“C.I.A. Bribery In Europe”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31363, 8 May 1967, Page 16

“C.I.A. Bribery In Europe”

(N.Z.P. A.-Reuter— Copyright) LOS ANGELES, May 7. A former agent of the Central Intelligence Agency claimed today that C.I.A. money was used to influence unions in France, Italy and West Germany. Without C.I.A. finance, much of Europe—especially Italy and France—“probably would have gone Communist,” he said. The former agent, Mr Thomas Braden, claimed that he created the C.l.A.’s programme to subsidise student and labour union groups to oppose Communist influence abroad.

In an interview published in the “Los Angeles Times” today, Mr Braden said he proposed his anti-Communist plan in 1950 while serving as assistant to Mr Allen Dulles, then deputy-director of the C.I.A. The programme was approved “after considerable reistance from within the organisation,” Mr Braden said, and he was appointed to direct the activities as chief of the international organisation division of the C.I.A. Soviet Activities His programme, Mr Braden said, was to oppose similar activities by the Soviet Union which was “spending 250 million dollars a year on international front organisations.” “What we had at that time

was a situation throughout the world where the Russians, through use of their international fronts, had stolen the great words such as peace, justice and freedom,” he explained. “This battery of international fronts gave many people the idea that the Soviet Union had a monopoly on peace and justice and freedom. And it seemed to me that we ought to do something about it. “We tried to penetrate those fronts wherever we could through secret financial support, and when we could not, we built our own.

"‘We made those organisations powerful and effective spokesmen for the freedom and democracy that our country stands for,” he said. The battle for European labour groups was more important that the need to influence student groups, said Mr Braden. “Not Immoral” He said he failed to see “why it is immoral to get into labour unions in France and make sure the Communist labour unions are not dumping United States supplies into the sea or burning them in

the ports, and that was happening. “So we subsidised the unions to make sure it didn’t happen any more. “The American Federation of Labour, at my request, undertook the job of bribing some of the Communist workers. If we didn’t bribe them, we wouldn’t have got our supplies landed,” he added. He criticised Mr Walter Reuther, president of the United Auto Workers, for' recently complaining that the A.F.L. received money from the C.1.A., as Mr Reuther himself was involved.

Money Given “1 personally went to Detroit and gave Walter Reuther 50,000 dollars in 50-dollar bills to influence labour unions in West Germany,” he said.

Mr Braden said that Mr Reuther gave the money to his brother, Victor, who spent the cash with “something less than perfect wisdom.” Mr Victor Reuther gave the money to German unions which were not seriously short of money and already antiCommunist while other unions were tying up ports on the orders of Communist leaders, said Mr Braden.

He did not consider his programme was “immoral or disgraceful” as it was designed to help his country. "Take a look at Europe today. In 1947 it appeared very definitely that France would go Communist, and perhaps Italy. We stepped in with this organisational weapon, and look at those countries today.” The Reuther brothers were not available for comment on Mr Braden’s statement.