Casey and the CIA, and Seymour M. Hersh, who writes for the New York Times and whose book involves the downing of a Korean Air Lines jet by the Soviets in 1983.

He also called their publishers to deliver the same message, they said.

A spokesman for the CIA said the agency “would not confirm or deny allegations about any of the director’s private conversations.”

Casey, who acknowledged to both publishers that he had not read their authors’ manuscripts, has been on a campaign in recent months to stop news organizations from publishing what he believes are intelligence leaks.

Casey, National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter and Gen. William E. Odom, director of the National Security Agency, have cautioned media organizations about the publication of sensitive material. Odom and Casey have threatened to seek prosecution, but no legal action has been taken.