Samuel Morison
Outside consulting activities can
present a conflict of interest that leads to security compromise. Morison
was another one who thought he knew better than the U.S. Government what
was best for the United States.
Morison: Consulting
Led to Espionage
Samuel Loring Morison worked at the Naval
Intelligence Support Center in Suitland, MD, from 1974 to 1984. The grandson
of the famous naval historian Samuel Elliot Morison, he was an intelligence
analyst specializing in Soviet amphibious and mine-laying vessels.
At the same time, Morison earned $5,000 per
year as a part-time contributor and editor of the American section of
Jane's Fighting Ships, an annual reference work on the world's navies,
published in England. There were repeated complaints about Morison using
office time and facilities to do his work for
Jane's and warnings to him about conflict of interest between the
jobs.
In 1984, conflicts with his supervisors led
Morison to seek a full-time position with Jane's in London. At this
time, he began overstepping the boundary of permissible information that
could be sent to Jane's. The case came to a head when Morison took
three classified photographs from a neighboring desk. These were aerial
surveillance photographs showing construction of the first Soviet
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The photographs were missed. Soon
thereafter, they appeared in Jane's Defence Weekly and were traced
back to Morison.
Morison was motivated by a desire to curry
favor with Jane's to increase his chances of being offered a job.
He also had a political motive for passing classified information to the
media -- to influence American public opinion in favor of a stronger defense
posture. He believed that the new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier would
transform Soviet capabilities, and that "if the American people knew what
the Soviets were doing, they would increase the defense budget."
1
Morison was sentenced to two years in prison
for espionage and theft of government property. As a result of the Morison
case, policy guidelines for adjudicating security clearances were changed to
include consideration of outside activities that present a potential
conflict of interest.
Related Topic:
Reporting Outside Activities,
How Spies
Are Caught.
Reference
1. P. Weiss, "The Quiet Coup: U.S. v. Morison - a
Victory for Secret Government," Harper’s, September 1989.
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