(EST Pub Date) CIA Public Affairs and the Drug Conspiracy Story

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

themselves are a constituency; we all are affected to some degree by such allegations, and many of us have been confronted with questions about it from friends, neighbors, and others. By anyone's definition, the emergence of this story posed a genuine public relations crisis for the Agency. $ ^{3} $

## Alarming Allegations

The firestorm began when the San Jose Mercury-News ran its three-part series, "Dark Alliance," by staff writer Gary Webb. In the series, Webb alleged that the US-backed Contra rebels in Nicaragua forged a "union" with gangs in Los Angeles to sell tons of cocaine in black neighborhoods and to use "millions" of dollars in profits to fund the Contras' war against the Sandinista regime. "Dark Alliance" did not state outright that CIA ran the drug trade or even knew about it, but CIA complicity was heavily implied by the graphics accompanying the story and by the frequent use of the phrase "the CIA's army" to describe the Contras and anyone working with them.

The series appeared with no warning. Generally speaking, reporters working stories on CIA will call the PAS for comment, background, specific information, or requests to speak with retired Agency employees. Part of Public Affairs' planning for crisis involves an ongoing, active engagement with media representatives. The telephone and fax numbers for CIA Public Affairs are well known among US and foreign journalists, as evidenced by the quantity and variety of calls fielded every day by the Agency's media relations spokesmen. Webb, who reportedly investigated this story for a year, would later claim—during the media

## Because of the ongoing IG review, CIA was limited in its response, and requests for CIA spokesmen to appear on talk radio or TV programs had to be turned down.

"

criticism that emerged in the coming weeks—that he tried to call the Agency but was unsuccessful: "Essentially, our trail stopped at the door of the CIA. They wouldn't return my phone calls."4

CIA was caught unawares by the Mercury-News series because Gary Webb had never called or spoken with anyone on the PAS. Touted as an investigative journalist—Webb was named Northern California's Journalist of the Year for this series he apparently could not come up with a widely available and well-known telephone number for CIA Public Affairs. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that he spoke to no one at CIA because he was uninterested in anything the Agency might have to say that would diminish the impact of his series. $ ^{5} $

The story quickly spread through wire services and the Mercury-News website. CIA complicity in drug smuggling into US cities was more strongly implied or explicitly stated with every "bounce" of this story. Public Affairs received its first call on the story from a journalist on 21 August, the day after the series ended. In the first few days, CIA media spokesmen would remind reporters seeking comment that this series represented no real news, in that similar charges were made in the 1980s and were investigated by the Congress and were found to be without substance. Reporters were encouraged to

read the "Dark Alliance" series closely and with a critical eye to what allegations could actually be backed with evidence. Early in the life of this story, one major news affiliate, after speaking with a CIA media spokesman, decided not to run the story.

## Gaining Momentum

The story languished with little attention for a week or so, during which DCI John Deutch received a letter from Representative Maxine Waters of California, who had asked for an investigation into the charges. In his response, the DCI reiterated his belief that the allegations were groundless: at the same time, he said, he was requesting a review by CIA's Inspector General (IG), in light of the serious nature of the charges. The Director sent a similar letter to Senator Barbara Boxer of California and to the chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence committees. At this point, the story began to pick up steam.

Because of the ongoing IG review, CIA was limited in its response, and requests for CIA spokesmen to appear on talk radio or TV programs had to be turned down. Nevertheless, Public Affairs emphasized to callers the independence of CIA's IG (although press commentary often distorted the IG review as an "in-house" or "internal" investigation) and that the Agency would willingly cooperate with any external investigation. Public Affairs also began to distribute to media contacts copies of the Director's letter to Waters, and, beginning in early September, many stories made use of the DCI's words. $ ^{6} $

On 11 September, activist Dick Gregory and local Washington talk radio host Joe Madison were arrested