Intelligence Identities Protection Act
The Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 (PL97-200, 50 United States Code Secs. 421â426) is a United States law which makes it a federal crime to knowingly reveal the identity of a covert CIA agent. It was written after the 1975 assassination of CIA Athens Station Chief Richard Welch by the Greek terrorist group Revolutionary Organization 17 November. He was outed by a magazine called CounterSpy edited by Timothy Butz.[1] A local paper checked with CounterSpy confirmed his identity.[2]
The activities of ex-CIA agent Philip Agee during the 1960s and 1970s may have also led impetus to the Acts passage as some commentators have noted the law was very specifically targeted at his actions. Congressman Bill Young said during a debate in the House of Representatives, "What we're after today are the Philip Agees of the world."[3]
Agee's book CIA Diary and publication Covert Action Information Bulletin (CAIB) blew many agents' cover. Agee was deeply involved in the antigovernment Counterspy magazine, which made a practice of such disclosures. Louis Wolf and Chip Berlet both wrote for CAIB and also The Public Eye, described as a "spawn of the first Counterspy.[4] Butz also was on the editorial staff of The Public Eye.[5]
According to an item in Security Intelligence newsletter :
- "To the surprise of few, CIA defector Philip Agee was named as a recipient of KGB pay for almost 20 years. Florintino Aspillaga Lombard, formerly a major in Cuba 's Direccion General de Inteligencia (DGI) before defecting to the US, said payments to Agee for anti-CIA writing and lecturing could exceed $1 million.
- Agee...left the agency in 1968 and began exposing CIA officers and operations through lectures, magazines andbooks.[6]
See also
References
- â Washington Post, Obituary: Richard S. Welch, 29 December 1975, A16. ISBN 01908286
- â Morton H. Halperin and National Security IssuesâA Partial Record, Congressional Record, United States Senate - July 15, 1994, pg. S9109.
- â Agee's Revenge, It's past time to kill the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, Jesse Walker, Reason, July 14, 2005.
- â Chip Berlet and Linda Lotz, Reading List on Intelligence Agencies and Political Repression, (NY:National Lawyers Guild Civil Liberties Committee, Rev. 1/14/91).
- â "Public Eye Staff," The Public Eye (Vol II, Issues 1 & 2, 1979), 3.
- â "To The Surprise Of A Few....," Security Intelligence (24 August 1992), 5.