During the 1980s a group in Poland that Lech Walesa led, called "Solidarity," was apparently secretly supported by the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] of the Republican Reagan administration. As the Chair and Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies [CSIS]'s Transnational Threats Project, Seth G. Jones, recalled in his 2018 book, A Covert Action: Reagan, The CIA, and The Cold War Struggle in Poland:
"`CIA officials had been discussing covert assistance to Solidarity since the beginning of the Reagan administration...Overt assistance, [CIA Director William] Casey feared, might undermine the legitimacy of Solidarity by tying it too closely to the United States...On September 29, 1982, the White House convened a working group in the Situation Room...to discuss supporting moderate elements within Solidarity...
"`On November 4 [1982], President Reagan held a National Security Planning Group meeting to discuss covert action in Poland...After a short discussion, Reagan agreed to a presidential finding to provide money and nonlethal equipment through surrogate third parties, hiding the U.S. government hand. The finding also authorized the CIA to conduct clandestine radio broadcasting into Poland. The goals were limited: to aid the organizational activities of Solidarity and other Polish opposition groups...
"`...The CIA ensured that the Polish finding remained classified...The CIA then went to Capitol Hill to brief staff members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. QRHELPFUL was born...Solidarity was cash and material-starved. CIA help was critical...Dick Malzahan and other CIA officers worked to get the covert program off the ground...'" (end of part 2)
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