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American Cryptology during the Cold War - The Black Vault

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<strong>The</strong> Petersen Case<br />

(b) (6)<br />

Joseph Sydney Petersen,Jr.<br />

<strong>The</strong> second security breach<br />

involved an NSA analyst named<br />

Joseph Sydney Petersen, Jr. Petersen<br />

had served with ASA in <strong>the</strong> South<br />

Pacific in World <strong>War</strong> II and had formed<br />

a close liaison with Dutch cryptologists<br />

with whom <strong>the</strong> United States was<br />

exchanging information. After <strong>the</strong> war<br />

this liaison came to an end, but<br />

Petersen decided on his own to become<br />

a one-man Third Party office to <strong>the</strong><br />

Dutch intelligence service. He<br />

collected documents at his home and<br />

periodically passed <strong>the</strong>m on to Dutch<br />

intelligence people from <strong>the</strong> embassy.<br />

This apparently went on for several<br />

years.<br />

Peters~Il'sespionagemigl1tneverhave come to light had it not been for an unrelated<br />

naval securityca~~ involving anoffi~erwho had been separated from <strong>the</strong> service for<br />

land an investigation was<br />

launched. But when NSA learned that Petersen had close friends at <strong>the</strong> Dutch embassy,<br />

<strong>the</strong> investigators forgot about <strong>the</strong>I Icharge and called in <strong>the</strong> FBI. In<br />

September 1953 <strong>the</strong> FBI began questioning Petersen, and he began revealing his story. A<br />

search of his apartment uncovered a large number of classified documents, and <strong>the</strong> FBI<br />

reckoned that it had enough to prosecute. 78<br />

....,.._.....,.---,,......,,,,.........ll He itnpli~ated Petersen as~<br />

<strong>The</strong> joint NSA-FBI team consulted with Canine in his quarters. <strong>The</strong> options were to<br />

try to prosecute or to be satisfied with a simple resignation on his part. This would be <strong>the</strong><br />

first prosecution under Title 18, and a hearing in open court might bring to light<br />

information that would be more damaging than just giving Petersen his walking papers.<br />

But Canine decided to go for prosecution, and he later overrode objections by USCIB that<br />

<strong>the</strong> resulting publicity would seriously damage NSA.<br />

When Petersen's lawyer found out that <strong>the</strong> government had opted for prosecution, he<br />

began negotiating a plea bargain. On <strong>the</strong> day <strong>the</strong> trial was to begin, he told <strong>the</strong> judge that<br />

Petersen was pleading guilty to a violation ofTitle 18. Petersen fully cooperated with <strong>the</strong><br />

FBI and in return was sentenced to seven years in prison. He was paroled after four years.<br />

HtiIH3bEl VIti 'fAtElIff RElY 116LI!: e6MIt'f'f e6NTIteiL ~ i STJ!:M~ J6IN'fL i<br />

NOT HEU; A ~ \8U 'f8 F8ftl!:HUf NAlIONALS<br />

279 ~TU~RA

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