F O L K E T I B I L D / K U L T U R F R O N T 9-10/96
p å t e l e p r i n t e r n
DEA AGENTS ACCUSE CIA
OF TAPPING PHONES OF
OVERSEAS BUREAUS
The lawsuit, which also names the National Security Agency and the State Department, seeks a court order barring those agencies from any further wiretapping."These agencies have a pattern and practice of eavesdropping on DEA agents' and employees' conversations while they are serving the government overseas," said attorney Brian Leighton of Clovis, Calif.But legal experts say it could be a difficult lawsuit to win, especially since an employer - in this case the government - generally has a right to listen to employee conversation on office phones. It also doesn't help that national security was involved and that courts have held that U.S. citizens don't have constitutional rights overseas."It's an uphill battle. It's going to be a tough suit," said constitutional law expert Paul Rothstein of Georgetown University.The lawsuit was filed on behalf of all DEA agents, but the agency itself was not part of the action.The only DEA agent named as a plaintiff in the suit is Richard A. Horn, currently with the agency's New Orleans bureau. Five other incidents involving other unidentified agents are alleged.Two years ago Horn filed a lawsuit accusing U.S. officials of undermining his anti-drug efforts in Burma. That suit is still pending.Leighton said subsequent contacts with other DEA personnel revealed a pattern of similar abuses around the world.CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said he could not comment directly on the class action lawsuit, but defended his agency. "It is not the CIA's mission, nor is it part of the operations of the agency, to surveil in any manner U.S. officials, or other U.S. citizens at home or abroad," Mansfield said.The only exception would be in counterintelligence cases, he added, and then only in consultation with senior Justice Department officials.DEA spokesman James McGivney said he could not comment on pending litigation, but noted that as a U.S. citizen, Horn had the right file his own lawsuit.John Russell, spokesman for the Justice Department, which defends the other agencies in lawsuits, said only, "we will respond in court."In Horn's previous case, Leighton said, the Justice Department angered DEA agents by claiming they have no Fourth Amendment constitutional right against wiretapping when working outside the country.Leighton, a former federal prosecutor, said the lawsuit doesn't address the reasons for the alleged electronic eavesdropping."My assumption is because they want to know what DEA is doing, they want to rip off DEA informants, they want to know DEA contacts within foreign governments," Leighton said. "And with the Cold War over, these agencies are looking for a new mission."An April 1996 letter to agents by Horn and Leighton, details the allegation of wiretapping against the agent in Burma.Horn's residence "was the target of a U.S. Government Agency-sponsored electronic audio intercept," it said. "Horn had occasion to see a cable containing his words in quotation marks, that he had spoken to another DEA agent, set forth exactly as stated..."The suit also reports alleged wiretaps against DEA agents in the Dominican Republic from 1987 to 1990, in May 1993 and September 1994 at the Bangkok, Thailand office; at the Guatemala City office in 1984, 1985 and from 1987 to 1989; and in an unidentified location in April 1987.The suit, assigned to U.S. District Judge Harold H. Greene, names as defendants Secretary of State Warren Christopher, CIA Director John Deutch and NSA Director Adm. J.M. McConnell.Med hjälp av militär spetsteknik sugs en flod av samtal upp: telefontrafik mellan knarkbaroner, elektroniska fingeravtryck av serbiska missiler, diplomatsamtal, faxmeddelanden från ett europeiskt bolag som slåss med amerikanska bolag om kontrakt i Saudi Arabien - inget undgår det elektroniska paraply NSA satt upp runt världen.Institutionen har nationens största spionbudget. Den operativa verksamheten kostar nära en miljon dollar i timmen. Med sina 20.000 anställda är NSA staten Marylands störste arbetsgivare.Två reportrar vid tidningen Baltimore Sun har under ett år samlat mängder av uppgifter till artiklar om NSA - en spionorganisation i det närmaste helt okänd för allmänheten.
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