The Nation - News from Sept. 14, 1988

A House staff report said U.S. experts in covert intelligence and psychological operations exceeded their authority in helping rally public support for President Reagan’s Central America policies. The House Foreign Affairs Committee staff said these operatives “conspired, through the staff of the National Security Council, to use the State Department as a cover for a domestic operation which went far beyond the legal and ethical scope of their authority.” The effort involved tactics ranging from lobbying to win congressional approval for renewed military aid to the Nicaraguan Contras to planting favorable articles in the press, the report said. The staff said the propaganda campaign was run by CIA covert operations specialists but did not mention specific laws or regulations that were violated. The report said many of the activities were carried out by recipients of no-bid contracts “hidden from public view.”