Secret Agent Man p. 7

By: DOROTHY GIOBBE

THE PUBLISHER OF a weekly newspaper in Spokane, Wash., is demanding an apology from the FBI for using an informant who posed as a reporter at the newspaper.
Earlier this month, Clark Hager of the Valley Herald wrote a stinging letter to FBI director Louis J. Freeh. Saying he was "highly incensed," Hager charged that the agency "has jeopardized the credibility and damaged the reputation of the Valley Herald."
"I demand an immediate apology from your agency. I also need your pledge that you will not involve my newspaper again in such a manner," Hager wrote. "It is my hope that you will . . . realize the dangers to our American principles in repeat of such activities."
The Society of Professional Journalists registered its supporting complaint with the FBI, and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press also expressed concern. Hager has not received a response.
The incident involves David Elton III, an FBI informant and Spokane-area resident. Elton claimed to be a reporter for the Valley Herald during several interviews last fall with James Marks, a prominent figure among Spokane's Gypsy community. The FBI is investigating Marks for witness intimidation.
On the direction of the FBI, Elton wore a tape recorder hidden on his body during "interviews" with Marks. He then shared the information with the FBI, the Spokane Spokesman-Review reported recently.
U.S. Attorney Jim Connelly has confirmed that Elton was working for the FBI in the Marks investigation.
"By all indications, Elton took it upon himself to pose as a reporter, but it seems apparent that the FBI became aware of it, and went along with it," said G. Kelly Hawes, president of SPJ. "They were even listening in on the interviews."
Hager said Elton has used the reporter ruse in the past.
"He's done this before and I've warned him and told him that he has no authority to pose as a reporter for the Valley Herald," he said.
Hager added that while Elton has never worked for the Valley Herald, he has submitted a few short pieces that appeared in the newspaper's Viewpoint section. Elton was not paid for any of his submissions, the last of which appeared six months to a year ago, Hager said.
"We're a community weekly, and we welcome people with different viewpoints to express themselves," Hager said.
"I've allowed him, on a few occasions, to put in his articles." Hager emphasized, however, that Elton was not on assignment for the paper when he interviewed Marks.
Elton apologized to Hager for using the newspaper as a cover, but said he doesn't regret helping the FBI in the investigation.
"I don't regret anything," he told a reporter from the Valley Herald. "I only wish I could have been more helpful to the case against Marks. . . . Crime should not pay."
The Spokesman-Review reported that Elton impersonated a reporter to obtain an interview with former Speaker of the House Tom Foley.
According to former Foley staffers, Elton alternately claimed to be a reporter for the Valley Herald and the Spokesman-Reivew.
Both newspapers denied any connection with him.
Hawes doubted the Elton incident was isolated. "It probably happens more than we know," he said.
"It confuses the issue in terms of the general public trying to deal with journalists who turn out to be government employees involved in a criminal investigation. It undermines the American system of the role of the press as watchdog."
The issue of federal agencies using journalists to gather intelligence surfaced recently in congressional hearings (E&P, Aug. 10, p. 16), but the subject was confined to non-U.S. cases.
As recently as 1995, SPJ condemned U.S. postal inspectors who posed as reporters in Michigan (E&P, July 29, 1995, p. 9). After an outcry from press associations, the postmaster general subsequently forbade the practice.