Letters to the Editor: His Stories Are Exciting, But They Need Checking

In regard to Ion Mihai Pacepa's "The KGB's Man," editorial page, Sept.
22: Several years ago, before his first book appeared, I prepared a lengthy
piece for "60 Minutes" on Mr. Pacepa based on several interviews we did
with him. Mike Wallace was the interviewer.

Mr. Pacepa's charges were sensational, his manner assured. The result was
a half-hour report that almost got on the air. It would have destroyed
at least one U.S. government official's reputation. It never was broadcast
because, after rigorous checking, Mr. Pacepa was obliged to back off, admitting
that things weren't quite as he had described them to us.

We dropped the entire project. A few weeks later, I was contacted by a
Canadian reporter who had looked into some other of the wilder Pacepa stories,
and also found they didn't hold water. Interestingly, I contacted The Wall
Street Journal a couple of years ago, after you ran another piece by Mr.
Pacepa, warning that the man had to be taken with a big grain of salt.
I never received a reply.

Barry Lando

Paris