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- ... - Approved For Release 2008/11/06: CIA-RDP04M01816R000502010009-4 48 It would not establish standards to guide future conduct; to the contrary. an acquittal might be perceived, rightly or wrongly, as an indication that programs such as the East Coast Project are not now illegal -- an indication that the Depart- ment of Justice believes would be most unfortunate. Moreover, either the trial judge or an appellate court, sensing the equities of the case and the possibility that the defendants may have labored under an erroneous, albeit reasonable, belief that they were entitled to act as they did, might expand the availability of a 0 mistake of law" defense more than the De- partment believes is warranted. A prosecution in this case· would present the courts with the sort of hard facts that lead to bad law. Even to institute a prosecution and to win it might be unfair. If the potential defendants in fact· had a reason- able belief that t~ey were acting pursuant to lawful presi- dential authorization, a prosecution so many years later could appear to be a vindictive kind of second-guessing. All the worse to use the criminal sanction in hindsight against in- dividuals when what we now see as wrong was not so much the malign conduct of individuals as a disturbing and dangerous policy of government. . Bringing a criminal prosecution, especiall}. when it would in all likelihood fail, is not the only nor even the best way to establish rules of conduct. The enunciation A roved For Release 2008/11/06: CIA-RDP04M01816R000502010009-4