Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: State Department says it bugged calls of some employees Date: Sat, 14 Nov 92 16:22:11 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \HD State Department says it bugged calls of some employees \BY Martin Sieff \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES The State Department yesterday admitted bugging the phone calls of some of its employees without their knowledge, a practice that was banned in 1982 but somehow slipped back into use. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher also said the FBI is investigating the monitoring of phone calls made through the department's Operations Center as a possible violation of the federal law on wiretapping. The law authorizes wiretapping only if at least one of the parties in a phone conversation agrees to it. Mr. Boucher said the FBI is looking into the "past practices" of Operations Center personnel concerning the monitoring of telephone calls. He said such attention on the department is "disturbing and distracting." The Operations Center did not monitor any phone calls made directly between department and outside phones, Mr. Boucher said. Only calls placed through the Operations Center were subject to monitoring. The acknowledgement came days after the dismissal of Elizabeth Tamposi, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, apparently for violating established procedures by ordering searches of the passport files of presidential candidates Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. She denied any impropriety. Department officials routinely call colleagues through the Operations Center, and center workers sometimes take notes on the conversations for later use by the participants, Mr. Boucher said. The practice of monitoring phone calls without permission of either party came to light during department Inspector General Sherman Funk's investigation into the Tamposi affair, Mr. Boucher said. Calls that Mrs. Tamposi made through the Operations Center were monitored and recorded without her knowledge, the spokesman said. Acting Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger was told Oct. 15 about the practice of monitoring and sometimes recording details of calls without permission and immediately ordered it stopped, Mr. Boucher said. "Under the new policy, the Operations Center monitors a phone call only when one party to the conversation requests that the Operations Center stay on the line," Mr. Boucher said. In 1982 Secretary of State Alexander Haig ordered the practice discontinued, but it came back into use, the spokesman said. Neither Mr. Boucher nor other department sources could say whether the practice was resumed under Secretary of State George Shultz or Secretary of State James A. Baker III. A State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it was common knowledge among department officials that the Operations Center sometimes monitored calls and made records of them. But political appointees such as Mrs. Tamposi may not have been aware of the practice, he said. The Washington Post said the inspector general's inquiry uncovered evidence that Mrs. Tamposi had "political discussions" about the Clinton file search with the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, Stephen K. Berry, and other department officials. Mrs. Tamposi has said her actions were not politically motivated and were solely in response to media requests. State Department sources said the inspector general's report on the file searches, expected this week, will not be released until early next week. The sources said the delay was caused by the inspector general's investigation into the possibility that the search of the Clinton and Perot files was carried out with the knowledge of White House officials. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM