Panel Raps Investigation of CIA Security Breaches

A presidential advisory panel has criticized the CIA’s internal investigation of security violations by its former director, John M. Deutch, faulting current CIA Director George J. Tenet and other high-ranking officials for failing to aggressively pursue the case.

Former Sen. Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.), chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, briefed President Clinton and leaders of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence this week on the panel’s findings. Rudman also delivered the panel’s report to Gen. John A. Gordon, the CIA’s deputy director, who must now determine whether disciplinary action against CIA employees is warranted.

Tenet stripped Deutch of his CIA security clearances in August as punishment for writing and storing highly classified intelligence reports on unsecure home computers that were linked to the Internet. But members of Congress have suggested that Tenet and his deputies should have acted sooner and more forcefully.

The controversy flared on Capitol Hill in February with the leak of a highly critical report by the CIA’s inspector general on the agency’s internal investigation of Deutch’s security breach.

Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the intelligence committee, immediately launched closed hearings on the matter, saying he was concerned about a possible “cover-up” of Deutch’s transgressions by top CIA officials.

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno also asked for a new review of the matter, tapping a former Justice Department official, Paul E. Coffey, to assess the Criminal Division’s earlier decision not to prosecute Deutch for mishandling classified information.

Coffey recently dispatched FBI agents to review Deutch’s testimony before the Senate intelligence committee, and Capitol Hill sources say the former organized crime prosecutor seems to be leaning toward a recommendation that Deutch be prosecuted, probably on a misdemeanor charge.

Gross negligence in handling classified information is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison; taking classified information home without authorization is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison.

Rudman declined to comment Friday night on the specifics of his panel’s findings, other than to say they were “exhaustive, thorough and tough.” Clinton administration officials familiar with the report said its conclusions tracked those of CIA Inspector General Britt Snider.

In his report, Snider faulted former CIA general counsel Michael O’Neil and former executive director Nora Slatkin for delaying the CIA’s internal investigation, which began shortly after Deutch resigned as the agency’s director in December 1996. Tenet, who immediately became the agency’s acting director, “should have involved himself more forcefully to ensure a proper resolution of this matter.”

Snider also concluded that the CIA erred in failing to immediately report Deutch’s home computer security violations to the Justice Department for investigation.