Business link of U.S. law chief for investigation

Press, 13 May 1987, Page 10

Business link of U.S. law chief for investigation

By

TOM BRIDGMAN

NZPA Washington The United States Justice Department . has asked an independent investigator to conduct a criminal investigation of the links of the AttorneyGeneral, Edwin Meese, to a scandal-plagued defence contractor.

The department’s request is the latest in a series of probes into questionable activities by current or former Reagan Administration officials. It came just three hours after Mr Meese, a longtime confidante of President Reagan, requested that the independent counsel look into his activities on behalf of New York defence contractor, Wedtech Corp.

“Public confidence in the administration of justice will be better served if these matters are resolved, as promptly as possible, by investigation by an independent counsel,” the Deputy AttorneyGeneral, Arnold Burns, said in a statement. Mr Burns asked counsel James Mckay, who is already investigating the

lobbying efforts of a former White House ■director of political affairs, Lyn Nofziger, on behalf of Wedtech, to expand his investigation to include Mr Meese. At the White House, President Reagan said it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the investigation, but he backed Mr Meese by saying,“l have always known him to be a man of honesty and integrity.”

The Justice Department’s public integrity section recently began a preliminary examination into possible assistance by Mr Meese in the award of a SUS 32 million no-bid Pentagon contract to Wedtech in 1982 when Mr Meese was counsellor to the President He became Attorney-General in February, 1985. Senator Joseph Biden and Congressman Peter Rodino, chairmen of the Senate and House of Representatives Judiciary committees, said last week that Mr Meese may have violated conflict-of-interest laws by failing to disqualify himself at an earlier stage from two criminal investigations in-

volving Wedtech, a South Bronx company now reorganising under Federal bankruptcy laws.

Wedtech claimed it was an ethnic minority company when in 1982 it won its first big military contract, against opposition from the Army which claimed its prices were too high, with assistance from the White House when Mr Meese. was counsellor. ' '' ; '

Mr Bob Wallach, a San Francisco lawyer and long-time, friend of Mr Meese, was serving as adviser to the company at the time it got thei first -major contract. Wedtech expanded rapidly after getting the contract and went public with a stock offering in 1983.

From then on its revenues depended mainly on Pentagon nobid work awarded under the Federal Government’s minority business pro- ' gramme.

The company is now the subject of numerous criminal investigations for its alleged payments to politically connected law firing and consultants.