Loose Lips

Reagan seeks to trace a leak

The recommendation was an explosive one, discussed in secret in a National Security Council meeting. Robert McFarlane, then the special envoy to the Middle East, was urging the President to order air strikes against Syrian positions in Lebanon. But the next day, even as McFarlane toured the troubled region, all three major television networks had stories on the classified proposal.

The leak, which occurred last September, touched off an intensive FBI investigation involving the President's top aides that is still under way. The day after the information became public, William Clark, the National Security Adviser who has since been replaced by McFarlane, handed Reagan the draft of a letter authorizing the FBI to use lie-detector tests to find the source. The President willingly signed it. About an hour later, however, several top White House staffers got wind of the letter and asked to see Reagan. Among the angriest were White House Chief of Staff James Baker and Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Deaver. They tried to convince Reagan that the use of polygraphs would demoralize the staff. As a compromise, Reagan deleted specific references to lie detectors in the final letter.

The FBI has vigorously pursued the investigation, interviewing members of the President's senior staff and Cabinet for up to two hours each. But there is no evidence that polygraph tests have yet been used. Secretary of State George Shultz was among those who let the White House know that he would resign before allowing himself to be strapped to such a machine. Presidential Counsellor Edwin Meese last week stressed that the leak could have jeopardized McFarlane's life in the volatile Middle East. But some aides suggested that the probe was part of the protracted power struggle between Baker and Clark, who is now the Interior Secretary. Said one Administration official: "It was total bull, and a pretty good indication of how bad relations were here before Clark left."

Reagan has long been dismayed over leaks. At week's end reports surfaced that the White House had authorized perhaps as many as four FBI investigations of its staff since 1981. Last March, Reagan signed a controversial directive permitting the use of lie detectors on the 2.5 million federal employees who hold high security clearances. Despite these actions, the leaks have continued and no sources have been uncovered. In fact, the prospect of facing a polygraph has done little except provoke discontent within the Administration. Said one outraged official: 'If Reagan cannot trust his own people without giving them a lie-detector test, then he ought to fire them." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.