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Bl chief ‘unaware’ of dissident probeWASHINGTON (AP) - Then-FBI Director William Webster was unaware that a terrorism investigation of anti-Reagan activists had been expanded to include their legitimate protest activities, a top bureau official said Tuesday.Oliver B Revell, executive assistant FT' director, also told the Senate Intelligence Committee that no one in the administration told the bureau to conduct the investigation.Revell’s testimony offered the first in-depth look at the FBI’s investigations of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, or CISPES, which began in 1981 and ended in 1985. Leaders of CISPES maintain that the inquiries were politically motivated, but Revell denied that charge.“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said. “We have investigated a number of groups on the other side of the political spectrum. ...“The focus of the FBI investigations has been and is criminality, or the collection of intelligence which will keep our nation and citizens safe from terrorism,” he said.At another point, Revell said, “I have no knowledge of any political taskings by anyone in the Reagan administration of the FBI's CISPESinvestigation.”No criminal charges ever have been filed against CISPES or any of its members.Several members of the committee told Revell they remained skeptical of the FBI information that triggered the investigation of CISPES.Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he had “grave questions” about Revell's justifications,adding, “You have to proceed on the basis oftangible hard facts and evidence” — which he indicated were lacking in this case.But Revell noted that it was a terrorism investigation, and added that if the FBI always waited “until there was tangible evidence, you would have been picking up the pieces of the bombs.”Earlier, Specter asked Revell the extent of Webster’s involvement in the CISPES probe.“He was aware of several cables sent to him for informational purposes,” Revell said. “He did not authorize any of the activities. The supervision was at the sectional level.”Revell added that it is impossible for the FBI director to keep up with all the investigations the bureau conducts. However, he did say that in the wake of revelations about the conduct of the CISPES case, “we have taken interim steps to increase the level of review” of sensitive probes.Webster, who now directs the CIA, has had no public comment on the investigation.»
Newspaper Details
Jacksonville Journal Courier
Jacksonville, Illinois, US
Wed, Feb 24, 1988
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Governors S.
IL, DZ 02 May 2020
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