Administration officials, however, asked The New York Times not to publish this article, saying that disclosure of the Swift program could jeopardize its effectiveness.

A defense lawyer, Peter J. Tomao, asked that the terms of Mr. Zapata's aborted deal be sealed because its disclosure could jeopardize his safety.

He said it had failed to prove that disclosure of the documents would jeopardize the secrecy of the workings of the grand jury.

The law, the Classified Information Procedures Act, gives the Attorney General the right to bar such evidence by certifying that its disclosure might jeopardize national security.

This disclosure, however, did not jeopardize Salerno's conviction; he had been found guilty of specific criminal acts and not merely of being a boss.

Mr. Tenet said the disclosure "does not jeopardize" national security and "serves to inform the American people."

Eisenhower refused to publicly refute the claims, fearing that public disclosure of this evidence would jeopardize the secret U-2 flights.

Agency officials have declined to discuss details of the involvement, asserting that public disclosure could jeopardize intelligence operations.

"We worked the hell out of that," said the engineer, who was given anonymity because he said disclosure of his name would jeopardize his career.

While aggressively spinning the case to the press, the police have also withheld important pieces of evidence from public view, saying that full disclosure would jeopardize the investigation.