Intelligence Identities Protection Act Of 1982

Congress passed the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, P.L.97-200 in 1982. The Act, as amended, 1 is codified at 50USC 421-426. Under 50USC 421 criminal penalties are provided, in certain circumstances, for intentional, unauthorised disclosure of information identifying a covert agent, where those making such a disclosure know that the information disclosed identifies the covert agent as such and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal the covert agent's foreign intelligence relationship to the United States. Other sections of the Act provide exceptions and defences to prosecution, make provision for extraterritorial application of the offenses in section 421, include reporting requirements to Congress, and set forth definitions of the terms used in the Act. There do not appear to be any published cases involving prosecutions under this Act. In 1982, the Intelligence Identities Protection Act was enacted into law as an amendment to the National Security Act of 1947. Intelligence Committees and others in Congress about the systematic effort by a small group of Americans, including some former intelligence agency employees, to disclose the names of covert intelligence agents. This new book presents the text of the Act, its interpretation and the Court of Appeals case of closest to the issue of intelligent agents and disclosure of their identities - Adele HALKIN, et al., v. Richard HELMS.

A comprehensive two-volume overview and analysis of all facets of espionage in the American historical experience, focusing on key individuals and technologies. In two volumes, Spies, Wiretaps, and Secret Operation: An Encyclopedia of American Espionage ranges across history to provide a comprehensive, thoroughly up-to-date introduction to spying in the United States—why it is done, who does it (both for and against the United States), how it is done, and what its ultimate impact has been. The encyclopedia includes hundreds of entries in chronologically organized sections that cover espionage by and within the United States from colonial times to the 21st century. Entries cover key individuals, technologies, and events in the history of American espionage. Volume two offers overviews of important agencies in the American intelligence community and intelligence organizations in other nations (both allies and adversaries), plus details of spy trade techniques, and a concluding section on the portrayal of espionage in literature and film. The result is a cornerstone resource that moves beyond the Cold War-centric focus of other works on the subject to offer an authoritative contemporary look at American espionage efforts past and present.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is one of the most fascinating yet least understood intelligence gathering organizations in the world